Fur 'n' Fang Academy: The Complete Series: A Shifter Academy Adventure

by C. S. Churton

  My wolf form stood fully five foot tall at the shoulder, but unlike my weak human body, every inch of it was muscle and purpose. I spun on all four legs with the elegance of a far smaller creature and leapt at Ryan’s back. He was taller than me, his slabs of muscle heavier, but I was more agile. My teeth snapped at his hindquarters, but he twisted away, leaving me with a mouthful of fur and frustration.

  His jet-black bulk was hard to make out, little more than a shadow in the darkness, but my lupine eyes were more than up to the task. His fangs flashed white under the sliver of moonlight, snapping at my pale-grey hide which may as well have been a beacon in the darkness. Not for the first time did I envy his darker fur. If nothing else, it would hide the blood better.

  I skipped aside as the heavy clouds blocked out the moon, and his assault sailed harmlessly past, offering me an easy target. I took it, snapping my teeth at his rear leg. He snarled again – anger, this time – as he ripped himself free from my grip. I couldn’t see the blood, but I knew it was there.

  I backed up a step as he circled round, using the time to throw a glance in Cam’s direction. I couldn’t see him. Good. He must’ve got Emily to safety. Except now I was stranded here with one of my best friends, who happened to want me dead right now. Tonight was not shaping up the way I’d planned.

  Ryan charged me, his longer, heavier limbs eating up the space between us in a split second. I twisted aside again, but my legs wouldn’t move fast enough. His teeth missed my neck and sunk into the sinew of my shoulder, gripping it, and my breath came out as a yelp.

  “Jade!”

  Cam? No, it couldn’t be, he was gone, safe. I struggled against Ryan’s grip, trying to pull myself free without tearing myself apart, desperate to see past him into the darkness beyond. The clouds drifted from the moon again and its light revealed three things: Cam, the woman behind him, and the rock in her hand held high above his head.

  My eyes widened and I snarled a warning, but Ryan swung me around and away from him, tossing me around like a ragdoll. I hit the ground with a roar of pain and tumbled over, a bloody wound ripped clean through my shoulder.

  The light breeze carried the scent of fresh blood – Cam’s – to my nostrils and I surged to my feet, letting the pain and the fury drive me forwards. Ryan blocked me, keeping me from my mate and I snarled pure hatred. I smashed into him, my teeth finding a home in his neck. I tensed the muscles in my neck and then twisted with serpentine ease, thrashing his body into the unyielding ground. I towered over his prone form, his flanks rising and falling with each laboured breath.

  The taste of his wounds lay heavy on my tongue, awakening some primal need to finish my prey. I backed away and I shook my weighty head from side to side, trying to dislodge the thought. I was not that creature. Not anymore. Ryan was my friend. I cared about him. But the rage and the bloodlust urged me on until all I could hear was the pounding in my too-sensitive ears. Cam needed me, and Ryan was a threat to him. That was all that mattered.

  No!

  Ryan wasn’t a threat. Not now. I lifted my head, searching the darkness for Cam. I could make out the woman standing over a still body – Cam’s body – and rage flooded me again. But this time, it wasn’t directed at Ryan.

  I leapt forward. Pain gripped my shoulder in a vice the second my weight landed on it and I howled in pain and frustration but forced myself to keep moving. I had to get to Cam. Had to protect him. I–

  Movement. Behind me.

  I twisted, obeying my instincts to protect my rear, but I was only fast enough to land myself in the perfect position for Ryan’s charge. His shoulder struck mine and his momentum threw me to the ground, sending fresh waves of pain screaming through me. I hit the damp earth hard and his weight crashed down on top of me, crushing the air from my lungs. I struggled against him, the red-hot ragged fury fading each time his fangs slashed at me, replaced by white-hot pain, and some place in my mind that was all ice-cold calculation. My eyes assessed his stance even as he tore into me, and after a beat of absolute stillness, I strained every muscle in my lower body, and slammed both my hind feet up into his stomach.

  The force flung him off me, and the sharp crack of something snapping filled the air, overlapped by his howl of pain. I didn’t pause to look at him. I didn’t want to see what I had done. I just needed to get to Cam. I lumbered across the ground with an uneven gait, each step a hard-won battle that sent lances of pain through me.

  The woman was nowhere to be seen – lucky for her, because my temper wasn’t that in check – and movement on the ground caught my eye. Relief surged through me like a physical force. Cam was moving.

  He staggered to his feet with a groan, one hand clutching the back of his head. The bitch tried to cave his skull in. A snarl worked its way up my throat, but it was half-hearted. Cam was okay.

  I reached the point where I’d abandoned my hoodie and sunk to the ground, letting the heat surge through my body again. Muscles twisted and bones cracked, and for several heartbeats my whole world was agony, and then I was human again, the wolf once more trapped inside me. For now.

  I reached out to snatch up the damp piece of clothing and bit back a scream, clutching my arm to my chest. Shit. That really hurt. My human form wasn’t as resilient as my wolf, and every movement was agony. I clenched my teeth together and grabbed the hoodie with my other hand, awkwardly wrapping it around myself.

  “Jade?” Was it my imagination, or was his voice slurred?

  “We need to get out of here. Open a portal.”

  “Where’s the lass?”

  “Dunno.” I grunted, and clutched my arm more tightly, trying to keep my shoulder from taking its weight.

  “Blake is going tae kill us when he finds out.”

  “Not if Ryan does it first. Open the portal. I’ll look for her.”

  But I hadn’t made it two agonised steps when Cam grabbed the back of my hoodie.

  “Forget it. You’re hurt.”

  He threw a hand out to one side and shouted the spellword. A portal blazed into existence, its smooth edges marking the boundaries between the farm, and the safety of Fur ‘n’ Fang.

  “We need to find her,” I protested.

  A snarl rent the air, and my head twisted round towards Ryan, struggling to his feet and fixing his yellow eyes on us. Before I could say another word, Cam snatched me up and bundled me through the portal, leaving the woman behind.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  When we tumbled onto the far side, it was all I could do not to give into the pain and collapse to the floor. Cam grabbed me around my waist, sending another lance of pain through me – broken rib, if I had to guess – and somehow kept me upright. I guess his head wound was healing faster than my massive blood loss.

  Three figures blurred into focus, hurrying towards us. I might have been glad to see them, until I registered the expression on Fletcher’s face. His usual scowl had been replaced by a triumphant sneer.

  “Take them to the dungeon,” he commanded the two men flanking him. I didn’t recognise them, but they weren’t wearing Fur ‘n’ Fang uniforms, and they weren’t instructors here. Enforcers, then. “For aiding the escape of one of the Bittens.”

  “What?” I tried to shove Cam away and stand up straight, but I might as well have been trying to shove a mountain, and the effort made my head spin. I forced my eyes to refocus on Fletcher. “We didn’t–”

  “Don’t lie to me, girl,” he snapped, getting in my face so that even injured and human, it was all I could do to keep from snapping my teeth at him. “Yours was the only portal leaving the grounds tonight, and she was seen using it.”

  “She followed us,” I protested. “We didn’t know–”

  “Take them to the dungeons,” Fletcher repeated, stepping back. “Alpha Blake can deal with them in the morning – unless Alpha Draeven has them executed for treason first.”

  “Wait,” Cam said, taking a step towards Fletcher and sending a wave of fresh hell through me. “Please, I
nstructor Fletcher. Send me to the dungeon – it was my portal. But Jade needs the medical wing. She’s hurt.”

  Fletcher looked me up and down.

  “Do you seriously think I’m letting either of you near those Bittens again? She’ll heal on her own.”

  “But–”

  “Leave it,” I mumbled into his shoulder – not least because I didn’t like this whole attitude of him trying to sacrifice himself for me. And the more he told Fletcher I needed help, the less inclined he’d be to give it to me.

  The enforcers moved forward and ripped me from Cam’s side. I gasped, then clenched my teeth and buried the sounds of pain. No way was I giving Fletcher the satisfaction. Unfortunately, it seemed like Cam hadn’t gotten that memo.

  “Hey, get off her, yer brute!”

  He lunged forward, ripping his arm from the other enforcer’s grip, and flung a punch at the one holding me, landing it square across the shifter’s jaw. He roared in anger, and backhanded Cam across the face, sending him crashing into the ground. He’d barely hit it before he bounced up again.

  “Stop!” I shouted, loud enough that it burned my throat. Loud enough that Cam did, in fact, stop. Right before the enforcer floored him again with another punch. “Stop it! Leave him alone! We won’t fight you!”

  The enforcer glared down at Cam, who was glaring right back up at him, breathing heavily. Idiot. He hadn’t fully recovered from his head injury yet, even if he was in a better state than me. No point both of us looking like the living dead.

  “Get up,” the enforcer order Cam, and Cam hauled himself to his feet, arms hanging by his sides, and tension rippling across his shoulders. I shot him a ‘don’t you bloody dare’ look, and he loosened his shoulders. The enforcer nodded stiffly and seized his arm.

  The other enforcer took hold of me about a second before I was going to collapse to the ground, which was great timing, because no way in hell was I falling at Fletcher’s feet.

  “Steady there,” the enforcer muttered in my ear, low enough that only I could hear, proving that these guys weren’t all dicks. Just most of them.

  Fletcher sneered at us one more time before pivoting on his heel and striding back to the castle.

  “Wait, Fletcher!” I shouted with what breath I had left between the pain, the fear, and the blood loss. “We have to speak to Alpha Draeven. It’s urgent.”

  He gave no sign of having heard, though half the castle probably had. Instead, I had no choice but to watch helplessly as he walked away, giving Ryan all the time in the world to escape.

  “Come on,” the enforcer said, his hand on my arm holding me up as much restraining me. “Let’s get you inside.”

  “She needs a healer,” Cam snarled. The enforcer holding him rattled his arm.

  “Shut up. Any more trouble from you and I’ll take you in wearing cuffs, is that clear?” He patted the pair of suppressor cuffs hanging from his waistband.

  “I’m fine, Cam,” I said, which probably would have been more convincing if I wasn’t swaying on my feet.

  Unsurprisingly, he didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t put up any more argument as the two enforcers escorted us back inside the castle. I, for one, was glad – it was still the middle of the night, and I wasn’t wearing a whole lot of clothes, and it was bloody freezing. The fact I was cold didn’t bother me so much as the reason. If I’d lost enough blood that my shifter magic wasn’t keeping me warm, then I wasn’t in a great way. Cam was right, I really could use a healer. Fletcher was right, too. I’d heal on my own in time – but it was going to be damned uncomfortable until that kicked in. And I hated being cold.

  The academy was well-lit, and the corridors deserted. We didn’t pass another soul as we made our way to the dungeon, which sucked. I wondered if Dean and Mei would guess where we were when they woke and noticed us missing. More importantly, I wondered if they’d bring us food.

  Cam’s enforcer jerked him to a halt outside the dungeon door. I let the enforcer leading me take my weight for a moment while the other one unlocked it. The walk had not been pleasant, and it had taken more out of me than I was willing to admit.

  A shiver ran the length of my body, and the enforcer gave me a sympathetic look. It wasn’t the first. I had serious doubts about his career of choice. He didn’t fit in much with the other enforcers.

  “I’ll put her in the first cell,” he told the other enforcer as the door swung open. His partner grunted in response and led Cam down the stone staircase. We followed behind, my enforcer taking more care to keep me from falling than I’d expected. But maybe he just didn’t want to explain a broken neck to Draeven. Still, out of gratitude for the unexpected generosity, I didn’t bother giving him any attitude as he led me inside the closest room. That, and I was pretty sure I didn’t have the energy to sass him right now.

  He opened the door to the cell at the back of the room and I stepped obediently inside and waited as he locked me in.

  “We didn’t do it, you know,” I told him, leaning against the bars. The cold metal bit into my skin and I shivered. “We didn’t know she was even out there until she jumped our portal.”

  “I’ll see if I can find you a blanket or something,” he said, not meeting my eye.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Enforcer Mitchell,” he said at once – a conditioned response. He tensed as though he wasn’t sure whether he should have told me that, and then seemed to shrug it off. He was right. What did it matter if I knew his name? If Fletcher had his way, I could very well be getting executed for treason when the sun rose. Good job Draeven had taken a liking to me. I was about to find out how far that went.

  “Listen, Mitchell. I need to see Alpha Draeven. I wasn’t lying to Fletcher. It’s urgent.”

  “You should try to get some rest, miss.”

  Miss? A laugh bubbled up in my throat at the absurdity of it, of locking me in a cold, barren cell with a dozen open wounds whilst calling me ‘miss’, but I swallowed the sound. Not quickly enough, if the frown on Mitchell’s face was anything to go by. Oh well, let him think I had a head injury, it wasn’t like it mattered.

  “Fine, go,” I said. I moved away from the bars and sagged against the back wall. “But don’t blame me when Draeven’s chewing you out for stopping him getting intel on the Bittens later.”

  I slid slowly and painfully to the ground. Definitely at least one broken rib. That’d take hours to heal. It really wasn’t my night. I carefully positioned my arm in my lap to take the worst of the strain from my shoulder, and when I looked up again, the enforcer was gone.

  I groaned and carefully leaned my head back against the wall. Ryan was much stronger than the last time I’d seen him fight. Because he was giving in to the rage curse and letting it control him? Or because Brad was preparing him for war?

  I lifted my uninjured arm and stretched it carefully in front of me. My magic flowed through it with almost no effort. The air shimmered and a fireball burned into existence. The sharp tang of magic blended with the comforting scent of hot air, and I drew the ball close to me, so its warmth flickered over my injured body.

  I wondered how Ryan was faring. If he came to blows Draeven’s enforcers again, they’d kill him. But he was injured after our fight, maybe even worse than me. He wasn’t capable of putting up any resistance. If the enforcers went after him now, they could bring him in alive. And they could give him the cure. Strip him of the curse. Save him from whatever vile bullshit Brad was spewing in his ear. I refused to believe it was too late for my friend. I couldn’t believe it.

  But what good was knowing where he was if I couldn’t get a message to Draeven? I flung the fireball away from me with a snarl and it smashed into the far wall, leaving a scorch mark on the brickwork.

  “That’s the thanks I get for bringing you this?”

  I twisted my head round and saw the enforcer standing in the doorway, holding a blanket in one hand. His tone was amused, but there was a wariness in his eyes that hadn’t been
there before. He was putting two and two together. The shifter girl who attracted trouble like flies round shit and had the power to throw fireballs. There was only one. He knew I was the Bitten hybrid, the cur. I waited for derision or even disgust to replace the wariness, but they didn’t. Like I said. He wasn’t enough of a prick to be in this line of work.

  “Feel like giving me that?” I said, nodding to the blanket with a weak smile playing over my lips. “You know, seeing as I could have torched you any time tonight and I chose not to.”

  Alright, ‘torched’ was a stretch. I could probably have managed singed at best, but he didn’t need to know that.

  “I don’t bite,” I told him, using the wall to help me to my feet. “At least, not in this form.”

  His lips quirked, but the wariness didn’t leave his eye, and his eye didn’t leave my hands. Most shifters never met a druid, as far as I could tell, which meant they never saw people flinging around fireballs in fits of temper. Once again, my night was panning out just great.

  Wary or not, Mitchell was still an enforcer, and one of Draeven’s elite guard, which meant he didn’t scare easy, and he didn’t lack for courage. He weighed me for a moment longer as I stood unsteadily, trying to look unthreatening – which wasn’t hard right now – and then came over to the bars of my cell. He held the blanket through, and I took it with a grateful nod. All this talking was murder on my ribs.

  He took a hasty step back and then stood, watching me. I shook out the blanket and was surprised to find a pair of trousers with them. I was even more surprised when the enforcer turned his back on me to give me the privacy to pull them on, though my long hoodie was doing a pretty good job of preserving my modesty, or what was left of it. Still, I wasn’t one to look gift clothing in the mouth, so I tugged them on, stifling a hiss of pain as I did. Mitchell waited until I was done before he turned back, the wariness still in his eyes.