by Cheree Alsop
“Don’t let them through this time,” Jericho told his pack. “Protect Alex so he can throw the ball.”
“Right,” Don agreed.
He and Jericho looked formidable, but Steven and Max stood on either side of them like little twigs waiting to be broken. Alex heaved a sigh and called out, “Hike!”
In two-seconds flat, he was on his back again. Boris leered down at him.
“Might as well stay down there, Stray,” the Alpha growled.
Jericho pulled Boris off and helped Alex up.
“Flick it to me,” Tennison said quietly enough that only Alex could hear.
“What?” Alex asked.
“Flick it to me the second you have it. They won’t be expecting it.”
Alex nodded. It was worth a shot. He stepped up to the line again.
“Ready to meet the floor again?” Parker asked with a grin that revealed his yellow teeth.
“You really should use a toothbrush,” Alex replied.
“Huh?”
Alex took advantage of Parker’s distraction and called out, “Hike!”
Jericho tossed him the ball. As soon as it touched his hands, Alex flicked it to Tennison. The throw was off. He knew as soon as it left his hands that the ball would be short. It spun end over end toward the grass.
Suddenly, Tennison was there. He caught the ball against his chest and darted through Boris’ shocked pack.
“Touchdown,” Vance said with a hint of surprise.
Alex grinned at the huge professor. “You didn’t think we could do it?” he asked.
Vance shook his massive head like a confused bear. “I didn’t think you had a chance.”
Alex shrugged. “We know we’re the underdogs. We just don’t know when to give up.”
A true hint of a smile showed in the professor’s brown eyes when he replied, “Those are the teams that win.”
Alex smiled back and returned to the center of the line.
Now that Tennison had eyes on him, it gave Alex a chance to move. He called for the ball, sidestepped left, and tossed it before Boris and Amos could tackle him.
The throw wasn’t pretty, but it landed in Trent’s surprised arms.
Trent stared at the onrush of werewolves in terror.
“Run!” Jericho called.
Trent didn’t need further encouragement. The only problem was that he was so scared of Pack Boris that he took off in the opposite direction.
“Other way!” Alex yelled.
“Turn around!” Jericho shouted.
Tennison reached Trent. “Throw me the ball,” he commanded.
Trent was more than happy to give up the object that had made him Pack Boris’ target. He tossed the ball and Tennison caught it. Spinning around, Tennison darted past Tomas and Brace. Parker and Boris were catching up. Alex and Jericho ran at an angle across the field toward their pack mate. They would only have one chance to stop the duo. Alex leaped.
He hit Parker and Boris so hard it felt like he slammed into a tree. Alex fell the ground and looked back in time to see Tennison run by with Jericho in front of him blocking others from the opposing team.
“Touchdown,” Vance said.
Alex let his head fall against the grass.
“You realize this is just a game.”
Alex glanced to the right. Boris was lying on his back. The Alpha drew in a breath and winced. He met Alex’s gaze. “It’s just a game. You don’t have to try so hard.”
Alex knew moving was going to hurt. He gritted his teeth and rolled over to his hands and knees. “I don’t know any other way to try,” he told the Termer. He pushed up to his feet and limped back toward the line.
“Need a breather?” Vance asked. The football looked like a toy in the huge professor’s hands.
Alex shook his head. “I’m good,” he forced out.
Vance shrugged and tossed Jericho the ball.
“Last time I said it was your funeral, I got bawled out by the other professors.”
Alex remembered the moment very well. He had been bleeding from knife wounds that wouldn’t heal because of silver shards that had broken off of the blade. The walk through the forest had felt like the longest in his life, especially when Drogan’s men attacked. Only the professors’ fighting skills and the arrival of the werewolf packs had saved his life.
“I thought it was funny, in an ironic sort of way,” Alex replied.
The comment brought a true smile to the professor’s face. It looked out of place, as if uncomfortable there, and faded almost as quickly as it had appeared. “Huh,” Vance said before turning away. “Play ball.”
“Hike,” Alex called.
Chapter Four
Alex shifted in his seat. He felt nervous, and felt silly because of it. Healing bruises from football the previous hour made his chest and arms ache, but above it all, an expectant chill ran across his skin.
“Think she’s going to make it?” Cassie asked, her expression worried.
Alex nodded. “Definitely. And she’s going to do great.”
Cassie sat back in her chair, her gaze on the door.
The door opened and their aunt Meredith walked in.
“Good morning, class,” she said with only a hint of nervousness in her voice.
“Good morning, Professor Meredith,” the students replied.
Pack Jessilyn already looked bored, but most of the members of Pack Jericho sat up and smiled at the new professor. They knew about her relationship to the twins, and when Alex found out she was teaching their next class, he had asked his pack to be supportive and help her out.
Alex was amazed at the different person his aunt had become during her stay at the Academy. She was far different than the beaten, scared woman Jaze had rescued from Drogan’s base. As much as she reminded him of her twin sister who had been his mother, the differences were now more pronounced.
Meredith’s shoulder-length black hair was pulled back on one side by a light blue flower clip that matched her eye-color perfectly. His mother had always worn her waist-length black hair in a ponytail because she said it got in the way otherwise. When Meredith smiled, there was a dimple on one of her cheeks, while his mother had had two. She also had freckles across her nose while his mother’s fair skin had been clear of them.
Above all, the biggest difference was scent. To Alex, his mother had smelled like strawberries and the good things she cooked every day for them. She had loved to bake, and could make practically anything with flour and an egg. Her sister Meredith, on the other hand, smelled of pine and mint. She had confided to Alex and Cassie that Mindi had taken all of the cooking and artistic genes, and she was left with only a love of the outdoors and a good book.
Alex repeated these subtle differences over and over in his mind as he watched the woman who looked so much like his mother stand at the front of the class. She smiled at Alex and Cassie before opening her teaching manual.
“Welcome to Algebra,” she said.
Groans answered.
Meredith laughed, then looked surprised she had done so. She glanced at the twins with her eyes slightly wider.
Alex gave her an encouraging nod.
“It’s not so bad,” she said, skimming through her book for anything useful. “It’s only, um, math.”
“Math is bad,” Marky called out.
Alex gave the young werewolf a look that silenced him.
“It’s not so bad if you follow the steps,” Meredith continued. She seemed to warm to the topic. “It’s like a language. Once you figure out the basics, it all falls into place.”
“Learning math is learning a different language?” a member of Pack Jessilyn asked doubtfully.
“Yes,” Meredith affirmed. “Exactly. I’ll give you the basics.”
“And the rest will be easy,” Cassie finished.
Meredith gave her a grateful smile. She began to write equations on the board.
“My brain already hurts,” Don said to Jericho. The big werewolf
barely fit at his desk. Alex had already helped to extract him from a few last year; it looked like this year was going to require the same efforts.
“Don’t worry,” Jericho replied in a whisper. “Trent is our secret weapon. He’s a math whiz.”
At their attention, Trent gave them a calm smile. “I speak the language,” he said.
Alex shook his head while Jericho rolled his eyes. Cassie smothered a laugh.
“What?” Trent asked.
“That was really lame,” Terith told her brother.
Alex smiled and turned his attention back to the board.
***
“You did a great job,” he told his aunt after the class was over.
“Are you sure?” she asked worriedly. “They seemed eager to leave.”
He laughed. “They’re always eager to leave. I think it’s a werewolf behind walls thing. We have combat training next. Everyone’s just looking forward to hitting something.”
Meredith replied with a laugh of her own. “I think I can understand that.” At Alex’s surprised look, she gave a smile that was so like his mother’s his chest ached. “There’s got to be some way to let out teaching frustrations, right?”
“Maybe you should join us in combat training,” Alex offered.
Meredith gave him a kind smile. “I would, but someone’s got to teach algebra to restless werewolves, right?”
“Right,” Alex agreed with a chuckle.
“Are you coming Alex?” Cassie called.
Alex looked over to see Cassie and Tennison standing near the door. “Goodbye, Aunt Meredith,” Cassie said. “Good luck!” Meredith waved at the pair as they left.
“Who’s that?” Meredith asked.
Alex looked back again to be sure he hadn’t missed something. He realized she meant the werewolf with Cassie. “That’s Tennison. He’s a new Lifer here.”
“Looks like Cassie’s taking a shine to him,” Meredith noted.
Alex stared at her. “They only met yesterday. She’s just being nice.”
Meredith nodded as though she wasn’t quite convinced.
“Seriously,” Alex told her. “Cassie doesn’t like boys.”
“You might be surprised,” Meredith replied. The bell rang and students flooded into the classroom. “Have a good day, Alex.”
“You, too,” Alex said before walking through the door after his sister.
He found Cassie and Tennison talking just inside the combat training room. Pushing his aunt’s suspicions aside, Alex patted Tennison on the shoulder.
“Ready to fight?” he asked.
Tennison looked around as if he had just realized where they were. The training ring, punching bags, and practice dummies made it hard to miss. “Oh, uh, do we have to?”
Several members of Pack Jericho laughed.
“Everyone has to,” Professor Chet said, walking into the room. He looked over Pack Jericho and Pack Miguel quickly. “Looks like we’re pretty well matched. Alex, why don’t you show some of the newbies a bit of sparring?” Chet met Miguel’s gaze. “Why don’t you join him?”
Alex heard Cassie gasp beside him. Her fingers dug into his arm.
After Alex’s sparring bout with Boris last year, he was a bit more reluctant to take on another Alpha. Things with Drogan had quieted down, and Alex had fewer anger issues at the moment. Miguel also looked unsure as he accepted the sparring gear Chet handed to him.
Professor Dray entered the room. “What’s going on?” the professor asked. His hair was light blond from all the time he spent in the sun working in the Academy gardens. He pushed it out of his eyes as he looked from Chet to the two getting geared up.
Dray gave Chet a stern look.
“What?” Chet asked, feigning innocence.
“Alex is a Second and Miguel is an Alpha,” Dray pointed out.
Chet shrugged. “I really don’t see the problem. Alex and Miguel are about the same size. They were just going to show the newbies what sparring is all about.”
“You know packs are supposed to spar each other by pack rank, not size,” Dray argued.
“Semantics,” Chet replied. He took the sparring gear from Alex and tossed it to Jericho. “Fine. Gear up.”
“They’re really going to fight?” Tennison asked from behind Alex.
Alex nodded. “It’s practice, but sometimes things get out of hand. I don’t think Miguel and Jericho will be as ferocious as when Pack Boris was in our class last year. There were some pretty good bouts.”
“Boris took cheap shots,” Trent said.
“Don’t talk about my brother,” Kalia warned.
Trent turned with wide eyes. “Uh, s-sorry,” he stuttered.
Alex watched Kalia closely. Her normally icy blue eyes flashed gold for the briefest second as she looked at the Lifer. The gold was replaced with pain and she grabbed her head.
“Kalia,” Alex said. He caught her arm before she could fall.
Kalia hunched over with a moan of pain.
“What’s going on?” Dray asked.
“I’m not sure,” Cassie told him. “I think her head hurts.”
“Please take her to Lyra,” Dray told the twins.
Alex walked Kalia slowly to the door. Cassie rushed to open it. Kalia’s eyes were closed and she held her forehead with one hand while the other gripped Alex’s arm. Cassie ran in front of them to the medical wing of the Academy.
“It hurts,” Kalia said in a barely audible voice.
“I’m taking you to Lyra,” Alex reassured her. “She’ll be able to help.”
Kalia nodded, then winced as if the action hurt.
Footsteps hurried back up the hall toward them. “I’ve got a room ready for her,” Lyra said. The little professor adjusted her large glasses as she turned to walk beside Alex and Kalia. “How are you doing, sweetie?” Kalia didn’t answer. Lyra’s gaze shifted to Alex. “Don’t worry,” she told him at the worry on his face. “I’ll take care of her.”
She led them to a room on the left side of the hall. Alex helped Kalia sit on the paper-lined bed. Her eyes were still closed at the pain. Alex wondered if she knew she still gripped his hand.
“You two can wait outside if you’d like,” Lyra said kindly.
A wave of protectiveness rushed over Alex. He didn’t want to leave Kalia in the room that smelled of sterile cleaners and lemons. If her headache eased, she might forget that they had walked there. She might be scared.
“Come on,” Cassie encouraged him.
Alex pushed down the strange feelings and worked his hand out of Kalia’s grip. Kalia placed both hands on her forehead, hunching over on the bed. Her shoulder-length hair hid her face from view. The sight sent a surge of sympathy through Alex.
“You’ve seen this before,” Cassie guessed, speaking quietly as soon as they were out of the room.
Alex nodded. “Once, on the stairs. She said she gets bad headaches. They come and go without warning.”
“Her eyes went gold when she was talking to Trent.”
“I know,” Alex confirmed. “That’s why her parents sent her here. They’re worried she may be a werewolf.”
“Worried?” Cassie’s confusion was clear in her voice.
“I think her parents are afraid of werewolves. Kalia said they were Extremists before they found out Boris was one.”
Cassie let out a breath. “Man, that must have been hard to take.”
Alex nodded. “Apparently, they hid the fact that Boris was a werewolf from his sister until her eyes began changing. They sent her here in case she phased.”
“She doesn’t like werewolves, does she?”
Alex was surprised at his sister’s deduction. “Not really. What makes you say that?”
Cassie shrugged her small shoulders. “She avoids pretty much everyone, barely speaks, and I’m pretty sure the entire school heard her arguing with her mom about why she had to stay here when they arrived for the term.”
“I missed that,” Alex said musing
ly, his thoughts still on the girl hunched on the bed.
“It echoed off the building. I’m surprised you didn’t hear it while you were changing,” Cassie said in a tone that suggested she guessed more than he let on.
Alex gave in and grinned. “I might have been out for a run.”
Cassie pushed his shoulder. “You’re going to get in trouble. You know Jaze said to lie low. How is racing trains and running along the boundaries of the forest lying low?”
“I can’t help it,” Alex told his sister. At her doubtful look, he let out his breath in a rush. “Look. We know Drogan’s still out there. I have to be ready.” He hesitated, then said, “If I don’t condition my heart, it’s going to fail me again. I have to push myself if I’m ever going to have a chance at beating him.”
The understanding in Cassie’s eyes ate at him. “What if you’re damaging your heart further?” she asked quietly, her gaze worried.
“I can’t be weak,” Alex told her. “I can’t just sit by and know that if we meet again, he can best me.” A hint of anger colored his voice. “No human should be able to defeat a werewolf.”
“You said he wore Kevlar and had a silver knife,” Cassie pointed out.
Alex shook his head. “It shouldn’t matter. I’ve got to make sure I’m strong enough.”
Lyra stepped into the hallway. She gave the twins a warm smile. “Kalia’s resting. You can go back to class.”
“I’d like to wait for her,” Alex said. At Lyra’s lifted eyebrows, he hurried to finish, “If that’s alright.”
She nodded. “I think she would appreciate having a friend nearby.” She noted a couple of things on a clipboard before walking down the hall.
“You’re Kalia’s friend?” Cassie asked.
Alex nudged her with his elbow.
“Okay, okay,” Cassie said. She rubbed her side. “Don’t be so touchy. I’m going back to class. I’ll let Professor Dray and Professor Chet know you’re waiting for your friend.”
Alex rolled his eyes. “Chet’s probably waiting for me to fight Miguel.”
A hint of laughter showed in Cassie’s dark blue eyes when she said, “You’re right. It’s probably safer that you stay here.”
Alex stepped forward as if to take off after her. She laughed and ran down the hall away from the medical wing. Alex shook his head. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, prepared for however long it would take for Kalia to recover.