by Cheree Alsop
Chapter Five
A smell touched Alex’s nose. It wasn’t unusual or particularly pungent, but it definitely didn’t belong in the medical wing. He turned his head, searching for the source.
To his confusion, the scent seemed to come from the wall behind him. Alex walked along the tan striped wallpaper. In most places, it smelled sterile and clean like the rest of the medical wing, yet when he paused where he had been standing, he scented what he recognized as a meatball sandwich.
Curious, he ran a hand down the wall. His fingertips revealed the slightest separation hidden within the brown and tan stripes. Alex pushed on the wall. Nothing happened. He pushed harder. The panel refused to budge. Alex blew out a frustrated breath. He sighed and leaned against the wall again, content to give up the strange search until the flashing of a tiny red light caught his attention. He grinned up at the camera in the corner. He could imagine Brock’s sigh as the human sat at his many computers in Dean Jaze’s secret lair beneath the school.
All at once, the door panel slid away. Alex waved at the camera and stepped inside. The panel slid shut once more.
Alex expected to find yet another passageway to the lair. Instead, the cement tunnel seemed to go much deeper than the room beneath Dean Jaze’s office. The smell of meatball sandwich intensified.
“What was it?” Brock’s voice reached him before he turned the last corner. “How did you find this place?”
“The smell of your sand...” Alex’s voice died away at the sight before him.
The secret of how the professors made it in and out of the school on their many missions for Jaze without being seen by the students was answered. Rows of cars and motorcycles occupied the left side of a giant cavern that took up what had to have been the entire foundation of the Academy.
Brock sat at a desk of computers similar to those in the room beneath the closet. He took a big bite of his meatball sandwich and smiled up at Alex.
“I know. Impressive, right?” he asked around the mouthful.
Alex nodded wordlessly. He walked down the wide ramp that led to the computers. Several other branches of tunnels met the ramp from various parts of the Academy. Alex wondered how he had lived so long at the school without knowing about the hideout.
“Your sandwich,” Alex said vaguely as he reached Brock and stared up at the computers that turned out to be twice as large as he had first thought.
“What?” Brock asked.
“That’s how I found you.”
Brock looked down at his sandwich. “I have got to remember the whole sense of smell thing. You’d think after all these years I’d have it figured out.” He smiled at Alex. “I used to wonder how your brother always knew where I hid my snack stash. He would’ve had a field day with everything I have hidden around here.”
The mention of Jet sent a pang of longing through Alex. The same sadness showed on Brock’s face.
“You guys were close?” Alex asked.
Brock nodded. “Mrs. Carso made me food; Jet ate it all before I could get there. It was a great relationship.” He rubbed his stomach. “I sure miss Mrs. Carso’s cooking. I’m wasting away without it.”
Alex eyed the sandwich in Brock’s hand dubiously.
Brock shrugged. “It’s not nearly the same. Her cooking blew the socks off anything Cook Jerald makes.” He lowered his voice. “Don’t tell her I said that; then I really will starve.”
“I won’t,” Alex promised, his gaze traveling the cavern.
What appeared to be random stacks of equipment turned out to be tracking devices, weapons, harnesses, and electronics. Some were collecting dust while others looked brand new.
“What do you do down here?” Alex asked.
Brock nodded toward the computer screens. “Same thing as I do upstairs, only on a bigger scale. I track all the werewolves we know of in the United States and other parts of the world. I monitor the packs of Alpha-less that hide in unsettled areas, and I alert Jaze whenever we find out about someone who needs help.”
Interested, Alex pulled up a chair. “Help, how?”
Brock took another bite of his sandwich. “Well, you know,” he said around the mouthful. “The Extremists are working very hard to wipe out the rest of the werewolves, and most of those left have banded together in large packs so they can protect each other’s backs, but there are always lone wolves or those who get separated. There are still lots of orphans we’re trying to locate, and for some reason, there’s no shortage of scientists and other sickos who enjoy cutting up werewolves to either experiment on their healing abilities or try to capture the phasing abilities for themselves.”
Alex’s stomach tightened. “That’s horrible.”
Brock nodded. “I know, right?” He accidentally spit some sandwich on one of the screens. “Oops.” He used a corner of his shirt to clean it off. “Anyway, Mouse and I rotate monitoring the computers, the Internet, and the cameras. It keeps us plenty busy. I could definitely use like ten of me down here.”
“There wouldn’t be enough food,” Alex noted. His stomach growled at the smell of the sandwich, reminding him that lunch couldn’t come fast enough.
Brock gave him a worried look and attempted to scoot his food out of Alex’s sight. “There won’t be if you stay down here. You should probably go before we both get in trouble.”
“But I just found this place,” Alex protested. “It’s so cool and—”
“And you have classes to go to,” Brock reminded him. “Combat training just got over. Vance seemed a bit annoyed that you never returned.”
“I should have—” Alex paused. He gave Brock a searching look. “How do you know where I’m supposed to be and Vance’s reaction?”
A touch of chagrin colored Brock’s face. He ran a greasy hand through his spikey brown hair. “I, uh, I’m also supposed to be monitoring you.”
Alex couldn’t decide how he felt about that. “Show me,” he demanded.
Brock pushed a button on the keyboard in front of him and the view on the screens changed from data files and maps to video surveillance. Images from each other classrooms at the Academy showed along with the hallways and the Great Hall. Alex searched them quickly until he found Cassie walking with Caitlyn to the Great Hall.
“You know my schedule?” he asked quietly.
Brock nodded without a word. He took a bite of the sandwich, then after one chew realized how noisy his eating had suddenly become in the silent cavern. He sat with his food motionless in his mouth as he waited for Alex’s reaction.
“You keep an eye on me?” Alex asked.
At Brock’s nod, he clenched and unclenched his fists, unsure what to think.
“I’m monitored every second I’m in this school?”
Brock hesitated, then nodded again.
Alex let out a slow breath. “I know Jaze is trying to look out for me, but this is ridiculous.”
“To be...” Brock choked on his food.
Alex slapped the human on his back until he swallowed the meatball.
“Thanks,” Brock said. He cleared his throat. “To be honest, we keep an eye on both you and Cassie. We watch the rest of the students as well, but since there is a current threat, you are the focus.”
“I know I shouldn’t be upset,” Alex said.
Brock held up a hand. “I understand. I told Jaze it was an invasion of privacy, but he argued that he had everyone at the school to watch out for, and he couldn’t allow the threat to reach us again.”
“I agree,” Alex replied quietly.
“I also think, uh, you do?” Brock asked in surprise.
Alex nodded. “Cassie and I are a danger to the school as long as we are Drogan’s targets. He almost succeeded in destroying this place last year. We can’t let him try it again.”
“Exactly,” Brock replied. “I’m glad you get it.”
“Is there any place I’m not monitored?” Alex asked.
“Well, the forest,” Brock said. “It’s so big, and the t
rees are so thick. We don’t have nearly enough cameras to monitor every inch of it.”
Alex took off for the ramp, his mind made up.
“Where are you going?” Brock called after him.
“The forest,” Alex replied.
“Alex, wait!”
The werewolf stopped at the top of the ramp. He forced himself to turn around.
Brock was standing at the bottom of the ramp. Alex hadn’t heard him leave the seat. “Do you know why I let you down here?” Brock asked. At Alex’s silence, he said, “I could have left you standing in the medical wing searching for the source of the smell, but I buzzed you in. Ask me why.”
Alex didn’t want to. Frustration burned through him at the thought that every action he made was monitored. He understood that it was for the good of the school, but to know that his freedom was just a façade filled him with a need to get away.
Brock waited below. It was obvious the human wasn’t going to tell him what he wanted to know without the question.
“Why?” Alex finally forced out.
“Because you need to know that Jaze is taking your safety seriously,” Brock replied, his expression earnest. “What you went through last year will never happen again.”
“I know Jaze cares,” Alex said, thought the words felt bitter in his mouth.
Brock shook his head. “You don’t know how much he cares. You see cameras and an infringement of your personal space. What you don’t see are the nights and nights Jaze stays up trying to figure out how to protect you. You don’t see how much it kills him that Drogan was able to hurt you. He built this place to protect werewolves, and the two children he cares about the most in this entire school are under threat.” His voice lowered. “You don’t see how it kills him.”
Alex shoved his hands in his pockets. He leaned against the wall, letting Brock’s words sink in. “I know he cares,” he finally made himself repeat.
Brock nodded. “Now you do.”
Alex sighed and put a hand to the door.
“Alex,” Brock called.
Alex waited, but didn’t turn around.
“Just don’t make him regret caring so much,” Brock said.
Alex pushed the door open and walked into the dark tunnel beyond.
***
“Those of you who remember our full moon games last year won’t be strangers to this class,” Colleen said. Her violet eyes caught in the light of the sun that filtered through the trees. “Sense training is to ensure that you can rely on your wolf senses instead of just those you are used to using as a human.”
“What’s wrong with human senses?” Torin asked, his tone bored as he lounged in the grass with the rest of his pack.
“Nothing is wrong with them,” Colleen replied with a smile. “But they are weaker than a wolf’s. Even though your wolf senses carry over to your human form, they are much less strong than when you are in wolf form. Our goal is to help you work with your senses in both forms.”
“What good is that?” Sid, Torin’s second, demanded. He looked completely annoyed at being in the middle of the forest.
Colleen gave him a patient look. “Part of our goal at this school is to teach you academics; the other is to train you on what you need to survive in the world. In human form, would you be able to smell a man sneaking up on you with a silver blade? Would you hear the slight snick of a window as it opens in the middle of the night? Would you be able to protect your family by getting them to safety before danger arrives?”
“And how would we do that?” Sid asked.
His tone grated on Alex’s nerves.
“Instincts,” Colleen replied. “I’m going to teach you how to listen to your instincts.”
“What, are they like a siren, telling us to run?” Sid’s sarcastic tone made his pack mates laugh.
“They can be,” Colleen replied. Alex could tell by her expression that she was trying to keep calm.
The professor with the violet eyes was one of only two genetically-created werewolves in existence as far as anyone at the Academy knew. Jaze had told Alex Colleen and Kaynan’s story. Colleen had been unable to control her phasing, and had been confined to a rehabilitation facility until the General’s men lit it on fire. Rafe, the golden-eyed, wild werewolf who lived in the forest, had saved her life and taught her how to control her phasing, though if she was extremely stressed, it still got away from her once in a while.
Alex knew Sid was trying Colleen’s patience. She glanced at the trees around them, her eyes seeking the security of the forest.
“So my ability to protect my supposed family relies on if I can listen to imaginary sirens?” Sid pressed with a smirk.
“They aren’t imaginary,” Colleen replied, his voice tight. “They are as real as your ability to breathe.”
“But if I stop breathing, the sirens will tell me to breathe again, right?”
“Shut up, Sid.” The words were out of Alex’s mouth before he realized he had spoken.
Everyone looked at Alex. Sid’s eyes narrowed. He glanced from Alex to Jericho, then at Torin, his Alpha. Torin gave a slight lift of one shoulder. A small smile touched Sid’s mouth. The Second stood. He towered above anyone in Pack Jericho besides Don, and even then, the Seventh Year was given deference.
“I’m tired of your know-everything attitude, Alex,” Sid said, his voice steady and dangerous.
“Leave him alone, Sid,” Jericho replied.
Torin met the Alpha’s eyes. “Let them work it out.”
A chill ran through Alex’s veins. He realized what was happening. There were very few fights at the Academy, mostly scuffles within packs or between the Lifers and Termers. The Alphas usually broke these up or let the dean handle them. Only one type of fighting was sanctioned within the school.
Rank duels, as they were called, were allowed because they played a very important part of pack life in the wild and in society. If someone felt a leader was unfit, the werewolf could challenge the leader to a duel. In the Academy, because so many packs were unnatural in such a small space, the duels were also allowed between packs as long as the ranks fighting were the same. Standing for Alphas and Seconds was very important in the way the entire structure held together. The fight Sid called for was sanctioned.
Sid gave a toothy smile as he loomed over Alex. “I’m tired of the way you are buddy-buddy with all of the professors, and the way Dean Jaze and Professor Nikki treat you and your sister. They may have considered you like their own kids, but they have their baby now. You’re Strays again like the rest of us.”
A growl sounded low in Alex’s chest. Cassie grabbed his hand, but he shrugged out of her reach and rose. The line-backer built Second glared down at him from at a least a foot greater in height. He was two years older than Alex, but since they began at the Academy together when it opened, they were both Seventh Years. Even Professor Colleen couldn’t argue that the fight was unfair, though Alex knew by her anxious expression that she wanted to.
“If you have a problem with me, say it. Don’t wear out the professors with your meaningless babble,” Alex said.
Everyone scooted quickly away from the two Seconds.
Chapter Six
Sid’s eyes narrowed. Alex caught the slight shifting of the werewolf’s weight a split second before Torin’s Second threw a punch.
Alex leaned back just far enough for Sid’s long arm to miss him. He grabbed Sid’s wrist in his right hand and pulled as the werewolf was thrown off balance by his own momentum. Alex landed a quick jab to Sid’s right kidney followed by an elbow to the back. He danced out of the way before Sid could retaliate.
The huge werewolf turned and glared at him. Though Alex had landed the punches, the Second appeared completely fine. Alex let out a slow breath and bounced on the balls of his feet, ready for the next round.
Sid wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice. Instead of another blind attack, he circled Alex, looking for an opening. Alex chose to give him one. He lowered his ri
ght hand just enough that it would look like he was still on guard, but maybe wasn’t paying attention enough to protect his face.
Sid took the bait. His jab glanced off of Alex’s jaw hard enough to stun as Alex spun out of the way. Alex dropped to one knee and kicked, catching Sid behind the knees. When the huge werewolf fell, Alex jumped on top of him, but Sid was ready. He grabbed Alex’s right arm and threw him to the side. Alex’s elbow caught across a log and bent back further than it was supposed to. A shard of pain raced up to his shoulder.
Alex climbed to his feet holding his arm. Sid leered at him.
“Give up?” the Second asked.
In answer, Alex hit Sid on the jaw with a left haymaker, then brought his elbow back and snapped Sid’s head the other way with the reverse. He kicked Sid in the stomach, then in the face. Sid staggered back and clutched his nose as it started to bleed.
“I’ll accept your submission,” Alex said.
Sid glared at him over his cupped nose. “I’ll kill you,” he growled.
To Alex’s surprise, when Sid did move, it was to phase.
Usually rank duels were fought in whatever form the combatants started; breaking tradition, Sid ran forward and phased to his huge Gray wolf form. He caught Alex’s wrist in his fangs as he loped past. Alex spun, freeing his hand. He landed on Sid’s back, slamming both fists down on the werewolf’s spine. Sid let out a yelp and shook him off.
Alex phased and hit the ground in wolf form. He growled at Sid. The huge Gray gave a mocking wolfish smile.
Rage burned through Alex. He made a dive for Sid’s front paws, feinted to the left when the werewolf dropped his head to meet the attack, and latched onto the side of Sid’s neck.
Sid let out a howl of pain. He reared up on his hind legs, yanking Alex up with him. When that didn’t work, Sid slammed into a tree, effectively scraping Alex free. Alex darted away before Sid could reach him. He knew he had to use speed and swift attacks to defeat the stronger werewolf.