by Cheree Alsop
“I told them I needed my license,” Trent explained. “They said I needed the practice, so here I am.”
“I’m not sure logging hours chauffeuring people is legal,” Alex said, grateful for the werewolf’s presence.
“Another minor detail I convinced them to overlook,” Trent answered.
Kaynan shook his head from the passenger seat. “It’s a good thing your friend isn’t going into politics, or we’d all be in trouble.”
Trent chuckled. “Don’t worry, Professor. If politics were like engines and could be tweaked to run better, I’d love it. As it is, though, free will just poses too much interference.”
“Who let the kid behind the wheel?” Mouse asked as he climbed into the middle seat with Jaze. “Haven’t you seen him fly a helicopter?”
“Another license I’m working on,” Trent said, winking at Alex and Siale in the rearview mirror.
Siale smiled and slipped her hand into Alex’s. “You have good friends,” she whispered.
Alex nodded. “The best.” He stared out the window at the setting sun. Red and gold reflected off the snow, filling it with a million diamonds of light.
Jaze’s voice broke through the silence. “Mr. Dickson wants to fly you to his estate for the funeral, Alex. He said Siale is welcome to come as well.”
Alex let out a slow breath. “Are any of the other students coming?”
“Her brother Boris, of course, and Torin is insisting that he be there. Cassie and Tennison will join you along with the other members of Pack Kalia.”
“Me, too,” Trent said. “And Terith. She’d be furious if you left her out.”
“Anyone who would like to go is welcome,” Jaze replied.
“You don’t want to mess with an angry Terith,” Trent muttered, staring out the window. “Nobody wants to deal with that.”
“I’m so glad you’re here,” Alex said quietly to Siale. “I don’t think I could do it without you.”
Siale leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. Alex put his arm around her and held her close through the drive home. When they reached the winding road through the forest, Alex’s heart began to skip beats. He tried to breath slowly to force it to calm, but it worsened as they neared the gates. Alex could see werewolves waiting for them inside the Academy. Boris’ thick shoulders and Torin’s hulking forms were hard to miss.
“Alex, are you alright?” Siale asked.
Alex shook his head.
She put a hand on his chest. “Alex, you need to calm down.”
“I can’t control it,” he said, trying to breathe as each stutter stole the breath from his lungs.
Trent stopped the vehicle.
Jaze turned to look at him. “What’s going on?”
“His heart keeps stuttering. He can’t stop it.”
“I can’t go in there,” Alex said. Panic filled him at the thought of being within the walls. “I can’t face them.”
“You don’t have to,” the dean said. “We can go back to Haroldsburg and—”
Alex opened the door and climbed out.
“Alex!” Trent called.
He tore off his clothes behind a tree and phased. A moment later, Siale was at his side in wolf form. She nudged his shoulder, her gray eyes filled with understanding.
“Go ahead,” Alex heard Jaze say to Trent. “He needs some time.”
The vehicle door was pulled shut and the SUV continued through the gates.
Alex watched the black iron bars close slowly. Something about the way they locked him out calmed his ragged heartbeat.
He took off across the snow, grateful for the way his wide wolven feet allowed him to run on top of the drifts without sinking in. Siale loped at his side, her lithe, graceful form a gray shadow that leaped logs and bushes with ease.
They took a long loop around the Academy, reaching the forest that Alex knew better than the house he had been raised in. He pushed himself harder and harder, willing his heartbeat to return to normal as he stretched out his legs and covered the ground in a mile-eating run.
When Alex reached the top of the cliff that overlooked the lake, he was half-tempted to jump off. The water below was covered in a layer of ice. The fall would be painful at the very least. He longed for pain, physical pain, that would chase away the ache in his chest.
Siale touched her nose to his shoulder. When he looked at her, the softness of her gaze stole through his chaotic thoughts. Her touch calmed him as no words ever could. He rested his chin on her back and closed his eyes, finding the peace in the center of the whirlwind inside him.
Siale was the first to lift her muzzle to the moon. The notes of her mournful howl filled the hole in Alex’s heart, giving him the strength to release his pain.
Alex lifted his muzzle. His howl mingled with hers, the notes interweaving and blanketing the night in a soulful, heartbreaking song of sorrow for Kalia’s death. After a few moments, other voices lifted. First, Rafe and Colleen’s howls rose from the forest near their cave, and with them, the calls of the pack Alex had fought to save from the General’s hounds. Shortly after, voices began to rise from the school as werewolves phased into their wolf forms. Alex could see them massing behind the school, the clouds their breath formed in the cold night billowing over the growing crowd.
Deeper voices joined them as the professors phased as well. Alex could hear Jaze and Nikki along with Kaynan, Grace, and Vance. Mouse and Lyra lifted their voices, mingling with Gem and Dray.
The howls filled the air, echoing across the mountains and returning to complete the song of sadness for the loss of one of their own.
Alex let his howl die away. He listened to the voices that expressed their love and heartache for Kalia. The sound surrounded him, helping him build walls around his heart to keep his pain at bay, if only for a little while. It reminded him that even though there were struggles between werewolves at the school, they were all one. Mourning Kalia brought them together, and they would be there for each other in whatever way they could.
He led Siale back down the cliff as the last of the howls faded. The forest was silent during their walk back to the Academy. It felt as though even the animals gave tribute to Kalia’s passing by maintaining the reverence of the night that still carried the ghost of the wolves’ song.
***
Alex and Siale sat in Pack Kalia’s common room. Everyone else had gone to bed, but Alex couldn’t sleep. Siale sat on the couch with his head pillowed in her lap. She ran her fingers softly through his hair as she quietly sang songs she said her mother used to sing to her when she was little.
Alex closed his eyes and allowed himself to just be. The flames that danced in the fireplace more for comfort than heat played against his eyelids, throwing shadows and light in forms that flickered and twisted in reaching shapes.
Familiar footsteps caught Alex’s ears. He turned his head slightly. A door opened, then closed. Another opened, and closed again. The door to Pack Kalia’s quarters burst open.
Alex looked up to see Trent standing wide-eyed in the doorway.
“Alex, I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Trent exclaimed breathlessly as he hurried across the room.
Alex sat up. “Why? What’s wrong?”
Trent waved his arm toward the front of the school. “I, well, uh...” He bent over with his hands on his knees, gasping for air. It took a moment for him to stand up again.
By that time, Alex was on his feet, alarmed at his friend’s disheveled state.
Trent waved his hand. “There’s someone at the gate asking for you.” Trent sucked in a breath. “And he’s human.”
The Werewolf Academy Series
Book 5- Lost
By Cheree Alsop
Chapter One
Alex closed his eyes. Siale sat on the couch with his head pillowed in her lap. She ran her fingers softly through his hair as his thoughts drifted.
He saw Kalia sitting in his room. He had just rescued her from the angry bear, and she was having
trouble coming to terms with what had just happened.
“You realize that was a grizzly bear, right?”
“I knew it was a grizzly,” Alex answered quietly.
“Why would you do that?” It wasn’t an accusation; it was said with wonder. “Why would anyone?”
“Cassie calls it my death wish,” Alex admitted.
“I’ve seen you talking to Jet’s statue,” she said.
He nodded, his eyes shut tight.
“You know he is a part of you. He’s a part of what pushes you so hard because of what you can become.”
“What can I become?” Alex asked.
“The best of us,” Kalia replied.
Familiar footsteps caught Alex’s ears, chasing away the memory. He turned his head slightly. A door opened, then closed. Another opened, and closed again. The door to Pack Kalia’s quarters finally burst open.
Alex looked up to see Trent standing wide-eyed in the doorway.
“Alex, I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Trent exclaimed.
Alex sat up. “Why? What’s wrong?”
Trent waved his arm toward the front of the school. “There’s someone at the gate asking for you.” Trent sucked in a breath. “And he’s human.”
Alex and Siale ran down the stairs behind the small werewolf. A crowd of students near the doors parted to let them through. They found Professor Kaynan guarding the exit.
“Let him out,” Kaynan instructed Professors Chet and Vance who stood in front of the doors to the courtyard.
Alex hurried through with Siale close behind.
Trent ran at his other side; the werewolf’s eyes were wide as he spoke, “Doesn’t he know it’s a death sentence coming here? He’s lucky Brock is the one who saw him on the screen!”
“Mouse has been increasing the school’s security since the General’s death. How did he get through without being stopped?” Alex asked.
Jaze was the one who answered when they reached the gate. “I told Brock to let him through. I figured he was here for a reason.”
Alex found Tanner on the other side of the iron bars. The boy’s eyes filled with relief at the sight of Alex. “They took her, Alex! I need you to get her back. You’ve got to help her.”
“Who?” Alex asked, alarmed at the panic in Tanner’s voice. The seventeen-year-old’s short blond hair was disheveled and leaves clung to his blue coat.
“Sarah,” Tanner said. His eyes filled with tears. “She didn’t come home, and they’ve been taking people. I know they have her. She’s got to be so scared.” The tremor in his voice said he feared much worse. “I tried to file a missing persons report, and the police are doing everything they can, but it’s not enough if she’s in the Saa. Her parents are beside themselves.” His gaze was pleading. “You’ve got to help me.”
Alex met Jaze’s gaze. “I need to go.”
“Do you want help?” the dean asked.
Alex shook his head. “I’ve got it.”
Jaze nodded. “Be careful. Keep in contact and let us know if you need anything.”
“I will,” Alex promised.
Siale followed him around the Academy to the secondary storage room. Trent already had the motorcycle running. He held out the helmet.
“I figured you’d need this.”
“You approve me going to Greyton?” Alex asked, amazed.
Trent gave a long-suffering sigh. “It’s not like you’d listen to me if I said no.” At Alex’s look, he nodded. “Yeah, I approve. He really seems to need you.”
“Thanks,” Alex told him.
Alex was fully aware that Siale hadn’t said a word. She had returned early from the holiday break with her father to be with him while he coped with Kalia’s death. Now he was leaving. Alex met her gray gaze.
“I’ll be here when you get back,” she said before he could speak.
Alex didn’t know what to say. Cassie would have scolded him, Kalia would have told him not to be stupid, but Siale just supported his decision. He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. The warmth of her touch flooded through him, filling him with strength.
“Uh, I’ll go to check on that stuck gear shift on the lawn mower,” Trent said, turning away from them to noisily fiddle with something in the corner.
Siale’s lips curved into a smile and she stepped back. “I think you just made your best friend uncomfortable.”
“You did,” Trent replied with his back still turned.
Alex grinned. “I’ll apologize to him when I get back.”
He climbed onto the motorcycle.
“You could apologize to me now. I’m standing right here,” Trent pointed out.
“Be careful,” Siale said to Alex.
“I’ll try.”
“It’s like I’m not even here,” Trent muttered. “See what happens if he needs me and I just ignore him.”
“You’ll answer,” Alex said.
Trent gave in. “Yeah, I’ll answer. But you take me for granted.”
“I’ll work on that, promise,” Alex said, shifting the motorcycle into gear. He sped through the storage room and around the side of the Academy. He felt the stares of the students at the doors as he drove through the courtyard to the gate Jaze had opened.
He stopped near Tanner’s black car. “Let’s go.”
As Alex followed Tanner’s car on the return trip to Greyton, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was more running away from the reminders of Kalia that filled the Academy than rushing to help save Sarah. The relief he felt at leaving the school behind was unmistakable. The thought of going back to the Academy made his chest ache. He lowered his head and concentrated on Tanner’s rear lights in an effort to leave the thoughts he wasn’t ready to deal with behind.
“That whole school is filled with werewolves?” Tanner asked when they stopped at his apartment near sunrise.
Alex climbed off the motorcycle and hung his helmet on the foot peg. “Yeah.” He looked at Tanner. “How did you know where to find it?”
Tanner looked worried as though he had crossed a line. “You mentioned Haroldsburg the first time we met you. When I looked it up, I couldn’t find any mention of a school around there, but then I found a football schedule for a preparatory academy. It listed the address.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I hope that’s okay.”
Alex made a mental note to mention to Jaze about the security risk. He wouldn’t have been surprised if Mouse and Brock had already made the connection at Tanner’s appearance.
“Don’t worry about it. How do I find the guys who took Sarah?”
“This way,” Tanner said. He led Alex across the street to the apartment building he had escorted Sarah to the night they had eaten dinner at Cherish’s. “I had to stay after school to make up a test, and I was supposed to meet her here afterwards, but when I got here, she was gone and this was left.”
Alex studied the graffiti Tanner pointed to. The red dagger with a black circle around it had been spray painted next to the door that led into the apartment complex.
“Do you know what gang it is?”
Tanner shook his head. “There’s so many of them now.”
“What will they do with Sarah?”
“I don’t know,” he replied, his voice tight. “Over the last several weeks people have gone missing, and nobody comes back.”
Alex headed to his motorcycle.
“Where are you going?” Tanner called.
“To the Saa.”
“I’m going with you,” Tanner insisted.
Alex turned. “You can’t. It wouldn’t be safe and I would have to worry about protecting you instead of focusing everything on getting Sarah and the others out of there.”
“The others?” Tanner repeated.
Alex nodded. “You said others had been taken. I’m not going to leave them to the whims of some ruthless gang.”
Tanner stepped back, his face pale. Alex shoved his helmet on his head and started the engine. He drove to Angel
Street, remembering Cherish’s description of the Saa, the streets south of Angel Street where the city was made up of slums. He sped through the business section of town. Even at the early hour, cars lined the roads and people were hurrying into skyscrapers. Alex wondered what they did on the highest floors, and what the view looked like from so high.
As soon as he passed the last huge building, the difference was palpable. Apartment buildings, a few empty, dilapidated sky scrapers left to corrode, and store fronts with bars across their windows lined the road. The smell made the hair on the back of Alex’s neck stand up. The sweet odor of rotting garbage combined with the scent of unwashed bodies and fear hung over the Saa like a putrid canopy.
Gang signs had been tagged on every building and street sign. The street lights flickered and blinked spasmodically. The sky scrapers he passed that had once been towering giants were filled with broken windows and gutted interiors as though the Saa had swallowed them back into its miserable remains.
Nobody walked the streets. Gray, hazy predawn light filtered down to the dirty sidewalks. A dog barked at him from an alleyway, then ducked behind a garbage can when he drew near on his motorcycle. Alex studied the graffiti he passed. After four more blocks, the red dagger with a black circle around it began to appear. Alex turned left, then right, following the symbols. He slowed at the sight of a decrepit building with a huge red knife spray-painted across the front.
When Alex pulled his motorcycle to the curb across the street, three men came out, eying him down. Alex’s heartbeat began to race as he crossed to them. He willed his nerves to relax, knowing that if he lost control, it would be much harder to find Sarah.
“What do you want?” a burly man with a scar down his cheek asked.
“I need to find someone,” Alex replied.
The man’s lips cracked into a humorless smile. “There’s no one here.”
“You better get lost if you know what’s good for you,” the tall, skinny man to his right said.
Alex let out a slow breath as he weighed his options. He could take them out and force his way in, but he didn’t know how many people were inside the building and if they started shooting, someone innocent could get hurt. He could try to find another way in that wasn’t being guarded, but that would take precious minutes he wasn’t sure Sarah had.