by Cheree Alsop
Alex bristled. “My sister and I were adopted. Our parents were Davies, so we kept the name. Carso is a good name, especially when you consider that Dean Jaze carries it.”
Mr. O’Hare appeared unruffled at his outburst. “Claiming to be related to Jaze Carso isn’t exactly the best idea considering his own follies in werewolf and human relations. He was wanted for most of his life before opening this school.”
Alex’s hands tightened into fists. “Jaze’s only folly was putting his life on the line a million times to save werewolves from the hands of humans who only wanted to hurt or kill them. Families were destroyed and even his own mother was killed. He lost friends in the battle, good friends.” Alex’s throat tightened and his voice cracked with his outrage. “Jaze is a hero.”
Alex paused. His heart thundered in his chest and his hands opened and closed. He wanted to make the man pay for his attack against Jaze. The dean had been like a father to him. He wouldn’t stand by while someone slandered Jaze’s name.
Alex realized with a start that that was exactly what Mr. O’Hare wanted. Alex already knew the man’s goal was to provoke him into fighting. Mr. O’Hare’s stay would be cut short and his job done. Students fighting administration would without a doubt be entirely against the Board of Education’s policy. Why else would they only send one man to survey the school? Perhaps Mr. O’Hare was the only one who dared.
Alex looked closer at the human. Mr. O’Hare’s lips were pressed into a tight line and he waited with anticipation on his face as though he knew what his words would mean. There was fear hiding in the depths of his cold green eyes. His glasses were held in one hand. Alex couldn’t remember when the man had taken them off. Perhaps he didn’t relish the thought of having them slammed into the bridge of his nose.
Alex let out a slow breath. He willed his hands to relax and lifted his shoulders in a small shrug that felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.
“If there wasn’t anyone holding true to the name, maybe I’d consider taking up the name Carso, but Jaze is doing a great job.” Alex forced a smile. “Someone needs to do the same for Davies. I guess they’ll have to settle for me.”
He turned away before he could see the human’s expression. Turning his back on Mr. O’Hare meant going entirely against his instincts. Of any enemy he had, the human armed only with his tiny notebook was the most dangerous. Alex had no problem retaliating with only himself on the line, but if he lost control at all, the Academy would pay. Alex walked down the hallway with chills running along his spine.
“I hope you know what you’re doing, Jaze,” he whispered quietly.
Chapter Four
“Your cafeteria smells better than most of the schools I’ve been to,” Mr. O’Hare noted when they reached the Great Hall for lunch.
Alex looked at him in surprise. “You do this at other schools?”
Mr. O’Hare gave him a look that said he clearly thought Alex was stupid. Alex was getting used to the expression.
“Of course I’ve been to other schools. Checking for violations is my job.” His eyebrows pulled together in a disapproving expression. “Don’t assume your school is the only one on the verge of being shut down. There are plenty of violations out there. I just happen to be very good at what I do, and,” he hesitated, then said, “And the only one brave enough to come to an Academy of mutts who might want to eat me.”
When they stepped into the Great Hall, every eye locked on them. Gazes shifted from Alex to Mr. O’Hare. The sounds of forks on trays and talking ceased. Torin rose halfway from his seat at his usual table; Shannon set a hand on his arm and he slowly settled back down with a glare at the human.
Alex glanced at Pack Jericho. Trent met his gaze with a worried look. Jericho gave Alex a half-smile, though it didn’t touch the question in his eyes when he looked from Alex to the human.
“What are you doing?” Cassie mouthed.
Alex gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile and motioned for Mr. O’Hare to follow him to the kitchen.
“I’ve never felt more on the verge of death in my life,” the human muttered when the sounds of talking and eating picked up again. “They really do hate humans.”
“They don’t hate humans,” Alex told him. “Professor Thorson is human, and Nikki, Dean Jaze’s wife. Humans aren’t the issue.”
“Then what is?” Mr. O’Hare asked when they entered the kitchen. A breath of relief escaped him at being shielded from the accusing glares of the students.
“Your obvious disdain for werewolves,” Alex told him. “They can smell it. It wafts from you like sour eggs.”
The human stared at him. “You can smell how much I don’t like you?”
Alex nodded. A brief rise of humor filled him at the dismay in the man’s voice. “It’s pretty obvious.”
“Great,” Mr. O’Hare turned away and grabbed a tray from the table. “That’s got to be an infringement of privacy if I’ve ever seen one.”
“We can’t help what we can smell,” Alex told him. “It’d be like telling a cow not to moo or a bird not to fly.”
“You realized you just used all animal references in your example,” Mr. O’Hare replied drolly.
Alex was aware of Cook Jerald watching them. She didn’t appear at all pleased to have Mr. O’Hare in her kitchen.
“Werewolves are part animal, Mr. O’Hare,” Alex replied. “We’re not ashamed of our lineage, so the sooner you accept it, the better.”
He expected a displeased reply from the human, but the man kept silent as Cook Jerald ladled pasta and her amazing made-from-scratch Alfredo sauce onto his tray. Alex followed behind.
The human was about to enter the Great Hall again, but Alex grabbed his arm.
Mr. O’Hare looked completely outraged that Alex would dare to touch him. Alex dropped his hand.
“Look,” Alex said. “You may hate my guts and all of my race, but one thing is certain. You are a human in a school of werewolves, and your hatred follows you around so thick I can’t even smell the Alfredo right now.”
Mr. O’Hare glanced at his tray and back at Alex.
“You might find it annoying that Jaze assigned me to be your assistant, but after everything I’ve done here, I get a bit of respect from the students. Consider me your protection. I don’t want this Academy to fail.” His eyes narrowed and he gave the man a straight look. “No matter how much you might. So listen to me when I say that you need to either hide your hatred of werewolves better or carry silver in your pocket. Werewolves are loyal, and I don’t want you to get hurt because you can’t hide your disgust for children.”
Mr. O’Hare was quiet for a moment before he said, “I have silver in my pocket.”
“I know,” Alex replied. “I can smell it.”
The man stared at him.
Alex turned away and walked out the door. It wasn’t until the human wandered over to join the professors at their table that he felt like he could breathe again. He knew as a lone wolf that he should have sat alone, but spending so much time surrounded by such great quantities of hatred had exhausted him. He walked to Pack Jericho’s table and smiled at the empty seat Siale patted next to her.
“Hey guys,” Alex said with an outlet of breath. He set the tray on the table harder then he intended.
Siale leaned her head on his shoulder when he sat down. “Rough day?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he admitted with a dry chuckle. “Class is easier than being an assistant to Mr. I-Hate-Werewolves.”
“What’s the deal with that guy?” Trent asked. “Why is he here?”
Alex glanced over his shoulder at the human. While the professors made small talk with Mr. O’Hare, it was obvious they were uncomfortable with his presence. Alex shook his head and turned back to his friends.
“The esteemed Mr. O’Hare is here to shut down our school.”
“What?” Terith exclaimed.
“They can’t,” Cassie protested.
Alex nodded. “My job is t
o prove that we have nothing to hide.”
“But we have plenty to hide,” Jericho replied. “I’m sure students in other schools don’t run around at night rescuing their comrades.”
“Yeah,” Alex said. “That’s why we’re going to have to be more careful. He can’t know when we get called out, and we can’t let missions with the team affect our schooling or assisting the professors. Got it?”
Everyone nodded.
“What if he looks for you and you’re gone?” Von asked. Terith’s boyfriend wasn’t on their team for missions with Jaze, but they had never hidden the missions from him. With his closeness to Terith, keeping secrets would have been impossible.
If she trusted him so much, Alex decided he could as well. “Then you’ll have to cover for me. Think you can do that?”
Von’s eyebrows rose at the enormity of such a task, but he nodded quickly. “Yes, definitely. I can tell him you’re sick or something and,” he adjusted his glasses, “I can be his assistant until you are available again.”
“I appreciate it,” Alex replied with a warm smile. “I need someone I can count on, and I know you’ll do a good job.” He hesitated, then told the werewolf, “Just be careful. He tries hard to rile students up. If we let down our guard at all and lash out, the Academy’s done for.”
“What has he done?” Siale asked, her expression worried.
Alex gave her a reassuring smile. “Nothing I couldn’t handle. We’ll be fine.”
She smiled back at him. “I knew Dean Jaze picked the right werewolf for the job.” She paused, then leaned over and kissed him on the cheek as though she couldn’t help herself.
“Careful, you two,” Jericho warned. “Public displays of affection are against school policy.”
Everyone looked at the professors table. None of the teachers were talking and everyone ate their lunch in silence. Apparently Mr. O’Hare’s warm personality had gotten to them. Luckily, he didn’t seem to have noticed Siale’s kiss.
“We’ll be more careful,” she said with a hint of reluctance in her voice.
“I can’t blame you,” Jericho told her. “Maybe with the opening of the Academy to the public, we can allow human students in. I would love it if Cherish could be here. It’s hard to be so far away from her.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Terith said. “A lot of the students here haven’t had much exposure to humans besides the few we have at the Academy. It would be good for them to see that not all humans are out to kill them. We have as much prejudice to work through as the humans do. Welcoming human students to the Academy might be just the way to do that.”
“As long as they don’t come in with as much hatred as your guy,” Cassie said. “I don’t know how you can stand to be around him with that stench.”
“I don’t exactly have a choice,” Alex told his sister. “Believe me, both of us would rather be elsewhere. I’ll just have to do what I can to break him.”
“You mean work with him,” Jericho corrected.
Alex grinned. “Of course. What did I say?”
The Alpha rolled his eyes with an answering smile.
“Guess what,” Trent said as if he couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Brock says werewolves are coming out of hiding left and right.”
“What?” Cassie replied, her eyes wide. “You mean because of the video?”
Trent nodded. “Apparently revealing the school gave others the courage to come out of hiding. They say in the Demon doesn’t cower behind walls, they won’t, either.”
“How is the nation taking it?” Alex asked worriedly. He had heard enough of the repercussions from when Jaze revealed werewolves to the world to know they could be met with extreme hatred.
“Good, surprisingly,” Trent told them. He took a bite of his food. “Apparently, everyone’s tiptoeing around trying not to make waves until the government decides how to approach the issue. Hopefully Mr. O’Hare won’t do a belly flop in the middle of it all.”
“Are you comparing werewolf politics to a swimming pool?” Terith asked her brother. “You can do better than that.”
Trent grinned. “I was going to say wolves in a hen house, but I thought that was in bad taste.”
Terith rolled her eyes.
“This is good,” Alex said. The promise of what Trent was telling them caught up to him. It was hard to keep his voice quiet. “If werewolves keep coming out of hiding, the government will realize that there are families, students like us, just trying to survive. They’ll see that we’re normal citizens and that we’re not dangerous.”
“Not all of us,” Jericho reminded him. “Drogan’s another issue.”
Siale nodded from Alex’s side. “But at least he was an enemy before all of this. The nation’s united against him, which puts the humans and werewolves on the same side.”
“‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend,’” Terith quoted.
“Exactly,” Siale replied. “Now all we have to do is find Drogan.”
Everyone looked at Alex. “We’ll get him,” he promised. “Our team and the Black Team have been searching everywhere. We’ll find where he’s been hiding.”
“And when we do, problem solved,” Trent replied.
He and Alex exchanged a look. They both knew it wouldn’t be that easy, but their words appeared to satisfy the others who returned to eating and their own conversations.
“Problem solved,” Siale repeated softly from beside Alex. She leaned against him.
Alex spread butter on her nose with his spoon.
“Ew!” Siale exclaimed.
Alex grinned. “Just lightening the mood.”
Siale rolled her eyes, but couldn’t stop smiling.
***
“Where do we go next?” Mr. O’Hare asked when they left the Great Hall.
Alex knew it wasn’t his imagination that made the talking louder behind them as soon as the human exited the cafeteria. He was just glad Mr. O’Hare couldn’t hear the expletives that followed their swift retreat.
“Take it easy,” Vance ordered.
The talking quieted at the coach’s brusque command.
“You’ve seen all the classrooms,” Alex replied. “Where else would you like to go?”
“I’d like to view the students’ quarters,” Mr. O’Hare replied.
That was the one place Alex hadn’t wanted to take him. Werewolves were very territorial. They wouldn’t take kindly to the intolerable human in their living spaces. Alex hoped that during the lunch hour they would find the quarters empty.
“Up this way,” Alex said, motioning to the stairs.
He led the way along the hallway toward Pack Jericho’s quarters. If any Alpha would give him leeway for bringing the Board Representative in their rooms, it was Jericho, though Alex could still pay for the infringement.
Alex pushed the door open. He tested the air for signs that anyone was there, but none of the smells were fresh. Relief filled his chest.
“Each group of students, what we call a pack, gets their own separate quarters. The Alpha is in charge of making sure the others in his pack gets their homework done and has all of their other needs taken care of.” Alex pointed down the left hallway. “The girls sleep down there and the boys have the other hall. The Alpha takes the first room.”
“The quarters are co-ed?” Mr. O’Hare asked in surprise.
“Yes,” Alex replied with a hint of uncertainty as the man jotted something down in his small notebook. “Is that a problem?”
“It’s highly unusual,” Mr. O’Hare replied, apparently forgetting his earlier proclamation that he would never answer any of Alex’s questions. He finished making notes and peered around the room. "You've never had any problems from cohabitation?”
Alex shook his head. “Never. The Alpha protects all members of his or her pack. No one would be unsafe in their own quarters, or anywhere in the school, for that matter. If anyone messed with a werewolf in a pack, they would have to answer to the pack’s Alpha.”
Alex swallowed when the man jotted something else in his infernal notebook. “Yes. That way there is security for the students at all times. It really is a good system.”
Mr. O’Hare looked at Alex over the top of his glasses and asked dryly, “Because you know differently?”
Alex fought back a surge of defensiveness. “Yes, I do. I was here when the Academy was created and I’ve worked with Jaze on many, uh, trips to different areas on, uh, school-related outings.” He met the man’s doubtful gaze. “I’ve seen enough to know that humans could do better in pack situations where they have someone to protect their backs at all times. It’s better than being out there alone and defenseless.”
The man studied him for a moment before he asked, “And how did your schooling fare during these so-called school-related outings?”
“I have excellent marks that I’ve worked hard to earn,” Alex replied; his tone was steady and left no room for argument.
Mr. O’Hare watched him for another minute in silence. He finally motioned to the door. “Fine. Let’s move on.”
Alex stepped into the hallway and his stomach clenched.
“We followed the stench,” Boris said. He waited at the end of the hallway with his entire pack behind him. “What are you doing with that human up here?”
“He’s surveying our school for the Board of Education,” Alex said, hoping the answer would appease the Alpha. He and Boris had come to friendly terms, but an Alpha’s instinct to protect his pack was nothing to be trifled with.
“Could they have sent someone less rotten-egg like?” Boris demanded. “The entire lunchroom stinks.”
“If you have a problem, you will address it to me,” Mr. O’Hare told the Alpha.
The man attempted to push past Alex, but Alex didn’t budge. The human’s second, harder attempt didn’t even move the student.