by Cooke, CJ
“I’ll take watch with you as well,” said Nix.
“And me,” Harmony volunteered.
I nodded at them all and eventually one by one, they all closed their eyes and fell asleep. When I looked up, I saw that Madame Nines was watching me from across the way. Getting to my feet, I slowly walked across to her before dropping to the ground.
“I’m impressed,” she said with a soft smile. “I don’t think I could get up again if you even lit me on fire.” I laughed softly with her. “Can’t sleep?” she asked.
“It’s more of a logistical problem than that,” I admitted. I fluffed my wings around me. It was strange. It was like I’d always had them; they were easy to use. Yet, it hadn’t exactly sunk in they were there. Every so often I’d catch sight of them from the corner of my eye, and it scared the shit out of me before I remembered, ‘oh yeah I’ve got massive fucking wings now’. My life was so weird.
“What do you mean?” she asked, clearly confused.
I indicated behind me with my thumb, and she nodded in understanding. “Yes, I can see that perhaps they may get a bit in the way in this environment.”
I smiled at her. She was so awesome, and she totally got me. “Just a bit. You should sleep, though, you must be tired.”
“I’m fine just sitting for now. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep until we’re safe with the pack,” she said, looking around at the students. “Perhaps we should go back. There could be more survivors.”
“We will,” I assured her, and then we fell into companionable silence.
After the first half an hour had flown by, I saw the Headmaster and Caleb walk to the cave entrance to talk with my mates. I hauled myself up. I wasn’t going to be able to sit down again. Madame Nines was right. It was getting harder and harder to get to my feet.
“Time to rest boys.” I heard the Headmaster tell my mates as I walked over to join them. I’d woken up Harmony, Echo and Nix before I came across and they were struggling to their feet already. Liam put an arm around me when I reached them, gave me a tired smile and then ran his cheek over the top of my head like he always did.
“Go on,” I urged them, giving them a gentle push. “We’ve got it from here,” I told them as the girls came over and joined me. Echo stretched out next to me and actually did look a little better even though she only had thirty minutes sleep.
I could see Kyle was struggling to make himself leave me again. I leant up and kissed his cheek, and he pulled me back into his arms, sighing softly.
“It’s nearly over,” he said, I think as much to himself as to me.
“Go sleep,” I told him, giving him a squeeze before I stepped away.
The three of them gave me one last look before nodding and walking further into the cave. The Headmaster turned to me and asked. “Do you think you have it in you to do a sweep of the area? Make sure they aren’t closing in on us?”
I could tell he didn’t want to ask me to do it, but he was right that we needed to do this. I needed to do this. I needed to make sure everyone was going to be safe. I nodded slowly. I think I could do this, but if I was honest, I wasn’t really sure. When Caleb walked over to us saying he was ready, I raised an eyebrow in question.
“Caleb is going to meet up with the reinforcements and lead them to us, so they don’t miss us. They should be virtually here by now,” the Headmaster clarified.
“I’ll keep an eye on you from the air,” I said nodding. “Give me five minutes before you set off, then I’ll have time to do a loop and make sure the area is clear of any demons.”
He nodded in agreement and turned back to the Headmaster to talk with him while I turned my attention to my Elite girls who had already taken up position spread across the entrance of the cave.
“Are you going to be okay?” I asked them. I didn’t want to leave them.
“Of course,” smiled Echo. “We were trained by this badass bitch to be just like her,” she laughed.
I smiled at the three of them. I was so proud of them. I was proud of all of them. They’d stood up to the challenge, even though they weren’t finished training to do so yet. They’d saved so many. Britt had sacrificed so much for them. Before I could change my mind, I took to the air and circled the cave in a spiral up to a quarter of a mile out. Nothing was moving in the forest below.
It seemed like we were safe, for now at least. It was a beautiful place, even more so from the air. There were trees as far as the eye could see, and even though the ground swelled and dipped, the trees blanketed the ground. It looked like a sea of green from above. Rocky outcrops stuck out among the trees like waves. It felt so natural being in the air and being able to see everything from above like this.
It wasn’t long after I circled back around that I saw a large grey wolf trot out of the cave. He lifted his head and scented the air before taking off to the east at a run. I made sure to fly level with him and keep an eye on his position to make sure nothing was approaching him on the ground. When I saw the other wolves sprinting between the trees moving towards Caleb, I nearly cried in relief. We were so close to the end.
Caleb tipped back his head and let out a mournful howl, which I heard echo back to us from the direction of the cave. The wolves that had come to our aid didn’t stop for long with Caleb before he turned and ran with them back to the others. He must have only been gone for a brief ten minutes before they arrived back, but it would have felt like an age to those left inside.
As Caleb and the wolves were drawing close to the cave, I flew on ahead to do one last perimeter check. I made it back to the cave mouth and descended to the ground just as they were all shifting back to their human form. To say I surprised them, was clearly an understatement. As soon as my feet touched the ground, two of the unshifted wolves moved towards me teeth bared and growling. Three which had already shifted took up defensive positions.
“No,” Caleb cried out, as he suddenly shifted out of his wolf and stepped between the wolves and me. “Aria is with us. She’s a student of the Academy,” he clarified.
My hand, which had automatically fallen to the knives sheathed at my thighs, fell away as the wolves relaxed and began to openly look at me in question.
“What is she?” one of the wolves asked.
“That doesn’t matter now,” Caleb answered. “We have wounded inside. We need to see to them.”
“Of course,” the other wolf answered, tearing his eyes away from me. The others were still just standing there staring. “Take the packs inside and start treating the injured. Steve, Brandon, I want you to pass out provisions to everyone. Luke, Charlie, Ben, take up position to guard the entrance.”
Everyone nodded and started grabbing large packs from the ground which I hadn’t seen before. I’d no idea how they’d brought them with them.
“I flew a quarter-mile radius,” I said, addressing Caleb. “There’s nothing out there at the moment. We’re safe for now.”
The wolves nodded in acknowledgement at me but didn’t say a word as they cast their eyes back out into the trees. I followed the others into the cave. Kyle was stood with the Headmaster, Caleb and the wolf from outside who’d taken charge. The Headmaster looked up at me and smiled. “I see that you’ve met, Aria. She’s probably the only reason why any of us made it out alive.”
I gave an embarrassed and somewhat weary smile at them as they all turned to look at me. “I don’t think …” I mumbled, just as my knees gave out from under me and I slipped into darkness.
Chapter 4
Kyle
I managed to catch Aria just before she hit the floor. As I scooped her up into my arms, her image flickered, and she shifted back to her normal self.
“Well, that’s a bit freaky,” Wyatt said from beside me.
I shouldn’t have been surprised the beta would have been one of the ones who came to our aid. When I was growing up, he’d been just as much of a father to me as Marcus had been. My father didn’t always have time to spend around his pup, and Wy
att had helped shoulder the burden of raising me after my mother had died. I respected him, but no matter how much respect I had for him, my wolf would not take him speaking about our mate like that and I couldn’t keep the growl inside.
As soon as it slipped past my lips, he raised his eyebrows in surprise. His eyes flicked between Aria and me, and I saw the realisation cut across his face seconds before he broke out in a grin and slapped me on the back. “Congratulations, pup,” he slightly bowed his head to me. “I meant no disrespect.”
I nodded across at him, not yet feeling like I could form any pleasant kind of words for him. Not with my unconscious mate in my arms. Liam rushed over to my side and brushed Aria’s hair from her face.
“She’s just exhausted,” he said, gently checking her pulse at her neck.
I carried her to where Sykes had crashed out on the floor and Liam made a pillow for her out of his jacket, before I laid her at Sykes’ side. I ran my fingers down her cheek, staring at her face and thanking any god that could be listening for keeping her safe.
I could hear the Headmaster telling Wyatt what had happened back at the Academy.
“So, this is all that’s left?” he asked in horror, looking around him at the injured and dying. “How did you even escape?”
“Aria,” said the Headmaster turning towards us. “She held back the hoard so we could retreat.”
I could hear the pride in his voice. Personally, I didn’t think there was anything about this day we could feel proud about.
“What is she?” Wyatt quietly asked again.
“Not now,” the Headmaster answered, and Wyatt nodded solemnly.
Caleb approached our group and looked down at Aria. “Is she okay?” he asked.
“She just needs to rest,” I answered, still not finding it in me to take my eyes off her.
Caleb slid down the cave wall and sat by our side before closing his eyes and falling asleep. Steve came over with bottles of water, jerky and protein bars for everyone. Brandon was reporting to Wyatt, and I couldn’t help but overhear.
“We have thirty-four survivors; eight are wounded. I don’t think one of them is going to make it,” he said quietly. “And Britt …” he trailed off.
Wyatt clasped his shoulder and nodded gravely at him. Brandon was only four years older than us and had recently finished at the Academy himself. I’d forgotten he’d known Britt. Losing her was going to leave a hole in so many lives.
“I know,” he said quietly. “I caught the scent of some deer as we were closing in on the cave, why don’t you and Steve see if you can get some real food for these folks to eat?” he gently suggested. Brandon sadly nodded at him and headed out with Steve.
Chapter 5
Aria
When I came to, it was to the delicious smell of roasting meat. I must have been out for a couple of hours at least. Most people were still asleep around me. Someone had built a fire just in the mouth of the cave, and there was a massive chunk of meat roasting on a spit above it. As I struggled to sit up, I felt a bottle of water pressed into my hand as someone gently supported my shoulder to help me sit. When I looked behind me, I saw it was the large wolf who’d taken charge earlier.
“You should drink this, slowly, you’re severely dehydrated. You’ve been out for about three hours,” he said softly.
I looked around me and saw all three of my mates were sleeping soundly next to me, and I was grateful he was trying not to wake them. We were all exhausted.
“Thank you,” I told him, sipping from the bottle of water.
He waited for me to drink about half the bottle before he put a hand on my arm to stop me from drinking it all. “Just give it a minute to settle before you have any more, you might make yourself sick. I’m Wyatt by the way,” he said, introducing himself.
“Aria,” I said in response, offering him my hand to shake, even though I was certain he already knew my name. He just smiled as he shook my hand.
“Food should be ready in a minute. After everyone has eaten, we’re going to give it a go at opening a portal to get you guys out of here.”
He stood up and dusted off his trousers, even though he hadn’t even been sat on the floor. I got the impression this guy didn’t spend much time hanging out in caves.
“I’ll bring you all some food over when it’s ready,” he said, turning away and walking over to his men who were stood around the fire, quietly talking with Caleb.
Looking around the cave, I saw everyone else was sleeping soundly. Only the wolves who’d come from the pack were awake and milling around the entrance. I got up quietly and walked to the back of the cave where they’d laid Britt’s body.
Kneeling beside her, I took her hand in mine and wept quietly. I’d never really dealt with the death of anyone before, and I couldn’t help but feel responsible for hers. What did I think I was doing bringing her into this? What made me think I had any right to train them and place them in this much danger? She was still covered in blood, her hair matted around her. I pulled off my leather jacket and took off the black vest I had on underneath. I was wearing a black sports bra underneath anyway, which was basically the school gym uniform. Using the last of the water in my water bottle, I wet the shirt and began to gently clean the blood from her face. I couldn’t stop the tears from pouring down my face.
Even though I could hear people starting to move around behind me, no one came and interrupted me until I was finished. She was so beautiful, and she had such a kind soul. She didn’t deserve to die this way.
I didn’t realise anyone was behind me until I felt a hand rest gently on my shoulder. “Aria, come and eat something, sweetheart.”
I glanced over my shoulder and saw Kyle crouched down on the ground behind me. He opened his arms, and I leant into him, taking comfort in his embrace. When my tears dried, he let me go, and we walked over to the fire at the entrance of the cave. A few people were gathered around it, passing out chunks of roasted meat to everyone. Sykes had already got me a plate—who even knew where the plates had come from—and I eagerly tucked into it. It was delicious, crispy on the outside and tender and juicy in the middle. Sykes smiled happily at me as he ate his food.
“What happened to you?” I heard Wyatt ask from behind me.
I turned to look at him, confused by his question. “I just spent hours fighting demons,” I said, and he looked at me like I was crazy. Personally, I felt like he was the crazy one.
“Your back. What happened to you?” he clarified.
My spine suddenly straightened. I’d forgotten about my scars. That had never happened before. When I’d taken my jacket off, I hadn’t put it back on. My scars were all out on display. Maybe I was in a bit more shock than I’d realised.
“I was tortured for several years when I was a child,” I told him before turning back to my mates and continuing to eat.
The quiet around me dropped into absolute silence. It’s not really something you can just say out loud and expect anyone to have a response to. Well anyone normal that is.
“She’s always such a fucking drama queen.” Came a snarky voice from behind me.
I rolled my eyes. I didn’t even have to look to see who had said it. Obviously, it was Sex Shop Barbie. I didn’t have the energy to even respond to her. In fact, it seemed like everyone was just ignoring her. Liam slung an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to him.
When people had finished eating, everyone looked over at the witches and waited for them to say something. Professor Octavia got to her feet, and Professor Pax joined her just beyond the cave entrance as they joined hands and began to chant. Everyone busied around gathering up what little we had, and I saw Kyle come out of the cave, carrying Britt in his arms. I was so grateful to all of them for bringing her home like this. So many had died at the Academy, and many had belonged to the pack, but I couldn’t have borne leaving her behind. Someone was going to have to go back there though, to bury our dead. I didn’t think I could do it. When I turned back aro
und, I saw a portal shimmer into existence next to Professor Octavia. I groaned, “I fucking hate portals.”
Liam, who I was still cuddled up against, huffed a laugh. “You get used to it.”
The injured were taken through the portal first, much to Della’s annoyance. I understood wanting to get out of here, but the level of her selfishness was truly astounding. Once the majority of the survivors were through, the teachers indicated it was our turn. I glanced around at the forest and silently thanked the cave for hiding us, because I’m just a bit of weirdo, and then reluctantly turned back to the portal. At least no one was punching me in the face this time. Liam walked through with me, holding my hand, and Kyle and Sykes followed us.
It was strange stepping out of the portal on the other side. It opened out in what I thought was a large clearing in the forest. In front of us was a large mansion house, just in the middle of the forest. It was beyond bizarre. How did this even get here? It looked like one of the old English Country houses you saw in period dramas, made out of which stones, gleaming against the woodland background. I could see a few different sized wooden cabins through the trees in smaller clearings. It was nice, and it seemed like it would probably have been a peaceful place in ordinary circumstances.
I hadn’t expected we would receive any kind of welcome, but news of the attack must have made it around the pack, and it seemed like the entire pack was gathered in the clearing waiting to see who came through the portal. What must this be like for them? Some of them must be waiting to see if their children were coming home or not. As the thought struck me, I was horrified at what these people must be going through. As the portal closed, the grief that flooded the air was smothering. So many people were crying, some seemed to just be stood in shock, some collapsed to the ground as their grief overcame them. Very few relieved parents emerged from the group and held their children who’d made their way back to them.