The little monster shimmied from my hand and ran down my body. His little claws in my skin tickled. More than that, they reminded me that I was utterly exposed. Before I could debate what to do, Oakus ran under some brush and vanished.
“Wait up,” I said, and quickly followed. It took several minutes, but Oakus brought me right to the flag. I picked it up. “Impressive, little guy.” I wadded the fabric in my hands. “Do you know where the others are?”
He took off again.
I jogged after, careful of my tender feet. It wasn’t long before I noticed the sun was rising. Light permeated through some of the thinner leaves, giving the morning a dewy radiance. My eyes were heavy from lack of sleep, but I continued until I saw the green flag in the distance. Hanging on a tree branch, I cried out with excitement. Two down, one to go.
Feeling a hint of excitement, I continued after Oakus, who only stopped long enough for me to get the flag before starting again. I hadn’t gone more than a hundred feet when the holographic screen appeared, showing me another X next to Cohen’s name. Only Holly and I remained, and I still had one more flag to capture.
“We need to pick up the pace.” I thought of changing into my wolf again, feeling more confident about it. The thought was fleeting as something stepped on a branch a few feet away. I ran over to a bush and hid between it and a tree, hoping they couldn’t see me.
“Diana, we know you’re here,” Wyatt said and pushed his way through a giant fern until he was standing where I’d been only a moment before.
Fallon, Billie, and Penelope appear from different directions. They don’t know it, but they had me surrounded.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Billie said.
Oakus was at my feet, but he wasn’t hidden very well. No one knew he was my friend, which was good unless they saw him and tried to kill him.
“Where did she go?” Fallon asked.
“I swear she was right here,” Penelope added.
“This isn’t personal,” Fallon went on. His hands were on his hips, and he was turning in a circle.
Billie was looking up into the trees. Smart.
Wyatt didn’t move. He didn’t seem as anxious to capture me as the others, though he had to act like it. Desire jolted through me. Would it be worth it to let them win if I could be in his arms? In the same breath came a resounding no. I had to win. “She must’ve slipped past us,” he said. “Let’s go.”
Wyatt started toward me, and I clamped a hand over my nose and mouth. He and the others had better hearing than regular humans. As he walked past, he stopped and was about to look at me when Billie screamed.
A monster growled.
Oakus perked up his ears. It was then I knew he’d escaped his mom and come back to me, but now Kya was pissed. From the sounds of it, that was an understatement.
“Not again,” Wyatt said and swore, his eyes getting big before he shifted into his enormous black wolf.
Oakus took off, and I knew at that moment, my fight to win was over. Because I had to save Oakus, and I couldn’t let Kya hurt my friends.
As fast as I could think it, I shifted and burst from my hiding place.
Kya had Penelope by one leg, and she dangled in the air. In Kya’s other hand was Billie, her claws around the girl’s neck.
Fallon shifted and stood beside Wyatt, who seemed unsure of what to do. But only for a second before he ran at Kya, who stood probably twenty feet tall or more. It was like a great white shark against a seal. Even in our wolf forms, we were no match for the colossal monster.
Wyatt snarled, nipping and dashing around Kya, going in with his teeth before and backing up, reassessing, and going in again. He didn’t seem to be doing any damage.
Kya snarled in frustration, her big fangs opening as milky liquid dripped from them. When it landed on the ground, the leaves sizzled. Obviously, she was poisonous as well as gigantic. Kya brought Billie close to her mouth and flicked out her tongue, rolling it over the girl’s face.
Billie screamed and tried to shift, but Kya’s grip wouldn’t let her.
Penelope was able to shift and bit onto Kya’s hand, causing the monster to drop her.
Wyatt stood a ways back. He seemed to be waiting for something.
I glanced at him and then watched Oakus run up his mother’s arm, perching on one of her broad shoulders.
Get back to the Academy, he shouted into my mind. The others seemed to hear him too. I wasn’t sure if it was pack mentality or something else because I was no longer part of his pack. I was the enemy, the hunted while they were the hunters. It didn’t matter that the test was officially over. I still felt the difference between us.
Penelope took off.
I wasn’t going anywhere.
Wyatt was moving again. Growling and snapping. Spittle flinging from his mouth. His would could be really scary. Not to mention, he looked determined. Without a doubt, he intended to kill Kya.
I couldn’t let that happen. Lifting my head, I let out a howl and took off. As I went, a part of myself disentangled from my wolf. Yet a small part remained tethered like one of those helium balloons from the Thanksgiving parade I always watched on TV with my mom. Fallon said it was a monster, like those in the Shade, and I imagined something like Kya hovering over me. Could I control it? I wasn’t sure, but I had to make the fighting stop and hoped whatever was happening with me, it would end the battle.
Kya was winning, and that scared me. Leave them alone, Kya, I said, focusing on her and hoping the others couldn’t hear me.
You took my child, she returned. You aren’t worthy of the calling you’ve been given. She flung Billie away like the girl was stuffed with hay. None of you despicable humans deserve to live. I’ll kill you all.
I didn’t take him. Oakus found me. We are friends. I love him, and I care for you. Please don’t make me hurt you, I pleaded. At the same time, I thought my words sounded too arrogant. Could I hurt her? Something inside me said that I could kill her and all of them if given the proper motivation.
Moonlight is right. I’m sorry. I just wanted to help her finish her test, Oakus said into our minds. His voice was sad and scared.
Very well, Kya said. All of the fight went out of her.
That was good for my friends but bad for her.
Wyatt was still on the warpath, searching for her weakness, but I couldn’t let him hurt her any more than I could let her hurt him. I felt caught, unable to fully believe in either side—a painful place to be. But there was no time to internally debate, and I rushed between the monster and Wyatt. Lifting my head, I howled, pouring all of my anguish and worry and desperation into it. The sound was like nothing I’d ever heard before, and it lasted a long time.
When I stopped, I looked around. Kya, Oakus, and the others were gone, and I was alone. I’d scared all of them off. Was I more monster than even Kya?
At least no one was mortally wounded. I kept repeating that over and over. Oakus was with his mother, and they were both safe. Wyatt, Fallon, Penelope, and Billie were alive too.
Desperate to get out of the Shade, I took off running. I didn’t have a direction in mind, nor did I know whether I wanted to go home or back to the Academy. Everything inside my mind was jumbled, and I was afraid. Would the Academy accept me back after what I’d done? Twice I’d made sure a monster of the Shade wasn’t killed.
Things got worse when I sensed I was being hunted. They were spread out. Four of them, and I guessed it was probably the students. They’d regrouped and wanted to finish what they started and capture all of us.
I wouldn’t let that happen and picked up speed. Running felt amazing, like I could go on forever. As I went, I focused on those trying to get the best of me. The one directly behind me was gaining while the others were spreading out. I put my head down.
At some point, I heard the roaring of a nearby stream and slowed down in time to see that I was high above it. I glanced over the edge, admiring the sparkling of the water, and wondering if
this enormous body of water connected to the one where I’d nearly drowned.
The scent of my sweat and dirt filtered along the air, and I debated what to do. With my back to the cliff, I listened. There were two to my right. One coming at me from behind, and the fourth was on my left. I was pinned down. The only way of escape was to jump.
I faced the edge and peered over.
Don’t jump! Wyatt’s voice reverberated along my spine. Just let us bring you into the Academy. It’s part of the test. But if you jump, you could get hurt. He whined.
I turned back. Can I hear you because you’re supposed to be the Alpha?
No, it’s our blood bond, he responded slowly. I heard you speak to that monster. What does that make you? His tone was accusatory yet soft. Like he wasn’t sure what to think of me.
I was freaking out. When he told the Academy what I did, what would they do to me? What would my father think? Fear ratcheted along my veins.
Death. They would kill me. I knew that was what would happen. Either that or imprisonment? Or worse, they would torture and use me like a lab rat. That wasn’t an option.
My only alternative? Escape and stay in the Shade. Live as a wolf. That would be better than my perceived options.
Diana? Wyatt interrupted my thoughts.
I don’t know, I said, answering his question.
Let’s find out together. He moved closer. Even in wolf form, he stood taller than me.
As I looked into his eyes, I wanted to comply. I knew that however we were bonded, the two of us together would be beyond beautiful. At the same time, there was a fire inside that burned in my bones, telling me not to let him get the best of me. For the test, he was an enemy, but it felt more significant than that. I was so much more than our bond founded in blood. He was good looking, and he seemed nice. Beyond that, I didn’t know him. He meant nothing to me.
I can’t, I said and turned, leaping off the cliff and hoping I hadn’t just made the worst mistake of my life.
Chapter Fifteen
Wyatt
When Diana jumped off the cliff, she took a part of me with her. I rushed to the edge to verify she landed in the water. When I saw she did, I waited for her head to bob up. Wolves were good swimmers. It was innate in us. But she didn’t appear. Knowing her body would float downstream, I took off that direction, passing a confused Billie, and kept going until I was down the mountain and along the water’s edge.
Thoughts swirled through my mind. Had I killed Diana after all? Had it always been her fate to drown?
I didn’t want to believe—even though it freaked me out that she had a monster ghost within her, even though she talked to one of them, and even though she was a silver wolf—none of that mattered as long as she was okay.
Truth be told, I’d always believed the monsters of the Shade were so much more than vicious killers. When I trained to be a Rasa Keeper, they’d taught us differently, but I just knew that wasn’t true. Because how could our blood be descended from them, and they not be smart and able to think? What I’d seen between Diana and the monster she called Kya proved what I’d known.
That didn’t change the fact that I was freaking out. Plus, there was guilt. I’d killed one of the monsters in cold blood to prove myself even though I knew it was wrong.
When I reached the edge of the stream, I kept watching for her. The stream moved quickly, and I raced down to the end where there was a waterfall, hoping to catch her before she fell over.
“Diana!” I shouted her name every so often, desperate for her to hear me and tell me where she was. There was a part of me that wondered if she’d slipped from my view and crossed the river. She could be long gone. What would she do? Become part of the Shade—a monster like those that lived here.
No one else heard her, but I did, and I figured it was because of our blood bond.
As I continued to search the water and the shore for Diana, I debated what was wrong between us. Usually, a blood bond was like an aphrodisiac for the mind and body of those connected. At least that was what I’d been told. Plus, I’d seen it many times. In human form, the two bonded could barely keep their hands off each other, let alone be separated for long.
Sometimes I got the feeling Diana felt that way, but mostly she seemed on the verge of not interested. It was difficult because I had to continually make an effort not to touch her. If she wasn’t around, then she was in my thoughts. Hell, I even dreamed about her.
According to family and friends and even schoolbooks, that was how it should be. Yet, like everything else with Diana, it was different. I wished there was someone I could talk to about what was happening between us. Before, when it was my pack and me, talking to them would have been a no brainer. Sure there would’ve been copious amounts of teasing, but in the end, they would’ve offered me an opinion I could trust and use.
Since they became part of the Rasa Keepers, we were no longer in a pack. They were part of the warrior pack, and I was alone. Except I shouldn’t be. With the blood bond, I should never feel alone.
Up ahead, near the falls, I saw something floating in the water. Diana! I shouted her name in my head, demanding she hear me, but there was no movement.
The closer we got to the falls, the louder they became, so it was like a constant roar drowning out everything else. All of my senses were focused on helping Diana, and I jumped into the water, paddling over to her. She was shifted back into her human form, her body bobbing in and out of the water, her long blond hair dragging out behind her like silk.
The water was moving much faster than I expected. When I reached her, I shifted. “Diana,” I said, doing the gentlemanly thing and doing my best not to look at her naked body. She was glorious, and my body tightened at the sight of her. Grounding my teeth together, I shoved the lust away and rolled her onto her back, then put an arm across her chest and worked to swim us both back to shore.
Pretty quickly, I realized the current was too strong, and we were going to go over. When we got close, I pushed Diana away so I wouldn’t hurt her with a stray arm or leg.
The sound was so loud, the roaring seemed to be coming from inside my head, and we went over. For a brief moment, I had a feeling of elation. There was something about falling that sent a rush of adrenaline through my body. When I hit, it stung my body like a thousand hot needles. The water pushed me down, and I worked to find Diana and swim out. Away from the falls, the water was cold and still. I found Diana. She was coughing and sputtering. With a massive sigh of relief, I swam over to her.
“It’s okay,” I called out to her.
She quickly faced me, her light blue eyes studying me. “How did you get here?” she asked, working on getting to the edge.
I grabbed hold of her arm. Now that I knew she was safe, I was furious. “Where you go, I follow. If you drown, I drown. Your happiness, safety, and everything about you is my business from now until the end of my life. That’s the way it goes,” I said, hoping she would understand the devastation and seriousness of her choices. She didn’t speak, and I tucked some of her hair behind her ear. “It’s our blood bond. Don’t you feel it?” I was desperate to know that she felt for me what I was feeling for her.
We were treading water and my feet tangled with hers. She flinched and then relaxed as though something changed inside her. “I feel it,” she admitted. “But I don’t understand it. None of it. This! The tests. The Academy. The monsters. That I can shift and speak to them.” Tears fell onto her already wet cheeks. “I’m lost, Wyatt. There’s so much going on in here.” She tapped the side of her head. “I don’t know what to believe or even think. And now that everyone knows I can talk to them…” She let her voice trail off and looked away.
“Only I know you can do that,” I said softly, pulling her close to me. “And I won’t tell anyone.”
Her beautiful eyes searched mine. In my arms, she felt so fragile. Yet, I already knew she was stronger than most. “Why? Because of some stupid blood bond.”
“Th
at is definitely part of it. But let me explain something. The blood bond is very rare. There are thousands of wolf bloods in the world. Of those thousands, maybe four hundred are bonded the way you and I are. It’s a connection stronger than anything else.” I stopped, wondering if she understood the magnitude of what happened. “Loneliness no longer exists now that we have each other. At least there doesn’t have to be.”
Her face softened, and she wrapped her arms around my neck. “Kiss me,” she said.
The request confused me, but I wasn’t going to deny her. Holding her like this, I felt more right than I had in days. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” she said, leaning in, so our chests were touching.
I cupped her face in my hands, caressing her cheeks with my thumbs. Over the years, I’d had my share of girlfriends, but as I watched her watching me, I knew beyond doubt this was different and life-altering.
Diana pressed her hands against mine and leaned in.
Tenderly, our lips crashed into each other. And it was like magic. Fireworks and simmering heat and desire like I’ve never experienced. We separated, and she looked at me with wonder in her eyes. Relief and longing rushed through me. She felt what I did. This was real.
This time she reached out and pulled me to her, kissing me. I groaned, forgetting that I was trying to be careful around her. Trying to temper my feelings. They raced and bucked like wild horses. If we didn’t stop now, I doubted either one of us could.
Because I wanted her and she wanted me. With each kiss, each touch, the blood bond strengthened and solidified.
She deepened our kiss, pushing my mouth open and flicking her tongue inside. The sensation had me tightening and ravenous.
I wrapped my arms around her waist, so we were flush. Her legs wound across my hips. I kissed a trail down her neck to her collarbones, and she threw back her head. For the briefest moment, I froze, unable to help but admire her beauty and wanted to remember this moment.
Initiation (Wolf Blood Academy Book 1) Page 12