Henry pulled me into a hug and I breathed in. Being around him usually calmed me down, but I wasn’t having much luck finding that place of inner peace. “I said it once and I’ll say it again. This is the best place for you. It might take time to adjust to it but you’re not alone,” he whispered the words against the side of my head as he rubbed my back.
I stepped away from him and smiled, even if I didn’t feel like it. That was a very good point. This time I wasn’t alone, but it wasn’t like I could hang out with Henry and Michael whenever I wanted. “Do you have any classes?”
He shook his head. “I was groomed to work as part of the pack. I doubt that I’ll have much time for a normal job and Arturo pays me, so I don’t need to worry about that. Those who catch the eye of pack leaders usually end up being part of their packs. I’m sure you won’t have a problem.”
“And those who don’t?”
“That usually ends up being the ones who’ve been bitten. They stay close to the packs, but they have no leadership roles.”
That didn’t sound particularly fair, but I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t know anything about the history of Lycan or the hierarchy, but those who’d been bitten, infected with the gene seemed to be treated like second class citizens.
“Are you going to be okay?”
I nodded and smiled again. “I will be. You better show me where my classes are going to be. I don’t want to be late for my first day.”
Chapter Seven
Lycan, a History wasn’t the busiest class. A few kids who had to be roughly close to my own age glanced up from papers when I briefly knocked and then opened the door. The teacher, tall and rather pretty smiled at me warmly. Her long brunette hair was tied up in a messy bun and she wore a pair of trousers and a white shirt. There were several pens slipped into her bun like chopsticks. “Welcome to my class. I’m Cara Danvers and you must be Rachel, Arturo told me I should be expecting you. Please take a seat and open your book to page twelve.”
I managed a small smile before I darted for the first available seat I could see, one in the back. I didn’t make eye contact with any of the other students.
The class started and suddenly I noticed I wasn’t the only one who’d grabbed a seat in the back. Another girl looked at me with open curiosity. She was younger than me, well it was either that or she hadn’t seen the things I’d seen. I felt a lot older than sixteen. Being close to death did that to a girl. She smiled shyly at me and as the teacher started to talk she edged closer to me.
“I’m Gilly.”
“Hey.”
“You’re the new girl I’ve heard about.”
I bit back a sigh. I hated being the new girl. “What have you heard?”
Gilly shrugged. “Not much, I did hear that you were in London when that pack tried taking over. Arturo left here in a rush with his inner circle. I guess it had to be bad.”
“It was.”
Ms. Danvers was still talking, and I glanced down at the page we were supposed to look at. Gilly didn’t take it as a hint that I didn’t want to talk about. She raised her book, crossed her arms and hide behind it.
“You haven’t been bitten.” It wasn’t a question.
“How do you know that?”
“You still smell human. That means you’re an Alpha.” Her smile faded slightly. She moved away from me. It wasn’t obvious, but I still caught the slight shuffle to put space between us.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“It means that you probably don’t want to be friends. Our kind don’t mix.”
“Why would you want to be friends with me?”
“Nobody should spend their time in the academy alone. We’re wolves. It’s natural for us to pair up and make friends.”
Ms. Danvers coughed, and I glanced up to see that she was watching us. She cocked an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything before she went back to the page in the book. Gilly went back to looking at her book. There were two ways my time at the academy could go, but she had a point. I might have had my brother and Henry, but I needed someone else. After a few minutes. I lowered my voice and offered my hand. “I’m Rachel.”
Gilly looked between me and my hand. Seconds passed slowly like she expected me to snatch my hand away, before she reached out and took mine, shaking it. She smiled brightly at me.
“I’m glad to see you making friends Ms. Valentine. But I would prefer you keep the chatting till the end of class.”
I snapped my head up to see Ms. Danvers staring at me. A few of the other kids started to giggle and my face went hot. The urge to say something smart or snarky nearly overwhelmed me. Remember Rachel, you want to make a good impression.
Ms. Danvers growled, and the giggles stopped.
Wow, where do I learn that trick?
“She’s new to my class, guys, I won’t accept people making others feel bad because they don’t know my rules.” She turned back to the whiteboard and started writing on it. When she was finished, she turned around and put the top of the marker back on with a click. “You’ve got an hour to answer this question. This includes you as well, Rachel. I would really like the perspective of someone who comes here with a blank stare.”
I nodded as I looked at the question. How did the Lycan manage to keep themselves hidden from the outside world? Talk about personal experiences.
“The chapter we were just talking about covers some of the things our kind needed to do to keep hidden. You can have a look at that.” She turned back to the rest of the class. “You won’t be graded on this, but it is always good to be reminded how dangerous our world is and why it must never cross with theirs.”
After what felt like a lifetime passed, we were dismissed. I rubbed the bridge of my nose and looked back down at my paper. A few hundred words mocked me. I really didn’t know what she expected me to say. I hadn’t even known that I was an Alpha or what my mother had gone through to keep us hidden. I hadn’t wanted to give her an empty sheet back, so I scribbled down a few ideas. It probably sounded stupid to her, but talk about throwing a girl into the deep end. Ms. Danvers walked away the room and collected the papers before sending us on our way. Gilly fell into step next to me.
It made it easier to walk down the corridors with her next me. The light that came in through the window highlighted her unruly red curls which seemed to stick out in every direction. We spent a lot of the time talking about the school and she pointed out cluster of kids, which looked like mini packs to me. It was a lot like school which was equally sad and a little strange. I didn’t know why I was surprised. Television had ruined it all for me. The only thing that looked a little odd for an outsider was the group playing football on the pitch. I didn’t know if it was the same group from the night before, but it didn’t matter. If there was any doubt the academy was like my previous school, seeing the group on the field nearly moving faster than the eye could detect confirmed that I was somewhere very different.
“Are there any groups I should avoid?”
Gilly laughed. “Well I would suggest not interacting with any of the bitten. That’ll knock down your social status pretty quick.”
I smiled. “I’ve never been one to worry about being popular.”
Her smile dimmed slightly. She really wasn’t want I expected from one of the bitten. The ones that I’d met had been half crazed, more animal than human. Gilly seemed normal. I remembered that Henry told me it all depended on the Alpha. Either Jonas was insane and that infected his pack or Arturo was powerful enough to influence peace into his. I knew what I preferred.
“Seriously, Rachel. You think high school is tough. The groups here are more powerful and probably more terrifying. Arturo has forbidden fighting on the grounds, but accidents have happened.”
“Which means you don’t think that I can defend myself?”
“You said it.” Gilly sighed. “You can make much more powerful friends than me.”
I reached out and squeezed her hand before letting it go. “
Don’t worry about me. I might not be a full shifter yet, but I can defend myself.” I sounded more optimistic than I felt, but I didn’t want her to worry. I’d never been popular, and it hadn’t bothered me before. At the time, I’d had more important things to worry about than if I was going to be invited to the cool people’s parties. “And seriously, why would anyone be bothered by who I hang out with? Isn’t that my choice?”
“You’re an Alpha.”
I shook my head. “I’m still very much human and if I never take the bite I will always be human.”
Gilly sighed. “Okay, let me have a look at your planner, maybe we have some more classes together.”
I pulled my sheet out from the book I’d shoved it in and handed it over. Gilly told me that we had gym together and Art. It still marvelled that the Academy was a lot like a normal school. “I don’t have basics 101, but that’s a class which involves a lot of one on one chats. There’s enough time to grab something to eat and I’ll see if Jack and Sophia are around, so I can introduce you.”
“What do we go to after the classes?”
“Hang out in the rooms or the fields. There’s a movie room as well. The Academy is open to everyone we’re just not allowed into any of the classrooms when there aren’t lessons happening.”
“Are we allowed to leave the grounds?”
“Not really. That’s a privilege saved for the Alphas. The ones who can control the shift. I guess that means you can leave if you want to.” She was leading me back to the lunchroom and I grabbed an apple from a bowl as she glanced around the room. She waved at two people and grabbed me by the arms. I half stumbled after her. A girl and boy looked at me with open curiosity. They breathed in deeply and the curiosity gave way to confusion. They glanced between us as Gilly sat down and I followed suit.
“You know it’s probably rude to smell someone before introducing yourself.”
They both looked at each other. Were they communicating telepathically like me and Michael had?
Gilly coughed. “This is Rachel,” she said gesturing at me. “This is Jack.” She pointed at the boy who had hair which was as red as hers. “My brother and Sophia.” This girl had straight blonde hair which was long enough that it hung over her shoulders, she reminded me of a china doll, but I doubted she was as fragile as that. “She is Jack’s girlfriend.”
“You’re an Alpha.” It sounded like an accusation. Sophia glared at Gilly. “Why did you bring her to our table?”
“I prefer Rachel.”
Sophia snapped her head toward me. “What?”
“I said, I prefer Rachel and if you couldn’t tell from the sniff, I’m human still. Gilly is showing me around.”
“Didn’t she tell you that our kind don’t mix?” Jack spoke up.
“Jack!”
I didn’t need anyone to fight my battles for me. “Aren’t you tired of there being a divide? I really don’t know why there is one.”
The corner of Jack’s lips seemed to kick up into a snarl. “Your lot thinks that you’re better than us.”
I bit into the apple and studied him. There was lot of aggression there. How many people thought of it like that? “A few weeks ago, I didn’t know that any of this existed. And your sister seems pretty cool.” Gilly’s cheeks went red. “I don’t find making friends easy. I never have, but if she wants to be my friend I’m not going to tell her no. She told me that this place is better when you have people to hang out with. But I’m a little tired of hearing you tell me I can’t be friends with her because of what we both are. It doesn’t matter to me.”
Some of the anger left him. Sophia frowned. I remembered that someone told me that shifters could detect lies. Jack opened his mouth, but Sophia put her hand on his arm. “She’s telling the truth, Jack.”
A few uncomfortable beats passed. I continued to eat my apple. I’d never been a great fan of people and spent a majority of my time alone and it never bothered me. The Academy wouldn’t let me be that way. Gilly was right. I might not have known much about this world, but even I knew that wolves were pack animals. There were rogues, but I needed friends not more enemies. With one quick glance around the room, I noticed that a few people were looking in our direction. Some looked confused. Others angry. How many of Jonas’s pack were here? I assumed that there had to be a lot. Henry had told me there were a few places like the Academy, but this one was the closest to London. If the runaways Jonas had changed were going to go anywhere it would be here.
I continued to look around the room until I saw the boy and girl from yesterday. They were talking between themselves, but any doubt that they were talking about me went out of the window when they looked at me. I turned around. “Who are the two over there? The girl with the pink hair and the boy with the scowl?”
Gilly paled slightly and glanced over my shoulder.
“That’s Mags and Caine. They’re Alphas.” There was something to the way she said. Quietly and with a touch of dread that piqued my interest. “They’re not nice.”
“They’re not nice to us, Gilly, I think they’d like another Alpha to join their ranks,” Jack said pointedly, but Sophia hit him in the ribs and glared at him.
“I don’t think they really want to be my friend. If they look at their friends, the way they look at me I would hate to see how they look at their enemies.” I frowned. The back of my neck burnt as if they were staring at me with lasers. I fought against the urge to rub the back of my neck. Appearing weak would be a bad idea. Especially surrounded by wolves.
“Why don’t they like you?”
“I don’t know.” I smiled at them. “Maybe they don’t like my winning personality?” I didn’t really know why they didn’t like me. I hadn’t even had a chance to make a bad first impression yet.
They all shared a confused look before Gilly started to giggle. Sophia quickly dissolved into giggles as well and even Jack’s lips kicked up into a small smile. “It would be safer if you were their friends over ours.” I was really getting tired of this conversation, but Jack wasn’t finished. “But you’re welcome with us. You’re right. We’re all in the same boat and it shouldn’t be a case of Bitten against Alpha. I just wish all of your kind thought that way.”
Chapter Eight
The next few days passed by uneventfully. I went to classes and tried to catch up with everyone else. My new friends made that easier. Some of the tension had slowly vanished and I found myself having fun for the first time in a long time. Henry and Michael had been kept busy, but I still managed to see them for a few hours. My brother approved of my friends, but I got the impression that Henry wasn’t that impressed. He smiled and was polite, but he always only seemed to be half there. A distance seemed to grow between us and we spent less time together.
Besides the odd death glare Mags and Caine hadn’t approached me. Everyone seemed nice, but I kept to my own makeshift pack. A few weeks passed by. I slowly found my feet, but I had a feeling that was about to change as I got ready for gym. I slipped on my kit. A pair of shorts and a t-shirt. We didn’t have to wear trainers. Mr. Kyoto had said there wasn’t any point. We wouldn’t be learning football or netball. Classes which would have been typical at a normal school. Gilly warned me that this one involved fighting.
Gilly glanced at me, nervous waves of energy came from her. She twisted her fingers in a way that would have left a mark if she’d been human. We walked into the gym with a bunch of other girls. The vast space was used for a multitude of reasons, assemblies, for lunch and I’d even spotted a few of the girls taking dance lessons. For those that wanted to do outside sports, there was a basketball court at the back of the grounds and anyone who wanted to play football just picked a section of grass outside and got to it.
Curious, I glanced around the gym. There was a bunch of girls by one of the walls and I spotted the tell-tale pink of Mags’ hair. Mr. Kyoto stood in the middle of the room, his hands on his hips as he studied us. He didn’t say anything, but considering I was the new girl I
followed the others lead and we crowded around him. His black hair was slick and shiny against his scalp. It wasn’t greasy, but it looked like Mr. Kyoto hadn’t found a hair product he didn’t like to lather into his hair.
“Welcome, ladies. I know that I have a mix of pure, bitten and an Alpha who hasn’t taken the bite yet here,” he said as he looked at us and my cheeks burnt as he looked at me. “You might think that you are in the wrong classes. Surely you should be paired off with your own kind to learn this? Unfortunately, the real world doesn’t play by the rules. If you ever get into a fight with a stronger opponent in some cases it’ll be easy to run for it.” He smiled. “If you can. In other cases, you might try and fight. Who is the unbitten Alpha?”
I took a deep breath before I stepped forward. “That would be me.” I felt the other girls look at me.
He nodded. “Ms. Valentine. You have a slight advantage to the others.”
“I do?”
“Yes. You’ve had an eventful summer.”
People started to whisper, but went silent when he glared at them.
“You helped to stop a war, unless the rumours aren’t true. None of the others have combat experiences.”
“I helped, but I didn’t see how that will help in this class.” I knew how to fight, thanks to my dad and it was usually against someone much larger than me. I hadn’t fought against wolves. I’d been lucky, and people had under-estimated me, so they made silly mistakes.
“Step forward.” I did what he asked and waited as he looked over the class. “Mags, you can help with this exercise.”
He was going to make us fight?
The pink haired girl smiled as she stalked forward. The girls around her parted and Gilly had gone several shades paler. My stomach took a one-way trip to the bottom of my feet. I still didn’t know why she didn’t like me, but I had a feeling whatever was bugging her was about to be worked out. I took time in studying her. She was lighter on her feet and she clenched her hands into fists. She was also a pure wolf which meant she was stronger than me. She might try toying with me first, scaring me. How far would she push it?
Alpha (The Rachel Valentine Series Book 2) Page 5