Jax's Rebellion (Coalition Training Academy #1)

by Stephani Hecht

  He thought about screaming, but he knew it wouldn’t do any good. With all the noise from all the returning students, there was no way that anybody was going to hear him. His gaze landed on a large red lever on one of the far walls. It was the fire alarm. If he pulled it then the adults would surely come.

  He started to run to it. Then a tall figure stepped out from behind a stack of mats. Jax froze, his heart going to his throat. He had been even more stupid than he’d thought. It never occurred to him that whoever had harmed Alvus might be hanging around.

  The assailant wore all black and had a mask on. Jax couldn’t even tell if it was a male or a female. He did know they were big, a lot larger than he was. Worse, they’d already proven they were dangerous. Even though Alvus may be young, it couldn’t have been easy to take him out. Jax didn’t stand a chance.

  The figure brought up their fist. Jax tried to prepare himself for the blow. It was no use. He saw the fist coming for his face. Pain exploded through his head, and Jax fell to the ground. All he could think of was how he’d failed Alvus and now they were both going to die

  Chapter Nine

  It hurt. Oh, God it hurt so damn bad. Jax could feel himself on the verge of passing out. There was even a darkness coming from the sides of his vision, again, just like he’d read about in books.

  He was going to die right there in the middle of the training room, the very place where he was supposed to have learned to protect himself from what had just happened to him. The irony was not lost on Jax. In fact, if he could have, Jax might even have given a sardonic laugh.

  No! He was not going out this way. If he did, he would only be proving all the doubters right. He could almost hear his father’s voice in his head. The old man was mocking him, telling Jax that he wasn’t anything more than a bitch.

  Fuck that!

  Jax planted his hands on the ground then slowly pushed himself up. The masked figure moved in. Whoever it was had their hand up, getting ready to hit Jax again. The fist, once more, descended upon him.

  At the very last moment Jax rolled over. The fist missed his face, but connected with his shoulder. Pain shot down his arm. Jax gritted his teeth and pushed passed it. He swept his foot out, making contact with the attacker’s legs. They let out a loud grunt. It definitely sounded like a male. The assailant fell to the ground.

  Jax arched his back then kicked his legs out. He’d seen Alvus, Ava, and Philip use this tactic numerous times to get up. It looked pretty impressive. Jax had tried to do it before, but all he’d managed to do was look like a fish flopping on the mat.

  To his shock, he actually pulled it off. For a moment he stood there, stunned. Then he remembered that he was literally fighting for his life and got his head back in the game. He got into his fighting stance as the attacker got to his feet.

  The male tried to punch Jax. Luckily, all of Jax’s practice finally kicked in. He neatly deflected the blow. He brought his own fist up. He made contact with the attacker’s ribs. The male let out another grunt of pain then doubled over.

  Jax didn’t stick around for a victory lap. He started to run to the wall so he could pull the fire alarm. He wasn’t a fool. He knew he could only fight off the male for so long. Before long, Jax would be laid out on the ground, just like Alvus.

  Jax was so close to the lever. He wanted to look back to see if the attacker had gotten up, but he didn’t dare. He needed to keep focused on his task. If he paused at all he would fail, and he could not fail. He would be letting down Alvus, and despite their argument, Jax really liked the guy.

  The wall was within leaping distance, so that’s what Jax did. He used all of his remaining strength and jumped. His fingers contacted the lever. He pulled it down. As the alarm started to ring out, two gunshots filled the air.

  Jax felt a stinging pain in his lower back and right thigh. Shit, he’d been hit. Now their only hope was that help would come before the attacker decided to finish off Alvus and him. Jax tried to stand, but his leg instantly gave out.

  He began to do an army crawl toward the door. His back and leg felt like they had been blown apart. Each movement made him want to scream in agony. He didn’t want to give the assailant that satisfaction, though, so Jax gritted his teeth together and continued his slow move.

  He was still several feet from the door. He knew deep down that he wasn’t going to make it. Crap, this was not the way he’d imagined that he’d kick it. He thought it would be in the glory of battle, not during his first week at the Academy.

  The attacker walked over until he was in front of Jax. Jax looked up in horror. Yet, to his surprise, a low growl slipped past his lips.

  “Nice try, Kid. I almost feel bad I have to kill you,” the male said.

  “Go fuck yourself,” Jax snarled.

  “He was wrong. You do have some fight in you.”

  Jax had no idea who the male was referring too. Alvus could have said something before he’d been taken down, but that didn’t make any sense. He had no idea Jax would be coming back to the training room. So, the assailant had to be talking about somebody else.

  Then a horrifying realization hit him. The attacker was there to take Jax out. Alvus had just gotten in the way. If Jax hadn’t returned to the training room, the assailant would have just hidden. Jax probably would have been killed in his bed.

  The attacker raised his gun then trained it on Jax’s head. Jax refused to lower his gaze. If he was going to die, he refused to do it while cowering. He wasn’t the coward he’d always believed himself to be. He might be small, yet he’d fought back. He’d even almost gotten away.

  There was a loud roar followed by a flash of black. The assailant let out a scream as he was brutally knocked to the ground. Jax gasped as he realized his savior was a Panther.

  The Panther ripped out the attacker’s throat. After that, the male let out a few gurgles before his body went still. Jax heaved a sigh of relief. Normally, the sight of a giant feline munching on somebody would have turned his stomach. At that moment, however, he couldn’t be happier.

  The Panther shifted, and Jax saw that it’d been Logan who had come to his rescue. Jax laid his head down on the floor. He really didn’t want to because there was a lot of blood around, a good bit of which was his. He just didn’t have the strength to keep it up anymore.

  He heard a high-pitched scream. He looked toward the door and saw Ava standing there. She was trying to rush in, but Keegan was holding her back. Her face was stained with tears. Jax had never seen her that upset. It made him wish he had the energy to reassure her somehow.

  Andrew came running in. He went over to Jax then knelt down by his side. Andrew put a hand on Jax’s shoulder and gave it a soft squeeze.

  “Don’t move. We have medics coming,” Andrew said.

  “I fought him off. Even though I’m small. I can do it, after all,” Jax said.

  He fully realized he was babbling, but he couldn’t help himself. For some reason he was feeling almost high. His hands and feet were all tingly, plus he was lightheaded. He had an overwhelming urge to go to sleep, which was odd. After all the excitement, he should have been super hyped.

  “Tell Ava I’m fine. I don’t like it when she cries, not that I’ve ever seen her do it before. This is the first time. She’s really tough,” Jax continued with his verbal diarrhea. “She always kicks my ass.”

  “Shhh…don’t talk anymore. You need to save your strength,” Andrew said.

  “I’m okay. It doesn’t even hurt anymore. Go help Alvus. He’s worse off than I am.”

  “Logan is taking care of Alvus. You just worry about yourself.”

  “You don’t understand. It’s my fault he got hurt. I think that guy was here to kill me. I don’t know why, though. I’m nobody. It doesn’t make sense. Why me?” Jax asked.

  He wanted to think the situation through, to figure out what he’d done that was so wrong. He couldn’t, though. His mind was so fuzzy and all he wanted to do was sleep. Maybe if he just took a q
uick nap then he’d wake up refreshed and could figure the whole damn thing out.

  “I’m going to sleep for a bit. Wake me up in a half hour,” Jax mumbled.

  “No, you need to stay awake until the medics get here,” Andrew ordered.

  “You don’t need to yell at me. You guys do that way too much. Like every morning Logan pounds on the wall and screams until we get out of bed. Hasn’t he ever heard of a gentle shaking?”

  “I’ll have a chat with him about that. I’ll be quieter if you promise not to go to sleep,” Andrew offered.

  “Deal.”

  Jax had a lot more to say, but a group of medics came rushing in. Before Jax knew it, they were sticking an IV in his arm. He would have protested but for some strange reason it didn’t hurt, which was odd. Usually he was a big baby when it came to needles, yet he couldn’t be bothered at that moment. All he wanted to do was to get some damn sleep.

  “He’s going into shock. We need to get him to the infirmary right away,” one of the medics called out. “Somebody call Doc Featherstone and let him know what we have coming in.”

  Jax told himself they must be talking about Alvus. Jax was doing fine. Sure he might have been shot, but it didn’t hurt so it couldn’t be too bad. They were making a huge deal out of nothing.

  “Start another IV. We need to get some fluids in him STAT. His blood pressure is bottoming out. He’s bleeding out,” another medic said.

  They rolled Jax over. It was then he felt a large surge of pain. It was so bad for a moment he saw spots. He tried to yell, but all that came out was a squeak, which didn’t exactly get him any macho points.

  They started another IV then put him on a stiff board and strapped him into place. When they finally picked him up, Jax reached out and grabbed Andrew’s hand. It wasn’t like they were close or anything, but Jax didn’t want the instructor to leave his side.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll be by your side the entire way,” Andrew said.

  Jax let out a sigh of relief. He knew he was being a baby, but he desperately wanted a familiar face around him. He sure as hell knew that his parents wouldn’t come. His father would probably laugh at the whole situation. His mother would be worried, but she would never cross his father. He could die, and she would still refuse to side with him.

  He was placed on a gurney, and they began to rush him through the halls. As they passed Ava, she reached out and briefly touched Jax.

  “I’m calling Daddy Shane. He’s going to find out if there’s anybody else behind him and I’ll tell him to kill them,” she promised.

  “Cool,” Jax replied.

  For some reason his voice sounded slow and loopy. It was like what he seen on TV when humans got drunk. It struck him as funny, and he let out a goofy sounding laugh. He would have tried to say more to Ava but they were already down the hallway.

  He closed his eyes and suddenly he was in the infirmary. A tall doctor with long, dark hair was waiting for them.

  “It figures. It’s my turn to cover the night shift, and somebody had to find trouble,” the doctor said.

  “Hey, it’s not my fault. Plus, Alvus is hurt, too,” Jax protested.

  “Be quiet and try to stop bleeding,” the doctor ordered.

  “M’kay,” Jax said.

  They transferred him over to the hospital cot. Jax could feel his eyelids growing heavy. He knew that he should try to stay awake, but he couldn’t fight it any longer. He finally gave into the darkness. His last thought was of Alvus. Jax hoped his friend was going to be okay. He didn’t know if he could live with himself if Alvus died.

  *

  When Jax next opened his eyes, the first thing he thought of was how quiet things had become. He was lying in a bed, but he was no longer surrounded by a crowd. The next thing he noticed was that he hurt so much.

  His lower back was throbbing, and his thigh felt like somebody had stuck a firecracker in it. He tried to move but doing so made the pain much worse. He even let out a small whimper.

  “Hey, try to stay still. You just got out of surgery,” a familiar voice said.

  “Andrew?” Jax asked.

  Andrew moved closer so Jax could see him. The usual stern expression was gone from Andrew’s face. He even smiled a bit. He reached down and grabbed Jax’s hand.

  “You’re going to be okay. Doc Featherstone had to take you into surgery, and he was able to take out the bullets. You’re going to be hurting for a while, but nothing major was damaged. You’ll make a full recovery. Before you know it, you’ll be back in the training center and Logan will be kicking your ass,” Andrew said.

  “How’s Alvus?” Jax asked.

  “He’s doing fine. They had to put stitches in his head, but otherwise he’s fine. You were injured more than he was.”

  “But he was knocked out.”

  Andrew shot a “duh” look. “And you almost died. If Logan had arrived just a few moments later, you would have bled to death. You had not one, but two serious gunshot wounds, yet you managed to fight back and get help. Don’t let this go to your head, but you were pretty amazing. And this is coming from a fellow little guy.”

  “Yeah, I asked around about you and found out how amazing you are in battle. I know others keep saying I’m a lot like you, but that’s not true. I can never be even close to who you are.”

  Andrew cocked a brow. “Did you just hear what I said about you? The reason why Alvus is alive is because of you. You managed to fight off a full grown Assassin, yet you’ve only been in the Academy for a week. I don’t think any other soldier would have been able to do that.”

  Jax gasped as his heart thudded. “Did you just say Assassin, as in a trained killer?”

  “Yeah, I wouldn’t lie about something like that.”

  “But, why would a hired killer be coming after me?” Jax asked. “Better yet, why would anybody want to murder me? I know I can be annoying at times, but I don’t think I’ve pushed anybody that far.”

  “I know who did it,” a voice said.

  Jax swallowed hard as he turned and saw that it was Mitchell who had spoken. The leader did not look happy at all, either. In fact, Jax would say he was downright pissed. Sure, Jax might not know the male that well, but his eyes were dark with fury, his hands were clenched into fists, and a vein was throbbing at his temple, all not good signs.

  “Who was it?” Jax asked.

  “It was your father,” Mitchell said. “We think he’s the one who hired the Assassin.”

  Well, damn.

  Chapter Ten

  Jax couldn’t speak. He couldn’t think. Hell, he couldn’t even blink.

  His heart was pounding so loud it almost made his head hurt. He kept trying to suck in air, but his lungs wouldn’t work. He could feel his eyes water, and he wanted to stop himself from crying, but he couldn’t control it. A tear slipped free then slid down his cheek.

  “Are you okay?” Andrew asked.

  Jax gave a slow shake of his head. How could he be okay? He’d just found out his own father had tried to kill him. That had to rank up there as one of the worst things that had ever happened to him.

  “Did he tell you that he wanted me dead?” Jax finally found his voice.

  “He and you mother have run. I sent soldiers to their home to talk to them, and it was empty. All the closets were emptied. The furniture is still there, but that’s probably because they left so quickly,” Mitchell said.

  “Are you sure it was him? I mean, mistakes can be made, right?” Jax asked.

  He hated the fact his voice sounded so tiny, just as he hated the fact he couldn’t stop frigging crying. But his whole world was crumbling around him, and there was no holding back the flood of emotions that were hitting him.

  He felt so betrayed, so hurt, so…alone. His mother had to have known what his father had done—maybe not beforehand, but certainly when they ran. Jax knew she’d always sided with his dad before, but this was huge.

  “We managed to identify the Assassin who tried to k
ill you. We hacked into his bank records and saw your father wired some money into his account,” Mitchell said. “Shane is more than a little pissed. Actually, I haven’t seen him this worked up in a while. Whether you know it or not, he really likes you.”

  Jax shook his head. “Nah, he’s just upset because Ava is probably all worked up.”

  “I think that’s only part of it. Sure, he would turn the world on its end for her, but he didn’t like it that you were hurt. Plus, it dents his ego that another Assassin got to the school. He told me that he should have known something was up.”

  Jax blinked in surprise. “But, how could he? He doesn’t even live here. He can’t know everything.”

  “Try telling him that. The only thing that is making him happy is that Carson is even more pissed off at the situation.”

  That was the second time the leader had mentioned that name.

  “Who’s Carson?” Jax asked.

  “He’s our head IT guy and also in charge of security. He had this place locked up tight, yet that Assassin still managed to slip through.” Mitchell ran a hand through his hair. “He’s going to drive himself to exhaustion trying to figure out how that happened. We all are. Your father should have never been able to get to you. Even if he had to hire a trained killer to do so.”

  “I knew that my dad didn’t like me, but why would he want me dead?” Jax shook his head. “It’s because I joined the Academy. Isn’t it?”

  Mitchell sat down on the end of Jax’s bed. “This is in no way your fault. Your father is a psychopath. Eventually, he would have found another reason to act this way toward you. He wanted to have complete control over you. He’s always been that way. I’ve known him since we went to school together. In fact, he was once a student of the Academy himself.”

  Jax jerked his head up in shock. “What? How come I didn’t know about this before?”

  Mitchell sighed. “I thought he told you. Even if I had known he hadn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to divulge that information to you. As a member of the Coalition, I had to respect his privacy when it came to official matters. Now that he’s a criminal, that’s no longer the case. I’m officially banning him, and I’m sending out my best trackers to hunt him down.”