Oath Breaker

by Shelley Wilson

  I wanted to run to his side but something inside me warned against it.

  The convulsing grew in intensity, and he looked like he had lost all control of his body. A ripping sound filled the air at the same time as a low, deep growl rumbled from the back of Cody’s throat.

  I was transfixed as I watched Cody’s clothing shred and fall to the ground. He cried out in pain but I willed my feet to stay put. There was nothing I could do to help him now. His hands stretched out in my direction as if he was reaching for me, but where his fingernails should have been, long claws broke through the skin. He arched his back and I watched the smooth, pallid skin disappear as his spine contorted and snapped into an alternative shape. His nakedness faded under a shiny coat of golden fur. His beautiful face distorted as a long snout and fangs tore through the flesh.

  The wolf snarled and flicked a long pink tongue over its teeth, sniffing the air as it uncurled to its full height. It cast its gaze across the clearing, looking at each of us in turn. I gasped as it looked at me. Its eyes hadn’t changed. They told me that Cody was still inside, and my heart played tug of war between fear and friendship. Felicity cowered beneath it as it grew to the size of a horse, but I saw the shift in her stance as her hunter instincts kicked in and she swung the staff at the werewolf. At Cody.

  In one fluid movement, the wolf pounced, its jaw wide open and the sharp fangs sparkling in the moonlight. Felicity collided with Cody and then screamed as he bit down on her shoulder, causing the staff to fall harmlessly out of reach. He didn’t let go and shook her like a rag doll. Blood sprayed across the clearing hitting my face. Elena yelled and grabbing her friend’s arm, they tried to make a run for the woods, but as I watched them abandon their leader to her fate, a row of eyes in the treeline halted their progress.

  I stood frozen to the spot as six huge wolves stalked out of the trees. The biggest was a dark brown wolf with massive paws and hazel eyes. It stopped and raised its head towards me, sniffing the air. I felt a trickle of fear along my spine as I remembered the last time I’d looked into those eyes. It was just after the creature tore my dad’s throat out. This fearsome beast that stood in front of me was the wolf that had saved my life. Suddenly all the pieces fell into place.

  ‘Zak?’ I whispered.

  Elena and her companion were hysterical and remained huddled together as they backed away from the advancing wolves. I wondered if Miss Ross would reprimand them for crumbling under pressure.

  Zak padded forward and stood over Cody. The difference in their size shocked me. I had thought that human Cody was tall but seeing his wolf form beside the towering form of an alpha put the whole leader-of-the pack vibe into perspective. His dark brown fur shimmered in the moonlight, and I could make out the lines of the muscles on his limbs. His paws were as big as dinner plates and thumped the ground with a resounding echo that vibrated through our bones.

  He growled and his long snout crumpled up to reveal the deadliest fangs I’d ever seen. A low, deep rumble came from his throat, and Cody bobbed his golden head up and down, dumping a bleeding Felicity on the ground.

  She scrambled away from the wolves, blood pouring from her shoulder. Elena helped the redhead regain her footing as she reached the stone wall. Felicity took a shuddering breath and vomited over her friend’s shoes, tears shining in her wide eyes. Their faces turned towards the wolves in terror, but I found myself in a state of fascination rather than fear. Surrounded by wolves, I faced the three girls.

  ‘You better leave, Felicity, before anyone else gets hurt.’

  ‘Oh, someone is going to get hurt when my father hears about this.’

  There was no doubt in my mind that her father would indeed hunt Zak and his pack for harming his daughter, but that was a worry to assess at a later time. Right now, my main aim was to get rid of the girls before they provoked the wolves into another attack.

  A rustling to the left of the wall echoed through the clearing and a group of shadowy shapes emerged out of the darkness. I noticed Miss Ross immediately as she planted her feet in a defensive stance and appraised the sight in front of her. Elizabeth, Adam and a couple of students I recognised stepped into the clearing, armed with staffs and crossbows, and on seeing the blood and disarray around them they all assumed a defensive position ready for a fight.

  I crept forward, not wanting to startle the wolves, and held out my good arm, suspending my hand in a lame attempt to stop Miss Ross and the pupils from advancing. Zak and Cody backed away until the wolves were on the edge of the treeline and I stood between them and my fellow students.

  ‘Please, Felicity needs a doctor. Just get her out of here.’ I hoped that by showing compassion for the redhead I would be able to give the wolves some time to retreat.

  Miss Ross nodded at a couple of students on her left who broke away to escort Felicity and her friends away from the clearing. Felicity’s high-pitched voice carried through the night sky as she swore and berated Miss Ross’s methods, asking her chaperon why they hadn’t run in and killed the wolves on sight.

  ‘Step aside, Mia.’ Miss Ross’s voice was calm and steady but her eyes told a different story. ‘They attacked a student and need to be dealt with.’

  ‘No! They were defending themselves. It was Felicity who attacked them. She locked me in the cages and used me as bait. They were just trying to protect me.’

  As my teacher digested this new information, Sebastian burst through the bushes brandishing a shotgun. The wolves growled as one and the sound caused the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end. Zak took a step forward and snarled, lowering his head and immense shoulders as if in readiness to pounce.

  ‘Stop it!’ I shouted. Sebastian halted in his tracks as his gaze fell upon the circle of wolves.

  I turned to look at Zak. He lifted his ginormous head and blocked out the moon in the sky.

  ‘Please, they’re my friends,’ I whispered.

  He nodded his huge head and let out a low rumble. One by one the wolves disappeared into the trees. Cody lingered until last and only left when Zak huffed at him to move.

  I heard the intake of breath from Elizabeth, Adam and Sebastian as they sucked air into their lungs, relieved to have evaded a brutal battle.

  With the wolves safely out of the area and Felicity on her way to the hospital wing, I was able to assess what had just happened. It hit me like a steam train and I dropped to my knees feeling drained.

  Elizabeth rushed to my side and yelped when she spotted the crossbow bolt sticking out of my shoulder. Cody’s jacket had hidden it from view, but now that I had time to think about it, I started to feel a little light-headed and nauseous. Yes, I was definitely going to vomit. I bent over and coughed my guts up onto the dirt floor.

  ‘I don’t feel so good,’ I said to Elizabeth as the darkness began to push at the corners of my mind. In the blurriness, I saw figures approaching me and felt Adam’s strong arms under my legs and shoulders. I felt weightless as I drifted off into a deep sleep.

  THE STRONG SCENT of antiseptic roused me from a silent, dreamless sleep, and I rubbed at my nose to try to clear the smell. My eyes fluttered open but the lights were so bright it took me a while to focus.

  I glanced around the sterile room of the hospital wing, remembering the events that had landed me here. Instinct made me reach for the bolt in my shoulder but it was gone. I was strapped up tightly and dressed in a highly unattractive blue jumpsuit.

  ‘Good morning, Miss Roberts.’ A wrinkly-faced doctor walked through the open doorway and grabbed my wrist. He pressed ice-cold fingers to my pulse point and monitored the second hand on his wristwatch. ‘You are very lucky to be alive, my dear. You lost a lot of blood.’

  I huffed, not quite sure I wanted to commit to any conversation at this early stage in our acquaintance.

  ‘If you’re up to it, I have a couple of visitors for you.’

  I looked over his shoulder and spotted Elizabeth and Adam waiting in the corridor. I couldn’t stop a wide g
rin and Dr Wrinkly took that as an invitation. He waved my friends into the room and scribbled something on a chart attached to the end of my bed before leaving us alone.

  We waited until he had gone before speaking and then we all rushed to say something at once.

  ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘Does it hurt?’

  ‘Thanks for everything.’

  We laughed and I let my shoulders relax against the starched hospital pillow.

  ‘I’m so glad you guys are okay.’

  Elizabeth sat on the end of my bed and started fiddling with the hem of a blanket.

  ‘What’s going on, Lizzie?’

  I looked across the bed at Adam who also kept his head lowered.

  ‘Adam?’

  ‘Felicity has been running her mouth off about you and Cody,’ he said. ‘Although Sebastian has tried to cover up any link.’ He stood up and began pacing around the room. ‘He’s told everyone that you were seduced by Cody so that the wolves could try and learn the academy’s secrets.’

  I gawped at him.

  ‘Your uncle has told the governors and the students that the wolves weren’t able to get the information from you because you were actually working with him to capture another wolf for experimentation.’

  ‘Oh my God, and people believe him?’ I was horrified.

  ‘Yes, the governors have no reason to doubt him, and the students believe pretty much anything they’re told.’

  ‘Everyone’s going to think I’m either a failed werewolf hunter or a traitor for breaking the school’s oath.’

  ‘Sebastian was only doing what he thought was right,’ Adam said. ‘He’s really messed up about the whole thing and has hardly left your side since we brought you in here last night.’

  A flicker of warmth stirred in the pit of my stomach at Adam’s words. Sebastian cared and it felt strangely comforting.

  ‘He’ll be coming to see you soon but don’t let on that we told you.’

  ‘I’ll try not to,’ I said, wondering if I could honestly refrain from shouting at him when he did arrive.

  I DIDN’T REALISE that I’d drifted off to sleep until I heard the faint sound of a chair leg scraping across the floor. I opened my eyes and saw Sebastian heading for the door.

  ‘You don’t have to go,’ I whispered.

  He whirled around at the sound of my voice. His face was unshaven and he wore jeans and a jumper instead of his usual smart suit, collar and tie.

  ‘Oh, Mia, are you okay?’

  I wriggled up to a sitting position and let him take hold of my hand.

  ‘I’m fine, just a bit groggy and sore.’

  ‘If anything happened to you I would never be able to forgive myself.’

  I stopped myself from saying anything too harsh by biting my bottom lip. Instead, I offered a weak smile.

  ‘You mean the world to me, Mia.’

  I examined his face, noting the dark smudges beneath his eyes. It looked like he hadn’t slept in days. Gone was the strong, confident man who had walked into my life only a few weeks ago.

  ‘When did you last have a good meal and sleep through the night?’ I asked him, surprising myself with the intensity of emotion that welled up inside me.

  ‘It’s been a testing time for the academy lately but it’ll all work out for the best.’

  ‘Best for who? You or the academy?’

  He huffed and squeezed my fingers between his hands.

  ‘You are so much like your mother, Mia. She was so full of compassion and hope for a better future, but not everyone thinks the same way.’

  ‘If you’re talking about Felicity’s father, I understand that. His little princess made it quite clear why he has invested in the school. He wants to kill all the wolves—no exceptions.’

  Sebastian lowered his head until it was resting on my fingers. I had the strangest urge to stroke the top of his head with my free hand.

  ‘I can’t…escape his hold,’ he mumbled.

  I wasn’t sure what he was talking about and was about to suggest that he explain himself when he suddenly broke down. Tears soaked the bed linen as his shoulders shook with the release. I was stunned into silence. I’d never seen an adult cry. My dad hadn’t even shed a tear at my mum’s funeral.

  ‘It was my fault, Mia. She’d still be alive if I’d waited until the serum was ready.’

  He was babbling but I could make out every word and they chilled me to the bone.

  ‘When your mother was injured, I sat by her bedside, just like I’m here with you now, and I willed her to get better, but she didn’t. She got worse every day. The serum had taken away all her healing abilities and there was nothing I could do to help her.’

  I knew that the reason my mother died was because she couldn’t fight off the venom from Joel’s bite. I’d read that much in her file. But why was he spilling this to me now?

  He let out another wracking sob and carried on talking. ‘When she passed away, I needed to cover it up, to save the academy and my work. Felicity’s father said he could help. He had connections with the police commissioner. He helped me hide the truth.’

  I clenched my free hand into a tight fist. That’s how Felicity had known so much about me and my family when I first arrived at Hood Academy. Her dad had been blackmailing Sebastian for nearly ten years.

  ‘Do they know that you’re my real dad?’

  Sebastian gave a small hiccup and lifted his head. His eyes were awash with unshed tears. His mouth dropped open as he struggled to find the words which eluded him. It told me everything I needed to know. He hadn’t expected me to say that.

  ‘No... It can’t be true.’

  ‘I’m afraid it is. Mum confided in Miss Ross and she was the one who told me. She thought I had a right to know.’

  ‘I…I half suspected at the time, but Cassie was trying to make it work with Frank, so I told myself that you must be my brother’s child.’

  ‘Well, I’m not. I’m your daughter.’

  He released my fingers and ran his hands through his hair.

  ‘What do we do now?’ It only dawned on me in that moment that Sebastian might not want a daughter. Running the school and keeping his distance from the teenage element might be his only ambitions. He might not want to be a father to me, and I didn’t think I could cope with anyone else rejecting me.

  He stood up and walked around the room, rubbing a hand over the stubble on his chin.

  ‘We need to find out which DNA is the most prominent.’

  I blinked. Not what I was expecting to hear from my new dad.

  ‘With any luck you’ll have inherited my hunter DNA, but I don’t want you to worry, Mia. If you do have your mum’s genes, we can fix that.’

  I watched him pace back and forth as I chewed over his words. A bubbling of dread began to inch its way up my spine as I understood his intentions.

  ‘You’re not going to do any experiments on me, Sebastian.’ I folded my arms across my chest and fixed him with my sternest glare.

  ‘I can help you,’ he said, returning to sit beside me and take my hand.

  ‘You’re not listening. I don’t want your help, I’m perfectly happy as I am.’

  ‘Your mother would have wanted this.’ He continued talking as if I hadn’t said anything. ‘She hoped that I could cure Zak of his lycanthropy prior to him turning for the first time, but I was too late. Joel Mills got to him first and he was lost to us.’

  ‘Zak isn’t lost,’ I said quietly. ‘He’s the pack leader.’

  ‘I had hoped that the pack would scatter after Mills was killed. It would have been so easy to cure the entire group, but I hadn’t expected them to rally round Zak and assign him as the alpha so quickly. He was so young.’

  I was still reeling from his statement about the death of Cody’s parents.

  ‘Did you have something to do with Joel’s death?’

  Sebastian fell silent. The darkness in his eyes told me everything I needed to know, but I wanted
to hear the words. I wanted my dad to admit what he was.

  ‘He killed your mother,’ Sebastian said in a brisk, matter-of-fact tone. ‘Or at least his venom did.’

  I flung the covers off my legs and swung them over the side of the bed. Jumping to the floor, I began to back away from Sebastian.

  ‘Did you kill them?’ I asked him again.

  The silence stretched out between us until eventually he answered. ‘Yes, I killed them.’

  My hands began shaking as I balled them into fists at my sides. My head ached from the pressure of hearing all of Sebastian’s revelations.

  He knocked the chair to the floor with a swipe of his hand and made me jump.

  ‘Joel Mills was a ruthless man who made your mother’s life a living hell. He denied us the future we deserved, Mia. We could have been a proper family.’

  I couldn’t deny that the idea of a happy home with loving parents appealed, but killing people to get them out of the picture wasn’t the way to achieve it.

  ‘Cody thought his parents were killed in a car accident. You pulled the same trick with the Mills family as you did when Mum died. Did Felicity’s father cover that one up as well?’

  Sebastian remained quiet.

  Anger roared through my veins, and I wanted more than anything to escape this hospital room and Sebastian’s company, but he was standing between me and the door.

  ‘I want you to leave,’ I said.

  He dropped his gaze to the floor and I watched his shoulders slump.

  ‘I’m sorry, Mia. Please understand that everything I do is executed with the right intentions.’

  ‘Everything you’ve done, you mean.’ I had an uneasy feeling in my gut.

  He looked up at me then, but there was no emotion in his eyes. Before I could question his words he had backed out of the door. He closed it behind him and I heard the definitive click of the key in the lock.

  ‘No!’ I ran to the door and tried the handle. Locked. He had actually locked me in the hospital room.

  Shit.

  I frantically looked around for a window but the room didn’t have one. There was only one explanation for the lack of a window—the hospital wing was in the basement of the academy and probably very close to Sebastian’s laboratory. I’d survived the cruelty and horrors of living with a physically abusive father, and now I was going to die by the hand of my biological and utterly psychotic father.