by Cheree Alsop
The entire crowd watched the tiny werewolf pick his way through the students to stand in front of Alex. No one had ever denied an Alpha’s Choosing. Alex felt a deeper respect for the brave student.
“Welcome to the pack,” he whispered.
“Thanks,” Pip replied, relief clear in his voice.
Three more times, werewolves chosen for other packs declined only to accept Jericho’s Choosing. By the end, Alphas were glaring at the members they chose in case the person dared to decline. Alex felt a stir of satisfaction in his chest at the thought that everyone in Jericho’s pack wanted to be there. It was the strangest Choosing Ceremony he had ever been to, and that was saying a lot because he had been to them all.
“The Choosing Ceremony is over,” Kaynan declared when all students had taken their places with their packs. Boris and Torin had one more werewolf in each of their packs, and everyone else stood at fifteen. The packs were a lot larger than Alex was used to. “Pack quarters have been assigned within the dormitory wing. Take this time to find your quarters, get settled, and get to know one another before the dinner bell rings.”
“I take it that was an unusual Choosing Ceremony,” Jericho said as soon as they left the Great Hall.
“You can say that again,” Terith replied, her blonde hair bouncing on her shoulders. “I’ve never seen Torin so upset! You’ll have to watch your back after taking Amos, Alex.”
“I watch Alex’s back,” Amos replied, his deep voice a low rumble that vibrated through Alex like a bass drum.
Alex was surprised by the hulking werewolf’s offer. “Uh, thanks, Amos,” he replied.
“No one pick on my pack,” Amos said.
Terith slipped her hand into the older werewolf’s. His fingers engulfed hers as if she was a child. He smiled down at her fondly like she was a puppy.
“Careful,” Trent, Terith’s brother, warned.
“It’s okay,” Terith replied, skipping beside Amos. “He’s in our family now, right Amos?”
The big werewolf gave a huge smile, the first Alex had ever seen on his face. “Right.”
“We ruffled a few feathers, huh?” Jericho asked quietly so only Alex could hear.
Alex nodded. “A few. First of all, even though it’s allowed, no werewolf has ever denied a Choosing, and second, we’ve mixed Lifers and Termers. That never happens.”
Jericho was silent for a few minutes as they made their way up the wide staircase and took the left wing to the dormitories. The long dormitory hall had names inscribed on the doors. Torin and Boris had the first two residences across the hall from each other. That always led to a few scuffles. Alex and Jericho continued down the hall with their pack behind them. They passed the other rooms set in the same order as the Choosing, and stopped by the last door. Everyone else had fallen away to their own quarters, leaving Jericho’s pack to themselves.
“Guess this is it,” Jericho said. He turned the knob and pushed the door open.
Wide windows spilled afternoon sunlight onto the thickly carpeted floors. There was a main meeting and living area complete with couches and a huge table. Two hallways branched off so that each member of the pack had his or her own room. The girls took the left hall while the boys chose the right. Jericho went into the first room while Alex took the second because it was his rightful place.
The furnishings were sparse but sturdy, a four poster bed, a dresser, a desk, and a closet. Alex had been in enough rooms to know that they all matched. Usually during the summer when the Termers went home, everyone could choose whatever room they wanted and generally gave each other space to do as they wished. Though Alex was loath to give that up, there was a sense of accomplishment to sharing quarters with a pack he had chosen.
“This isn’t bad,” he heard Jericho say from his room.
Alex walked back to the hall. The Alpha had left his door open. Alex leaned against Jericho’s door frame. “They’ll bring your belongings and the personal items you brought from home up while we eat.”
“Room service,” Jericho replied with a pleased smile.
Alex found himself warming to the tall Alpha. “First class.”
Jericho glanced at Alex over his shoulder. “Do you think mixing Lifers and Termers is a bad idea?”
Again, Alex was struck by the fact that the Alpha was asking his opinion as if it mattered. He thought about his answer, knowing it was important that he give the full truth. “You broke precedence by picking a Lifer as your Second. It definitely caused a bit of an uproar. I figured continuing to shake things up would show my support of your decision.”
Jericho snorted and turned to face Alex. “So you’re setting everything on my shoulders.”
Alex shrugged. “Everyone heard you ask my opinion for the Choosing. It’s already on my shoulders. Pretending it’s on yours won’t make it so.”
A smile ran across Jericho’s face. “You like to ruff feathers, then.”
Though the Alpha was smiling, the statement bothered Alex. He didn’t want Jericho to think he was just trying to cause trouble. “I stand behind every decision I made,” Alex replied firmly. “Our pack’s strengths and weaknesses counterbalance each other in all areas including socially and intellectually. Thanks to Amos and Don, we won’t have to worry about being picked on, and picking both Lifers and Termers will keep us out of the never-ending battle between Torin and Boris’ packs.”
“Or it may give them a shared enemy,” Jericho suggested.
“I’m not afraid of them,” Alex replied with more vehemence than he meant to use.
Jericho nodded. “I believe you,” he said, his tone thoughtful as if he guessed more than Alex let on.
Alex was unable to keep the question in any longer. “Why did you choose me as your Second?”
Jericho clasped his hands behind his back. “I’m new to the school. I knew I needed someone as a Second who was familiar with the traditions but who wasn’t caught up enough within a clique that he would deny my Choosing. You stood alone by the statue, and didn’t seem completely daunted at being addressed by an Alpha. I needed someone who wasn’t afraid to give me his opinion. I figured after talking to you that you were the one.”
Alex opened and closed his hands, suddenly uncomfortable. As if on cue, the dinner gong rang. The sound bounced off the walls through the main room with enough strength to rattle the pictures of scenery on the walls.
Jericho winced at the sound. “Is it going to be like that every night?”
Alex nodded. “You get used to it; sort of.”
The rest of the pack spilled out into the main room.
“Thanks for picking us,” Trent said. Gratitude showed on the faces around them as the others nodded.
“I know this is a strange pack,” Jericho replied. “And I’m new to the whole Alpha thing. My dad is an Alpha and leads our pack back home, so I haven’t had to take on the leadership role before now.”
Alex felt a growing respect for the Alpha. He had never heard an Alpha address those under him with such familiarity instead of looking down on them from an upper level. Jericho held the air of authority of an Alpha, but the smile he gave Cassie seemed to calm her nervousness about the changes. Cassie stood close to Terith. Alex hoped they would become friends.
“Give me a bit of leeway while I learn the ropes of being your leader, and I’ll give you leniency if you slip up once in a while,” Jericho said. “I am grateful I had Alex’s guidance when choosing this pack, and I feel like we’re going to have an excellent term.”
Everyone nodded and smiles began to appear on faces.
“Let’s go eat,” Jericho suggested. He led the way to the door. When he tried to open it, the door refused to budge. He pulled harder.
“He’s going to rip off the doorknob,” Cassie whispered next to Alex.
“Let me try,” Amos offered. “I break door down.”
Jericho held up a hand. “I don’t think we want to ruin our door. Someone needs to figure out what’s wrong with it.
”
“I’ll go around,” Alex said. He went to the window despite everyone’s protests. Two floors up wasn’t that high. He had often skirted the walls while exploring the Academy. He pushed the windowpane up.
“Be careful,” Cassie said.
Alex nodded and stepped onto the ledge. Fourteen heads stuck out of the windows and watched him as he hugged the wall and made his way carefully to the next window. He tapped on the pane.
A form crossed to the window. “What are you doing?” Raynen demanded.
“Permission to come inside?” Alex asked.
“I’m pretty sure our doorknobs are tied together, so it’s not going to help you any,” Raynen replied, annoyance still thick in his voice from the Choosing Ceremony.
“Good to know,” Alex told the Alpha. “I’ll take care of it.”
He made his way past the window and continued along the wall. Another set of heads poked out the windows to watch him.
The Academy had been built to house triple the number of werewolves currently inside. Alex reached the next set of windows belonging to one of the empty quarters. He pulled on the pane. It refused to give. He could see the little latch inside. Alex gritted his teeth and pulled harder. The latch began to give. Alex closed his eyes, focused all his strength on the frame, and jerked up. The window flew open so fast he almost fell off the ledge. He caught himself at the last moment and ducked inside.
Alex’s heart stammered in his chest. He put a hand to it and waited for a moment for it to slow. When it did, he made his way through the empty room, out to the meeting room that echoed with his footsteps, and pulled open the main door. He jogged back up the hall to the set of occupied dormitory rooms. All of the packs except those in the last two quarters had already left for dinner. Alex hoped there was still food left.
A thick cord bound both doorknobs together. Alex untied it from the doors.
“Good to go,” he called.
Jericho and Raynen opened the doors at the same time. Jericho laughed at the sight of the cord in Alex’s hand. “At least we still have our doorknobs,” the Alpha said.
“Do we have to stay across from you?” Raynen protested. “I don’t need my pack getting hazed because of your stupid actions, Alex.”
Alex was about to reply when Jericho speared Raynen with a look. “You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us,” he replied in a tone that carried steel.
Raynen looked up at Amos and Don as they squeezed through the doorway behind their Alpha.
“We’re good,” Raynen muttered. He turned and barked, “Get out here.” He stalked down the hallway without waiting for his pack to respond.
Jericho’s pack waited respectfully until they were gone.
“Let’s eat,” Jericho said simply before walking down the hall.
The rest fell in line behind him. Cassie smiled at Alex. He couldn’t help a thrum of excitement that went through him at the thought that perhaps this term would be different from all the rest after all.
Chapter Three
Each pack sat at their own rectangular table spaced along the Great Hall. A spread of turkey, baked potatoes, honeyed ham, fresh rolls, stuffing, and cranberry sauce filled each table. Spiced eggnog and horchata made up the drink choices along with iced water with floating lemon slices.
“This is better than anything we eat at home!” Marky exclaimed.
Alex gave the boy a warm smile. The werewolf was one of the new seven year olds at the Academy for their first term. He had become a part of their pack by default because it was either Marky, a Fifth Year named Justice who glared daggers at Alex and would no doubt kill him in his sleep if chosen for Jericho’s pack, or Brace, a werewolf Alex had scuffled with on a few occasions and chose not to put that on his pack.
Seeing Marky’s expression as he took a bite of turkey convinced Alex that he had made the right decision. “You’ll eat good every day you’re here,” Alex told him.
Marky’s wide green gaze widened. “You mean the Strays eat like this all year long?”
A fierce rage swept through Alex. His hands clenched into fists. Trent opened his mouth to snap at the werewolf, but Alex took a calming breath and held up a hand. Jericho watched them both with interest. “Marky, we prefer to be called Lifers instead of Strays. Just because we’re orphans doesn’t mean we don’t have a home. The Academy is our home.” Alex’s heart clenched away from the term, but he forced himself to continue, “If you want to make friends here, don’t use the term Stray again, okay?”
Marky nodded, his eyes even wider. “I’m s-sorry, Alex.”
“It’s alright,” Alex reassured him. “This is your first year. You’re still learning the ropes.”
“Me, too, apparently,” Jericho said quietly when everyone else had returned to eating and talking. “For a second there, I thought you might actually attack him.”
Alex hesitated, then nodded. “I almost did.” He met the Alpha’s gaze. “It’s a touchy subject.”
Jericho nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Alex felt eyes on him. He glanced over his shoulder to meet Boris’ gaze. The leader of the Termers glared at him. Alex stifled a sigh and turned back to the table. Apparently, he had made more than a few enemies at the Choosing.
“You did a good job,” Cassie whispered.
Alex smiled at her as she piled turkey between two rolls, smashed it down, and took a huge bite. Though Cassie was small, she put even more food away than Alex. She had a tendency to eat when nervous, so dining in the Great Hall actually helped to calm her fear of being around crowds.
“Thanks,” Alex whispered back.
***
Alex loved the soft shush of the grass beneath his feet as he made his way to the statue. It looked even bigger under the midnight sky, a huge Alpha wolf ready to protect the Academy should it come under threat.
“No one would mess with you,” Alex said aloud. He took a deep breath of the cool night air; his senses flooded with the crisp scent of the pines that circled the Academy walls, the tangle of moisture that hinted at rain, and the bare wisp of a small herd of deer that bounded away from the walls, probably being pursued by Rafe’s pack.
“I wish you could smell this,” Alex said with a touch of sorrow in his voice. “I know you’d love it.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned against the statue’s right foreleg. It was his favorite place at night. The lights were out in the Academy windows, stars winked down from their deep velvet blanket, and the wind, always the wind, circling, toying with his black hair that was getting a bit longer than he usually let it grow, and promising that a run beyond the walls would be amazing.
Alex was about to give into the urge to run when the front door to the Academy opened.
The form paused on the top step, then made its way to the statue.
The familiar scent made Alex’s tight muscles loosen.
“I thought I’d find you here,” Dean Jaze said amiably when he reached the statue.
Alex smiled. “Maybe I’m getting too predictable.”
The dean chuckled. “You proved that wrong today.”
Alex nodded. “That was a bit above the norm.”
“A bit,” Jaze conceded, smiling at the sarcasm. “I suppose the Lifers and Termers are getting along?”
“As good as can be expected. Someone tied our door shut,” Alex said. At Jaze’s raised eyebrows, Alex shrugged. “I untied it. No harm done.”
Jaze’s gaze said he guessed more than what Alex let on. “Be careful, Alex. Don’t push yourself too hard. I know how much you want to be an Alpha.”
Alex shook his head. He lowered his gaze and said quietly, “I don’t want to be an Alpha. I want to be like my brother.”
Jaze’s eyes traveled from the young Gray to the statue of the black wolf behind him.
Heartbreak filled Alex’s voice when he asked the question that had circled in his mind hundreds of times but he had never dared to ask. He made himself do so
now. “Could you have saved him?”
Jaze let out a slow breath. He turned and leaned against the base of the statue next to Alex. He glanced at the young werewolf. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked myself that same question,” he said. “How many times I’ve ran the scenario over and over again in my head.” The dean closed his eyes. “If I had known he was going to sacrifice himself for me, I would have demanded to go up there beside him, and he knew that.”
“And you would have died, too,” Alex answered in a whisper.
Jaze nodded. “I would have fought side by side with my best friend and died beside him.” He stifled a smile when he said, “And he would have been so angry at me for sacrificing myself, even if I pointed out that was exactly what he had done.”
Alex fought to keep the pain at bay, forcing the memories away of the day his parents were killed. Jet had found them and taken them to a werewolf safe house called Two. It was there he and Cassie had been told about Jet’s death. He hadn’t broken down then; he had been strong for Cassie, holding her as she cried, lost inside herself at the thought of all of their loved ones gone.
At the Academy, he had to be strong for different reasons. While Cassie found consolation in the woods and in the peace that reigned when the terms were no longer in session, Alex was constantly on guard, fighting for his spot among the packs, hoping someday to prove Jet proud, to be a brother worthy of the one who had died to make the Academy happen.
“I think he deserves to be here instead of me,” Alex said quietly.
Jaze looked at him. He was quiet for several minutes. Alex appreciated the way the dean never talked down to him or acted like his opinion didn’t matter. Jaze and Nikki were all Alex and Cassie had when they were brought to the Academy. Jaze had become a father figure to the twins, helping them through the heartache as he survived it himself.