by Cheree Alsop
“Are you leaving again?” Pip asked. He glanced up the stairs nervously. Alex wondered if Boris or Torin had been picking on the Second Year again. He made a mental note to mention it to Jericho.
“Yes, but I’ll be back in time for games.”
Pip glanced at his watch. “You sure? You’re leaving a bit later than usual.”
Vance had forced the werewolves to run extra laps in PE because Boris had gotten angry when Parker, his Second, couldn’t throw the baseball fast enough and Pack Jericho scored. Boris had broken the bat in half, then threw it at Parker. Alex still wasn’t sure why Pack Jericho had to suffer, but nobody argued with Vance. The extra laps had cost him some time.
“I might miss the beginning, but I’ll be there,” Alex promised.
He jogged down the back steps and crossed the dark lawn to the gate.
“Off on another of your mysterious runs?”
Alex turned at Kalia’s voice. She was leaning against the fence eating an apple.
“I like the forest at night,” Alex replied. “It’s full of animals and sounds that aren’t there during the day. You should try it sometime.”
Kalia shook her head, her white-blond hair swishing across her shoulders. “My ears aren’t as good as yours. I’d be afraid of getting eaten by something out there.”
Alex opened the gate and smiled at her. “Wolves, a few mountain lions, and the occasional bear are the only things I’ve seen. I think you’d be alright.”
She closed the gate behind him. “I’ll stay here,” she replied. She looked meaningfully at the bars. “Although this is a bit prisonish.”
Alex shrugged. “Only if it’s locked.”
She smiled at that.
Alex hurried behind a tree and phased. He was already late. If he pushed it, he would be able to stay ten minutes before he turned around to catch the end of night games. The training was his idea. It would be bad form to miss it. He fell into the mile-eating lope of the wolf, and lost his thoughts in the shadows that toyed across his path.
She was always outside when he arrived. He didn’t know if she had a penchant for the outdoors, or also felt like Jet had said that the walls were getting too small. Whatever it was, she was sitting on a small bench looking up at the stars. Alex smiled down at her from the shelter of the trees. Half of him thought of his mother, moonlight bathing her face as she searched for the secrets of the universe; the other half was just grateful to see the expression of peace on his aunt’s face. She was finding herself again.
Alex stayed longer than he planned. By the time he headed back, he knew he would be lucky to catch the tail end of training. He ducked under branches and leaped windfalls as he pushed himself faster and faster toward the Academy. The smells and sights of the school were drawing closer when a sound caught his attention.
The steady thwap-thwap of a helicopter was rapidly approaching. Alex’s heart began to thunder. A spotlight shone down through the trees. Alex darted to the left. The helicopter stayed with him. He ducked beneath a bole, then down a wash. He followed the riverbed in the hopes that the distance and the trees would thwart them.
Alex knew he was close to the Academy. He was about to dart back up the bank when something struck the dirt beneath his paws. The earth exploded in front of him, sending him backwards against the other side of the wash. He scrambled to his feet and blinked through the dusty haze. His nose was filled with dirt. He tried to peer through the dust to see. The air began to clear. Alex’s stomach clenched. He was surrounded.
Men with guns stood on both sides of the wash. A single gunman stepped forward. He took off his black mask. The pit in Alex’s stomach turned into a boulder at the mismatched eyes of Drogan Carso.
“Thought we’d given up?” Drogan asked.
In answer, Alex lifted his muzzled and let out a howl. It was a low note in a very specific key.
“Is that how you beg for mercy?” Drogan pressed. He leaned forward. “You know I don’t speak wolf.”
Howls suddenly rose into the air around them. One hundred and fifty wolf howls told the men that they were more than surrounded; they were history. The howls drew closer. The men began to press together.
“What is this?” Drogan demanded, his eyes wide.
Alex watched carefully. Drogan’s gaze shifted for the briefest second to the dark woods around them. Alex leaped.
He grabbed Drogan’s gun hand in his teeth and ground down, forcing the man to drop his gun. Drogan let out a yell of pain. Alex gave a jerk of his head that dropped Drogan to his knees. Alex carefully kept Drogan between himself and the men with guns who looked fearfully between their leader and the wolves that began to appear through the darkness.
“Don’t shoot!” Drogan cried as blood streamed down his hand.
Alex spotted Jericho at the head of the giant wolf pack. Alex jerked his head to the side, making Drogan cry out again. Jericho dipped his head in answer and began to run clockwise. He leaped the wash, ran down the other bank, and leaped it again. The wolves fell in behind him, circling the attackers.
“What is going on?” one of the men demanded.
“They’re demons,” another said.
Alex could smell the scent of urine as a man wet his pants out of fear. “Why are there so many of them?”
Ropes dropped from the helicopter that hovered above. The men clipped onto them, looking more than eager to get out of the forest.
Alex couldn’t stop thinking about the fear in Cassie’s eyes when Drogan had pointed a gun at her in the grove. He wanted to release his hold on Drogan’s hand and leap for his throat. He could end Drogan’s life the way the wolves had brought down the buck. It would be fast, and the threat Drogan brought with him would be gone forever.
Alex ached to avenge his parents. He wanted more than anything to have them back and wake up to find that it had all been a terrible nightmare. Yet he knew that the man who had made it all a reality stood at his mercy. He loosened his grip on Drogan’s hand, preparing to bite his throat.
A bullet struck the ground, followed by several more. Memories of the pain from the last bullet flooded through Alex. He let Drogan go and backed up to the shelter of the trees. Drogan scrambled to the rope and fumbled with his ruined hand as he tried to hook the clip. As soon as it was done, he waved frantically to the men above. He was pulled quickly up.
Alex’s eyes stayed on the man as the helicopter flew past the trees. The taste of Drogan’s blood lingered in his mouth. He had let his enemy go. Regret slammed into him like a fist. He took a step in the direction Drogan had gone.
Jericho appeared in front of him. The great black wolf barred his path. Alex gave a half-whine and tried to go around the Alpha. Jericho surprised him by growling. Alex couldn’t ignore the command in the Alpha’s voice. He dropped his head. When Jericho turned, he followed the black wolf back to the Academy. The rest of their pack fell in around them. Alex felt Cassie’s presence to his left. He glanced at her. His sister’s dark blue eyes were filled with worry.
They reached the Academy just as the professors were rushing across the lawn.
“What was that?” Vance demanded.
“We heard the helicopter and the howl,” Dray said.
Relief filled Jaze’s expression when he spotted Alex and Cassie.
He gave Alex a concerned look. “Go phase. Meet me in my office.”
Alex nodded and padded through the door Nikki held open. The worry on her face matched the same look in Cassie’s eyes. Alex ran up the stairs without seeing them. A hundred paws followed close behind. Alex phased in his room and pulled on some random clothes. He was about to head back downstairs when Cassie grabbed his arm.
“Are you okay?” she demanded.
Alex’s attention jerked back to his sister at her tone.
“Did they hurt you?” she asked.
He shook his head. “N-no. I’m fine. Trust me.”
“Trust you?” she repeated. “You almost got killed out there.”
The reality of what had just happened started to hit Alex hard. He put a hand to his chest as his heart rebelled.
“Easy,” Jericho said from behind him. He grabbed Alex’s arm and led him to the couch. “Breathe.”
“I heard the helicopter, then they were there. I couldn’t get away,” Alex told them, his voice tight as he thought back. “How did you know to come?”
“You called us,” Jericho replied, watching Alex closely. “We were running training exercises. I think half the wolves thought it was part of the exercise.”
Several pack members around them nodded.
“I know I did,” Trent said. “I thought you were just running a simulation like they do during fire drills.”
“No,” Alex replied, shaking his head. “But that would be a good idea.”
“You need to go see the dean,” Jericho reminded him. “Leave the night games training planning to us.”
Alex gave him a humorless smile. “Glad to see it’s working.”
Jericho nodded and held out a hand. “Yeah, but the point is hopefully not to use it.”
Alex accepted the hand and let Jericho pull him up. He walked to the door.
“You sure you’re okay?” the Alpha asked when they were out of earshot from the others.
Alex nodded. “I’m still in one piece, thanks to you guys.”
“I’m coming with you,” Cassie insisted, hurrying to the door.
Alex knew better than to argue. Besides, if his heart decided to act up again, he didn’t want Jaze to find him sprawled at the bottom of the stairs. He nodded and Cassie followed him into the hallway. He shut the door, then leaned against it.
“We don’t want to keep Jaze waiting,” Cassie reminded him gently. “He needs to know what happened so we can figure out what to do.”
Alex nodded numbly and followed her down the stairs. His twin sister kept looking over her shoulder to make sure he was alright. Her concern worried him and made him feel a bit better at the same time.
Chapter Twenty-one
Cassie and Alex paused at the door to Jaze’s office. Nikki, Vance, and Dray were also there. The office was huge, but sparsely furnished besides the hundreds of books that lined the walls, a single desk, and cushioned chairs. Its simplicity belied the fact that a room filled with surveillance equipment, monitors, and information on every werewolf in existence was just beneath the floor.
“What was that?” Vance was arguing. “Did you see the students? They were organized, like an army.”
“I’m sure it was just a coincidence,” Jaze replied, though his tone said otherwise.
“We should have known,” Vance continued.
Jaze held up a hand as soon as he saw the twins. “Come in,” he welcomed.
Cassie and Alex crossed the wooden floor to the two empty chairs near the big desk. Nikki and Dray sat on chairs close to the big curtained window, while Vance paced in front of the fireplace.
Jaze sat down across the desk from the twins. He met Alex’s gaze. “Tell me exactly what happened.”
Alex hesitated. Telling meant letting the dean know that he had been checking on his aunt every day. He wondered if Jaze would forbid the runs.
“Everything,” Jaze said in a tone that let Alex know he guessed more than Alex thought.
“I was visiting my aunt,” Alex admitted.
“You’ve been seeing Meredith?” Nikki asked, amazed.
Hearing her name sent a rush of warmth through Alex. It fit her just as Mindi had fit his mother. “I’ve been watching her, making sure she’s recovering okay,” Alex admitted.
“Has she seen you?” Jaze asked curiously.
Alex shook his head. “I’ve been careful. I wanted to meet her, but not without your permission.”
“I appreciate that,” Jaze replied. The light of curiosity lingered in his gaze, but he pressed on. “Then what happened?”
“I was on my way home in wolf form as usual, when I heard the helicopter. I was almost to the Academy. I tried to run down a wash to lose them, but they shot some sort of a grenade into the dirt and it blew me back. I was surrounded before I had my wits back together.” A shudder ran down Alex’s spine as he remembered. “Drogan was there.”
Cassie grabbed his hand. He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile.
“I howled for the wolves. When he tried to shoot me, I bit his gun hand.”
“Well done,” Dray said quietly.
Alex remembered the sound of the wolves howling, the way it echoed through the forest, cutting through even the beat of the helicopter’s blades above.
“If it wasn’t for the werewolves, I would have been shot,” he admitted.
“Yeah,” Vance cut in, his tone brusque. “What was that? They were organized.”
Alex nodded. At Jaze’s raised eyebrows, he explained, “We’ve been training. We used our night games time to run simulations and battle sequences.”
Surprise filled Vance’s face as though he had suspected something of the sort, but not quite what Alex was saying. “You mean you turned the students into your own private army?”
Alex shook his head quickly at the Alpha’s tone. “No. Not like that. We just wanted to be able to protect ourselves. After the last attack on Cassie and me, we knew we needed to be more prepared.”
“Night games as a training tool. It’s brilliant,” Dray said, giving Alex an approving smile.
“We should know that our students are training to be some sort of militia,” Vance argued. “It’s too dangerous.”
“We don’t have weapons,” Alex told him. “We practice formations and run drills for particular scenarios. It’s really just like hunting with Rafe’s wolves. Everyone knows where they belong and what their job is. The packs are better that way.”
There was a light of respect in Jaze’s gaze when he nodded. “I have to agree. I’ve never seen the packs so united. There are still squabbles between the packs, but they are definitely tighter within. I figured we could attribute that to the new academic schedule.”
Nikki smiled. “We could only hope.”
Jaze leaned forward and put his elbows on the desk. “Someone must have tipped off Drogan. Who knows that you take these trips through the woods?”
“My pack knows, and several other students have noticed. I just tell them that I like to go for runs. There really haven’t been any questions.” Alex thought of leaving to go on his run. His blood ran cold. “Kalia knew I was going.”
“Kalia Dickson?” Vance asked.
Alex nodded. “She was at the gate when I left. She was the last person I talked to before my run.”
Darkness filled the huge werewolf’s gaze. “If the Dicksons are working with Drogan, we need to get Boris and Kalia out of here immediately.”
Jaze held up a hand. “We don’t know for sure. Let’s not be hasty.” He turned back to Alex. “Was Kalia anywhere near when you and Cassie were attacked the first time?”
Alex thought about it. “She and I spoke at Jet’s statue while everyone was playing werewolf tag. She probably saw the packs take off into the forest to search for the Alphas.” He felt sick. The girl he had trusted could possibly have been the one to betray him to his worst enemy. Could her icy blue eyes hide true animosity against him and his sister? Perhaps her efforts to talk had only been to get close enough for him to trust her. The fact that Boris was her brother definitely should have warned him.
Cassie gave Alex a searching look, worry in her wide eyes.
“We don’t know anything,” Jaze said softly, his gaze on both Alex and Cassie. “The last thing we need to do is jump to conclusions. No one has been found guilty yet, but we will investigate.”
Nikki nodded. “Give everyone the benefit of the doubt until we find out who is behind the attacks, but perhaps we need to ensure that you two stay within the walls.”
Alex’s heart constricted.
“It’s alright,” Jaze said, interpreting his look. “Meredith will be safe. In fact,
she’s going to fill a position here next year.”
“As a professor?” Alex asked, surprised.
Nikki nodded. “We told her about the Academy, and she’s excited to help. I think the thought of something useful to do has assisted in her recovery.”
Relief flooded Alex’s thoughts. Perhaps he wouldn’t lose his one connection to his mother after all.
“You two should go get some rest. I’m sure your pack’s anxious to ensure you’re okay,” Jaze said.
Alex and Cassie rose.
“We’re glad you’re safe,” Nikki said.
“Thank you,” Alex told her. He put an arm around his sister’s shoulders and walked with her out the door. As soon as they were alone in the hallway, Cassie buried her head against his shoulder.
“I was so afraid,” she said. “I knew it was your howl, and that you wouldn’t have done it if everything was alright. When I saw the helicopter, and those men. . . .” her voice choked off.
“I’m okay,” Alex reassured her as she sobbed against his chest. “They didn’t hurt me.”
“They could have taken you away like Mom and Dad. Alex, I might never have seen you again.” She looked up at him, her dark blue eyes filled with tears. “I would have been all alone.”
He gave her a weak smile. “I will never leave you alone, Cass. I promise.”
“They tried,” she said.
He nodded. “And they failed, again. They’re not going to get me, Cass. We have the students, and you heard what Jaze and Nikki said. They’re searching for Drogan. They’ll make sure we’re safe.”
She watched him, checking to see if he believed his own words. He gave her a true smile. “Everything is fine, Cass. Believe me.”
Cassie drew in a shuddering breath and nodded. She wiped away her tears and followed him up the stairs. The rooms they passed were silent at the late hour. Alex was surprised when he pushed open the door to Pack Jericho’s quarters to find their Alpha waiting for them on the couch.
“Everything alright?” he asked, rising on their entrance.
Alex nodded. “As good as can be expected.” He gave Cassie a final hug. “Get some sleep, sis. I’ll see you in the morning.”