Simon Thorn and the Wolf's Den

by Aimee Carter

  Malcolm was silent for several seconds. “Two days.”

  “Don’t let him out of your sight.”

  Heavy footsteps echoed through the office, and Simon rushed back to the window, trying to make it look as though he’d been watching the pit the whole time. Two days. He had two days until the Alpha returned, and then she would whisk him and Nolan away from the city, undoubtedly to a place where not even Orion could help him. If he ever wanted to see his mother again, he had to find her before then.

  Malcolm joined Simon at the window and stared down into the pit. The bear and the viper were gone now, and instead, two students slowly circled one another in the sand. It didn’t look like much of a fight. The first boy was almost twice the size of the second, who wore a hood pulled up over his head, and was so slight that he made Winter look like a giant.

  Simon furrowed his brow. “Is that even fair?”

  “Probably not,” said Malcolm, looking murderous. “Just watch.”

  Finally the larger student lunged. The other student sidestepped him though, and he landed facedown in the sand. A long magenta braid swung out from underneath the smaller one’s hood, and Simon gaped. She was a girl.

  The boy slowly stood, baring his teeth and growling so loudly that Simon could hear him through the open door. He then let out a ferocious roar, and all at once his body changed from human to mountain lion.

  “He’s going to kill her!” said Simon, frantically searching the crowd for someone who could help. He spotted Winter at the very top of the bleachers, sitting apart from the rest of the students while Nolan lounged near the bottom, surrounded by a group of cheering boys. The prince didn’t join them though—instead he looked bored, as if watching a giant cat devour a girl half his size was something he saw every day.

  Fine. If Nolan wouldn’t help, then Simon would. He darted through the door and out onto the balcony above the pit. Behind him, Malcolm swore, but Simon was halfway down the stairs by the time his uncle caught up and grabbed the back of his shirt.

  “What did I say about staying out of sight?” said Malcolm. Some of the students had noticed them, and they were pointing and murmuring to their friends. He groaned. “Terrific. Everyone in the five kingdoms is going to know you exist by morning.”

  “I don’t care,” said Simon. “You need to stop him.”

  “And you need to watch.”

  Simon struggled against his grip, but Malcolm was too strong. Eventually he had no choice but to give up and observe the match. Nearly everyone in the crowd was now staring at him, but he ignored them and focused on the fight in the pit instead. The mountain lion snapped at the girl, who wore a stony expression and didn’t take her eyes off her opponent. Simon’s heart pounded.

  At last the cat attacked. Again the girl was ready for him, and she sprang aside a second time. With impossible speed and strength, she flipped the beast over in midair and pinned him to the ground, her knee against his throat. The mountain lion fought back, his massive paws striking her again and again until—

  The girl disappeared. The cat froze in place, and the crowd quieted. Nolan straightened, his eyes wide and eager, and asked, “Do you yield, Garrett?”

  The mountain lion growled, barely audible, and Simon stared. What had just happened?

  “No point in staying up here, since everyone’s already seen you,” said Malcolm, and he led Simon down the rest of the staircase, his heavy footsteps echoing around the stone walls.

  When they reached the bottom, they stood at the edge of the pit, and Simon could hear the buzz of whispers as all eyes seemed to turn to him. Nolan was the only person who wasn’t staring. Instead he glared resolutely at the mountain lion, who lay only a few feet away from Simon and Malcolm. He hadn’t moved.

  “What will it be, Garrett?” said Malcolm. “Your pride or your life?”

  The cat growled again, but at last he grumbled, “I yield.”

  A shiny black spider emerged from his ear, and it crawled onto the ground and across the sand. As soon as it reached the center of the pit, it shifted, and the pink-haired girl stood in its place. Now that Simon was closer, he noticed that she wore a black armband with a silver spider printed on it. For a second their eyes met, and she did a double take.

  “No way,” she said, a grin spreading across her face. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “Not bad, Ariana,” said Malcolm, pointedly ignoring her reaction. “One more match before dinner. Who will it be?”

  No one volunteered, though Simon wasn’t sure whether it was because no one wanted to fight Ariana or because they were all too busy staring at him. Malcolm seemed to be doing his best to act nonchalant, but he couldn’t hide his scowl.

  “Who’s left?” said Nolan with a smirk. “Everyone’s already lost to her at least twice.”

  Garrett the mountain lion shifted back into a hulking boy and climbed to his feet, his face red. He glanced at Simon, but he didn’t look surprised like the others. Nolan must have told him already, Simon figured. “Ariana’s not invincible,” said Garrett. “One stomp in the right place and—”

  “You want another round, Puss in Boots?” Ariana said. “Spider or not, I can take you down any day of the week.”

  “Enough,” said Malcolm. “We are not here to show off or to bully and intimidate others. We are here to keep the peace between our kingdoms, and that cannot happen if you choose to take these matches personally instead of learning from them. Do you understand?”

  Ariana nodded, and Garrett kicked sand as he joined the others at the bottom of the bleachers. He focused on Simon again and leaned in, whispering to Nolan.

  “Good,” said Malcolm as he looked around. “Now, who’s brave enough for one more fight?”

  Several of the students fidgeted uncomfortably. Others who had been staring at Simon suddenly looked at their hands. There had to be a hundred of them, Simon guessed—some as old as sixteen or seventeen, and all with silver silhouettes of predators on their armbands. Wolves, vipers, spiders, bears, wasps, scorpions, panthers, and even a few sharks and stingrays. He wasn’t sure how they fought on dry land, but now wasn’t the time to ask. Instead he searched for any armbands with dolphins to see if he could spot Jam.

  “None of you has the courage to face Ariana again?” said Malcolm. “Have you all given up so easily?”

  “What about Simon?” said Nolan. “I want to see what he can do.”

  Ariana tucked her braid into the back of her shirt and grinned. “Sure, if you want chicken legs for dinner.”

  Simon didn’t care how small she was. If she could take down the best of the mammal kingdom, then she was right. He didn’t stand a chance. “She’ll kill me,” he said.

  “You don’t have to,” said Malcolm, clapping Simon’s shoulder. “Probably better if you don’t.”

  “Afraid of spiders?” said Nolan. The boys surrounding him burst out laughing, and Simon’s face grew hot. If he agreed to fight, no doubt Ariana would take him down faster than he could blink, and he would be the laughingstock of the entire school. But at least he would prove he was willing to be one of them. No one could call him a coward.

  “It’s fine,” he said, shrugging off Malcolm’s hand. “I’ll do it.”

  “Always happy to provide a few bruises.” Ariana took her place on the opposite side of the pit. There was something maniacal about the way she watched Simon, and she flashed him another grin.

  He was going to die.

  11

  DOG EAT DOG

  “Good luck,” said Malcolm, patting Simon on the shoulder. “All you have to do is get her to yield. And don’t kill her.”

  “Is she allowed to kill me?” said Simon.

  “Only if you let her.”

  “Please tell me that’s not actually possible,” said Simon faintly as Malcolm took a spot on the bleachers.

  “Of course it is,” said Ariana with a smirk. “I’m a black widow. One bite and you’re dead.”

  “That makes me f
eel tons better, thanks,” Simon said. The sand shifted beneath his feet, making it hard to stay steady.

  Before he could think too much, someone blew a whistle. It was on. Ariana began to circle him and, not knowing what else to do, Simon tried to mimic her. She moved easily across the sand, but Simon stumbled and constantly had to search for new footing.

  “So, what are you?” said Ariana. “A wolf, like Nolan claims to be?”

  “Human,” said Simon. “Right now, at least.”

  “And when I attack?”

  “Probably still human.” Unless his body decided to shift at the absolute worst possible time. Which, considering his luck today, wouldn’t have surprised him at all.

  Ariana narrowed her eyes and moved closer. Simon tried to circle away, but she was always there, just out of reach. “Come on,” she said. “You know what I am.”

  “You really think I’m about to give up the one thing I have going for me?” said Simon. “You’ll win. Don’t worry about it.”

  “I’m not worried,” she said, but there was an edge to her tone that hadn’t been there before.

  “Less talking, more fighting,” said Nolan in a regal voice. Ariana must have liked it about as much as Simon did, because she scowled.

  “As your royal halfwit wishes,” she said, and before Simon could blink, she flew through the air toward him.

  Simon tried to sidestep her the way she’d sidestepped Garrett, but she grabbed his sweatshirt and twisted him around, and Simon fell hard on his back. All the air left his lungs, and he gasped.

  Ariana didn’t give him any kind of break. She tried to pin him, but Simon expected it. Still wheezing, he pushed her off and scrambled back up, once again struggling to find his footing.

  “You’re worse than I thought,” said Ariana. She advanced toward him. “You could just yield now, you know.”

  And risk all the students treating him the same way Bryan Barker had? The same way Colin had? Not a chance. Simon held his hands up in a protective guard, ready for her. Or as ready as he could be.

  “Oh, look, you’re actually trying. That’s adorable.” Ariana effortlessly danced from side to side. “What are you going to do? Stare me to death?”

  “Something like that,” said Simon, but even as she said it, an idea appeared in his head. This time, when Ariana pounced, Simon let her reach him. But as they fell in a heap on the ground, he turned, pinning her to the sand instead.

  He buried his knee in her stomach and pressed his arm across her neck, the same way Bryan had pinned him. Simon may not have been very big, but he was bigger than Ariana, and he held her down as she struggled. There was no way she could get out of it. Unless—

  Ariana’s human body shrank almost too fast for Simon to follow. But he did, and as she shifted into a black widow, he was ready. Simon scooped the spider up and cupped his hands together, trapping her inside.

  “Got you,” he said. “You bite me, I squish you. They have antivenom here, so I’ll probably survive. But you won’t.”

  He heard a tiny string of curses from the spider in his hands, but she knew he had her. And so did he.

  Everyone on the bleachers was silent. Several mouths hung open, and even Nolan stared in disbelief. At last Malcolm headed over, navigating the sand with ease.

  “Do you yield, Ariana?” he said. The spider didn’t respond.

  “I’m not letting you go until you do,” said Simon. Her legs tickled his palms as she paced, and his skin crawled with the instinct to drop her, but he kept his hands clamped together. Now that he had her, he wasn’t letting go.

  Finally the spider grumbled, “I yield.”

  Simon opened his hands and set her gently on the ground. She shifted back into a human, and the moment she was full-size again, she shoved Simon hard. “Cheater! That was completely unfair!”

  “Was not,” said Simon. “Besides, you’re the one who won against everyone else.”

  “Simon has a point,” said Malcolm. “With all the experience you’ve gained, you should have anticipated this possibility.”

  “But he didn’t even shift.”

  Malcolm shrugged. “Sometimes remaining human is our best strategy.” He raised his chin to address everyone on the bleachers as well. “Relying on our Animalgam forms can expose weakness, and we have to remember that we’re not only wolves or vipers or spiders—we’re also human, and we must learn to utilize our strengths in both forms. Simon has been here for less than an hour, but he bested your greatest opponent by analyzing her weaknesses and using them against her.”

  Simon bit his lip. Malcolm made him sound like some kind of tactical genius, but he hadn’t analyzed anything. He’d gotten lucky, that was all.

  Nolan leaned forward. “Seems like you do have a flaw after all, spider girl,” he said. “No point in having you here if you can’t even defend yourself against someone that pathetic.”

  The boys surrounding him laughed and jeered. Ariana turned red, and she stormed toward a door that must have led out of the pit. As she passed Simon, she paused, her eyes flashing. “I don’t care who you are. If you ever humiliate me again, I will bite you. And this time there won’t be any antivenom around to save you.”

  The boys continued to laugh as she disappeared into a hallway, and Simon’s heart sank. He hadn’t meant to do anything except prove he could be one of them. But wasn’t that exactly what Colin had done, trying to impress Bryan Barker? Look how that had turned out.

  “Enough,” called Malcolm. “Pit practice is over. Dining hall, all of you.”

  Simon stepped aside just in time to avoid the stampede of students, many of whom elbowed and jostled one another for a better view of him as they passed. He could feel their stares on him, and his cheeks burned. Still a freak, just like at school.

  Malcolm ambled up beside him, and one glare from him had the remaining students scattering. “Next time you disobey me, I’ll put you up against Garrett. He won’t be so easy to beat.”

  Simon made a face at the thought of the mountain lion’s claws. “I thought he was going to hurt her.”

  “Still. And I’d be careful if I were you. Ariana doesn’t take defeat lightly, and I can’t be there to protect you all the time. Now come on. Dining hall’s this way.”

  Winter was waiting for them when they exited the pit, and she fell into step beside Simon as Malcolm led the way down a grassy hallway. Simon gave her a questioning look, but she shook her head minutely. If she’d had time to look for his mother, she hadn’t found anything.

  To Simon’s surprise, the dining hall wasn’t anything like the bland cafeteria back at Kennedy Middle School. Instead it looked like a restaurant, with an elaborate buffet lining the wall. Students filled their plates with not only chicken and pizza but also cheeseburgers, roast beef, potatoes and gravy, a rainbow of fruits and vegetables, and something on ice that looked suspiciously like sushi.

  “Stay here until I come back for you,” said Malcolm. “If anyone gives you trouble, I’ll take care of it.”

  Simon wasn’t sure that would help, but he nodded anyway. As soon as Malcolm was gone, he said quietly, “We should look for my mom now, while everyone’s eating.”

  “That’s your big plan?” said Winter. “We got captured by a pack of hungry wolves so you could check a few empty classrooms?”

  “I didn’t expect this, okay?” said Simon. “I thought . . . I don’t know what I thought. But I couldn’t just sit there and wait for Orion to rescue my mother. And in two days, the Alpha’s going to come back and take me and Nolan out of the city into mammal territory, and—”

  “Two days?”said Winter.

  Simon nodded. “I heard her and Malcolm talking about it. If I can’t find my mother before then, I’m never going to see her again. I need to do something.”

  Winter sighed and tucked her dark hair behind her ears. “It isn’t safe for you to go searching on your own. Everyone in the Den is talking about you, and if you’re not where you’re supposed to b
e, they’re all going to wonder why.”

  Simon hesitated. She had a point, as much as he hated to admit it. “I sent Felix to look around,” he whispered. “Can you check the reptile section to see if there are any hidden rooms or ways out of here? They wouldn’t have built this place with only one exit.”

  “Of course not,” said Winter. “You’re just figuring that out now?”

  He shrugged. “Why did Malcolm stick you there, anyway?”

  Scowling, she crossed her arms. “My mother was from the reptile kingdom,” she muttered, as if she were admitting some horrible family secret. “I couldn’t give them my real last name, so I thought I’d give them hers. She ran away from home and never told her family she married a member of the bird kingdom, so we should be safe.”

  “Wait,” said Simon. “If your mother was a reptile, that makes you a—a Hybred, too.”

  Winter stopped suddenly and whirled around to face him. “If you say anything, I’ll tell Malcolm about your stupid pet mouse.”

  Simon’s eyes widened. “I won’t. I don’t care what you are. Besides, I think it would be kind of cool, getting to be part of two kingdoms—”

  “Simon?”

  A blond boy wearing glasses approached them, and Simon immediately caught sight of the dolphin on the boy’s armband. “Jam?” he said uncertainly.

  The boy lit up. “You remember me!”

  “It’s sort of hard to forget,” said Simon. “A dolphin’s never spoken to me before.”

  Jam beamed. “I just thought, with how important you are—everyone’s talking about you, you know.” He nodded to the tables, and as if to prove his point, several conversations ceased as soon as Simon looked. Perfect.

  He cleared his throat. “Uh, Jam, this is my friend, Winter. Winter, this is—”

  “Benjamin Fluke. Most people call me Jam.” He stuck his hand out for Winter to shake. “You’re really pretty.”

  “And you look like an owl,” said Winter, clearly not happy about being interrupted. “Jam is a terrible nickname for Benjamin. It doesn’t even make sense.”