by Cheree Alsop
A sound sent a shudder down Alex’s spine. Not wanting to distract Trent, Alex touched Jericho’s arm, then tipped his head at the door. Jericho nodded. Alex left Trent and quietly crossed to the closed metal door.
“The Demons are moving,” Siale said quietly.
“Got it,” Alex replied.
Trent had finished with the second charge and started the third when the sounds Alex had heard intensified. He let the Demon take over. His limbs elongated, his claws grew, and his shoulders tore through his shirt when he shoved his claws into the frame on either side of the door.
Chapter Nineteen
The Demons hit the door with the force of a battering ram. Huge chunks of cement from around the door cracked and fell. Alex scrambled to hold it. The Demons shoved again and his clawed feet slid backwards across the roof.
Jericho shoved his shoulder next to Alex’s.
“Almost done!” Trent said.
“Please hurry,” Alex replied, his voice gruff and scratchy.
Even with Jericho at his side, they were no match for four Demons. The entire frame was ripped free of the wall and the two werewolves slid an inch at a time backwards. Alex’s heartbeat thundered in his ears above the growls and clawing from behind the door. Four Demons against his one. The odds were stacked high against him.
The sound of the helicopter increased.
“Done!” Trent called.
There was no time. A glance behind Jericho showed that the helicopter was too far away. Trent stood at the edge of the roof watching in horror as the Demons forced their way through. All three werewolves would be killed like the scattered remains of the teams around them.
“Get Trent out of here.”
Alex stared at Jericho. “If I let go of this door, you’re dead!”
Jericho met Alex’s gaze. There wasn’t fear in the Alpha’s eyes, only determination. “Get Trent to safety. That is an order from your Alpha.”
No matter what had changed in Alex’s life, Jericho had been his leader through most of his time at the Academy. Alex’s instincts demanded that he listen. Trent was once in Jericho’s pack, and the werewolf was now under Alex’s. Both Alphas’ nature demanded that they protect their own.
Alex shoved the door as hard as he could to give Jericho a chance, then took off for Trent. He reached the small werewolf in three strides. Trent gave a small yelp when Alex grabbed him roughly beneath the arms. The helicopter was about ten feet away with its doors wide open. Alex didn’t slow down. He threw the small werewolf away from him as hard as he could.
Trent flew through the open door of the helicopter with surprising accuracy. Hands grabbed him to slow his landing. Alex spun on his heels.
Time slowed. The Demons were all over Jericho. Blood showed on claws and muzzles. The Alpha’s cries of pain sliced into Alex with brutal force. He couldn’t see anything but Jericho’s hand reaching out through the four demonic creatures. A shadow stood in the doorway with a pleased smile.
One word rang through the air. “Kill.”
The snarls of the Demons grew in answer and Jericho cried out in pain.
The bomb closest to Alex let out a soft beep and the second followed. The building was being detonated. It was the only chance they had to ensure that Drogan was in the building with four of his Demons. Alex stood in the middle of a death trap.
Alex did the last thing he knew anyone expected. He charged into the midst of the four Demons, grabbed Jericho from their clutches without slowing, and launched himself off the building.
“Alex!” he heard Siale cry into Jericho’s earpiece.
“No!” Trent shouted from the helicopter.
The building exploded.
Alex rolled to the right just before they hit the trees, shielding Jericho with his body. He slammed into one branch, then another. Two more branches and they landed on the ground so hard Alex felt like every rib in his body broke. He gasped for air as explosions ricocheted around them. Huge pieces of the building flew past, smashing through tree trunks and carving huge gouges through the earth.
Alex forced his battered body to turn so he could shelter Jericho from the debris.
Jericho moaned. The sound cut through the crash of the falling building and straight to Alex’s soul. The Demon faded from Alex, leaving him filled with pain from the fall as he stared down at his friend.
“Jer?” he forced out.
The Alpha moved his hand. Alex’s heart twisted. The werewolf’s stomach had been torn completely open. The blood and mess pooled around them.
Alex’s gaze clouded with tears. “Stay with me, Jericho.”
The werewolf opened his eyes. His gaze was hazy and it took him a minute to lock onto Alex. When he did, his lips moved in a small smile before they twisted into a grimace of pain.
Alex didn’t know what to do. He wanted to take away the werewolf’s pain. He wanted Jericho to stand up and laugh it off. He needed the Alpha to lead as he always had, to show Alex by example how an Alpha was supposed to act.
But it was impossible. Blood colored the werewolf’s teeth and trickled from the side of his mouth. Alex wiped it away.
“Jericho, don’t go,” he said, his voice breaking.
Jericho closed his eyes. He moved a bloody hand away from his stomach. It took Alex a second to realize the Alpha was trying to reach in his pocket.
“You need something in there?” Alex asked.
Jericho tried to speak, but gave up and instead nodded.
Alex reached into the Alpha’s pocket. His heart slowed when he found the small velvet ring box. He pulled it out and opened it slowly.
“Give…” Jericho said weakly. “Tell…Cherish…”
Alex nodded. He could barely see the ring through his tears. “I’ll tell her; I promise.”
Jericho gave one last smile, then closed his eyes.
“Jericho?”
The werewolf’s labored breathing stopped.
Alex shook his head. “No, Jer. Don’t go.”
Alex tried to draw in a breath, but it felt like his ribs were knives cutting into his lungs. Every breath gave the sensation that he was suffocating. He tried to suck in another gasp, but the pain was excruciating. Dark spots filled his vision. He clutched the ring box to his chest and fell into the grass next to the Alpha.
Thoughts of Siale filled his mind. He couldn’t let go. He fought to keep his mind alert and not give into the haze. The seconds felt like hours in the grass beneath the falling building.
“Alex?”
The voices sounded as though they called from a far distance. Alex tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids wouldn’t respond. He felt like he was drowning.
He didn’t know how much time had passed before people surrounded him and Jericho. He could hear frantic voices, but nothing penetrated the tar that coated his mind. He gasped, a horrible gurgling sound.
The tattered remains of his shirt were torn away. Someone put a hand on his chest. Words that sounded like, ‘I’m sorry, Alex’, reached his ears a second before something stabbed into his chest with such sharp pain Alex gasped. Some of the tightness released from his lungs and he drew in a ragged breath.
“Get him back to the Academy before we lose him,” Jaze’s strong voice commanded.
Hands grabbed Alex and lifted. He smothered a cry at the agony, but tears leaked from the corners of his eyes. Despite the haze, all Alex could think about was Jericho lying all alone on the forest floor.
“J-Jericho,” he forced out.
A reassuring hand gripped his arm.
“We’ve got him,” Jaze said, his voice gentle. “He’s coming home, too.”
Alex felt himself be set on the floor of the helicopter. He tried to move and another stabbing pain shot through his chest. His back arched as he fought to draw in breath.
“The other lung!” Kaynan said.
A force slammed into his chest. He drew a sharp breath and the drowning sensation lessened. Despite the voices repeating his name, Alex c
ouldn’t keep awake. His muscles relaxed and he gave into the embrace of darkness.
***
The beeping that filled Alex’s ears when he awoke was disorienting. Images raced through his mind and he couldn’t figure out when or where he was. He thought he and Siale had just been freed from the body pit, then memories of awakening in the cage with Dr. Kamala watching him sent shudders down his spine that turned into shivers from cold. But werewolves weren’t supposed to get cold. Alex realized he was kneeling in the snow with a body in his arms. Each tear that fell from his eyes turned to icicles before they hit the ground and shattered into a million pieces.
The memories changed. Alex was kneeling on the forest floor and another body lay in front of him. He clutched something in his hand so hard it cut into his skin. Alex opened his hand and looked down at the ring. Jericho had meant to propose to Cherish. The Alpha was in love with a human who loved him back just as much. It was beautiful. It was lost.
Alex opened his eyes. The room was dark. The steady beeping near his head let him know that he was hooked up to monitors. He took a slow breath to keep his heartbeat measured so as not to alarm his mom. He needed a minute to think things through.
Jericho was gone. Drogan’s Demons had killed another of his friends, another werewolf who could never be replaced and who had been torn out of the life he deserved to live.
Alex rubbed his eyes. His head ached. He couldn’t remember when it had ever hurt so badly. He tried to sit up, but movement made pain flood through his lungs with such knife-edged agony he could barely breathe.
Alex pulled the hospital gown down far enough to see his chest. The light of the moon that spilled through the window revealed bruises splayed all down his torso. He could tell with the simple movement that worse bruising covered his back. He wondered how many ribs he had broken. Perhaps jumping off a building and crashing through trees before landing on his back on the forest floor had been a bad idea. He hadn’t been able to save Jericho.
Alex ignored the pain and pushed up slowly. Sitting made the stabbing pain worse. Alex gave up sitting and slid his feet to the tiled floor of the medical wing of the Academy he knew very well. It was both a relief and a humbling experience to stand there because even though it took some pressure off the breathing, standing made him realize how very weak he was.
He ran his hand along the bed.
“Alex?”
Instead of jumping and spinning in the defensive moves Chet had trained into his muscle memory, Alex took a shallow breath and turned. The sight of Siale crossing to him made his knees weak. Alex caught her in a hug so fast she gasped in surprise and he gasped in pain.
Siale stepped back.
“Are you okay?” she asked worriedly.
Alex nodded breathlessly. “I should have thought that through.”
“Can I help you sit down?”
He shook his head. “Sitting hurts.”
“You should be lying down in bed. Your mother isn’t going to be very happy with you,” Siale told him. The little furrow formed between her eyebrows. “Really, Alex. You’re going to fall over.”
“Give me a moment,” he asked softly.
At her nod, Alex closed his eyes. He focused on the moonlight that fell across his left side. The touch of the moon was cool and reassuring like a blanket woven from the night. Alex pictured the moonlight flowing into his skin, healing and repairing wherever it went. When his image of the moonlight reached his chest, he willed his lungs to fill completely. There was pain, but Alex felt better able to handle it. His headache lessened with the surge of oxygen. Alex pulled in another breath, then another. He opened his eyes to find Siale watching him.
“Is that better?” he asked.
“Yes,” she replied with a hint of surprise. “It is.”
Alex turned back to the bed. He lifted the blanket and searched along the white sheet.
“What are you looking for?” Siale asked him.
“The ring. I think I dropped it,” Alex replied. He fought back a feeling of panic when he realized the ring wasn’t there.
He was ready to tear apart the entire room to look when Siale said, “I’ve got Jericho’s ring.”
Alex let out a breath of relief and hid a wince. He leaned against the wall in an effort to regain some of the precious strength he had expended. Siale held the small gold circle on her palm. The diamond winked like a star caught in the first light on the horizon, simple, beautiful, and exactly what Alex pictured Cherish wearing.
He reached for it. “I’m taking it to her.”
Siale stiffened and closed her hand. “No, you’re not. There’s no way you can go anywhere in this shape.”
A surge of frustration filled Alex. “Yes, I am. Jericho asked me to.” He pulled the IV from his wrist and detached the monitors.
“Then wait until you’re feeling better.”
Alex shook his head. “I can’t. I need to let Cherish know what happened.”
“We can call her,” Siale urged. She set a hand on his arm. “Alex, you shouldn’t go anywhere like this. Meredith said you had a double pneumothorax. Both of your lungs collapsed because you broke so many ribs in your fall and they punctured your lungs. You’re healing, but it could happen again if you don’t give yourself time to rest.”
Alex shook his head. He could see Jericho’s pleading gaze when he asked Alex to take the ring to Cherish.
“I’m going,” Alex said. He took two steps and his legs gave out.
Siale caught his arm before he hit the ground. The jolt was so sharp Alex almost growled.
“Let me go,” he demanded.
He yanked his arm from her grasp with more force than was necessary. With sheer strength of will, Alex walked through the door. He slammed his hand on the panel across the hall and the door slid aside. Alex stepped into the darkness.
Chapter Twenty
It took much longer than it should have for Alex to reach the secondary vehicle storage room Trent used as his private workshop. He felt horrible for the way he had spoken to Siale, but the drive to fulfill his promise to Jericho kept one foot in front of the other. By the time the door slid open, Alex was gasping for breath.
Alex took two steps into the room, then had to steady himself against a table.
“Are you really planning to ride a motorcycle in your condition?”
Alex’s head jerked up and he stared at Siale.
“How did you get here?” he forced out. He put a hand to his side to stop the throbbing of his ribs.
She gave him an empathetic look. “I’ve been here for almost ten minutes. I thought you might have changed your mind. Besides, you forgot the ring.” She opened her hand to show him the ring she still held.
Her words stole a bit of Alex’s bravado. He leaned against the table and crossed his arms gingerly in front of his chest.
“I promised him.” His words were quiet but the emotions they stirred in him made him clench his hands into fists.
Siale crossed to him and, without speaking, put her arms around him. He bowed his head against her. He didn’t cry. It was enough to know that she felt his pain and she shared it; in the end, she understood.
“I’ll drive,” Siale said after several minutes had passed.
Alex cracked a smile. “You’ll drive what?”
Siale pointed at the tarp Trent had put over Alex’s motorcycle. “I’ll drive your bike.”
Alex stared at her. “Uh, you’re kidding, right?”
Siale gave a little laugh Alex would have found endearing except for the fact that she was completely serious. “Give me a chance,” she said.
She walked to the motorcycle, leaving Alex to watch her pull off the tarp and run a hand across the paint.
“It’s pretty.” At Alex’s exasperated look, she smiled. “Come on, Alex. I’m teasing. It’s a very manly bike. It’s a bit bigger than the one Trent taught me on, but I think I can handle it.” Her smile faded and seriousness took over her tone. “You want to give
Cherish the ring, and you can’t ride in your condition. Trent gave me a few lessons. Trust me, okay?” She picked up the spare helmet and strapped it on.
Alex crossed to the bike. He eyed Siale. “You asked Trent to give you a few lessons?”
Siale met Alex’s gaze. “I know how important your motorcycle is to you. If you ever wanted me to, I had to make sure I could go with you.”
All of the fight left Alex. He watched Siale as he spoke. “I know there are things I’ve done that have left you out. I guess I didn’t realize how much that bothered you.”
She gave him a small smile. “I know you have things you need to do.” She hesitated, then said, “I guess I just hope that eventually I can be a part of them all.”
Alex realized there was no choice if he was going to keep from hurting her. He nodded. “Let’s go.”
Siale grinned and attempted to buckle her helmet. Alex watched her failed attempts for a few seconds before he caught her hands in his.
“Let me help you.”
She watched him wordlessly as he pushed the strap through the ring, looped it back, and pulled it to ensure it was snug before he buttoned the strap down.
The look in her eyes showed how grateful she was that he agreed to let her come along. It ate at him that it meant so much to her.
“How’s that?” he asked quietly.
“Perfect,” she replied.
Before he could repeat his apology for leaving her out, she rose up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the nose.
“Let’s go,” she then said with an air of command.
Siale swung her leg over the motorcycle and pulled the bike straight. It took her a second to get the kickstand up, but when she did, she gave him a confident nod.
Alex fought back a smile and climbed gingerly onto the back.
“This is a first for me,” he said.
She glanced at him over the shoulder.
“Being the passenger,” he explained. “I’ve never ridden on the back.”
“Then you better hold on,” she answered.