by Cheree Alsop
“Alex, get back here with that!” Tennison yelled.
Trent fell in close behind. Both werewolves huffed in laughter as they flew down the stairs and out the door Siale had thankfully thought to prop open.
A few seconds later, the rest of the werewolves chased the pair through the forest. Alex dodged a tree trunk and threw the tee-shirt to Trent just before Tennison tried to snag it in his jaws.
Trent ducked beneath a bush and darted left around a stand of aspens. Tennison slowed to get around Alex, then used his long legs to lope between both wolves. Alex barely caught the tee-shirt before Tennison got to it. He circled right and followed a game trail down to the stream. To Tennison’s dismay, Alex proceeded to jump into the ankle-deep water. He then gave showy splashes designed to soak any wolf who got within reach of the shirt.
By now the tee-shirt was a sopping wet mess with mud on one sleeve. Alex didn’t know why Tennison bothered to get it back. Taking pity on the werewolf, Alex lowered his head to the water to wash the shirt.
Tennison yipped with frustration. His ears were back and he pawed at the edge of the river like a puppy who didn’t want to get wet. Alex gave a wolfish grin and lowered his muzzle into the stream.
Something bowled him over so hard Alex lost his grip on the tee-shirt. Soaked from head to toe, he staggered back to his paws. Surprise filled him at the sight of Kaynan standing in wolf form on the far side of the river with Grace, his mate, at his side. The crimson-coated Alpha had the tee-shirt in his jaws. Glee showed in his red eyes.
Alex glanced over his shoulder. His pack looked completely surprised by the professors’ appearance. Kaynan gave a bark of challenge and both he and Grace disappeared through the trees.
Alex waved his tail and looked back at his pack mates. He wasn’t about to let the challenge go lightly. It was his pack against Kaynan and Grace. They could handle two werewolves.
Alex gave a bark of command and leaped up the far bank in the moonlight. The sounds of splashing heralded his pack following close behind. They took up a protective fan formation. Shadows trailed them on either side. Alex made out the forms of Dray and Gem on his right with Colleen and Rafe on his left.
Alex caught sight of Kaynan ahead of them. He felt as much as saw Siale close in on his right. She sped up when he did, her ears back and mouth open in a wolfish grin at the challenge. Alex’s paws drummed along the ground. Kaynan’s cedar and clove scent along with the lingering strange chemical smell that colored both him and his sister Colleen filled Alex’s nose.
Alex pushed harder. His pack loped behind him on nearly silent paws. Alex felt a surge of pride at the way they ran in formation, leaping over logs and between the trees as though they were of one mind and thought. Alex felt like an Alpha, a true leader. Even the professors couldn’t match his pack.
He was ready to give the order for his pack mates to split to the right and left the way they used to drill when suddenly Kaynan and Grace, Rafe and Colleen, and all of the others were gone. Alex ran past the last place he had seen the first two, spun on his heels, and circled back. Their scent disappeared completely.
Baffled, Alex watched Siale and Cassie search the same way. Tennison sniffed around the trees while Trent and Terith jogged back to see if they had somehow missed the werewolves in the bushes.
Alex couldn’t believe it. He snorted in disbelief, spinning in a complete circle to see if somehow the professors were playing a trick on him.
A pine branch hit him in the head. Alex looked up. His mouth dropped open at the sight of Kaynan and the others up in the evergreens in wolf form looking down at him. Alex thought of the time he had jumped up in a tree to beat everyone back to the Academy. Wolves and trees didn’t mix well; the balance was off and it just felt completely wrong. He had to give the professors credit for making it work quickly enough to throw his pack off the trail.
Kaynan gave a huff of laughter and let the now soggy and shredded tee-shirt fall through the branches to land at Alex’s feet. Alex snorted. Tennison trotted up and snatched it from the forest floor. To Alex’s surprise, the werewolf then proceeded to worry and shred the shirt himself while the others looked on.
Kaynan and Grace jumped down with Colleen and Rafe close behind. Everyone watched Tennison finish destroying his own shirt. Trent grabbed one of the shreds and raced around the trees. Rafe picked up another. The quiet professor with the golden eyes grabbed another scrap of cloth and shook it. When he let go, the ruined shirt hit Alex in the face. Rafe barked a laugh.
Alex grinned and took off after him. The others fell in close behind. During the night of the full moon, they were just wolves, animals united by comradery, loyalty, and the kindred nature that came from growing up among the trees. The other wolves from Rafe’s pack joined them in their flight through the shadows.
Wolves brushed past Alex’s shoulder, leading them deeper into the forest. Alex and Siale followed. Cassie and Tennison and Trent and Terith ghosted close behind. Besides Tennison, they had been the first students at the Academy. When little more than gangly-legged pups, the professors had ran with them the same way, leading them through the forest and teaching them to love the meadows and glens, valleys and peaks.
Alex ran with the reminder that though life was fragile and could twist in ways that left holes gaping in his heart, there was also stability among the ancient trees and peace within the forest depths to counterbalance the pain. The way of the wolf was one of quiet acceptance. His journey as a werewolf was filled with highs that made him feel like he was flying and lows he had survived through sheer determination. Being a wolf helped him place both of those in perspective.
The world continued whether he fought Drogan or not. Trees grew and the sun rose, the rain still fell and the crickets chirped regardless of what he did. The thought made him feel small and filled him with hope at the same time. It took some of the weight off his shoulders and chased away the fear of what would happen if he failed. The way of the wolf helped to remind him that the best he could do was to live for his pack. They were his world, his strength, and they would be at his side every step of the way.
Chapter Twenty-five
Drogan pressed the gun harder against Siale’s head. She winced. A slight breeze toyed with the hem of her wedding dress, wrapping the white fabric around both her and Alex’s half-brother. Alex tried to reach her, but his feet felt like they were trapped in tar. He yelled her name, but it came out as a whisper. A single tear trailed slowly down Siale’s face. It reached her delicate jawline and fell with agonizing slowness to the floor. Alex followed the tear, straining, reaching, and unable to do anything but watch the iridescent drop reflect his own hopelessness.
When the tear hit the ground, it shattered with the sound of a bullet exploding from a gun.
“No!” Alex yelled.
He sat up so quickly the room spun. Reality clashed with the nightmare. He couldn’t clear Drogan’s scent from his nose. Shadows moved out of the corner of his eye, out of place amid the dawn that spilled through the window after their midnight run. Alex turned his head and froze.
Drogan stood in the middle of his room. His half-brother held Siale by the throat. There was a gag in her mouth. Drogan’s right arm ended in a jagged blade attached to the stump where his hand had been. Siale’s eyes widened when he pressed the blade to her neck.
“Let her go!” Alex yelled.
“Quiet,” Drogan growled. “Your professors will hear you.” He paused, then said, “Or will they?”
“What do you mean?” Fear sent ice through Alex’s veins. He willed the Demon to take over. Blue tinted his vision.
“Do it and she dies,” Drogan said in a voice that left no doubt he would follow through with his threat. “You evacuated the Academy. Smart.” His eyes narrowed. “Smarter would have been to disappear. You knew I wouldn’t give up, Alex, yet you stick around. Why can’t you just die?”
Alex stood slowly with his hands up to show that he held no weapons. A glance behind h
im revealed two Demons hulking near the hallway where the rest of his pack slept. The werewolves had been exhausted after the full moon run; Alex doubted any of them had awoken yet. If the Demons went on a rampage, everyone would die. “Then kill me, Drogan. Kill me and let Siale go. You don’t have to hurt anyone else.”
Drogan’s mouth twisted in a smile that scared Alex more than any glare.
“If only it was that easy,” the Extremist said. He motioned with his bladed hand. “Let’s move.”
To Alex’s dismay, Drogan pushed the hidden panel with his shoulder and slid it to the side to reveal the tunnel. Alex had no choice but to walk in front of Drogan and one of his Demons down the walkway. The fact that the other Demon stayed in his quarters wasn’t lost on him.
“I’m the one you want,” Alex said. “You don’t need to hurt anyone else.”
Drogan’s silence followed him down. His brother’s demeanor terrified him. Usually, Drogan was prone to talking about how much he hated Alex and wanted to kill him. The silent, impassive Extremist was another story.
Drogan paused near the entrance to the Wolf Den. The door was shut. Drogan didn’t bother to push the panel.
“Let us in,” he growled.
The door slid open.
Alex’s chest tightened at the sight of all of the professors standing below Brock’s station with four of Drogan’s Demons guarding them. Tears escaped down Meredith’s cheeks when he met his mother’s gaze. The professors looked the worse for the wear, bruised and bleeding. Chet sat on the floor with blood on his shirt while Grace applied pressure to a wound on Kaynan’s back. Dray tried to smile at Alex, but the combat professor’s lips twisted into a grimace when Gem tightened the bandage on his arm.
Alex paused at the sight of Jaze chained to a chair in the middle of Brock’s command center. There was a poorly-tied bandage around the dean’s forehead and dried blood showed at the corner of his mouth. Little William sat on the floor at his father’s feet with baby Vicki sleeping in his lap. The usually calm and hungry Brock sat at his computers, his face pale and gaze worried.
“How did this happen?” Alex asked quietly.
Drogan glanced back at him. “Unlucky for you, werewolves are slaves to the full moon. After gaining access to the Academy, all we had to do was wait it out until everyone returned exhausted and fell asleep. A few put up a fight, but my Demons convinced them it wasn’t a good idea. You’re lucky I didn’t just kill them all in their beds.”
Alex felt the gaze of every person and Demon in the room on him as he followed Drogan and Siale to the stairs.
“Why didn’t you?” Alex forced himself to ask.
Drogan didn’t answer.
Alex tried another question. “How did you get inside the walls?”
Drogan looked up the stairs. Alex followed his gaze to Brock.
Alex shook his head. “There’s no way. Brock would never betray Jaze.”
Brock hung his head, unable to meet Alex’s gaze.
Drogan merely replied, “It helps to have the right leverage.”
Brock turned away from Alex and touched his fingers to the screen on his right. Alex’s heart fell at the sight of Jennifer Stauffer, the girl Brock had taken to dinner in Greyton City, bound and gagged. A man in a mask stood behind her chair with a knife to her throat. Tears and a bruise on the woman’s cheek were enough to set Alex’s teeth on edge.
“You’re going to pay, Drogan,” Alex growled.
Drogan’s mismatched eyes met Alex’s. “That’s where you’re wrong,” he replied. “I’m going to enjoy every second of this.”
Alex had reached the end of his frayed patience. “Every second of what?” he demanded, his voice rising. “What can you possibly want? Money? Fear? Power? There’s nothing you can gain by taking over an Academy the world already knows about!”
Drogan shoved Siale to a sitting position on the stairs. When she tried to move, the tip of his bladed hand was enough to still her attempt.
“After all this time, I thought we understood each other,” Drogan said, his voice casual while his eyes held Alex like shards of green and blue ice. “I don’t want money, power, or fear.”
With four Demons guarding the professors, another in his pack quarters, two more at the door, and another unaccounted for, Alex couldn’t think of a way to gain the upper hand. The scent that flowed from his brother revealed the insanity in the Extremist’s actions. Alex had no doubt whatever Drogan’s goals were, his brother intended to carry them out completely.
Alex’s voice was quiet when he asked the question, “Then what do you want?”
Drogan grabbed Siale’s arm and pressed his blade to it. She winced. Alex took a step forward, but the Demon closest to his mother put his claws around her neck. Alex froze.
Drogan drew his blade down Siale’s arm. The skin parted in a line of red. Drogan watched the blood pool. “The only thing I want is for you to suffer, Alex,” he said, his voice calm. “I don’t care about anything else other than making sure that my brother takes his last remaining breaths with the utmost pain possible.” His voice darkened. “The world can rot for all I care. You took everything from me; now I get to make you suffer until you take your last breath at the point of this blade.”
“Then do it!” Alex commanded. He held out his arms, willing Drogan to carve them instead of his love’s. He couldn’t take the sight of her in pain steps away from him and him unable to do anything about it. It was the worst form of torture he could think of. “Take your vengeance out on me. I’m here, right now, standing in front of you.” His voice tightened with hopeless frustration when he concluded, “Take me instead. Please.”
Drogan paused, his blade still in Siale’s arm. Tears trickled down her cheeks and her lips trembled with the effort it took to stay silent. Alex wanted to hold her so badly his arms ached, but he didn’t dare take a step forward for fear that his mother would pay for his actions as well as his fiancé.
“I will kill you,” Drogan said. Before Alex could feel any hope that his friends and family would be safe, the Extremist continued, “But first, I will knock you from the platform of glory you have built for yourself. The world worships you. I will make them fear and loath you. Your professors care about you; I will make them regret the day they ever let you set one foot in this Academy.” He met Alex’s gaze. “Your fiancé loves you? I will slice her to pieces in your name until she curses the day you pulled her from my pit.”
Siale’s head jerked up.
Drogan looked down at her with a cruel smile that darkened his gaze. “Oh, you thought I didn’t remember you?”
Siale ducked her head.
Drogan pulled the blade from her arm and used it to raise her face back up so that she would look at him. Red blood coated her chin.
“I remember everything,” Drogan said, his voice soft and taunting. “I remember how your skin was like satin beneath my fingertips. I remember how you begged me to stop.”
Alex’s hands tightened into fists.
Siale tried to glance away, but Drogan grabbed her hair with his good hand, forcing her to look at him again.
“I remember how much stronger you were than your mother,” Drogan continued. “I loved watching your pain, the way you tried to stay silent.” He tipped his head closer to her and whispered loudly, “But in the end, you couldn’t.”
Siale slammed her forehead against his face.
Drogan cupped his nose as bright red blood flowed through his fingers. He laughed and dropped his hand. Red stained his lips and mouth when he said, “I should have remembered that, too.” He shook his head and glanced at Alex. “You have your hands full with this one, just like I did.”
Alex took another step. Meredith cried out in pain. Guilt flooded Alex when he saw the deep claw marks along her shoulder from the Demon. Alex’s hands clenched and unclenched. He couldn’t win. If he tried to protect Siale, his mother got hurt. If he stood by and did nothing, everyone was in danger; Drogan had him hedged in on
every side. It was a lose-lose situation no matter how he looked at it.
The only thing he could think of was to distract the Extremist from his attention to Siale.
“What are you going to do, kill me in front of the nation?” he asked.
Drogan turned away from Alex’s fiancé and faced him again. “We’re going to have a wedding.”
Alex watched him closely. “What do you mean?”
Drogan gave a chilling smile. “The world loves you.” He looked down at Siale. “You two are the werewolf sweethearts who have captured the nation’s attention. Everyone wants to see true love between their Demon,” he twisted the word, “And the love of his life.” His smile deepened. “They’ll get their precious wedding and so much more when you decapitate the mayor of Greyton City in front of your beloved humans, and then give the order for my Demons to slaughter the rest of them like livestock.”
“Drogan, you’re a sick, twisted monster,” Chet growled.
“You can’t make Alex do that,” Meredith protested.
Ice was coursing through Alex’s veins. “I won’t do it.”
“You’ll do it,” Drogan replied. He tipped his head toward Jaze. “I have the leverage, and as we’ve seen with Brook, leverage truly is power.”
“It’s Brock,” Brock muttered without taking his eyes off the screen showing Jennifer.
Alex thought quickly. “If I’m going to have a wedding, I’ll need my family there and witnesses from the Academy. It’ll look strange otherwise.”
Drogan nodded. “Of course. You’ll have your beloved professors, your mom, and your fiancé.” He ran his tongue across his lips when he looked at her. Siale shivered and stared at the floor. Drogan grinned as if he enjoyed her discomfort and continued, “Thanks to your careful planning, you’ll also have your sister and her fiancé there as well. However,” he looked up at Jaze. “If the prestigious Dean of the Werewolf Academy is absent after his wife’s not too distant death, I don’t think anyone will think twice. He is in mourning, and it isn’t too farfetched to believe a wedding is just too much to handle after such a loss.”