by Cheree Alsop
The groan sounded again and a form moved beneath the statue. Adrenaline ran through Alex’s veins when he realized who he looked at.
“Drogan,” Alex growled.
He jumped into the hole. The voice in the back of his mind mentioned that the move might have been a bit foolhardy given his current condition. Alex bit back a gasp when he hit the ground and his knees gave out.
A pained chuckle sounded that set Alex’s teeth on edge. “My Demons must have made an impact.”
Alex fought back the urge to yell. He preserved his strength and said quietly to hide his pain, “You sicced them on the crowd.”
“You…didn’t uphold your promise,” Drogan replied.
“You mean my word to kill an unarmed human?” Alex demanded. He rose back to his feet and barely felt the pain as he made his way to his half-brother’s side. “The word you knew I would never keep?”
“You are Jaze’s blood,” Drogan replied dryly.
“You are, too,” Alex reminded him.
Alex paused when he got close enough to really see Drogan. Jet’s statue had landed fully on the Extremist. Drogan’s ribcage was crushed beneath the black wolf’s head. Blood ran across the floor in a dark puddle.
“You’re dead, Drogan.”
They were words Alex had wanted to say ever since the Extremist killed their parents. Alex had trained every possible moment at the Academy to seek his revenge. So many lives had been lost and others lived in terror that Drogan would seek them out. The Extremist had haunted Alex’s every step, killed his friends, and threatened the peace and security he and Cassie had fought so hard to achieve. Now, that moment had come.
Alex’s strength waned. His knees let go and he sank back to the ground.
Drogan gave a weak smile; blood coated his teeth. “You look about dead yourself.”
Alex glared at him. “Don’t get your hopes up. I’m pretty hard to kill.”
“You’re telling me,” Drogan muttered. The Extremist coughed. The cough turned into a hack that colored his lips with blood. He closed his eyes.
Despite his façade, Alex could feel his wounds taking their toll. As much as he wanted to end Drogan’s life, his condition made him inclined to just sit back and watch.
“Kill me.” Drogan’s eyes opened and he gave Alex a pleading look, the first Alex ever remembered seeing. The Extremist winced with an expression of severe pain. “Alex, please.”
Alex warred with the empathy he definitely got from his mother rather than the General. He could end Drogan’s suffering and give the Extremist peace. He was looking at his brother, his own flesh and blood. The only thing Drogan wanted from him was to die, the exact thing Alex wanted from Drogan himself. He was tempted to do it when the memory of burying Jericho surfaced in Alex’s mind. Cherish wore a ring without her love at her side. A pack stood without an Alpha. A mother lived without her son and the brothers Jet had worked so hard to bring back together.
Alex shook his head. “Suffer,” he said, his voice level.
Drogan closed his eyes again. His breath rattled in his chest. Alex didn’t know how the Extremist was still alive. The same moonlight that had illuminated the seven on the statue’s shoulder was centered on Drogan’s chest. He wondered if it healed the werewolf just enough to keep his heart beating.
“She’s some girl.” Drogan’s eyes were closed. He spoke without opening them. “I enjoyed causing her pain. She used to be so fresh and new, before I got to her.”
Alex tried not to listen. He told himself that perhaps Drogan was talking about somebody else. Maybe the Extremist was remembering a girlfriend; that would be bad enough. Perhaps he was disoriented from the loss of blood. Maybe he didn’t know what he was saying.
Drogan’s eyes opened and his mismatched gaze locked on Alex. “I made Siale suffer every way I could think of.”
Alex rose to his feet.
“When I ran out of ideas,” Drogan continued, “I asked my men. They always came up with something.”
Alex grabbed a huge chunk of cement from the floor on his way to the statue.
“When she stopped screaming, I knew I was really getting somewhere,” Drogan said, his eyes closing again. “I used to—”
His words ended when the block of cement crushed his head.
Alex rested his forehead against the statue, his strength rushing out of him.
“It’s done, Jet,” he whispered.
“Alex!” Siale yelled.
Chapter Twenty-nine
Alex ran through ruins of the Academy toward Siale’s voice. The fear in her tone spurred him faster. He forgot about pain, Drogan’s death, and the Academy itself. All that mattered to him was reaching his love and making sure she was alright. Fear that the Demons had reached the school pulsed through him. Now that their Alpha was dead, there was no telling what they would do.
“Alex!”
He rounded the corner of the fallen Wolf Den. His steps faltered at the sight in front of him.
Kaynan and Chet stood on one side of a huge cement support beam. Vance and Rafe stood on the other. Both sets of werewolves were trying to lift the beam off of Jaze. Siale knelt by Jaze’s side and held his hand with tears streaking down her face. The pain of the dean’s expression ate through Alex. Brock, his face covered in dried blood and one arm held tightly to his side, tried to do what he could to ease Jaze’s pain.
Alex ran forward and forced the Demon to take over. Though his injured body tried to protest, Alex forced it to obey. Blue filled his vision and the Demon surged through his limbs.
“Alex, wait!” Kaynan protested.
Alex ignored him and grabbed the end of the cement beam. Using all that remained of his strength, he lifted the pillar. Alex’s knees shook. He gritted his teeth and lifted higher. It took every last ounce of strength from the Demon to hold the beam high enough to clear the dean’s crushed body.
Kaynan reached under and pulled Jaze free.
“Clear,” Chet shouted.
Alex let the beam go. It fell to the floor with a resounding crash and broke into pieces.
Gray swirled through Alex’s vision when the blue left. His legs buckled and he fell forward.
“Easy,” Rafe said. The golden-eyed werewolf lowered him to a sitting position on the ground. Siale put a hand on his arm, her soft gray eyes filled with tears.
“Alex.”
The sound of the dean’s voice was enough to bring Alex back to his knees. With the help of Rafe and Siale, he crawled to Jaze’s side.
Jaze held up a hand. His fingers shook with the effort. Alex took it in his own shaking hand and wrapped his other one around it.
“Alex,” Jaze whispered again. His dark brown eyes were filled with pain and his breath wheezed each time he sucked in a gasp.
“I’m here,” Alex reassured him.
Jaze looked at him, but his gaze was distant as though he didn’t see the younger werewolf kneeling in front of him. “Take care…of…William and Vicki,” the dean said. His words grew quieter with each syllable.
“Jaze, are they alive?” Siale asked anxiously.
“We can’t find them,” Kaynan said, agony bright in his crimson eyes.
Jaze lifted his free hand and pointed with a trembling finger. Siale jumped to her feet and raced with Kaynan to the corner where Brock’s cousin Caden used to prepare the weapons. The huge gun safe had been embedded in the wall. Dents showed in the black metal, but the door was otherwise unharmed.
“What’s the combination?” Kaynan called.
Jaze closed his eyes. A tear slipped down his cheeks. “Six, one, one.”
Kaynan spun the dial.
“The day Nikki and I got married,” Jaze continued. His words were more of a sigh that spilled from his lips. A drop of blood followed.
A baby’s cry broke through the air.
“Oh, thank goodness,” Alex heard Kaynan say from the safe.
“Aunt Siale,” little William sobbed.
“I’ve got you,
” she replied.
Jaze said something Alex couldn’t hear. He leaned down.
The dean raised his free hand to the empty air and whispered, “Nikki, I’ve missed you so much.”
Alex’s tears fell on the hand he clasped. “Don’t go,” he pleaded.
A slight smile touched the corners of Jaze’s mouth. “You’re even more beautiful…than I remember.”
His labored breathing sounded harsh to Alex’s ears.
“I-I don’t know what to do without you,” he told the dean.
Jaze’s gaze focused on his face. A knowing look Alex recognized touched the dean’s pained expression. “You’ll…know,” he said. He winced and shifted as though trying to find a more comfortable position. He gave up and a weak smile touched his lips. “You’ve…always known.”
Alex shook his head. “You’ve always helped me.” His tears dripped down his nose to the dean’s hand.
Jaze’s focus shifted past Alex’s shoulder. His smile grew bigger. “Jet…” He took a wheezing breath and said. “Jet, you came back.”
A sob tore from Alex’s chest. He didn’t want Jaze to leave. He couldn’t imagine a world without the dean in it. Jaze had always been there for him, guiding him even without seeming to. Now, Jaze’s loved ones had come back for him. Those the dean had left behind during their fight to free the werewolves, the humans and werewolves Jaze had been forced to say goodbye to, had come back to welcome him with open arms. Alex couldn’t keep him from that no matter how lost he felt at letting Jaze go.
Jaze sucked in another breath. “Mom,” he said. Tears spilled down his cheeks. “Alex, they’re all here.”
Siale’s hand touched Alex’s shoulder. He glanced up to see Vicki resting quietly in Siale’s arms. The baby’s eyes reflected her father’s broken form. Kaynan reached them with William at his side. The little boy broke free and knelt next to Alex. Alex pulled him close.
“Is Daddy going to be okay?” William asked.
Alex looked down into the boy’s blue eyes. He had never lied to William. He knew there was no reason to start.
“No,” he said, his voice gentle. “But I’ll take care of you.” He met Siale’s gaze. “We’ll take care of you.”
She nodded with tears on her cheeks.
Alex set a hand on Jaze’s shoulder. “Go to them,” he told the dean. “Your children will be safe with us.”
“Love them…” Jaze’s whisper barely moved the dust in the air. “Love them all…like I love you.”
Alex nodded. His throat was so tight he couldn’t say anything else. He knelt down and pressed his lips to the dean’s forehead.
“I love you, too, Jaze,” he whispered.
A sigh left Jaze’s lips, flowing out with his last breath.
Alex sat back and William climbed on his lap. The little boy held his father’s sleeve. Alex listened to Jaze’s slow heartbeat. Jaze’s hand, the one he had held out to Nikki, Jet, and the others, dropped back to his chest. His heart gave one more beat, then stilled.
“Daddy,” William cried. He pressed his head against Alex’s chest.
Alex gently loosened his hand from Jaze’s and wrapped the boy up in a tight hug.
“I’ve got you, William,” he promised. “And I’ll never let go.”
Chapter Thirty
The nation mourned Jaze Carso’s death and honored him with flags at half-mast and a funeral ceremony broadcasted across the country. Words of gratitude for his bravery in ridding the nation of its number one enemy were spoken from leaders and civilians alike. Werewolves were granted citizenship in his name, and Extremists were confronted with extreme force.
Despite the beauty of the proceedings and the solemnity with which Jaze was granted a final resting place next to Nikki in the city in which they had met, Alex favorite part, the one he would always remember, came after the sun set.
“Our brother, a body of flesh and blood no longer your soul holds.” The words of hundreds upon hundreds of werewolves rang out through the forest.
“Run without the confines of bone and sinew, howl without the constriction of lungs or breath, and live within the embrace of the moon and her welcoming light.” The trees stilled as though in reverence to the wolf who had run beneath their forest canopy.
Silence spread. The honor and love was so profound Alex could feel it with every breath. Little William held his right hand and Siale held his left with baby Vicki asleep in her arms. The forest spread out below them, a vast, dark carpet that hid the world Alex had grown up in. The ruins of the Academy could be seen as a mound of black in the night beyond the crumbled walls. It was a tribute to Jaze, a place Alex would always consider home.
He tipped his face to the moonlight and said, “Your life is one with wolvenkind.” The voices below him joined in and concluded, “And your heart will beat with ours forevermore. You will not be forgotten.”
When the last word had finished its echo across the land, Alex cupped his hands around his mouth. The howl of remembrance he sang to the sky was joined by the hundreds of voices, werewolves giving tribute to the leader who had given everything to make sure they were safe. Jaze had united them and brought together the nation by destroying the enemy who had threatened to tear them to pieces.
Drogan’s violence and the extent he was willing to go to in order to bring human and werewolf kind to their knees had united both races. Jaze had given up everything, including his life, to stop Drogan. That selfless act spurred a movement of patriotism that joined werewolves and humans in, if not friendship, at least the beginnings of acceptance.
Alex howled his gratitude to the father-figure who had taught him the value of love, loyalty, and pack. He told of his appreciation for Jaze’s trust in including him on the missions, and of the dean’s understanding when things didn’t always go as planned. Alex howled his thankfulness for the Academy Jaze had built that had become a home to so many, and he promised Jaze that he would do his best to follow in the dean’s footsteps.
They waited at the top of the rise until long after the howls had died away and werewolves left the forest. The rising sun reflected on the lake Alex had jumped into first as a dare, then as a means of escaping his enemies, and now as the final memory of Jaze Carso, the werewolf who changed a nation.
When Alex and Siale walked back down the hill, their friends fell in around them. Cassie and Tennison held hands in front of the pair, and the professors met them in the forest. Together, the students and teachers of the Academy walked one last time beneath the trees to the school that meant something different to each of them, yet in their hearts, everyone had considered it a home.
***
Alex was awoken by Trent later that morning; his friend had caught him still in bed at the hotel in Greyton the city had thoughtfully provided for the werewolves while they were figuring out where to relocate.
“What is it?” he asked sleepily.
“It’s a phone call,” Trent told him. “You’re going to want to take it.”
Alex accepted the cell phone with the wolf paw Mouse emblazoned on the back of everything he could.
“This is Alex,” he said.
“Alex, this is Agent Sullivan of the Global Protection Agency.”
Alex sat up. “Yes, sir?”
“Mr. Davies-Carso, I was a friend of Jaze’s and I would like to express my condolences for your loss. The country has lost a fine man.”
Alex pushed his messy hair back from his forehead. “Thank you.”
“Now to business,” Agent Sullivan said. “According to our research, your father, Jared Carso, also known as the General, amassed a great deal of money in several private accounts. Policy normally dictates that this money be absorbed as an asset; however, in gratitude for your diligence and the sacrifices you have made to bring these terrorist threats to rest, the money has been transferred into an account for your use and the use of your posterity.”
Alex stared at Trent. The small werewolf nodded excitedly.
; “Uh, thank you,” Alex said, still not quite sure he understood the man correctly.
“The account information and access will be sent to you within the next two days. We will call you back at this number with the details,” Agent Sullivan said.
Alex was about to say goodbye when Trent interrupted him.
“How much is it?” Trent asked excitedly.
“Um, if you don’t mind me asking, how much are we talking about?” Alex repeated.
A smile could be heard in the agent’s otherwise professional tone when he replied, “There are a few more accounts we are attempting to locate, but at this time, we are talking hundreds of millions of dollars. Good day, Alex.”
The agent hung up, leaving Alex to stare at the cell phone in disbelief. An enormous weight had just lifted off his shoulders, but he barely dared believe what he had heard.
Trent jumped up at down. “Hundreds of millions! We could put every student through college!” He laughed. “We could build a werewolf theme park with that much money!”
Alex grinned at his friend’s enthusiasm.
“We’ll know what to do with it,” he replied with a smile.
***
“I do,” Alex said.
“Do you, Siale Leanna Andrews, take Alex Davies-Carso as your lawfully wedded husband?” Kaynan asked.
Siale gave Alex her special smile, the one that made him warm all over and sent tingles down his spine. It was only by reminding himself that they were in the middle of their real wedding that he was able to keep from kissing her right then and there.
“I do,” she said.
“And do you, Cassie Ann Davies-Carso, take Tennison Matthew Hughes as your lawfully wedded husband?”
Alex had never seen his sister as happy as at the moment when she echoed, ‘I do.’
“And do you, Tennison Matthew Hughes, take Cassie Ann Davies-Carso as your lawfully wedded wife?”
The tall, pale-eyed werewolf smiled a sure smile at Alex’s twin sister. “I do,” he answered.