Oath Keeper

by Shelley Wilson

  Edited by Susan Cunningham

  Proofread by Ashley Hannen

  Oath Keeper

  Copyright © 2018 Shelley Wilson

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher.

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Published by BHC Press

  under the H2O imprint

  Library of Congress Control Number:

  2017933756

  ISBN Numbers:

  Softcover: 978-1-947727-39-7

  Ebook: 978-1-948540-32-2

  Visit the publisher at:

  www.bhcpress.com

  For Mum

  TURNING MY BACK on one life and stepping into another was terrifying. It’s hard to walk away from your friends and family especially when they understand what a messed-up life you lead.

  I’m the daughter of a werewolf who was killed by a man who turned out to be my biological father. Left behind by my brother, Zak, who is alpha to the Ravenshood pack, and raised by Frank, a man who knew I wasn’t his daughter and made me pay for that every single day. It doesn’t get crazier than that.

  Witnessing a wolf ripping out Frank’s throat, and being whisked away to a school for werewolf hunters by Sebastian, my uncle turned biological dad, is a relatively normal day in the life of Mia Roberts. I discovered a destiny that stretches the realms of sanity. Me: a hunter trained to destroy the wolves. Me: a potential werewolf. Me: capable of love, friendship, loyalty, and strength.

  Who knew.

  MAKING FRIENDS HAD never been easy for me, but Elizabeth, the bubbly blonde, never gave me a chance to reject her when I found myself dumped in our shared room at Hood Academy, the notorious school for werewolf hunters.

  We formed a lasting friendship as we fought off school bullies, freed a tortured werewolf, and pretty much brought about the destruction of the country’s oldest establishment.

  Over time I learned that Sebastian was trying to keep me safe and build a future for me, but underneath that façade he had another agenda. His one weakness was Mr Parker, the father of my nemesis, Felicity, a redheaded student with a fiery temper and a vicious tongue.

  It was Parker who blackmailed Sebastian into producing a cure for lycanthropy: a series of experiments that cost my mum her life. Just before my daring escape from the academy, Sebastian was ready to do a set of tests on me to find out what DNA I had. At the time I’d been horrified, but now, after so many months and still no sign of a fang or claw I half wished he’d managed to complete the test.

  Finding out I was descended from a werewolf pack had almost tipped me over the edge. I checked for any sign of advanced hair growth each time I walked past a mirror. Part of me laughed it off as ridiculous, but I couldn’t deny that I’d always felt different.

  On the flip side, I was also descended from a hunter and for a brief moment, I experienced the honour of accepting the oath in front of my peers. To every pack, a cub is born. Unleash the hunter to protect and serve.

  That euphoria hadn’t lasted long as Elizabeth and I uncovered the gruesome truth about Hood Academy and the scientific experiments done on the wolves in the secret labs beneath the school building. Our teacher, Miss Ross helped us reveal the truth about Sebastian’s experiments.

  The day I left, Sebastian and I had faced off on the back lawn. He was desperate to keep me at Hood Academy and find out if my DNA was predominantly hunter or wolf. At the time he hadn’t cared about the methods he used, waving a gun around and screaming at me to stay. He’d appeared deranged in the pale moonlight. Miss Ross had allowed me to escape by pointing a shotgun at my dad’s head, a brave move considering he was her boss and friend.

  It sounds like a ridiculous scenario, but Sebastian went crazy; he threatened to kill his own daughter, tore the school apart looking for werewolves, and put the students’ lives in danger. Miss Ross stepped up and took over, demonstrating her strength of character and loyalty to both me and my late mother, and also allowing me the time to melt into the woods and begin the life I had wished for since I was a little girl, to reunite with Zak and to become a member of my brother’s werewolf pack.

  It was only now that I was beginning to understand the saying ‘be careful what you wish for.’

  A TRICKLE OF SWEAT trailed down the side of my temple, and I swiped at it with a trembling hand. I wished the tremors in my limbs could be blamed on the unusually balmy weather conditions, but they couldn’t. I was being hunted, and every part of my body screamed at me to run.

  The bulbous moon shone overhead disappearing from view momentarily as the clouds drifted across the sky. The night was warm and muggy, the heat of the summer sun still clinging to everything in its path.

  A breeze ruffled the canopy of leaves above, and I held my stance until the rustling subsided. Cody had told me to move in the shadows and to be the silence, whatever the hell that meant. He wanted me to become one with nature, to be able to see the ebb and flow of wind currents and smell out the danger. Of course, my gorgeous boyfriend had the advantage of being a werewolf with super-strength and an inbuilt satnav for all things nocturnal. I, on the other hand, was still only a human.

  With my seventeenth birthday one month away, it was looking less likely that I had inherited the werewolf genes carried by my mother and brother. Instead, I seemed to be destined to follow my father’s hunter line.

  My mind wandered briefly to Sebastian. The last time I’d seen him, he was pointing a gun at my head. Not the most fatherly thing to do. Only a few hours ago I’d tried, yet again, to communicate my feelings in a letter to him. The words flashed through my mind as I picked my way through the forest.

  Dear Dad Sebastian,

  I’m disappointed with the way we left things, and I hope you don’t hate me for walking away. Finding out we were father and daughter was a shock for both of us and I don’t blame you for how it all turned out, but I need to explain my side of the story. I want you to know how I feel.

  You were there for my mother when she needed you the most. You told me how much you cared for her and the evidence I’ve seen proves just how much she loved you in return, but ultimately it was you who killed her. I’m not sure I can forgive you for that just yet.

  Developing your cure for lycanthropy has taken over your entire soul, Sebastian. I can’t deny you were trying to help Mum break free from the pack and live a human life, but your frustrations over the flawed serums clouded your judgement and I don’t think you realised the damage you were doing.

  You began to see me as a second chance, as redemption for her death. By saving me from the fate of the wolves, you would cleanse your guilt. I’m sorry, but it doesn’t work like that. I hope you’ll recognise why I couldn’t let you use me as another lab rat.

  I might be a wolf like my mother, or I could be a hunter like you. Either way, I want to discover this on my own. I need space to reconnect with my brother and be a family again.

  One day I’d like to return to you so we can try and build a friendship. We’ve both lost so much. Mum died without telling either of us we were blood relatives, and even your brother was murdered for his part in the horror of my childhood. None of you were there for me, and because of that, I kept you at arm’s length.

  Trust is something that develops over time, and unfortunately, there have been far too many lies between us. Maybe one day we’ll find that bond that every family has. Maybe.


  Mia x

  I’d reread the words I’d written over and over. They felt forced, almost clinical. It had been Zak’s idea to send Sebastian a letter, but the more I stared at it, the more I hated the thought of him reading my innermost feelings.

  I didn’t hate Sebastian, despite him locking me up and waving a gun at my head. He was my flesh and blood after all and surely if I wanted to be the better person I could offer him some pity.

  I rolled my eyes to the sky. Why did any of them deserve anything? My mum had lied about her relationships, died, and left me in the care of a drunk who knew I wasn’t his flesh and blood and who punished me relentlessly for it. My beloved brother, Zak, abandoned me to follow his werewolf destiny with the promise of returning to collect me. He didn’t. I ended up figuring it all out on my own, as usual. I’d been subjected to abuse for years because of a secret I didn’t know.

  None of them deserved my pity, or the energy I expended thinking about them. I snatched the letter from the desk and screwed it up, throwing it into the overflowing waste bin in the corner of my room. The blank notepad mocked me as I stormed out, slamming the door behind me.

  It had taken me a long time to find any peace in the whirling mess of my brain, but with help from my friends, I was beginning to carve out a life of my own.

  The sound of a twig snapping jolted me back to the present, and I gripped the wooden staff I was holding until my knuckles turned white. I sniffed the air just as Cody taught me but all I could smell was the earthy scent of the forest. Then, just as I was about to move forward, I caught a whiff of something else—lavender. Not the soft, subtle kind but a chemical alternative. It was faint but stood out against the aromas of the trees, moss, and leaves. I crouched low and tuned my senses into my surroundings. There were no birds chirping at this time of night, only the nocturnal hoot of an owl and the rummaging of ground feeders. I slowed my pulse and listened. Behind me and to the right I heard the faint sound of breathing. It was a slow and steady rhythm that was almost hypnotic. They’d found me, and I now had two options: stay and fight, or run.

  A feral grin spread across my face as I squeezed the staff in my hands and prepared myself to attack. The sound of a soft exhalation filled the space alongside me, and from my hiding spot in the dark undergrowth I raised my eyes to glance at my prey.

  In one fluid movement, I lifted from the ground and thrust my staff out so that it swung in the path of the enemy, clipping them full across the chest and flooring them. A yelp followed by a light scream halted my attack.

  ‘Ohmigod, Mia, that hurt!’ Elizabeth’s bright blue eyes shone in the moonlight as she peered up at me from her position on the floor. Covered in brambles and moss she pushed herself to a sitting position.

  ‘Lavender! Really. There was no other shower gel option for you to choose?’

  She giggled, and her entire face lit up.

  ‘I was in a rush, and the lavender one was on special offer.’

  ‘Well, if I were a werewolf you’d be dinner by now because your granny-scented soap is stinking up the entire forest. That and the fact you’re wearing the brightest pink jumper I’ve ever seen.’

  I extended my hand and helped my best friend to her feet. She grinned at me, zipping up her black jacket to hide the cerise jumper, before launching in for a big hug.

  ‘I’ve missed you,’ she said, squeezing me harder as if to confirm her words.

  ‘I know. I’ve missed you too.’

  ‘So, you caught me,’ she said taking a step back. ‘Which makes three to the wannabe werewolf and two to the hunter-in-training.’

  Elizabeth dusted herself down as I sniggered at the score. We had spent the last few weeks hunting one another in the forest as part of a secret training pact. In our world, hunters and werewolves didn’t mix, but I believed we could flaunt the rules. She was, technically, still a student at Hood Academy, and I was, well, I wasn’t sure what I was. There was no way I could return to the academy even if it turned out I did have hunter’s blood flowing through my veins. From what Elizabeth had told me, my dear old dad, Sebastian, had vanished without a trace and my nemesis, Felicity, who had made my school life hell, had been parading around school with her evil father, Mr Parker, who was stepping into the role of the headmaster to replace Sebastian.

  ‘Has there been any news from Sebastian?’ I’d told myself I wouldn’t keep asking Elizabeth for information, but a small part of me just wanted to know that he was safe. He’d appeared broken when we had our standoff on the school lawn right before I left to follow the pack. He’d also resembled a psychotic freak, but under the circumstances, I was willing to forget that. I simply wanted to know that Parker hadn’t hurt him.

  Elizabeth shook her head. ‘Miss Ross has tried everything to get in touch with him, but his phone keeps ringing out. She even tried asking for help from the Governors’ Agency, but they refused her request on the grounds of some ongoing investigation they’re doing.’

  ‘What’s the Governors’ Agency?’

  ‘They’re the ruling authority over all the hunter academies in the UK. They set the curriculum, hire the staff, and enforce the hunter oath.’

  ‘Ah, you mean the hunters’ oath I broke when I ran off with the local werewolf pack.’

  ‘That’s the one!’

  I laughed, but it felt hollow. In truth, I’d never fully committed to the hunters’ oath, merely taking it as part of the façade that I was a normal student. It seemed that the original meaning of the oath had been lost, and the academy had become a corrupt establishment for powerful men to bend the rules and establish their own laws.

  ‘I don’t know if I’m supposed to tell you,’ Elizabeth interrupted my musings, ‘but Miss Ross was sacked today. She was escorted off the premises this morning.’

  I wasn’t surprised. Miss Ross had helped me escape. Parker wouldn’t have thanked her for that, and as he’s also Felicity’s father, he was always going to be my enemy.

  ‘I’m sure she’ll stay in touch.’ There was no way Miss Ross would go quietly; it wasn’t in her nature. She would find a way to keep in contact with Elizabeth, and I was almost certain she would stay in touch with Zak. She wouldn’t just melt into the background, of that I was sure.

  ‘Perhaps she’ll head to the Cornwall academy and join forces with Adam.’

  Elizabeth’s face lit up at the mention of her boyfriend. Following Sebastian’s disappearance, it had taken Parker only two days before he transferred Adam to the sister academy in the south, ripping him from Elizabeth’s arms. Now, with Miss Ross’s dismissal, he’d managed to divide and conquer our little group again.

  ‘I better get back before I’m missed.’ Elizabeth hadn’t been assigned another roommate after my exit and so sneaking out for our secret training sessions was relatively easy. However, Felicity and her goons were no doubt keeping an eye on Lizzie’s movements to see if she could lead them to the pack. Our sessions had to, therefore, involve us hunting one another in the forest, then having a brief catch-up if it was safe, before parting ways.

  ‘I wish you could stay with me at the Mills house,’ I said as we strolled in the direction of the academy. ‘It’s full of boys, and I’m totally outnumbered.’

  Elizabeth threw her head back and laughed. ‘Oh, and I’m sure the fact that one of those boys is your gorgeous werewolf boyfriend is such a hardship.’

  I thumped her playfully on the arm and grinned.

  ‘Having Cody around all the time is the only bonus to living on the Mills farm, although I’m not sure Zak is 100 percent happy with Cody and me being a couple.’

  ‘Why? Has he said something?’

  ‘Not in so many words, he just has this look about him when we’re together. And, if there’s an errand to run he always sends Cody as if he’s trying to keep us apart.’

  ‘I’m sure he’s just trying to be a responsible big brother, or an overprotective alpha. Either way, it can’t be easy to suddenly get his little sister back and find out sh
e’s grown into a beautiful woman. You were six the last time he saw you.’

  ‘Yeah, I know. I just wish he’d talk to me about stuff. Since we were reunited, I’ve been lucky enough to spend all of five minutes alone with him. I miss him more now that he’s here than I did when I didn’t know where he was!’

  Elizabeth giggled and squeezed my hand in her usual supportive manner. I missed having her around all the time too and hated it when we had to go back to our own lives.

  The edge of the treeline loomed, and I could make out a couple of lights in the academy. The great expanse of lawn stretched out in front of us as I turned to face my friend.

  ‘Stay safe,’ I said, ‘and keep away from Felicity.’

  ‘I always do.’

  We hugged, and I watched her drop into a low run and sprint across the grass towards the back of the building. She’d have a ladder waiting at the window ready to climb up to our old room, the same ladder Adam used to use when he snuck in for his visits with my friend. That carefree teenage life seemed such a long time ago. I knew that Elizabeth was still in contact with Adam and I kicked myself for not asking about him; after all, he was my friend too.

  I turned towards the woods and was about to leave when I spotted two figures running around the side of the academy building toward the old animal cages. An involuntary shudder skittered down my spine as I recalled Felicity locking me up in one of those cages. Instinct told me to return to the pack and report what I’d seen, but I overruled all common sense and decided to follow. Keeping well within the shadows of the trees, I circled the grounds until I reached the dusty trail leading to the cages. I gripped my staff and edged closer, listening to all the sounds that echoed in the night.