Al and Adam step up beside dad as he beckons me up. I glare at him before coming to stop beside Al.
"You have seen Amber fight a werewolf in wolf form and win."
"My brother. He has no control which is why he was passed over as alpha and kicked out of the pack. I am here to show you what our pack can do."
Our previous gym teacher had been Adam's older brother? Well, that explains everything. Humans have instincts and reactions to pheromones as well, but ours are buried deep. Evolution has made us smart but we no longer rely on instincts and they are dulled because of that. Living with vampires tends to wake those instincts right back up. My hindbrain recognized their similar pheromones even if I hadn't known their relation.
That announcement makes humans warier. His older brother lost control but had been beaten because of it. Adam won’t lose it like that. That makes him more dangerous. He will use instincts and intelligence. I hate the bastard, but I have to admit he has spot-on instincts. The hardest type to fight. Not to mention pulling on his alpha magic will make those with timid or shy personalities want to submit.
This is not going to be an easy class and I bet dad knew that. If humans want to rely on intelligence and adaptability, they have to ignore the instincts that tell them flight is the only viable option. Awesome.
"Al and Amber give us an example of a fight. One that requires you to hold on until help comes. Adam will be your backup. When Al overpowers you, he will come in for the rescue."
"I would rather it be the other way around."
"You are a student and I am the teacher. I shouldn’t need to tell you this but the humans need to learn defense against vampires first and foremost as they have the most interaction with humans."
Fergus is right, damn is he right, but I don’t like relying on Adam. So, I won’t. I will put everything I have into this. I go to my bag and twist my hair pinning it up. My pin has a hidden needle, with werewolf venom in it. The second pin I put in has silver. I am bringing them both down if I have to.
Alastair
I watch Amber secure her pins and know exactly what she is doing. I am the one that helped her decide where and how to hide her weapons of choice. Stealth is her friend since she is so much weaker than Adam or me.
I don’t take it offensively that she is going to poison me if she can. Considering she has to rely on Adam to save her, the very one to give her a fear of supernaturals, makes me applaud her judgment. If she can stab me with the needle I won’t die, but I won’t be in any condition to continue fighting. If Adam comes over even after her win, she can take him down as well.
She doesn’t have to worry about his alpha aura; we noticed that even my grandfather or the werewolf high council auras didn’t bother her. She didn’t even flinch while arguing with them. It was like a light breeze blowing right on by her. Dad, mom, and I talked and we believe it had to do with her quirk…her special ability. It bodes well for her.
Dad knows that will not affect her like it will the others so he found another weakness. Nothing is weaker than a fearful mind.
Amber doesn’t have nearly as many nightmares as she used to, but every once in a while, something will trigger a flashback and either mom or I have to stay with her in her room that night to make sure she is not a danger to herself while asleep. She almost jumped off the balcony in her sleep during her first nightmare with us. If that happens again, I can’t help even if I feel it. I will have to find a way to subtly tell Heather so she can keep vigilant.
I can go easy and let her take the win but dad will know, even though he didn’t fight Amber he watched mother and I train her, and he knows how far we went to instill lessons in her. He will take it out on her worse later…he will make her spare alone with Adam. I won’t be here to keep him in line and dad…well he feels you protect yourself because no one else will.
Humans have hunted us successfully in the past meaning there is no excuse for why they couldn’t survive now. His thought process might seem twisted to those that haven't grown up with it. I have always believed the same until I saw Amber being hounded by the pack back home. She hadn't had the chance to defend herself. She’d already been starved and abused and I started understanding why mother always told me the strong exist to protect the weak.
I hadn't protected Amber so much as helped her realize she could protect herself. I pushed her down that path full speed ahead at mother's insistence and it had turned out well. I am not sure every human in this class has the same depth of determination and guts as Amber so all I can do is hope I can temper dad enough that he won’t break them…and keep Adam from breaking Amber before she is fully who she wants to be.
She doesn’t wait for dad to call start or for me to move. She jumps in. Rules don’t exist in life or death. There is no honor in being dead. If your opponent is not paying attention that just means you have an opening to kill them. It is how we taught her. She takes my distraction and uses it. I am a little proud. Her hair is still pinned so she is not ready to poison me yet.
I evade her first attack for the most part; using my vampire speed to make sure it is nothing more than a fist swiping by my side. Usually, we start at human speed and I increase over time, to give her time to warm up as humans need that. This time is like the times I told her attackers won’t let her warm-up and just start throwing punches. That is the reason humans always hunted us while in groups or with sneak attacks. I didn’t want Amber to be stuck with that mentality and to move past it.
She throws out a kick using the opposite leg as the one that twitches. I have to block that one. She is getting better at false hints; I can’t use her body language to decide what her next attacks will be. Her eyes are what give her away for me. Only because I know her so well. A random attacker would be easier to defeat because he won’t be able to read her this way.
I have been working on a way to defeat her without using my knowledge of her capabilities and self. She is holding her own, even with my vampire speed, and I know she will go for the poison soon. I need to make it last longer so I close my eyes. She has mastered fake cues so my sight only gives me the advantage if I look into her eyes. I am working towards becoming a master and using that familiarity is cheating.
A true vampire master could be blindfolded, with earplugs and no sense of smell, but will sense the attacks coming. It has been so long since one of ours has claimed that and I am shocked but proud, that Amber is the one that has pushed me to take a sense away.
She gets in a few hits before I start sensing the air movement seconds before she impacts. I can block everything, but not evade. I can hear the human's heartbeats increasing in pace. They are excited, or scared, some are both.
My father’s pulse is steady and sedate. He is just observing us. Likely formulating some nefarious plan for later.
Adam is so excited his heartbeat is pumping so fast I’d be shocked to see him still in human form, but I know he is, I can smell his sweat. It permeates the air with his excitement. It brings me a step closer to my goal as it overpowers even Amber's smell despite her closeness to me. Now if only I had earplugs. Though to be honest he is panting so loud only the humans won’t hear it. Even Amber likely hears it; she is so tuned in to werewolves.
She connects a leg with my head while I am distracted with Adam. We have spent over a year building her muscle and teaching her to do smaller fast strikes until she has an opening for one big, which she has just landed upside my head. I stumble but when she goes to stick me with the needle, she gets too close.
My instincts are not used to being on the losing side. My fangs press against my gums, her smell wraps around me, and I lose a bit of control. It is a good thing my eyes are closed the humans would be scared. Not Amber, not even when I grab her and flip her onto the floor pinning her before she can stick me.
I hear her gasp of shock when she notices my fangs and saliva. As my instincts take over and I remember how good she tasted and her reactions to my saliva I have to hold myself as much as
I hold her. She stays still and silent waiting patiently calming her heart to a slow steady beat. She trusts me to pull myself together. The fight is over, we both know it, now I have to win the fight against myself.
Amber
Alastair is still as death as he pulls himself together. I don’t turn to look at the murmuring students or to Fergus. If he knows Al is losing control with me occasionally and finds out about our bond, he will likely bury me in the backyard and erase all evidence of my existence. I just got him to like me.
I try to feel what Al feels; he can sense me, so I think of something calming. Yoga with Fiona, reading a good book in the sunshine, climbing the roof to watch the sunset. Al relaxes and pulls back holding out a hand to help me up as well.
He said he could only sense my fear, but it seems if I am open to the bond, he can pick up other things from me. That or it is a total coincidence. Not that I am asking right now.
"Good attempt Amber. Why did he lose it when you went for your hair?"
I smile at Fergus and toss the hairpin to him.
"Prick yourself and see."
He finds the latch that allows me to pour and find the hole with the needle.
"Clever. Werewolf venom?"
I nod smiling. "I am always prepared. You wouldn't believe the number of weapons I own that no one knows a thing about. Well, except Al. He helped me find someone very discreet to make the ones we couldn’t make ourselves. He knew what was coming. Obviously, instinct took over…survival and all."
I am hoping I am being just arrogant enough that Fergus will believe me. He tosses it back to me.
"Weapons are not allowed in school."
"Hey, vampire hunters didn’t succeed by walking around barehanded. You taught me to always be prepared and I am."
Fergus looks both proud and annoyed. I can live with that.
"The one that should be being questioned is him. He should have saved her. That was his role was it not?"
Al has a point. We all turn to Adam. He has excited wolf eyes, but the rest of him is as human as they come.
"If I had come over, she would have been eaten. It was a very nice fight. It made me…hungry."
And if that doesn’t sum up everything, I hate about werewolves nothing ever will.
"I was prepared for you too dippy."
I pull my other hair pinout and show him. "Liquid silver gets through the bloodstream so much faster than a bullet or knife."
"So, it's not just your invisible silver nail spikes."
Right his brother had likely been forced to share how he had lost his position. "I have so many ways to kill you; you would have nightmares if I told you."
Adam smiles and lets loose a laugh.
"I think we are going to have so much more fun than we did in high school Amber."
The memory still haunts me. I give a visible shake and Al steps between us. Adam thinks it is funny, but if he tried to attack me while Al is operating on instincts my fear would have caused Al to kill him, with no mercy, and no thought to consequences.
I put my hand on Al's arm and stand in front of him. "It's okay Al. He thinks he is big shit, but I could easily kill him now if I wanted to. Guess the roles have reversed since school. Haven't they Adam?"
I am baiting him because I have an arsenal of silver, and I will use it in self-defense. And I really want to self-defense him.
"We will see Amber. We will see."
Yes, we most certainly will.
Chapter 14
I should have known better. I should have suspected. Instead of keeping someone with me at all times, Al's suggestion…okay insistence, I went home alone. I wanted to check on my plants and gather some more stuff. The humans are healing up nicely and I am eager to see them freed from their shame. So, when the humans get out of class early, I go home alone.
I am about to unlock my cabin door after checking to see Fiona is not home when it hits me. The hairs on my body stood straight up. I am not entirely stupid; I do have my hairpins on and a bracelet with powdered silver, iron, and some vials of venom. On the outside it has pretty gems, making it look purely decorative. I thought I was clever. I thought I was safe on my family's lawn. I thought I was safe in this town. I am capable, but I can’t stand up to one thing, a group.
When I grab the silver pin from my hair my arm is suddenly on lockdown. I am grabbed from behind and squeezed. The breath whooshes out of me. I click my heel and out pops the hidden spike. I drive it into the knee of my assaulter. He growls and lets me go as I spin to kick the one holding my arm. Then my other leg is swiped and I go down.
My head hits the ground and I see black and flashes of light. My head pounds, my eyes burn, and my whole-body aches. I rub my eyes, trying to clear my vision. When I can fully come to my legs are tied and I am looking up into the faces of the next generation of werewolf males, aka Adam's posse.
"You won't get away with this." I am afraid, but I also know something they don’t. Al will sense the fear I am hiding from my captors, nothing makes a werewolf more excited than fear. I can't hide my elevated heartbeat, or the sweat pouring down my neck, but I can put on a brave face and not give them the satisfaction they got from torturing me they got last time I’d been in this situation. I had cowered and shook so badly I almost broke in half. I am not that girl anymore and if I go down some of them are going with me.
"No one is here and by the time the vampires smell us, we will be long gone with you in tow."
"Your alpha will be pissed when a vampire royal starts a war over my death. You do know my vampire mother is a princess right? Meaning her father is king."
Some of them look around at one another. Some of them are not privy to that information. That I can use.
"Adam will handle the vampires."
I laugh. The only way Adam can handle Al alone is if Al is half dead. Or if he has the whole pack with him. The last time they fought Al came away with one bite and the wolves were all bruised and bloodied. Interesting how time makes their memories so fuzzy.
"Adam won't be around to handle any vampires because Alastair will kill him."
They take that offensively. I have to learn to keep my mouth shut. I have been around vampires for too long. Bravado in the face of destruction. It’d been like that when I addressed the grand council about my project too. That time it paid off, but will it today? Hopefully, luck hasn’t fled me quite yet.
"Maybe we should talk to Adam first…"
"There is no time! The vampires will be home soon and Adam wants her for the hunt tonight!"
I count the days in my head. Of course. A full moon. Damn. Well, that explains their confidence. The wolf pack will double in strength this night. Anyone that comes for me will be walking straight into a trap. Well, that sucks. Hopefully, Al will sense my fear, look at a calendar, and get help.
I shake my head, knowing that is not at all likely; he will rush in blindly and get himself in a jam. If I can get free, I can help, but even together we are not defeating a mini pack raged up because of the full moon. Perhaps mom will come, and dad, that will be three vampires and well they are in the Elite guard during battle. That has to count for something, doesn’t it? It gives me a sliver of hope to hold on to…that will have to be enough for now.
"Knock her out so she doesn’t see where we are going."
I almost laugh. If they are going to hunt me to death, it doesn’t matter, does it? Well, no one accused werewolves of being smart. Despite knowing it is coming it still hurts like hell being punched unconscious. That is going to bruise.
Alastair
Amber's pain hits me like a ton of bricks dropped on me. My body starts to sweat, a bigger deal among vampires than mortals, and the pain in my face strikes like lightning mirroring what I know to be Ambers pain. There is a throbbing in the part of my brain connected to Amber. I forget class jumping out of my seat and moving at vampire speed to the witch's dorm. I slam open the door finding only Heather changing.
"Alastair, what the
hell?!"
She pulls a sheet over herself but I am not paying attention anyway. I take a big whiff trying to find any unusual scents. Nothing.
"Where is Amber?"
"Her class ended early so she went home to get some things to make more scar cream. Why?"
My jaw…or Ambers…received a blow that most likely cracked or fractured something. She is not coming out of whatever is going on unscathed.
"Get dressed, bring potions and anything you need to make your magic stronger, and do it in two minutes or I leave you and go after Amber alone."
The siren would ask questions. The witch just drops the sheet, grabs clothing she can fight in, some jewelry that has to be enhancers, and shoots me a glare.
"Text your parents and tell them to meet us there."
I do and cuss the phone for being slower than me. Mom responds suggesting we stop at Amber's cabin to start. Heather grabs her portal pass.
"Remind me to tell Amber to time her trouble better. I had a date this weekend."
"When we save her, I bet she will buy you an unlimited pass. If she doesn’t I will."
Heather gives me her snarky smile; it is not something I see often. She is the mild-tempered one of the trio. Selene bugs me almost every second I am near her she is trying to hit me with pheromones to make me fall in love with her. It hasn't worked so far and it won’t, but she doesn’t stop. Still Amber likes her so I put up with her. Heather, I don’t mind. She is the voice of reason in many of their adventures. She is a lot like Amber; both of them are so compassionate.
"Ready."
She gets on my back when I bend and I race us towards the portal room. We swipe our cards and arrive in my backyard. She jumps off and looks around.
"What do you smell?"
"Blood and…"
"Werewolves."
We see my father walk down the path a grim look on his face. We hear a tree crack and fall. It spooks Heather and me both and very little spooks me.
"What the hell was that?"
I chuckle as Heather looks ready to bolt. I can hear mom raging. She is talking to the local pack and using some choice expletives. My guess is she is getting the runaround and needs to vent.
How to Survive Supernatural College (The Complications of Supernatural Adoption Book 2) Page 9