The Alpha Legacy Boxed Set 1-7

by Holly Hook

  I wrap my arm around him. "I can't ask my parents anything, either. And I'm just plain sorry. It sucks."

  Cayden leans on me and lets me hold him up. He's new to this pain, just as I'm new to this whole werewolf thing. We're puzzle pieces as the sun sets, and if we break apart now, we'll crumble.

  Chapter Eight

  At school the next morning, Tuesday, Cayden meets me by the main doors. All traces of the hurt animal have vanished from his gaze, leaving the beautiful greens and golds of the forest during the summer. A crisp breeze blows dead leaves across the parking lot and two girls from the Key Club struggle to hang an orange-and-black plastic garland over the front doors for the Spooktacular Dance. A gust forces one girl to drop her end, and it waves like a windsock and hits Cayden in the face.

  But instead of grimacing and stalking away, he leaps off the pavement and seizes the rogue garland. He grins. "Got it. Here you go."

  The girl blushes as he hands her the end. She takes it and Cayden faces me, smiling as he waves me inside. We walk away from the rumbling buses still dropping people off and towards my locker.

  "You're in a good mood today," I say, glad to see it.

  Cayden hikes up his backpack, but it's more for show. He can't look too strong in a school of normal people.

  "I don't ever want to growl at you again. You're my equal and I don't care what tradition says."

  "I know you're going through a lot," I say. "Some of it was my fault."

  Cayden looks ahead. "I never asked to be al—to be the leader of this." Hand in hand, we walk through a thick crowd of people. "I didn't think it would happen once we got to Breck. Dad said we'd stay safe. Maybe he tried to make a treaty with the Savages because he thought we were out of places to run. If we convinced them we wouldn't threaten them, maybe the Baltic Wolves would leave us alone."

  He's changed in more ways than I suspected. Cayden's thinking more and planning before he acts. "You're doing fine," I tell him.

  "I don't know about that. We'll see." Then Cayden freezes by the water fountain and next to an orange Spooktacular Dance flyer. "There she is."

  Though scents swirl through the halls, of breakfasts, coat fabric, paper, and a variety of others, one stands out: makeup. Olivia must wear a top-notch brand, because it smells more like scented clay—natural—than the chemicals wafting off most of the girls.

  She stands down the hall, leaning against her locker with her back to us.

  And standing on the other side of her is Matthew. He can't keep his gaze off Olivia's curves as she speaks.

  "So...the dance. I was wondering if you wanted to go. If you're fine with picking me up."

  "I'll show you what I have on offer," Matthew says, lifting one eyebrow. "You'll get the ride of your life." Then he laughs as if he's just made the best joke in the history of the world.

  Olivia pulls back like she's cringing. "I heard you have a new car."

  "BMW, baby," he says. "Fully paid for, complete with a premium, upgraded package."

  Then I see Tiffany and the other so-called friend, Alesha, peeking out of the open Foods room door and trying to watch the happenings. Alesha holds up her phone, recording Olivia and Matthew. I ball my fists, wanting to yank both out and throw them out of the school.

  Why am I feeling any sympathy for Olivia? She's still a brat and no one's forcing her to ask Matthew out.

  "So, costumes?" Olivia asks, trying to change the subject. "I was planning to go as--"

  "Costumes are for losers," Matthew says. "Can you believe some of these people still dress up like pirates and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?"

  "Come on. Don't you want to have fun? Even adults dress up for Halloween. And Ryan won the costume contest last year."

  "He was a sandwich."

  I'm shocked to hear Olivia defending Ryan, one of the theater nerds.

  "What's up?"

  Noah steps up beside me and smiles, but only because he hasn't seen the new developments yet.

  I go to step in front of him, but Noah follows Cayden's stare to Olivia.

  Watching his face fall guts me. "Oh, crap. Matthew. I was hoping you weren't right. I didn't think he was the guy Olivia would ask out."

  And Olivia still isn't wearing the silver pendant.

  Cayden shoots me a sad look as the warning bell rings and people all around us rush to class. Bodies brush me. Olivia waves goodbye to Matthew and joins her friends at the door of the Foods room.

  Already the air thickens between us. "She's going to the dance in a vehicle that'll pick her up from behind closed gates," Cayden says.

  "Huh?" Noah asks.

  "Nothing," I supply. We're shutting him out and I feel bad.

  But Noah doesn't notice. He won't take his gaze off Olivia as she rounds the corner with the shallow girls. Alesha shares the video on her phone with Tiffany as if the two didn't already watch the disaster live. And Matthew stands there and watches with a stupid, smug grin on his face.

  "I can't let her go out with Matthew," Noah mutters.

  Cayden shakes his head at me before I can open my mouth and say anything. Getting Noah to try asking her out instead will put him in danger, and not just from Olivia. Matthew's a big threat.

  But Noah might be the only one who can get her to wear the pendant.

  Matthew still wears his smug grin once we all get into class. He saunters in as the bell rings. Cayden and I exchange a glance as he sits in the middle of the room, two seats in front of Olivia. Though Cayden and I still have to sit across the room from each other, thanks to him changing his seating with Mrs. Connors a while back, we can still communicate a lot through eye contact.

  Cayden eyes Matthew.

  Then he nods back at me.

  Noah, fishing through his backpack for an assignment, doesn't notice. He slaps his paper down on the table, shaking it and turning the head of the guy sitting in front of us.

  "Sorry," Noah says.

  Olivia glances at him. As soon as I look at her, she goes back to her book.

  Then Cayden bites his lip, facing Matthew's back.

  I get it.

  To keep an eye on and maybe protect Olivia, we need to get Matthew out of the way.

  Cayden's changing his tune, and without asking, I know it's for me.

  * * * * *

  "Now he's sitting with her," Noah grumbles at lunch. "I hate that guy."

  He watches Matthew force himself beside Olivia in the cafeteria. She eyes him as he gives her a stupid grin. Tiffany is already sitting there, and he wants her seat, but the shallow girl smiles and gets up, carrying her heavy backpack without his offer of help.

  Then Matthew plops down beside Olivia.

  "We all know what he has in mind," Noah says. "He makes all men look bad."

  "I agree," I say.

  "Are you and Cayden having problems?" Noah asks out of the blue.

  I face him. "Problems?"

  "The two of you seem...tense."

  "It's still there, huh? We're getting over them. Cayden's never had a girlfriend before." I keep my voice down as I face the Lowe table. Are we? Cayden is still the alpha, but I can't tell Noah.

  It appears Cayden's still in the lunch line. Before lunch, we agreed to split up today and keep an eye on Olivia, just in case she smells like a Savage Wolf.

  Cayden sits on the other side of the room and Everly joins him. Remo's missing in action today and I spot Cayden leaning around, hunting for his adopted brother. Remo's never refused to show at the table before so I find it odd he's not beside his siblings.

  Noah jabs his food with his plastic fork while he watches Olivia.

  "You know," I say. "Maybe it's not a good idea to go near her if she's willing to go out with Matthew. Shows her standards. How do you know she's not just going to use you for something? Olivia's only going out with Matthew because of his car. And those awful girls."

  Noah glares at me.

  Instead of having the desired effect, I've hit his buttons.


  "You don't know her. I know she doesn't want to go out with Matthew." Fierce determination fills his eyes. "She's just doing it because those stupid friends of hers are telling her to."

  "Noah," I say, thinking of Cayden's warnings about putting him in danger. Instead of steering him to safety, I'm pushing him toward danger. "I know you like Olivia, but she's not the same person anymore. I've tried to see it."

  "You won't give her a chance."

  "Believe me, I tried."

  Noah gets up from the table. All his frustration and disappointment rises with him. "Olivia hit a rough patch when her parents got divorced back in junior high. Did you forget?"

  "That's not an excuse to treat everyone like crap." Anger fills me. A growl starts in the back of my throat and threatens to escape, so I get up and grab my books and my tray. I have to leave. "Maybe we'd better cool off."

  Noah nods. "Agree." He stalks over to the door, staring at Olivia and Matthew the whole time.

  Matthew has his hand on Olivia's back and it creeps downward by the second.

  Chapter Nine

  I text Noah as I leave the Money Management classroom with Cayden.

  "He might not ask Olivia out," Cayden says.

  "You didn't see how he got at lunch. Noah's determined. I hate dashing his hopes but I don't want him to get hurt from Olivia or Matthew. Respond, Noah!" I hold the phone up and wait for him. Noah gets back right away after school, but now he's ignoring me. We've cooled off long enough. He should respond by now.

  "I know you did," Cayden says. He slams his fist into a locker, making the metal bang. "It's hard to figure out what to do."

  Waiting for the surrounding crowds to clear, I say, "But you're the alpha."

  Instead of placating him, Cayden takes a sharp breath. "Exactly," Cayden says. "It's stressful. We have the duty of protecting Breck. Even stopping the dance won't stop Olivia from turning."

  "You seem sure she will," I say.

  "The Baltic Wolves expect her to," Cayden says. "Who else took her medical records?"

  "And we still have poor Oscar's," I say, trying to lighten the mood. "We should mail it back to the hospital before he dies from a medical error."

  "Remo already did," Cayden says.

  "He's bright." Then I turn my thoughts to Leonora and her naturalist family living back in the woods. "I might have an idea. The girl I work with at Sterling Grocery does herbs. No, not that way. Her family grows them. Maybe we could just weaken Olivia with wolfsbane and keep her from going to the dance? Make her sick enough not to go. Then, we keep an eye on her."

  Cayden's eyes flash, but he breathes out. "Instinct tells me to fight her," he says, "but that might be an idea. You found an old vial of wolfsbane in your attic box, right?"

  "Right." My stomach turns. Once, I tried to poison Cayden, just a little, to see if he'd react to wolfsbane. That was before I realized it was poisonous to everyone, not just werewolves, and that the vial Leonora gave me was foxglove, another toxic plant.

  "Is something wrong?" Cayden asks.

  "No," I say. "Well, everything is, but I still hate the idea of hurting Olivia. Even if I hate her."

  "Weakening her may be a good idea. A secondary defense. Maybe you should go and talk to Leonora."

  "I will," I say.

  "Do you want me to come with you?" Cayden's eager to undo yesterday's mess.

  "If you want," I say. "But I don't know if Leonora's family will trust someone new. They're even more reclusive than your family."

  He lifts an eyebrow. "Really?"

  "Cayden. Oh, and Brie."

  I whirl to see Mr. Saffron, the drama teacher, shuffling toward us. Sweat beads on his temples as if he's huffed across the whole school. Something's bothering him.

  "Mr. Saffron?" I ask.

  "You've probably heard how we're having some costumed people perform at the Spooktacular Dance?" He frowns.

  "Yeah," I lie. In years past, a few theater kids would dress up as monsters and help staff the dance. Mostly, it was to collect tickets, swoop around, and look stupid because many of us couldn't find dates. Even Mr. Saffron knows it's not a job to envy.

  "I know this is a long shot and you might be busy," Mr. Saffron says. "But we need a few more people to staff the dance and just hang around and act spooky. Ryan and Lucy were going to do the job this year, but Ryan hurt his ankle and he doesn't think he'll be able to stand being on his feet for that long. And Lucy isn't sure if she can make it."

  I think of the full moon Sunday. "We can't," I say.

  "It depends on which time the dance starts," Cayden says. "We can't be there past eight or so. If we go, we'll need to be out of there early. Brie and I have plans."

  Mr. Saffron raises an eyebrow. "That's fine. We mostly need staff at the start. The organizers asked me to find people who aren't otherwise going," he says. "They want actors and actresses to make it authentic. Just roam around the parking lot in costume. Serve the punch and do mad experiments. Do an evil laugh here and there. Well, it depends on what monsters you two go as. Vary the act up."

  A grin teases Cayden's lips as if he's ready to laugh at a joke. Mr. Saffron asking us to act like monsters is a joke. But I don't find it funny. If Noah knew, he'd never let us live it down.

  "We can do it," Cayden says. "Who are the organizers we need to talk to?"

  I snap my look to him.

  But Cayden winks. It's a good way to get into the dance and keep an eye on everything. It is a lucky coincidence.

  But the full moon—

  Having to leave or risk—

  "Thank you so much, on the behalf of the dance crew," Mr. Saffron says. "I'd ask Olivia, but she's never up for staffing the dances."

  "Figures," I mutter. Impressing those awful girls means more to her.

  Cayden takes my arm and ushers me away from Mr. Saffron. The school's clearing out and we still haven't found Noah.

  But at least we'll be able to supervise the dance and not look creepy as people are coming in.

  The two of us step outside. It's a chilly, blustery day and the few non-pine trees around have almost lost all their leaves. They blow across the parking lot and make skittering noises like flat, fleeing bugs. "We have to go to Noah's house," I say. "We can't let him try to date Olivia."

  Cayden takes my arms. We stare right at each other. Far behind him, Tiffany and Alesha herd Olivia into a shiny convertible. The three vanish inside, but not before I catch a frown on Olivia's face. She's not happy.

  "Noah has to get past Matthew to ask her out," Cayden says. "He'd have to catch Olivia alone, and those girls don't leave her alone often."

  He lets go and I try texting Noah again. "I'm going to his house," I say.

  "Maybe you shouldn't. The more you tell him to stay away from her, the more he'll want to ask her out. Forbidden fruit."

  Cayden screws up his face. "Let me handle it, okay?"

  "But you haven't known Noah for long. The two of you haven't even talked much. I know Noah. He's totally in love with Olivia and he hates Matthew with a passion. After the two got to dance with each other at the play and fake kiss, I think he's emboldened."

  "Let me take care of it," Cayden demands. "You're doing too much, Brie. I hate that you have to live this life now."

  "It's better than the alternative," I say. Cayden may be reining in his anger issues, but the urge to be in charge is still there. Now he's doing it by caring. Is it a natural alpha thing? "And you sound like my aunt."

  He swallows. I've struck another nerve. "Yes. It is. But I wish you hadn't gotten involved in this. Having to worry about peoples' lives all the time. That sort of thing." Cayden pauses, rubs his hand through his hair, and eyes the tree line. "You should be enjoying high school right now and not worrying about Savage Wolves."

  "We're in this together, and I don't care."

  "It didn't have to be this way," he says, backing away.

  "But now we're together," I say. "And we're going to deal with this together. Righ
t?"

  Grief shines in Cayden's eyes. "Let me handle it," he says. "I'll make sure everything is right and Olivia and Noah and nobody else has to die. I won't get the pack involved. Nobody else should have to die to the Savage Wolves or anyone else. I want all of you to stand aside."

  "What is with you?" I ask.

  Cayden shakes his head. "I'll see you at the dance, Brie. By then, maybe we won't have to worry about Olivia."

  He turns and runs, fleeing to the woods and ducking through the thick vines. I stand in shock as he vanishes, taking his scent with him. The vines give one last shudder and go still.

  Chapter Ten

  "Cayden!"

  I shouldn't yell in the woods, not if there's the chance that the Savage Wolves are waiting at the periphery, watching for any infected people to turn and cause us and everyone else in Breck problems.

  "Cayden!"

  Birds take off into the gray sky, exploding from pines and moving in disorganized flocks.

  Grief is getting to Cayden, and he's not the same person anymore. Every day, he's someone different. Yesterday, he was commanding and trying to gain control. Now he's relinquished it. Abandoned us. Taken the entire burden on himself.

  And abandoned me, at least for now.

  He'll deal with Olivia.

  He says she doesn't have to die, but there are other things that could happen to her.

  The sounds of that turn my stomach.

  The trail through the woods is widening now that the ground cover is losing its leaves, but it's also harder to see. But my sense of smell tells me that deer—which smell musky—use this often, and their scent wafts up from the trail, allowing me to keep following it. Cayden and I have walked this trail dozens of times now, over the same hill and past the same boulders. I sometimes walk this path in my sleep.

  I sniff and pick up Cayden, but he's so faint he's almost imagination. A dream that never existed. Picking up my pace, I try to follow, but in my shock, he got a head start. Where is he going? The Lowe house is straight down the trail, past the fork and to the right in about half a mile. His scent isn't coming from that way. Instead, it flows on the wind from the opposite direction, to the left and up steep terrain. He must be at the clearing where his brother fell.