The Alpha Legacy Boxed Set 1-7

by Holly Hook

  But I have to make sure.

  Cayden's also got a wound that won't close.

  "I don't think that's a good idea," Olivia says.

  Cayden glances at me again. He knows I've screwed this up. Fear fills his eyes.

  "We'll be safe," Cayden assures her. "I won't let any monsters come near. And don't you want to be away from certain people?"

  The line works. Olivia glances at me and turns away again. Then she glances at Matthew.

  "Sure," she says.

  Cayden nods at me. Once again, the power of the alpha sweeps over me.

  The feeling alone makes me want to rebel against it.

  "Hey," Noah says. "Now that the cookies are gone, we should catch a dance." Disappointment flows into his voice. "Remember our plan?"

  I don't want to dance with Noah, and not just because the whole thing is awkward. The tug returns and he's all too good at sensing when something's wrong. Dust must be fast approaching. The moon will peek over the horizon soon, and Cayden will have Olivia out of here right before that happens.

  But I'm also afraid to leave Noah. Matthew's onto him.

  "Sure," I say, heart racing.

  We move onto the dance floor where no one's serious yet. Ellie stands in place and dances with her hands in the air while Noah and I do the same.

  Cayden and Oliva remain at his table, but Olivia doesn't say much. The rotten wood smell she's giving off hits me again. It's intensifying the closer we get to sunset. At the scent, the tug returns, and though I'm trying to copy Ellie's dance with Noah, I stop.

  “Something's wrong, Brie,” Noah says.

  “Why are you so observant?”

  He grins. “Sorry. I know what the problem is.” He thumbs to Cayden and Olivia's table. “It's bothering me, too.”

  A loud track starts and drowns out everyone's chatter, making it impossible to hear anything but the music. “I should get back to the table. People want cookies.”

  Another pull follows and I keel over, shaking.

  “Brie!” Noah says.

  The shift wants to come sooner than I thought. It's the scent. I have to get out of here and calm down.

  “I don't feel well,” I lie. “The carrot cake isn't agreeing with me.”

  On the other side of the room, Cayden grips his mad scientist table so hard that punch sloshes out of the bowl. He's having the same issue. Our gazes meet again and he nods.

  He has to get out of here, and once he takes Olivia, I should be fine, right?

  Cayden takes her hand points to the door with a grin. Alesha slaps her hand to her mouth.

  The two walk out of the gym and past the now-empty ticket tables.

  “If I step into the parking lot, I'll feel better,” I lie. Already the tug is fading.

  Noah walks outside with me, but by then, Cayden and Olivia have vanished. Olivia's makeup and Cayden's forest scent linger in the air. The wind blows from the baseball diamond and the path leading to the school. It's a warm evening for October and their combined scents come from the trail that leads to the park.

  Where Matthew tried to attack me.

  Footsteps echo from the trees, but Noah can't hear them.

  “Well, we know what those two are up to,” Noah says with sadness. “How you feeling?”

  “Better,” I admit. Now that the rotten wood scent has dissipated, the pull has calmed, though it crouches in the background, waiting to strike. Wind blows through the trees. “I think I need to walk and get fresh air. Why don't you go back inside with Ellie?” I won't risk a transformation in the gym. There's no going back inside. The rotten wood smell might have vanished, but the full moon is still hiding under the horizon, creeping closer by the second.

  “Are you sure?” Noah asks.

  “I need to think about things.”

  “I understand. But if Matt follows you, I'm coming back out.”

  “Be careful."

  Noah flexes his biceps, grinning. “I will.” Then he frowns. “I know this sucks, Brie. This sucks for both of us.”

  The wind continues to blow from the park. I shouldn't follow and just let Cayden deal with this on his own. It might make him feel better. Maybe Everly's right, and he does have to work things out on his own. And tomorrow, we can be together again.

  But won't hurt to check on Cayden and Olivia from the background. Just to make sure. It's not like I have to be at the dance.

  So after Noah goes back inside, I follow them down the trail, glad the wind's blowing the right way for me to stay undetected. I can't hear them yet, but the air tells me I'm heading in the right direction.

  At last, as I near the back of the park and the light's going purple, Cayden's voice reaches me. I stop and listen. The trail curves and the trees block my view.

  “...can't get another pendant.”

  “Well, Brie will freak if I don't wear it.”

  A sigh from Cayden. “Why are you worried about Brie?”

  “She...she wanted me to go back to the drama people and gave it as a goodwill token. Cheesy. I don't know what her deal is, but...” The wind cuts her off.

  “Sounds like Brie,” Cayden says once the whistling of the wind stops. “Look, I'm sorry, Olivia, but things might not work out between us. That's why I brought you out here. I'm with Brie and I can't change that. We have too much in common.”

  “Cayden? What? You'll dump a girl with a broken leg?” She doesn't sound too shocked. “I'm on a crutch and you'll let me walk back by myself?”

  “You won't need it much longer.”

  “What do you mean?” I smell her fear. It must override the coming Savage Wolf because I can't smell the rotting wood right now.

  “The bite,” Cayden says.

  “Please,” Olivia says. “It's a broken leg. That's all. I lied about the bite because...because tripping and breaking my leg while I was running sounded stupid to my dad over the phone. He'd say I'm an idiot and a klutz. And now I bet you think the same thing about me, too. Say it.”

  Silence falls.

  “Excuse me?” Cayden asks after the pause. “You made up a story to make your dad think you had a bite?”

  “Cayden, you know what it's like to never be good enough for someone? You know what people would say about me if they hear I tripped?” Her voice rises. Olivia's letting a dam break.

  “Olivia, I--”

  “Get lost!” Olivia shouts. “You have no clue. Get out of here. I'll walk alone. And I don't have any bites!”

  The wind blows from her direction, carrying adrenaline and makeup.

  And no rotting wood.

  Is she telling the truth?

  I burst down the trail and into the park. Cayden snaps his attention to me. But I face Olivia, who continues to lean on her crutch. Tears gather in the corners of her eye and she backs away, only to stumble on the uneven park ground. "Brie?"

  “It's just a regular break?” I ask.

  “What's going on?” Cayden asks.

  I wait for the tug to return, but it lingers on the horizon with the moon.

  “It's a regular break. I swear,” Olivia says, pleading.

  I sniff. No rotting wood.

  The wind calms, stilling the air. Leaves settle.

  And Cayden's nostrils flare as he does the same, now that Olivia's scent is no longer blowing away from him.

  “She smells okay,” he says, paling. “I don't think she's infected.”

  “Sorry,” I tell Olivia. “And your secret's safe with us. Cayden, what about--”

  “The smell in the gym,” he finishes.

  I curse. “We've missed something.”

  “Missed what?” Olivia asks.

  “Stay here,” I tell her. “You're safer here than at the dance. The good wolves are watching out for you. Get inside somewhere if you can. Stay there and get a ride home.”

  "She knows about the Wolves?"

  “The moon,” I say as the tug returns. “And...oh, crap. I think I know who the real infected is. It's too perfect.
”

  Cayden waves me back down the trail to the school. “Who?”

  “Matthew,” I say. “He'll be the perfect Savage Wolf.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Cayden and I bolt down the trail. My witch dress flaps around me as Cayden's lab coat does the same. We don't speak.

  But it makes sense.

  The rotting wood smell appeared whenever he was near. And if I were the Savage Wolves, I'd recruit someone like Matthew. He had an Ace bandage around his ankle the other day, too. And his sudden, ravenous appetite might not have been him trying to screw with us.

  Cayden pauses once we reach the school doors. Music blasts inside. “Brie, let--”

  “Matt's a giant. Imagine him as a Wolf. We work together on this. I can fight. And if I'm your mate, shouldn't I have say?”

  Cayden gulps. “Yes. You should have almost as much power as me. Tradition.”

  “Thanks for telling me that now,” I say, though it explains things.

  I yank open the double doors to find orange and purple lights shining on dancing people. The gym doors stay open and one of the teachers, Mr. Gunther, stands in the doorway, watching. Cayden and I push past him and into a loud song about a monster mash. Corny, but it fails to lift the mood.

  The combined scent of everyone fills the room. Punch. Cookies. Face paint.

  And rotting wood.

  Matthew dances with Devyn, the cheerleader, as his hand creeps down her lower back. He grins as he twirls her around near the center of the gym. She grins, letting him take advantage.

  And the closer I step to them, the more intense the stench gets.

  We have to get Matt out of here.

  And then we're going to fight. My instinct must have sensed his infection when he got close to me. It's the real reason I wanted to kill him. I'm not Savage after all.

  “Matthew!” Cayden shouts.

  He stands beside me as Matt looks at us. He lets go of Devyn, who backs away from him.

  “What?” he shouts, shrugging.

  He has no idea what's about to happen to him.

  And even though he knows what I am, and might suspect what Cayden is, he refuses to back down in a gym full of people who can see him. But he's scared. I smell it mixing with the rotten wood. Matthew takes a breath and straightens, trying to save face. But at the same time, his jaw tightens with hatred.

  He won't fear us much longer.

  And I'll gladly protect the people of Breck from him.

  “Step outside,” I yell.

  The music keeps blasting and someone bumps into me from behind. “Sorry!” the girl yells.

  But I ignore her. “Outside. Now.”

  “Don't listen to these nerds,” Devyn says.

  “Shut up,” Matt tells her. He levels his glare at me and Cayden. It may just be the spooky lighting, but his eyes carry an evil, savage glint beyond his normal self.

  Behind Matt, Noah grips the wall and watches with Ellie. The two are transfixed.

  They're standing feet from the most dangerous thing in Breck.

  "Matt," Cayden shouts. "If you're a real man, step outside. I need a word with you. Or are you a coward?"

  Cayden's threat and attempt to embarrass Matthew vanishes in the blasting music. Why won't the DJ turn it off for a second? Around us, people keep dancing, though Alesha stops with her date to watch Cayden and Matt stare each other down. No one watches me. To them I'm just a spectator like everyone else.

  Matt jolts.

  He grabs his chest as his eyes widen. My heart races and the tug grabs at my insides, begging me to follow it into blood and flying fur. The moon must be rising. And now it's beckoning all of us.

  We can't do this here.

  Not with Noah, Ellie, and everyone else.

  But Matt gets his composure and levels his glare at me. "What did you put in those cookies? What did you do to me?"

  Seriously. "Get out of here," I say. "You're going to be very sick and you don't want to also crap your pants in front of all these girls."

  "You're going to crap your pants?" Devyn asks.

  "Get away from him!" I yell.

  She backs away, grimacing. Noah snorts and Ellie brings her hand up to her face.

  "What did you do?" Matt asks, real fear widening his eyes. He lurches forward and grabs his chest. "I feel like I'm dying, man!"

  People stop all around us and stare. The music dies as the track ends. But a new one doesn't start. All movement in the gym stops as Matt falls to his knees, trembling.

  "Get out of here!" I shout at everyone. "He...he has a weapon and he's going crazy!" It's the only thing I can think of. Cayden and I will have to fight him alone until the police arrive.

  "I..." Matt struggles to speak and gags. "It hurts!"

  "Someone call the ambulance," Mr. Gunther shouts.

  Hands of pain seize my limbs, begging me to give in and let it be over. But Noah steps away from the wall with Ellie, and the two run at me, ready to pull me away from Matt. Cayden already crouches, ready to put himself between the new Savage Wolf and these innocent people.

  I shake, trying to hold it back. My instinct wants Matt's blood. It grows by the second. Even all these witnesses won't scare it back for much longer.

  Matt looks up at me, pupils wide. Then he glances at his leg. He pales as sweat runs down his temples. "Shit," he mutters as metallic adrenaline washes over me. "Oh, shit."

  He's figured it out.

  As if his terror has cracked the dam, Matt's flesh ripples.

  People scream and a circle widens around him as the cracking and popping sounds follow. The whole room reeks of fear. People back towards the doors and many push open. The DJ jumps down from his platform and watches.

  Matt's shift takes maybe a few seconds, but it seems like eternity as his shape compresses on itself, molding like clay, growing dirty blond fur, and jolting into new positions. His clothing tears as fur bursts out, hackles rise, and growls replace the pained grunts. The screams intensify as a stampede for the doors follows, and everyone darts to the doors that lead outside. Only a few people run through the other doors to the hallway. Bodies fall as panicked people trample each other, leaving our side of the gym empty. Another instinct rules here--panic.

  "Get off me!"

  "Let me through!"

  "Stop pushing!"

  And where's Noah? Ellie? Are they in the stampede?

  "Let me fight him," Cayden shouts, removing his lab coat. He throws it down and watches as the new Wolf freezes, then sniffs, and then turns his gaze up at us.

  He stands over ripped jeans and a tattered T-shirt. The new Savage Wolf is huge, bigger than any Wolf I've seen, and all muscle. Confusion fills his brown eyes at first and I almost feel sorry for Matt, but the instinct sweeps over me as I think of my friends and the panicked people crushing each other.

  The new Wolf growls, peeling fur and flesh back from two rows of huge, horrifying teeth. The rotten wood stench fills the room.

  Matt's mental transition hasn't taken long. He's a natural.

  A new wave of screams and pleas for people to move follows. The logjam breaks and students thunder out the doors, scattering into the parking lot.

  "Brie!" Noah calls from outside. The crowd's swept him out.

  He won't have to see this.

  Pain tightens around my limbs and I can't wait any longer. I'll fight beside Cayden, the way it's meant to be.

  I give in to the pull and pain explodes.

  As if my instinct can't wait to fight, the agony and the twisting world sweeps over me in a wave that's over in one second. I wiggle out of the witch dress, leaving it behind me.

  Beside me, Cayden already stands as a black wolf, leaving jeans and a ripped shirt behind. Matt faces us, and he stands a whole head over me. He's bigger than Travon and the look in his eyes tells me he knows he has an advantage.

  He's got his power back.

  I leap at Matt, surprising him and locking jaws around his muscular neck. His art
eries throb under his skin, strong and savage. Matt growls as I dig my teeth into flesh, drawing out a disgusting taste. Muscles tighten as he thrashes, bucking me off.

  I fly into the wall Noah and Ellie stood beside moments before. The room tilts and now-empty cafeteria doors sweep into my view as Cayden growls and leaps. He lands on Matt's back, digging claws as the bigger Wolf snaps his jaws at my mate, trying anything he can to destroy Cayden. Revenge burns in his brown eyes.

  And then he bucks Cayden off, too.

  Someone pulls the fire alarm. A shrill ringing fills the school.

  In the distance, sirens wail.

  Matthew faces me, growling again. Hackles rise as ruthless eyes land on me. He advances, one slow step at a time, and I know he's going to make my death slow and painful and he's going to do it in front of Cayden. I rise from the floor, steeling myself. He's ready for me to leap again. Matt might not have experience, but he has rage.

  Cayden snaps at the Wolf's tail. Brie, run.

  Matt yelps, turning and snapping at Cayden.

  I won't.

  Jumping onto Matt's back, I claw, drawing new red lines on Matt's back. But the monster doesn't seem to notice. He circles as Cayden backs away, keeping him distracted as blood seeps from his bite wound. The air smells of iron and death.

  And Matt lunges, throwing me off and closing his jaw around Cayden's back leg.

  Cayden yelps as I land on all fours. The sound raises the killer in me again and I run at Matt, ramming into his side and loosening his hold on Cayden. But Matt only slides back a few inches.

  Brie, we have to go! Cayden's thoughts explode in my head.

  Matt isn't like the other Savage Wolves.

  He's worse. Already vile. Already strong and dominant. They chose the perfect weapon.

  Matt backs away and levels his glare with me. There's no trace of human in his eyes and no kindness. The creature before me represents the worst parts of nature, the death and decay and the survival of the strongest. There is no mercy in those eyes and no room for the weak.

  The monster opens his mouth and leaps at me before I can react.

  I duck and slide as teeth snap shut on air. The wound on the back of his neck has already closed.