Secret Wolves: Supernatural Shifter Academy Series

by Bailey, G.

  “Understood,” Hunter says, giving her a stiff nod before turning to the rest of us. “Shall we?”

  We give him a reluctant nod and begin to follow Josie in through the front doors. She frowns when we reach them, an odd look passing over her face. “That’s odd,” she remarks, her brow furrowing.

  “What is?” I ask, coming to a stop beside her.

  “There’s usually a security guard right here,” Josie replies, peering in through the entrance doors. “And where is everybody? The whole floor looks empty.”

  I can feel the buzz of adrenaline beginning to pulse through my veins, some primal part of my brain sending up warning signals. Something is wrong; Josie senses it, and so do I. I glance back at the others, who have tensed up, and are watching the building with guarded looks. For a long moment, no one says anything, and I realise how thick the silence is in the entrance hall of the convention center. A second ticks by, and then another, and an instant later, Josie’s eyes are going black, her skin turning red as she whirls around on her feet, her expression frantic.

  “Josie…?” I prompt, eyes wide.

  “Run,” she says, and moments later, an explosion rocks the building with a shock wave strong enough to knock us all off our feet as the convention center is consumed by fire.

  Chapter 43

  It feels like everything is moving in slow motion. I can see the ground racing up to meet me, slamming to the floor hard enough to knock the wind right out of my lungs, leaving me gasping for breath. The air goes out of the building at once with a whooshing sound, a shock wave shattering the glass of the windows and sending sharp fragments flying. I suddenly feel a presence over me, and crane my neck to see Hunter covering me with his body, shielding me from the flying glass. His fangs are out, although whether he’s even aware of it, I can’t say. He seems to have transformed the rest of the way, too, as the high speed glass shards bounce off of him like he’s made of steel. I guess the adrenaline must have let him access his powers, and I can’t help but feel a smidge of pride in spite of our situation.

  The shock wave dissipates, leaving us in the midst of what might as well be Armageddon: fires lick up and down the walls all around us, and panicked students, teachers, and assembly guests run around like chickens with their heads cut off. Some of them are using their powers, others are cowering in corners, and some are making a break for the exits, pouring out of the conference rooms and auditoriums in a stampede. Hunter gets off me then, and I feel a pang of regret at not having his protective presence guarding me anymore; he seems embarrassed as he gets to his feet. “Er… sorry,” he says, holding a hand out to me to help me up.

  “You shifted,” I tell him, aware that I should have other priorities but unable to keep from pointing it out.

  “I did?” His eyes go wide and he stares disbelievingly down at himself. “I’ll be damned. I wasn’t even thinking about it. I just…” He looks away, sheepish. “I wanted to keep you from getting hit.”

  “Thank you,” I tell him, my hand lingering in his for just a moment before we pull apart, looking around at the others. They’re all struggling to get to their feet; Xander is helping Hazel up, a concerned expression on his face, while Ruby has already shifted into her dragon form: a deep scarlet red with vibrant green eyes. Shade and Landon have already gotten up, and are both halfway transformed already, while Silas, in spite of the look of concentration on his face, is still struggling to shift, still not having fully recovered from the Academy’s experiments.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Shade yells to Josie, who’s already moving forward, rushing to herd the panicked students out the door.

  “I have no idea,” she replies, not looking back. “We-”

  But she’s cut off by the sound of screams coming from the other end of the hallway. I whip my head around to see what looks like a fight breaking out amidst the fire: students are still desperately trying to escape, but a group of armed humans has emerged from one of the back rooms. They’re dressed in combat gear, armed to the teeth, locked in battle with the amateur shifters as magic, fire, and smaller shock waves fly through the air, alongside bullets. I don’t recognise any of the humans as either politicians or security guards, and there’s something in their eyes that has a cold jolt of fear running through me: hatred. Pure, unadulterated hatred. And whoever these people are, they’ve turned it on us.

  “Get out of here!” Josie calls over her shoulder. She’s already deep in concentration, her hands up as she pushes a wave of psychic energy forward from her body; it slams into a couple of oncoming attackers, sending them flying back, but that doesn’t seem to deter them for long. They scramble to their feet and charge forward again, armed with knives and baseball bats. “Go! Get back to the Academy where it’s safe!”

  “Like hell!” I yell back, digging for my shifter magic. It’s mostly students here, and their skill levels vary, but most of them are like us: amateurs. And these humans know it.

  Frantically, I look around. I don’t see any other faculty fellows or professors; they must be on the upper floors. Reaching deep, I close my eyes for a moment, summoning the first form that comes to mind: my witch form. My body begins to buzz with magic, my skin taking on a red hue as my powers come to me and I move to stand between Silas and Hazel, who are now in their forms as well. “We need to help her hold them off!” I yell at them.

  “You don’t need to tell me twice,” Silas replies, flapping his reptilian wings and launching off the ground before unleashing a spray of fire down onto a couple of the humans. It seems to deter them for a moment, but I realise with a sinking feeling that the clothes they’re wearing seem to be fireproof; in an instant, the flames vanish, leaving them no worse for wear than they were before.

  They planned this, I think, my eyes going wide.

  “Move!” yells Shade, charging at one of the attackers in his wolf form. The man swings his baseball bat, but the wolf shifter knocks it out of the way, pinning him to the ground as he begins to rip at him with his teeth. I see Xander following suit out of the corner of my eye, tackling another human with his fangs bared. Ruby flies over to where Landon is standing, slamming a couple of the attackers with her wings; she must have seen that fire isn’t going to work on these guys.

  Landon and Hunter rush forward, the siren shifter fixated on a couple of female humans as he lets out his grating scream while Hunter barrels into one of the others, knocking him off his feet. All around us, students and conference attendees are rushing for the doors, creating a bottleneck in their desperation to get away from the chaos.

  “You need to go!” Josie screams at us, still weaving spells to hold off the next wave of attackers. I fall in beside her, raising my arms and letting loose a chaotic golden bolt of energy; I haven’t really gotten the hang of casting spells in witch form yet, and all I really know how to do is aim wildly and unleash, but whatever I do sends a couple of the humans flying. I grin with triumph only to feel something slam into me from my right, knocking me to the ground and breaking my concentration. Terrified, I snap back into human form as I grapple with a human woman in a kevlar vest. She has a knife and a look of wild agitation on her face; I struggle to keep it from connecting with my throat even as I desperately try to concentrate on returning to one of my shifter forms, but it’s impossible to multitask, and she’s a lot stronger than I am.

  “Millie!” yells Landon, turning to me, but Josie is faster, whirling around and extending a hand. The woman is lifted off of me telekinetically before the witch launches her into the far windows, sending her crashing through the glass. I scramble to my feet, shooting her a grateful look. She turned around to save me, and that was exactly the opening the humans needed.

  I watch in horror as one of the attackers pulls the pin out of a grenade and hurls it at the ceiling; as soon as it connects with the tiles, the whole roof gives out, sending chunks of concrete and mortar raining down on us from above. Landon yanks me away at the last second as I stand there gaping, letting
out a strangled cry as more guests - along with a giant piece of the ceiling - come crashing down on Josie, burying her in the rubble. “No!” I yell, my eyes wide, and I struggle out of Landon’s grip to rush forward, trying to get at the faculty fellow.

  “Boots, we have to go!” yells Shade, grabbing me by the wrist. He’s back in human form, looking uncharacteristically scared as he pulls me back.

  “We can’t just leave her!” I yell.

  “We have to! This whole place is collapsing!”

  Looking up, I see that he’s right; the second explosion seems to have destabilised the upper floors, and the building lets out a low groaning noise as the pillars supporting the floor begin to give out. The convention center is falling down on top of us, and if we don’t get out, we’re going to end up buried. I glance at the others; they’re making for the doors, beckoning to me, and with a sinking feeling I realise that it’s now or never. I give one last, regretful glance to the pile of rubble where Josie is before following Shade, tears streaming down my face from the smoke and the trauma as we race for the exit. With one last sprint, we force ourselves out the door, running faster than we ever have out into the courtyard and towards the street. All around the convention center, bystanders are staring with their hands to their mouths, and in the distance I can hear police sirens and fire engines.

  We’ve barely even made it to the curb when a great, thundering rumble emits from the building. I turn around just in time to see it give a last shudder before the whole convention center collapses in a heap of rubble. All any of us can do is stare in horror.

  * * *

  I feel numb as I sit at the kitchen table back in our suite, my head in my hands. I’m filthy, still in my torn and rumpled uniform. Some of the others have showered and changed, but I can’t bring myself to do anything other than stare into the distance, the tears on my face stinging my eyes along with the coating of dirt and grime. Hazel and the twins have gone back to their room to clean up, leaving me and the guys in our suite, trying to process what happened.

  None of us says anything; we’re all standing around the common area, listening to the broadcast on the TV.

  “...Tragedy struck this morning when an occult convention being held in downtown Boston was attacked in what authorities are calling a terrorist bombing. The current death toll is around 79, including several faculty members of a nearby boarding school, as well as six international businessmen. The conference, which was advertised as a “by invitation only gathering of supernatural enthusiasts from around the world”, was the first of its kind, and has been surrounded in secrecy ever since its announcement. Authorities have not released a motive, and no known group has yet taken responsibility for the attack. The story is unfolding.”

  Landon shakes his head and mutes the TV. “This is unreal.”

  None of the others speak immediately, until finally Silas asks, “Does anyone know if Josie made it out?”

  Shade snorts dryly. “You think she would’ve? The whole ceiling came down on her.”

  “Hey,” Hunter snaps, glaring at the wolf shifter, “don’t talk like that.”

  “What? I’m just being realistic!”

  “You’re not helping.”

  “Guys, stop,” I tell them weakly, lifting my head with great effort. They all turn to look at me, and I can feel fresh tears welling up in my eyes. “She got buried saving me,” I murmur, my voice barely above a whisper.

  “Boots,” Silas says, moving over to me, “that wasn’t your fault.”

  “Oh, it wasn’t?” I turn to stare at him incredulously. “I lost my form. If I’d been able to hold it, she’d still be alive right now.”

  “You don’t know that.” But there’s doubt in his eyes.

  I can feel myself getting choked up, and I squeeze my eyes shut, shaking my head. “This feels like a bad dream.”

  “Well, what the fuck was that?” Landon asks. “They were humans, that was for sure. Some kind of extremist group?”

  “It has to be,” replies Hunter. “This is what we get for publicising the conference. I guess we should have known it was going to happen.”

  “But why?” I ask, running a hand through my hair. “I mean, I thought the point of all this was to find a peaceful solution.”

  “I guess the humans didn’t get that message,” Shade remarks.

  We all look up at the sound of a knock on the door, and Silas gets up to answer it. Standing behind it are two men dressed in the uniform of the American Academy; their eyes are dark and their expressions serious. “Is everything all right?” Silas asks.

  The two men look at each other. “As a matter of fact, it’s not,” the first one says, before nodding to the other. “Count them. Make sure they’re all here.”

  “Wait a minute-” begins Landon, but the men are already forcing their way inside, taking note of all of us, watching them incredulously.

  The second man nods after a moment. “Yes,” he says. “They’re all here.”

  “Excellent,” says the first. “We’re on first watch.”

  “What the hell is going on?” Shade demands, crossing his arms. “What are you guys doing in our room?”

  The second man turns to him. “The five of you are being restricted to your dorm until further notice. Effective immediately, on orders of President Hawthorne.”

  Chapter 44

  For a moment, all any of us can do is stare at them. Shade is the first one to speak up. “What the fuck do you mean, on orders of President Hawthorne?!”

  “Yeah,” Silas adds, taking a step closer to them, “what the hell is going on? What about the rest of the Academy students? And why does it matter if we’re in our rooms or not?”

  The two men look at each other, and I can see the wheels turning in their heads; I know that look—it’s a look that says they’re debating whether to tell us the truth or not. These aren’t the decision-makers, they’re the cronies, and that doesn’t bode well for us. These orders came from the top, and I suspect, if the American Academy is involved, that Hawthorne wasn’t the only one giving them out.

  The first man sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Listen,” he says, “it’s really not our place to discuss this.”

  “Like hell it’s not,” Landon pipes up. “If we’re being put on lockdown again, it had better be for a good reason. Is the school in danger? Is that it? Do they think another attack like the one that happened at the convention center is going to happen here?”

  “There… is a possibility,” admits the second man. “This sort of thing has never happened before, not with so many shifters in one place.”

  “So it was an extremist group, then,” Landon confirms, crossing his arms. “That’s just great.”

  The second man nods grimly. “The humans are lashing out. Somebody in the know organized this. We can’t say more—we don’t really even know more, to be honest, other than the fact that-”

  But the first man elbows him, shutting him up. “Confidential,” he hisses, and Hunter and I look at each other.

  “Well, what about the other students here?” I ask, stepping forward. “The kids across the hall - Hazel, Ruby, and Xander. Can we see them? Wouldn’t it be enough to just restrict us to the school grounds?”

  “That’s not possible,” the first man replies.

  “Why not?”

  He heaves a sigh, exchanging another glance with his partner. “There is a schoolwide lockdown in place, that’s correct,” he replies. “The witches already have plans in place to expedite travel back to the U.K. campus. That doesn’t apply to you five, however.”

  I could swear I feel my heart stop in my chest. Now isn’t the time for us to be getting “special treatment” from the Academy, especially in the aftermath of what we overheard being discussed by the school board. “Why?” I ask in a weak voice. “Are we in trouble or something?” I’m not even sure why I bother to ask the question; some part of me deep down already knows the answer, and one look at the other guys is
enough to tell me they do, too.

  “It’s not that,” the second man, clearly the more sympathetic of the two replies. “You’ve been… selected. All five of you. In the aftermath of the attack, the school board called an emergency vote—they’ve decided that drastic measures are necessary in light of what happened at the convention center.”

  “The experiments,” Silas murmurs, his voice barely above a whisper. “They’re going to restart the experiments again. That’s why you’re isolating us. That’s why you’re sending the others home, but not us. We’re not on lockdown - we’re prisoners.” It’s not a question, and the looks on the men’s faces are enough to confirm as much.

  “I’m sorry,” says the second man. “Really. We don’t like doing this, but the decision has already been made. The five of you are to remain here until arrangements can be made to take you to a special testing facility.”

  “What? No!” Hunter cried, pushing forward. “This isn’t legal! My dad is a board member. If he knew about this, he wouldn’t-”

  “I’m afraid your father was out-voted,” replies the first man coolly. “This is an urgent situation, and it sure as hell isn’t normal. We’re under orders to make sure the five of you are transported securely without causing a disturbance to the rest of the students. We’re going to be stationed outside your room, and we would strongly advise you not to make a scene. This will be much easier for all of us if we can-”

  “Bullshit,” exclaims Shade. “You can’t just trap us here! We’ll fight our way out if we have to. There’s no way in hell I’m going to let you use us as guinea pigs.”

  The first man gives a heavy sigh, as if he was expecting this, and moments later, he’s pulling something out of his pocket—it looks like a normal stone from a distance, but when he places it on the floor, it begins to glow, a rune-like shape carved into its surface lighting it up with a red glow. “I’m really sorry that we have to do this,” he says, “but believe me, this is for your own good - and the good of the shifter community.”