by Cheree Alsop
“I have some idea,” Alex replied quietly. He glanced sideways at her. “My biggest fear is that if we don’t stop Drogan, he’s going to get you. I’m not going to fail you, Cass.”
She rested her chin in her hand. “But you’re not careful. If the same thing happens to you, think of where I’ll be. We’re all we’ve got.”
Alex shook his head. “That’s not true. We have Aunt Meredith, Jaze, Nikki, and baby William. We have the Academy. We have a lot to live for.”
“Then why risk it?” Cassie asked in a voice just above a whisper.
Alex leaned his head against the railing. “Because if I don’t do something, I’m going to go crazy. I can’t sit around being a target waiting for Drogan to get lucky.”
“So you went after him?”
The pain in Cassie’s voice made Alex’s throat tighten. He shook his head. “I went with Jaze to free werewolves. He said when he felt the same way I did, the only way he could get over it was to help himself by helping others. It felt good, Cass.” He met her gaze, hoping she would understand. “Freeing them made it easier because I’m doing something, really something, that is helping other werewolves and defeating Drogan at the same time. I’m fighting back.”
“But what if you leave me alone?” Cassie asked in a voice so soft he barely heard it.
Alex let out a breath. “You’re not alone, Cass. You have Tennison.”
Her head lifted and she met his gaze. Her eyes said that everyone had been right. She loved Tennison. “Alex.”
He gave her a small smile. “It’s alright. As long as he takes care of you. He knows your twin brother will throw him off that cliff if he ever does anything to hurt you, right?”
She nodded with a smile of her own. “Right. But he’s so sweet to me.”
“He better be,” Alex replied.
“He is,” Cassie reassured him.
“Get some sleep so you can heal,” they heard Meredith say from down the hall.
“I will,” Chet replied. He walked out of the medical wing looking somewhat less grumpy than when they had entered. He spotted the twins and lifted his good arm. “Thanks, Alex. Have a good night.” He glanced out the window at the rising sun. “What’s left of it.”
“You, too,” Alex replied.
“Goodnight,” Cassie said.
Chet smiled at her and disappeared down the professors’ hallway.
Meredith poked her head out of the doorway to the medical wing. “You guys okay?”
Alex nodded, but Cassie shook her head. “Alex is an idiot,” she said.
Alex tried not to let her words bother him, but coming from his sister, they cut straight to the core.
Meredith read it on his face. “You guys better come back here.”
The twins walked sullenly to the medical wing. Meredith led them to a room they hadn’t visited before. It had couches and a refrigerator.
“This is where we take breaks if things get stressful,” Meredith explained.
“Fitting,” Alex said quietly.
Meredith surprised him by giving them both a hug. When she stepped back, her eyes glittered with tears as she smiled down at them. “I know how Cassie feels, Alex. I felt the same way the entire time you were gone.”
“You did?” Alex asked softly.
She nodded. “Of course I did. You’re my family. I couldn’t bear to lose you after all we’ve gone through.” She took a shuddering breath. “When I found out you were both still alive after everything, it was like I was given my heart back. Seeing you with Rafe in the forest felt like a dream. I couldn’t believe...I didn’t dare believe that it was true, that you were really safe.”
“That’s how we felt when Jaze told us who you were,” Cassie told her. There were tears in his sister’s eyes, but Alex was glad to see the smile on her face. She had been through so much. He didn’t want her to cry anymore.
He nodded. “We lost everyone, or we thought we had. Finding out you were our aunt took away the fact that we were orphans. We had somebody.”
Tears rolled down Meredith’s face. “I have somebody too, now. You two are my everything.”
Cassie gave her a tight hug.
Alex followed. “I was careful,” he said. He ducked away and sat on one of the couches. He needed them to understand. “I can’t stop helping Jaze.” Cassie looked like she wanted to argue, but when she met Alex’s eyes, she fell silent. “I can’t help it. I need to go with him. I need to free werewolves and do what I can to stop Drogan and the General. If I don’t, I’m going to go crazy.”
“You’re already crazy,” Cassie said, but her words were tempered with a small smile as if she was trying to understand.
Alex nodded. “I know. Sometimes I feel so pent up that I’m going to explode if I don’t do something. Going with Jaze to free Drogan’s prisoners helped with that, even if it was dangerous.”
“Maybe because it was dangerous,” Meredith said, taking a seat next to Cassie. At the twins’ stares, she lifted her shoulders in a small shrug. “When Mindi and Will moved away, I had no one. I didn’t dare follow because I didn’t want them to be found. It felt like someone was watching me all the time. I got paranoid and careless because I got tired of living like that. I left the city and moved around, but I couldn’t shake the feeling.” Her voice tightened. “Then I got caught.”
Alex sat up straighter. “Who caught you?”
She shook her head. Dark shadows passed through her light blue eyes, memories that made a shiver run down her spine. She pursed her lips tight, unwilling to let them free. “It doesn’t matter now,” she said quietly, pushing the emotions away. “What matters is that we’re here, together. We may have been through a lot, but we’re not alone, any of us.” She held out her hand. “We’re a team, now.”
“A pack,” Cassie said, setting her hand on top of Meredith’s.
Alex smiled. “A pack,” he agreed, putting his hand on his sister’s.
Meredith nodded. “And a family. Alex, we’re going to worry about you.” Her gaze was frank and honest. “You can’t ask us not to. We care about you, and so we’ll always worry when you’re gone.”
He opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off with a shake of her head.
“But we won’t ask you not to go.” She looked at Cassie. “We’ll try our best to understand and not hold you back.”
Cassie nodded a bit reluctantly. She took let out a small breath and looked at her brother. “Just be careful. I know the risks you take here.”
“It’s different out there,” Alex told her. “Everyone’s careful. Jaze sees to it. You should see them work. It’s like a machine. Everyone knows where to go and what to do. Each person has a place.”
“You do, too?” Cassie asked, her eyebrows pulled together with worry.
Alex thought of taking down the two men in the hallway. He had saved Jaze from getting shot. He nodded. “Me, too. Jaze needs me.” The last sentence made him smile just a bit. Knowing he had a place calmed the agitation in his chest. He was making a difference.
“Just be careful,” Cassie made him promise. “And stay away from guns. I don’t need my brother getting shot again.”
“I’ll be careful,” he said. He made sure not to agree to the gun part because he had already broken it. If Meredith and Cassie knew, they would probably petition Jaze to keep him from leaving the Academy ever again.
Meredith went to the refrigerator and brought back three bottles of orange juice. “It’s almost breakfast time,” she said with a warm smile. “Want to go eat together?”
Alex nodded even though the only thing he wanted to do was collapse onto his bed and sleep. He followed them wearily into the hall.
Tennison stood from where he had been leaning against the wall near the stairs. The lanky werewolf’s pale eyes lit up at the sight of Cassie. She ran over to him and slipped her arm through his.
“I wasn’t trying to pry,” Tennison explained. “I just thought you might be getting hungry.�
�
“You’re right,” Meredith said.
Tennison gave Alex a searching look. “Are you okay, Alex? You look exhausted.”
“I’m fine,” Alex replied, though he could barely keep his eyes open.
“Have you been up all night?” Tennison asked.
Alex pushed down his surprise at the werewolf’s questioning. Apparently being a relationship with the Second’s sister gave him stronger footing. “I have,” he admitted.
“You should probably get some sleep,” Tennison replied. “You look like you’re about to fall over. We can bring you up some breakfast if you’d like.”
“I, uh.” Alex was caught off-guard by the werewolf’s concern. “Um, okay?” he said as more of a question than an answer.
Tennison nodded as if everything was decided. He sniffed the air. “Smells like waffles or pancakes today. Have a preference?”
“Um, waffles,” Alex replied, trying to regain his bearings.
“And scrambled eggs,” Cassie told Tennison. “He likes cheese on them.”
“Waffles and cheesy scrambled eggs.” Tennison nodded. “Got it. Get some sleep, Alex.”
The trio left Alex standing by the stairs wondering what had just happened. Part of him was grateful for the chance to sleep while the other was still trying to catch up with everything he had experienced in the past few hours.
Meredith looked back at him when they reached the door to the Great Hall. She lifted a hand with a warm smile on her face as if she guessed his confusion.
Alex waved back and started wearily up the stairs, still trying to figure out what had just transpired.
Chapter Eighteen
The chill that cut through the air made Alex glad he was in wolf form. The cold breeze couldn’t get beneath his dense undercoat. He glanced back at Kalia. She pushed her way through the trees after the pack looking miserable. She pulled her white coat closer around her body. Her face was barely visible through the fur-lined hood and the light blue scarf that set off her eyes like shards of ice amid the white world around them.
Cassie padded next to Kalia. Her big paws allowed her to walk over the snow while Kalia had to struggle with each step. Sympathy filled Alex’s chest. He allowed the rest of Pack Jericho and Pack Torin to pass him while he waited for Cassie and Kalia to catch up. Caitlyn pranced at Cassie’s side, her white fur nearly blending in with the snowy landscape. Tennison walked behind the trio, his gray coat a dark shadow as he followed in their wake.
With the coming of winter and the restlessness of the students, Jaze couldn’t keep them inside the walls any longer. The greenhouses had been completed, and there wasn’t enough plant identification in the winter for Dray to keep them occupied. Jaze had reluctantly agreed to continue sense training with Colleen as long as they brought additional protection with them.
Professor Gem loped along the perimeter of the packs, her light gray coat easy to identify with its black stripes. Dray ran next to her, racing his wife as they enjoyed the chance to stretch their legs outside the Academy. Kaynan and Grace ran on the other side. Grace’s small gray shoulder brushed Kaynan’s huge dark red one as they traveled. Somehow, it allowed the blind werewolf to see as they loped across the ground at speeds she otherwise wouldn’t have been able to meet without her husband.
The werewolves gathered around the cave Colleen and Rafe used as a go-between from their home further in the forest. Rafe’s wolves already lounged around the cave. Alex sat down near them. Kalia hung back, eyeing the wild wolves nervously.
Colleen came out of the cave in her human form dressed in warm clothes. “Okay, class. Today we’re going to learn scents associated with tracking in the snow. As you know, many of the animals we’ve become accustomed to in the summer vanish in the winter, and a variety of creatures with affinity to the snow take their place. Migratory paths...”
Alex’s attention drifted. He watched Kalia lean against a tree and cross her arms. A second later, a clump of snow fell from the branches and landed on her head. She stomped angrily and shook her head in an attempt to dislodge the snow from her white-blonde hair. The werewolves ignored her as they concentrated on Colleen’s lesson.
Kalia looked completely out of her element. She wasn’t able to phase to wolf form, so the lesson didn’t apply to her, but Jaze had asked her to accompany her class in case she ever did phase. His suggestion had riled her to the point that she glared at anyone who dared to look her way. Even Colleen pointedly gave Kalia space as she taught.
Kalia brushed the last of the snow from her hair, then shoved her hands into her fur-lined pockets and stomped away. Everyone let her go. They were deep in the forest and activity from Drogan and the General had quieted enough that it was no longer a huge concern, at least for someone who wasn’t Alex or Cassie.
Cassie was occupied entertaining Caitlyn who had a hard time concentrating on Colleen’s lesson with the fun of snow filling the clearing. The little wolf stuck her head into a drift, then pulled it back out. Snow covered her nose and eyelashes. Cassie gave a snort of laughter. Caitlyn wiped her head against Cassie’s side.
A few minutes later, a tingle ran down Alex’s spine. He rose soundlessly, his thoughts still on the path Kalia had taken. She couldn’t have gone far. Even Kaynan and Mouse didn’t appear too concerned. Kaynan nodded at Alex as he passed; he and Grace turned their attention back to Colleen. Alex padded softly down the trail Kalia had left.
She was apparently making her way back to the Academy. Deep boot prints showed where she had stumbled off their path into snow drifts. He imagined her muttering about the ridiculousness of a class in the middle of the forest at the beginning of November. Her honey and clover scent clung to the snow and the trees she had touched.
Alex’s ear caught a faint sound. He paused with one paw in the air. He scented the breeze, but it was blowing in the opposite direction than he needed. His senses strained and his ears perked forward as he attempted to hear it again.
There it was. A tremor ran down his limbs at the shuffle and grunt. Two heartbeats later, Kalia screamed.
“Alex!”
He was already running. His paws barely touched the ground before they lifted again. He flew over a log and rounded the bend where the trees were so close they obscured any sight beyond. He burst into the small clearing near the partially frozen stream.
Kalia’s face was white and eyes wide as she stared at the massive grizzly bear. A half-eaten fish lay at its feet. She must have startled the bear in the middle of its lunch when she reached the clearing. The grizzly rose onto its back legs and let out a roar. The anger in its beady eyes was unmistakable. It was a hungry animal, trying to finish what might be a final meal before hibernating, and the small human had interfered. The bear dropped back down with a massive thump and charged.
Alex was between the bear and Kalia in an instant. A growl tore from his throat so loud the bear slowed in its charge. It stared from Alex to Kalia. Alex could smell the sharp, mossy scent of the fish behind it. He willed the bear to go back to its meal and forget them.
The bear let out a deafening roar. Kalia gave a little cry of fear behind Alex.
Alex took a step forward, his gaze locked on the bear. Every inch of his fur stood up. His teeth were bared, his eyes unflinching. He growled again, softer this time.
The bear didn’t move.
Alex’s heart pounded. A hum sounded in his ears. He willed the bear to listen. He knew he didn’t have a chance against a hungry grizzly, but there was no way he would back down with Kalia’s life on the line. That was never a choice.
He took another step forward. His paw crunched in the crust that had formed along the top of the snow from the repeated heating and cooling of the tempestuous winter days. The bear grunted, its shovel face swaying from side to side. The massive hump above its shoulders moved back and forth as it picked up its paws.
Alex couldn’t tell if it was about to charge or retreat. He hoped the animal had the sense not to attack a wolf
and risk possible wounding before seeking its den for the long winter’s rest. He hoped the scent of fish would lure it back.
The bear gave another grunt. Alex answered with a snarl. There was no way the bear was going to get past him.
The bear swung its massive head around and ambled with its great, rolling walk back to the half-eaten fish. It scooped the meal up and swallowed the fish down in one gulp before continuing its trek along the stream.
He heard Kalia fall to her knees. In seconds, Cassie was there. Kalia threw her arms around Cassie’s light gray form and cried into her fur. Cassie gave Alex a searching look. He lowered his head and raised it again, indicating that he was alright. She closed her eyes for a brief second in gratitude.
A quiet huff caught Alex’s attention. A glance to his left showed the entire class on the edge of the clearing. Professors Grace and Kaynan stood at one end with Professors Dray and Gem on the other. Colleen and Rafe watched from the middle. Alex knew he couldn’t have stopped the bear if the animal had chosen to charge, but it was reassuring to know that he wouldn’t have been the only one to try. More than a dozen wolves might have given the animal a reason to second-guess such a foolhardy decision. At least Kalia might have survived.
***
“You realize that was a grizzly bear, right?”
Alex glanced at Kalia.
They sat on the floor of his room, their backs to the walls opposite each other. The rest of the school day had gone by in a blur. Whenever Alex thought of the encounter, a thrill of excitement and fear ran down his spine. Kalia might have been attacked; he might have been killed. For the remainder of classes, everyone was talking about the bear.
He heard Terith say, “Did you see Alex face down that grizzly? It was the size of a house!”
Her brother Trent replied, “Its paw was bigger than his head. He would have died for sure.”
The only thing Cassie had said when they got back to the Academy was that it was the most foolish thing she had ever seen him do, but she was glad he was brave enough to save Kalia. No one had any doubts what would have happened to Kalia if Alex hadn’t been there.
