by Cheree Alsop
The thought that so many of them cared touched Alex. He smiled, calming the room. “Thank you, but I’ll be fine. Please eat the amazing food Jassa’s prepared. I’ll probably be back before you’re finished.”
Alex’s forced confidence and nonchalant attitude did the trick. The werewolves around the room relaxed and went back to their meals. At Alex’s nod, Cassie and Tennison resumed serving food with the others.
“Alex?” Siale asked, her voice quiet beneath the regular commotion of so many people eating in one place.
“I’ll be back,” Alex told her. When she continued to watch him with her worried expression, Alex gestured to the little boy who held up a bowl for the spaghetti she had been dishing out. “Luke’s starving. We don’t want him to waste away,” Alex said, winking at the boy. Luke grinned at him.
Siale let out an accepting breath and spooned spaghetti into his bowl. Jassa followed close behind with a scoop of sauce.
Alex was aware of eyes following him as he made his way to back to the kitchen. He was prepared to meet Boris, but he wasn’t going to be stupid about the situation. Heading out the side door would give him the advantage of where to confront the angry werewolf instead of being bombarded the instant he stepped into the alley from the stairs.
“Alex,” Red said from the door to the kitchen. Alex paused and Siale’s father closed the distance between them. “You don’t owe Boris anything.”
“His sister died because of me,” Alex replied. He kept his voice neutral, forcing himself to focus on the matter at hand instead of the pain of the past. “He has a right to be upset.”
Red nodded. Alex wasn’t surprised he knew about what had happened. He was a good father and Siale loved him very much. It was only right that she would tell him the things that affected them at the Academy.
“Fighting you isn’t going to help him get over it,” Red said. He paused, then continued, “Neither is killing you.”
“Knowing I’m here and doing nothing about it won’t help him either,” Alex replied. “There’s got to be some place in the middle where we can both live our lives.” He put a hand on the door that led from the back of the kitchen to outside, but opposite from the alley where Boris waited.
“What if there’s not?”
Red’s question hung in the air.
Alex finally looked back at him. “Then Boris is right. This is his city. I have no right to take whatever peace he has left from him.”
Alex slipped out and made his way around the warehouse. A glance in the alley showed Boris leaning against the wall next to the door. His arms were folded and the anger on his face showed clearly in the light of the waxing moon. Alex spotted a huge two-by-four next to the Alpha. He shook his head, glad he had chosen to go around instead of waiting for the werewolf to clobber him.
Alex moved to the mouth of the alley. “Hey.”
Boris rose immediately and grabbed the board. He stalked down the alley toward Alex.
“What are you doing?” Alex demanded.
Boris’ steps slowed only slightly at Alex’s steady tone. “What I should have done a long time ago,” the werewolf said.
“Murder?” Alex replied, backing away to keep the werewolf from closing too much space. “There’re prisons for actions like that.”
“Then you should be there,” Boris shouted.
To Alex’s surprise, tears showed on the werewolf’s face when he turned toward the moonlight.
Boris threw the two-by-four. The wood flew past Alex and slammed into the building across the street, splintering in the pieces. The Alpha’s breath heaved and he stared at the sidewalk in front of him with his teeth clenched and lips pulled back in a grimace.
“I can’t do this anymore,” Boris growled.
Alex watched him in silence, unsure of what to do.
After a moment, Boris glanced up at him. There was something in the Alpha’s gaze that took Alex by surprise. Within the anger and hatred, he was shocked to see acceptance.
“I need to show you something,” Boris said, his voice quiet. “Wolf up.”
The huge werewolf pulled off his shirt.
“Uh, wolf up?” Alex asked. “Is that a thing?”
Boris nodded with what looked like the ghost of a reluctant smile. “Yeah, it is. Now wolf up before I leave you behind.”
Alex pulled off his own shirt and phased. He glanced back at the warehouse, knowing Siale would be concerned if he disappeared.
Boris gave an impatient bark. Alex answered with a snort and followed close behind.
It felt strange following the Alpha through the streets. The last time he had done so was when Boris had led him to the warehouse his first time. So much had changed since then. The only reason he followed the Alpha was because he felt like he owed Kalia’s brother at least that much. Where they would end up, he had no idea.
Boris led the way around the back of their huge mansion and through a crack in the gate. The security guards who patrolled the perimeter didn’t bat an eye at the two wolves who crossed the lawn and entered the back door that had also been left open. Boris padded upstairs. Alex followed him to a room down the hall on the right side.
Kalia’s honey and clover scent lingered in the carpet fibers and in the wood that framed the doors. Alex’s heart ached. He shoved the feeling away, reminding himself to stay on guard. At Boris’ low bark, Alex followed him into the bedroom.
Boris phased in the walk-in closet. Alex waited near the door, ready to bolt if the werewolf was crazy enough to come out with a gun or silver weapon.
Boris left the closet clothed in jeans and a black tee-shirt.
“Grab something,” the Alpha said shortly. “I’ll meet you in the hallway.”
Alex stepped into the closet with a surreal feeling. If anyone had told him that day that he would be in the house of the student who hated him the most, putting on the said student’s pants and a shirt that portrayed a heavy metal band, he would have said they were crazy.
He glanced around the werewolf’s room. Boris’ walls were lined with framed and signed concert posters, sports memorabilia, several autographed guitars, and lights that made the ceiling glow orange and green. Everything was signed and no doubt extremely expensive. There was a picture of Mr. Dickson near the door, and one of Kalia and her mother on the nightstand. Kalia looked much younger and was missing her two front teeth. Even Mrs. Dickson smiled, something Alex wasn’t used to seeing.
“Are you coming?” Boris called from the hallway.
Alex jumped as though he had been caught doing something wrong. He stepped out the door and pulled it shut behind him.
Boris looked at his shirt. “Fitting,” he said wryly.
Alex glanced down. The name of the band was ‘Wolfsbane’. When he looked up again, Boris was already halfway down the hall.
“Are you going to tell me why you brought me here?” Alex asked, hurrying to catch up.
“You mean instead of tearing your head off?” Boris glanced back at him, his expression unreadable.
Alex nodded. “I would have put up a fight, but yeah.”
Boris paused with his hand on a doorknob. “I wanted to kill you. Since Kalia’s death, I wanted to end you in every way I possibly could. I dreamed about it, imagining different scenarios.”
The Alpha let that sit for a few moments as he led the way down the hall. He stopped by a door and let out a breath. “I avoided Kalia’s room because it hurt too much. I couldn’t stand to be reminded of its staleness because it meant she wasn’t coming back, so I never went in.” He hesitated, then said, “Until I sleepwalked and woke up in here the other night.”
“You sleepwalk?” Alex asked, keeping his tone carefully neutral.
Boris shook his head. “Never. I haven’t ever sleepwalked. But I kept having nightmares about Kalia.” He glared at the door as if it took an effort to keep his emotions away. “I kept seeing her die and I couldn’t save her.” He let out a shuddering breath. “The other night it was the
worst. She kept calling my name, and I ran down this hallway that got longer and longer. Every doorway I checked was empty. She finally said, ‘Wake up’, and when I did, I was in her room.”
He pushed the door open.
Kalia’s scent was stronger this time, flooding out and wrapping around them like a memory that wanted to be so much more because as Boris had described, the scent was stale, old, lingering, reminding them that she was truly gone. Alex’s feet felt glued to the ground. He couldn’t will himself to step forward.
Chapter Nineteen
When he didn’t follow Boris into Kalia’s bedroom, the werewolf grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him inside. “Like a band-aid,” Boris said, his voice a low growl. “Just rip it off.”
Dust covered the huge four poster bed, the vanity and couches, the beanbags, and the recliners that were all positioned just the way Alex remembered them from when he had stayed with Kalia during one of her headaches. Despite the lack of care the rest of the room had received, a fire crackled in the fireplace.
At Alex’s questioning look, Boris gave a sad smile. “Mom won’t let the maids touch anything in here, but she insists that the fire be built every night because Kalia liked it.”
Sadness filled Alex at the thought of Mrs. Dickson showing love in such a way. She hadn’t been the most expressive toward Kalia, but the untouched room and roaring fire said more than words.
“When I woke up in here, I couldn’t understand it,” Boris said, his voice quiet. He walked across the floor, motioning for Alex to follow him to Kalia’s vanity. “Then I saw these.”
Alex’s heart slowed at the pictures taped around the mirror. They were mostly pictures from the Academy, and he was in every one, sitting at the table in the Great Hall, running through the forest in wolf form, talking in front of Professor Mouse’s class, asleep on the couch in Pack Jericho’s quarters. Alex didn’t know when she had taken the pictures, but it was obvious she cherished them.
The picture in the middle of the mirror kept his attention. It was of him and Kalia sitting on the top step in the courtyard. Their faces were close together as if they were in a serious discussion, and the smile on Kalia’s face showed how much she was enjoying it.
“She loved you,” Boris said.
Alex’s heart tightened as if gripped in a fist. He tried to speak, but the knot in his throat refused to release his voice.
“I know,” Boris cut him off before he could work any words free. “I know you love Siale and you can’t help it. These pictures just made me mad, do you know why?”
Alex shook his head.
Boris’ eyes narrowed. “Because I couldn’t fathom that someone Kalia loved so much would skip her funeral. She deserved that much. It made me think you were lying to her about everything, leading her on. She deserved better.” Boris held up a hand when Alex tried to speak. “So I decided to find out for myself. I hacked into the security footage from the funeral.”
He left without saying anything else, leaving Alex to follow him out of Kalia’s room. Alex pulled the door shut behind him with reverence. The thought of the pictures covered in dust tore at him. He knew she had loved him. He had hoped she would be able to turn those feelings toward Torin, but the pictures proved he had been wrong.
He found Boris back in his room sitting at the computer. The Alpha spoke without preamble, “I searched for hours that night. Why do they have to take so many stupid pictures?” Boris muttered, more to himself then to Alex. He clicked on something and let out a breath. “Then I found this.”
Boris turned the screen. Alex felt as though he had been punched in the stomach.
It was a picture of him at the graveyard while Kalia was being buried. The rain was falling. He stood amid tall tombstones and marble angels that hid him from view of the other students and family members around the grave. Alex’s head was bowed and his hand squeezed his closed eyes. Tears trailed down his cheeks and his tightly pressed lips showed obvious agony.
“I knew it then,” Boris said, his voice cracking. “I knew you loved her. I was wrong. I was very wrong.”
To Alex’s surprise, the huge werewolf stood and grabbed him in a tight hug. The Alpha’s shoulders shook with silent sobs. Alex blinked back tears of his own and patted Boris’ back.
“I knew you loved her,” Boris said again, repeating the words as if they mattered the world to him. “You didn’t lead her on. Her feelings weren’t thrown away, and she didn’t die for nothing.”
“It’s my fault she’s gone,” Alex said as a sob of his own escaped.
Boris pushed him back, giving him a stern look. “I’ve blamed you ever since her death, ever since the day Jaze called us and told us what happened.” He shook his head. “But someone who loved her that much,” he gestured to the image on the screen, “Wouldn’t put her in harm’s way if he could help it. Since the moment I saw that picture, I haven’t had another nightmare.” He rubbed his face, wiping away the tears. “I don’t hate you anymore, Alex.” He took a shuddering breath. “In my heart, you’ll always be my brother.”
Alex stared at him, stunned.
Boris held out a hand.
Alex numbly held out his own and Boris shook it. “Brothers, then,” the Alpha concluded with a satisfied nod.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs. Boris hurried to the door and pushed it shut. After a moment, he glanced out, then gestured to Alex. “It’s probably time for you to go. Dad’s home and he’s not as accepting as I am. We better sneak you out of here.”
The thought of Mr. Dickson’s armed security guards being sent on a werewolf hunt made Alex more than willing to follow Boris back outside and through the gate.
“I’m truly sorry,” Boris said when they paused near the road from the mansion.
“You had a right to hate me,” Alex replied, still trying to come to terms with what had just happened.
“Not now that I know the truth,” the Alpha replied.
At Alex’s uncertainty, Boris waved his hand. “You better get going. I think I terrified everyone at the warehouse, but it was the only way I could think of to get you alone.”
“You could have just asked me,” Alex pointed out.
Boris paused. “Well, maybe I’ll try that next time. Tell Red I’m sorry and I hope he lets me back in.”
“He will,” Alex assured the Alpha. “Especially if I come back alive.”
Boris chuckled. “Better wolf up and get going then.”
Alex pulled off the heavy metal band shirt and jeans and phased. He trotted out into the night with a feeling of complete shock. When Boris stormed into the warehouse, Alex had never imagined such an outcome. He paced through the streets feeling lighter than he had in a long time. He hadn’t realized how much Boris’ anger and hatred had weighed on him. Though he still carried the guilt of Kalia’s death, the fact that her brother was no longer one of his mortal enemies made him able to breathe easier.
Alex’s steps slowed when he neared the warehouse. A figure waited in the shadows where he had left his clothes. A slight breeze pushed at his back, sending whoever’s scent it was away from him. Thoughts of Drogan or the curs made him wary. If an enemy was outside, he wondered if the werewolves inside the warehouse were safe.
All hesitant emotions fled the second Siale stepped out of the shadows in wolf form. Her light gray coat contrasted beautifully with the white marks on her shoulders. Her eyes danced, teasing him as if she guessed what he had been thinking when he saw someone in the dark alley.
Surprised to see her in wolf form waiting for him, Alex gave a wolfish grin and trotted toward her. Siale whirled around and took off running down the street. She paused a block away and gave a challenging bark before taking off again. Alex barked in answer and ran after her.
Siale wound her way through streets, beneath wooden walkways, around trees with reaching, spreading roots, and around, and even over, parked vehicles. Her knowledge of the city let Alex know just how much she had explored on her own. By th
e time he caught up to her, she was in the ocean, prancing through the waves. Alex jumped in, splashing and biting at the water as though he was a puppy. Siale pouncing against his side, rolling him in the water. He came up sputtering and dove at her, but she danced out of the way. He made of show of falling face-first into the water again. She gave a huff of laughter and followed.
By the time they made their way to the shore, Alex was exhausted but happy. He let his tongue hang out and gave a dramatic sigh, falling into the sand at her side. Siale replied with a huff of laughter and settled down next to him. Her head turned and Alex followed her gaze, paying true attention to his surroundings for the first time.
The moonlit beach was beauty itself. The waves pushed at the sand with a sound much more full and beckoning than it had been when he was in his human form. Tones similar to those of the calling pack filled his ears, answering why so many were drawn to the sea. The salty seaweed and fish smell of the water drifted with the breeze that also carried the lingering smoke and hotdog scent of the barbecues that were held on the beach at sundown.
The almost full moon reflected on the water, broken into a million pirouetting pieces that ebbed and flowed, nearly connecting but shattering again with each sigh of the waves. The stars above filled their own ebony sea, a darkness that flowed and encompassed all around it. It was so perfect and complete, a scene that resonated with Alex’s soul. He let out a sigh without knowing it.
Siale’s shoulder bumped his. He caught her understanding gaze. She leaned against him, filling him with her scent and the comfort of her presence. She had helped him through so much, and knew so much of him, yet he still saw respect in her eyes along with love and adoration.
Alex rose and tipped his head, asking her to follow him. She stood unquestioningly and padded beside him back to the warehouse. Alex phased in the shadows and pulled on his clothes. Siale stepped from the warehouse wearing a simple white and light blue stripped summer dress that wrapped around her calves in the breeze.
“Care for a walk back to the beach with me?” Alex asked, holding out his hand.
