by Cheree Alsop
Chapter Twenty-two
“Alex!”
He spotted Siale near the doors. Two curs lay at her feet. Vance and Dray slid new clips into their guns.
“They’re trying to get the students,” Siale said as soon as he met her gaze. She gestured down the hall.
Alex took off running. His claws gouged deep into the floor, propelling him forward. He ran past her in a blur and reached the doors to the cafeteria in time to see three curs advancing on the students.
Jaze, two members from the Black Team, and Siale’s father stood in their way. They shot the curs, but the creatures didn’t appear to feel the bullets. Alex remembered diving into the lake. Mouse had said that the curs didn’t show any instinct for self-preservation. The way they advanced despite the flood of bullets echoed that statement. They wouldn’t stop until the students and werewolves were dead.
Alex let out a snarl of defiance. The curs paused in their tracks and stared back at him. The beasts exchanged glances. Alex bared his fangs and gave another guttural growl. The curs charged.
Alex leaped onto the back of the middle cur. The beast reared up, clawing at him. Alex sunk his claws into its shoulders and jerked backwards. Off-balance, it fell. As soon as Alex’s back touched the ground, he kicked with his clawed feet. The cur crashed into the wall and collapsed on the ground.
The other two attacked while he was still on his back. Alex grabbed the throat of the first one and used its head to block the second’s attempt to bash in his skull with a table. Alex threw the unconscious cur to the side and leaped to his feet. The cur holding the table threw it through a window. The glass shattered, revealing the pouring rain outside. Thunder crackled and the wind howled as if to match the threat inside the school.
The cur ran at Alex. He dodged its sweeping claws with a spin Coach Vance would have been proud of and caught it around the neck. Driving a knee into its back, he pinned it to the ground. Jaze ran up and fired four bullets into its skull. At the fourth, the beast finally stopped moving.
“The door,” Red called.
Alex glanced that way. Three more curs stalked toward them. His stomach tightened at the sight of Lucian in the middle of them. The cur leader gave a bark of command.
The curs separated, pacing to either side of Alex and Jaze. He turned his head back and forth in an attempt to watch them both. He couldn’t let them get to Jaze or the students. A yell sounded in the hallway. He couldn’t protect them all. The curs were out of control.
That wasn’t true. The realization hit him when Lucian gave another bark and the two curs advanced. They were under their leader’s control. They had been created using wolf DNA, and so they followed pack hierarchy. Drogan, as the lead Alpha, hadn’t shown his face. If Alex could kill Lucian, the rest of the curs would be leaderless. In the ensuing chaos, they would be easier to pick off.
Glass rained down from above and bullets flew through the air. A glance up showed more members of the GPA clothed in black and peppering the curs with silver. Rain poured through the broken windows. Thunder rumbled, much louder this time. Two seconds later, the lights went out.
Screams of terror filled the cafeteria. Alex’s werewolf eyesight made it easy to see the curs, but the students behind him weren’t as lucky. They had willingly risked their lives so he could end the curs. Alex wouldn’t let them regret their bravery.
He rushed at the cur on his left and swiped, lashing through its eyes with his claws. Before the roar of pain escaped its mouth, Alex was already attacking the second. He leaped and drove both his front and back claws into the cur, barreling it against the wall so hard the bricks cracked. He hit the ground on his back and turned, throwing the cur away from him with such force it slammed into Lucian.
The cur leader silenced the yelping cur with one swipe of his black claws. Alex rose to his feet, his chest heaving and his gaze locked on Lucian.
“There’s more of them!” someone shouted in the gymnasium. An answering volley of bullets echoed down the hallway.
“Time to end this,” Alex growled, his voice deep and guttural.
He stalked toward the lone cur left in the room. Lucian glared at him, his good eye narrowed and filled with hatred. Alex wanted to make him pay for what he had done to Siale. He saw the steps covered in her blood and the answering leering smile that crossed the cur’s face. Siale hadn’t deserved pain or fear, and the cur had brought her both.
“You’re finished, coward,” Alex growled.
To his surprise, Lucian dove out of the nearest window. The glass fell to the lunchroom floor, its sound lost within another crack of thunder.
Alex didn’t dare leave the school. They had promised the safety of the students. He could hear more bullets in the gymnasium. The curs would be under control if he could just finish Lucian.
“Go after Lucian!” Jaze shouted over the roar of the storm. “We’ve got this!”
When Alex glanced at him, the dean gave an encouraging nod. “Go, Alex. End this.”
Alex leaped out the window after Lucian. The cur’s dark form disappeared around the end of an alley. As soon as his paws hit the ground, Alex phased into wolf form. Dark fur, much darker than the last time he had phased, ran along his body. His muscles thinned and lengthened. Instinct called for Alex to run and the thrill of the chase pulled at him. He ducked his head against the pouring rain and followed.
Lucian took one alley, then another. Alex pushed himself faster, leaping garbage cans and ducking beneath tattered fences. The cur’s twisted wolf and human scent filled his nose despite the storm. Lightning crackled and Alex saw the cur turn at the end of the next alley.
Alex drove forward, pushing all of his strength into the run. He slid around the corner. Something slammed into his side with the force of a semi-truck. Alex hit the wooden fence that lined the other end of the alley so hard he could barely breathe. He pushed up to his paws and saw the wooden stake protruding from his chest.
The cur leader grinned triumphantly from the street corner. He held another broken chair leg in his claws and looked eager to use it.
Alex willed the Demon to come. The blue light filled his senses. He bit back a gasp at the pain as his chest deepened, pulling at the wood sticking out of it. His body couldn’t heal with the wood in the wound. He leaned against the fence and grabbed it in both sets of claws. A snarl of pain tore from him when he pulled it free. Blood ran down his torso, mixing with the rain.
A deep chuckle sounded. “Got a little too far from your friends,” Drogan said.
Ice ran through Alex’s veins. He looked up and saw the Extremist leader standing on a fire escape above them. The hatred that glittered in his half-brother’s eyes was enough to let Alex know he had done exactly what the Alpha wanted.
“You’re finished, Alex,” Drogan said. “You took my bait and you’re alone. Haven’t you learned anything about being in a pack?” His eyes sparked when he concluded, “Lucian, finish him.”
Lucian stalked across the street toward him. Alex pushed away from the fence and stood. He longed for the healing moonlight, but the dark thunderheads shut out all light from above. With the power outage, the only light was the glitter of Lucian’s eyes.
Alex’s knees bent. He twirled the stake, damp with his blood, and gripped it like a knife. If he was going to die, he would take Lucian with him.
A shot echoed through the alley. Above him, Alex saw Drogan jerk back and grab his shoulder.
“You’re the one’s who’s finished,” Siale shouted from the corner of the alley. She fired her gun again. Drogan let out a growl of pain and grabbed the ladder of the fire escape.
Lucian lunged at Alex. He dove to the side at the last second and drove the stake into the cur’s back. A yowl of pain sounded and Lucian spun. Alex swiped at the beast’s good eye, but Lucian’s claws knocked him back. The creature caught him by the throat and pinned him against the fence. Alex struggled to pull Lucian’s claws free. He fought to draw in a breath and glanced behind the cur.
At the sight, a smile crossed his face.
Lucian’s eyes narrowed. He opened his mouth and a guttural growl sounded as he bent his head to rip out Alex’s throat. His fangs glittered in the dim light an instant before Siale’s knife shoved through the back of his head.
The growl died away to a sputter. Lucian’s claws opened and Alex fell to the ground. The cur stumbled backwards, turned, and collapsed at Siale’s feet.
Alex pulled in a breath through his bruised throat as he stared from Lucian’s still body to Siale.
“I owed him,” she said.
Alex searched the fire escape and rooftops for any sign of Drogan. “He’s gone,” he said, his voice low.
Siale nodded. “Let’s get back to the school. They might still need us.”
Alex sunk his claws into Lucian’s shoulder and pulled the cur with them. His ribs ached and he pressed a clawed hand to the hole where the stake had gone in. Luckily, even though the moon was hidden, his body was already healing thanks to the fact that the object had been wood instead of silver.
The sound of bullets had lessened, though a few shots were still being fired from the direction of the gymnasium. With Siale at his side and Lucian’s body in his claws, Alex kicked open the closest door.
The rain stormed in around them. The humans and werewolves closest to the doors stumbled back and the few curs who were still alive stared. Alex threw Lucian’s body to the ground.
“It’s over,” he growled.
The curs had lost their Alpha. Their drive and reason to attack the students in the school vanished with him. Their will to fight fled. The beasts closest to Alex sunk to the ground as the silver finally took over their systems. Blood covered the dance floor where less than an hour ago werewolves and humans had danced and Cassie had gotten engaged to Tennison. The two images merged in Alex’s mind, creating a confusing scene of smiling students, silver stars, and dance music upon the carcass-strewn, broken gymnasium floor.
“We’re done,” Siale said gently. She set a hand on Alex’s arm. “Come on.”
He was grateful when she led him back into the night. The rain had lessened to a soft patter that brought with it the asphalt and mineral scent of the clean city. Alex allowed the Demon to fade, and he accepted the tattered pants Siale found beneath the window where he had phased into wolf form.
“Those pants are definitely going to take all of Jericho’s mother’s skills to piece back together,” she said.
A tired smile touched Alex’s lips. “Should we just burn them and tell her our dog ate them?”
Siale smiled back. She looked so beautiful with rain dripping down her cheeks and her gray eyes sparkling.
“If by dog, you mean a werewolf mutant intent on destroying all humans and werewolves.”
“I do,” Alex replied.
Her answering laugh was filled with relief. They had survived, the students had survived, and the curs were dead.
“We didn’t catch Drogan.” The Alpha’s disappearance hung heavily in Alex’s mind.
“The bullets should slow him down,” Siale replied. “If we’re lucky, the two slugs of liquid silver might kill him.”
“He’s tougher than that,” Alex told her. He watched the dark alley behind them, expecting the Extremist to appear at any moment.
“At least he won’t be a threat for a while,” Siale said reassuringly. “Let’s head inside. There’s a lot of cleanup to do.”
Despite Jaze’s urging that he sit and rest, Alex helped haul the bodies of the slain curs from Greyton High School. Siale, Gem, Nikki, Meredith, and others from Red’s warehouse cleaned up the gymnasium and cafeteria.
Alex found Nikki in one corner trying not to throw up as she scrubbed a patch of blood from the floor.
“You really don’t have to do that,” he told her.
“They need the help,” she replied. She gave him a motherly smile. “You’re the one who should be resting. Did you have your mom look at that?”
Alex glanced down at his chest where the blood had leaked through the shirt Cherish had found for him. It was dark and crusty.
“I’m pretty sure there’s not much she can do. It was just wood,” Alex told her.
Nikki gave a little, wry laugh. “Most people who get stabbed in the chest wouldn’t be so nonchalant about it.”
Alex grinned. “I guess that’s what happens when you’ve been stabbed enough you’re just grateful it’s not silver.”
“Just the same,” Nikki said. “Promise me you’ll have Meredith check it. If there are splinters, it won’t heal well.”
“I will,” Alex promised, touched by her concern.
She bent down to clean more of the blood, then quickly grabbed her nose and mouth.
“Seriously, Nikki. You shouldn’t be doing this in your condition. Gem, either. We can take care of it.”
Nikki’s eyes widened. “You know?”
Alex nodded with a warm smile. “I overheard the others talking when we went shopping for rings. My new little cousin doesn’t seem to like the smell of that stuff.” He wrinkled his nose at the odor that wafted from the thick mess. “Me neither. Let me take care of it.” He took the stack of paper towels from her without waiting for her to reply.
“Alex, you don’t have to do that,” she protested.
He nodded. “It’s the least I can do.” He gave her a straight look. “You were the best mother to me and Cassie two orphans could have asked for. Even with Mom here now, I’ll never forget that. Let me be an appreciative son and give you a break.”
Nikki caught him up in a hug. When she let him go, she was unsuccessfully blinking back tears.
His chest tightened. “Did I say something wrong?”
She shook her head quickly. “Pregnancy comes with a heightened sense of smell as well as an exciting array of sporadic emotions. I never know when they’re going to hit.” She wiped her eyes and gave him a watery smile. “I’m just proud of you, Alex. You’re an amazing person.”
“Thank you,” he replied, giving her another hug.
Chapter Twenty-three
After everything was cleaned up, Meredith, along with Cherish’s mother, Mrs. Summers, came back with enough sandwiches and sodas for all who had helped.
“Thanks for giving us the chance to do this,” Alex told Officer Dune as they waited outside near the doors of the school.
The officer nodded. “It doesn’t make up for what I did, but I’m happy I could help.” He indicated the officers talking with parents near the cars. “I’ll go make sure everyone’s alright.”
Most of the students besides Cherish’s little group had left. Though there were a few who had been tended to by Meredith and Nyra’s ministrations, the rest went home only a bit shaken and more excited about their part in the night.
“Did you see their teeth?” Alex heard one student in a blood-spattered tuxedo exclaim as they walked out the front doors. “I swear they were as long as my arm!”
“I’m pretty sure you call those fangs,” the girl at his side answered, “And you can ask Jesse about how long they are. He got bit by them.”
“Did you see Gentry?” another girl asked. She held up the hem of her dress; it had dark red stains along the bottom. “She screamed so loud I think she scared one of them!”
“I was screaming, too,” a boy with dyed green hair admitted. “That was scary.”
The girl holding his arm nodded in emphatic agreement. “Let’s hope we don’t have to do that again,” she said, glancing at the tarped pile of bodies that were being loaded into the back of a black, unmarked moving truck.
“The werewolves said we got them all. How cool is that?” Josh, Cherish’s friend, told Jen.
She worried a strand of her bright red hair around her finger nervously. “It’s cool as long as they stay dead.”
“They’re not going to come alive again,” Tanner, Sarah’s boyfriend said. He gave Alex a worried look. “Are they?”
Alex shook his hea
d. “They’re dead. All of them.” He smiled. “We couldn’t have done it without you guys. Thank you.”
“Thank you,” Principal Dalton replied from where he and Mayor Hendricks waited by the row of cars that left with the students. “You gave us the opportunity to fight back.”
Alex walked over and shook both of their hands. “You gave us the same thing,” he told the men. “I don’t know how else we could have pulled it off. Thanks to the bravery of your students and staff, a threat to the nation was stopped today.”
“Anything we can do to help defeat Drogan, you let us know,” the mayor replied.
“I doubt he’ll fall for something like this again, but we’ve taken away his army. Drogan’s alone.” For some reason, the thought didn’t reassure Alex the way it seemed to with the others.
“Let him rot,” Josh said as he opened the car door for Jen and helped her inside.
Tanner did the same for Sarah.
Before taking her seat, Sarah gave Alex a quick hug. “Thanks again, Alex,” she said. She kissed him on the cheek. “You were great.”
Alex smiled as Tanner shut the door. The human turned to Alex.
“Thanks again, man. Come play soccer with us sometime,” Tanner told him.
“I will,” Alex promised. He watched them go.
“You’re welcome here, you know,” Principal Dalton said.
At Alex’s questioning look, the mayor nodded in agreement. “We’ve been working on the legislation. If we can get the government to recognize werewolves as citizens, it won’t be a problem.”
“Are you serious?” Alex asked in shock. “You would let werewolves come to this school?”
Principal Dalton opened his hand to indicate the building behind them. “You’ve already been at the school. There would just be classes involved instead of only dancing.”
“Do you think the students would accept us?” The thought of attending the school as an actual part of the student body sent a thrum of excitement through Alex.
