by Cheree Alsop
He sat up, willing her to understand. “Cassie, if we’re going to live a normal life, we need this peace. We need humans not to be afraid of us. The professors should be able to live in homes of their own, not in a school trying to shelter werewolf students from the dangers of the world. Living in fear brought the fear to us, and I’m done with being afraid.”
“So the wedding...” Cassie let the words hang.
Alex nodded. “The wedding was my way of welcoming the nation into my life. They made me their werewolf poster child, even with the Demon, so I wanted to turn that back at them. I want to show them that werewolves can love and dream, that we can hope and live with the belief that tomorrow is a better day. I invited them to the wedding because marrying Siale is something I never would have dreamed possible, and now it is. I have been given a gift, and I want to share it with the world in the hopes that it will make a difference. Mom and Dad taught us that love is real, and I want to show the nation that love can really be enough.”
Cassie was quiet for a few minutes. Alex watched her, unsure what she would say.
“Do you really think it’ll help?”
Surprised at her question, Alex replied, “You mean with humans and werewolves?” When she nodded, he answered honestly, “Jaze tried to get humans to accept werewolves, and it backfired because humans and werewolves were both coming from a place of fear. The werewolves had to reveal themselves in order to survive, and the humans were afraid of how strong the werewolves could be. If I can show the nation that werewolves are just like them, that we can fall in love and work to build a life together, maybe, just maybe, they’ll let it happen. If the generations who fought Jaze’s werewolves realized that we’re just kids who deserve a chance at life, perhaps they’ll see us differently.”
“Our wedding can do all that?” Cassie asked skeptically.
Alex lifted his shoulders in a small shrug. “Honestly, I’m not sure. You know me. I’m kind of the jump first and ask questions later type.”
“Kind of?” Cassie repeated with the ghost of a smile. “I think you invented it.”
Alex smiled back. “Exactly. Jump with me, Cass. Throw fear, caution, and prejudice away. We’ve learned to be just as afraid of them as they are of us, but in truth, we’re all the same. We all want to live our lives in peace. Perhaps showing them werewolves trying to do just that will help all of us realize that there isn’t so much to be afraid of.”
Cassie’s forehead furrowed. “It could be dangerous.”
“Yeah,” Alex agreed. “We could get shot on the spot.” The wound in his chest gave a small throb and he rubbed it. “I’m a bit tired of scars, but I can take a few more.”
“I’m not so sure about that.”
Alex smiled at his sister. “At this point, if they weren’t holding me together, I’d fall completely apart. It the scars that remind me of where I’ve been and why I’m so crazy sometimes.”
The look Cassie gave him said she knew exactly what he was talking about. “The deeper scars are the ones that don’t show.”
Alex nodded. He took a chance. “Cassie, will you get married with me.”
A little laugh escaped her as if she couldn’t help it. “Are you proposing to your sister?”
Alex laughed in return. “Yeah. That does sound completely wrong.”
She gave him a true smile. “I will get married with you, Alex. I’ve watched you sacrifice so much to try and make this peace happen. I can be courageous and have my wedding with the whole world watching, because I’m marrying the werewolf of my dreams. If sharing that can lead to even the slightest possibility that we might be able to raise our family in peace someday, it’s completely worth being a little brave.”
Alex gave her a hug. “You’ve made me the happiest brother in the whole world.”
She laughed and pushed him away. “Now you’re just being weird.”
He grinned. “That’s what I do.” He paused, then said, “Thank you, Cassie. It means more to me than you know.”
“I’m happy to do my part,” she replied.
When Cassie walked to the back of the jet, Siale came up and took her seat.
“I should have asked you instead of putting you on the spot like that,” Alex told her.
Siale shook her head. “We both want the same thing. As long as I get to marry you, we can do it in an abandoned warehouse or in front of the world. It doesn’t matter to me.”
“I wouldn’t have to wear a tuxedo in an abandoned warehouse,” Alex said musingly.
“That’s true,” Siale agreed. “We could get married in camo gear and face paint.”
“You know just how to win your fiancé’s heart,” Alex replied with a chuckle.
A yawn escaped her. “Are you as exhausted as I am?”
“Definitely,” Alex answered. “Want me to be your pillow?”
She gave him her special, sweet smile. “Only if you’ll be my pillow forever.”
“Deal,” he agreed.
Siale leaned her head on his shoulder and he rested his head on top of hers. His last thought was of how lucky he was that he had such an amazing sister and fiancé. He had messed things up, but both of them were so understanding toward what he was trying to accomplish, and they made it work. With them in his life, he felt truly unstoppable.
Chapter Twenty-five
“Just forget about everything else,” Brooks told Alex as they rode the waves. “Nothing exists but you and the ocean.”
“It’s a perfectly symbiotic relationship between two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen, and a werewolf who wants to fly across the surface of the world.” Jerry trailed his fingers through the water. “Be free, brother wolf. Channel your ancestors of the forest. They didn’t own the trees, they were a part of them. The wolf didn’t exist without the trees, and the trees without the wolf. Together, they made the forest. Become a wave rider, Alex of the wolven way. Become one with the ocean.”
“Thanks, Preacher,” Alex told him. “I’ll try.”
“To try is the first step toward achieving,” Jerry replied with a vacant smile and his eyes on the endless stretch of water in front of them. “Try, believe, and succeed. You will fly.”
Alex nodded. He watched the waves, counting the ebb and flow the way Brooks had taught him. The pattern became evident. Two small waves led to a bigger one; two more after that led to the biggest. He pushed everything away, thoughts of the wedding, of the summer drawing to a close, of returning to the Academy. He watched the way Siale and the others rode the waves as if they truly were a part of them. Even Cassie and Tennison had gotten good at staying on their boards for a few seconds.
Though Alex had ridden waves many times during their summer break at Red’s, he felt as though he wasn’t quite able to capture the feeling of the first time. With their departure in a few hours, he was running out of time. He didn’t know if he could go back with something like that gnawing at him. The waves beckoned and teased, pulling at his legs and feet, urging him to join in the fun his friends were having.
“This is it,” Alex whispered.
He counted the waves. Two little ones, one big one.
Mohawk and Reko took the wave and rode for a few seconds before Reko fell and Mohawk clipped his board, tumbling down as well.
One little one. Alex began to paddle. The next small wave pushed him forward toward the shore. He could feel the swell as the wave pulled behind him, drawing the water beneath his board in a swirling eddy. He paddled harder, keeping his board in front of the wave. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see it building. The water crested, white spray foaming at the top.
Alex felt the moment. He pushed up on his board and balanced on the balls of his feet. He bent his knees and let his body sway the way his combat training had drilled into his muscle memory. He wasn’t going to fall off the board, not this time.
The wave rose bigger than any of the others he had seen that morning. It towered above him, driving him forward. Alex rocked back slightly o
n his board, repositioning his weight to give the wave more force. It propelled him forward.
The water curled above him in a perfect circle, rushing up one side and falling down the other. The wind pushed at his hair that had begun to grow out again. The spray from the wave splashed across his scarred chest, the newest wound healed and another symbol of his survival. A normal person wouldn’t have made it through such things, but he wasn’t normal.
The thought brought a smile to Alex’s lips. He bent his knees just a bit more. The roar of the wave filled his ears, all-encompassing and demanding to be heard. The rush of the water, the wind, and the shadows of the wave he rode took away all thought except for one, just to be.
Alex reached out a hand and let it trail in the water at his side. The spray hit his face with the salty sting of the ocean he had come to love with all of his heart. In that moment, he was one with that love, that power, and that peace. He was the ocean. He flew across the surface of the world.
The wave crashed on top of him, driving him down. His board tugged at his ankle as he tried to figure out which way was up. His lungs burned, telling him he hadn’t taken in a big enough breath when he went down. He kicked hard and attempted to follow the pull of the board.
Alex’s head broke the surface of the water and he took in a huge gulp of air. The cry of an impassive seagull met his ears as the animal flew so high above it looked like a mere speck in the rising sunlight. He pulled his board close and climbed on top.
“Alex, are you okay?” Siale asked anxiously.
Alex turned to see her and Brooks padding up.
He gave them both a big smile. “That was amazing.”
Brooks nodded with an answering smile. “You got it.”
Alex ran a hand down his face to wipe the water away. “I finally did,” he said. “All the practice paid off.”
“People can stay out here for a lifetime and not ride a wave like that,” Brooks said. His beaded hair clacked together when he turned his head to look at the others. “They’ll be talking about that one for a long time. The wave was yours.”
Alex nodded. Before he had attempted to surf at the beginning of the summer, such a statement would have sounded crazy to him. The ocean was so vast and impersonal, a giant expanse of water without the ability to care or think or act. It was merely the ocean.
But now, after living for months on its surface, Alex knew better. To him, the ocean had changed from expressionless to having such a variety of emotions and moods that one never knew what to expect, and the moment you thought you did, the ocean would remind you that you were wrong. He had grown to love the fickle beauty of the surface that could be glassy smooth at one moment and the next be filled with waves so high and dangerous that even the most experienced of the surfers wouldn’t go out. The ocean didn’t care about plans or schedules; instead, it reminded Alex of his own smallness and the fact that there were some things he just couldn’t control.
At the very bottom of it all, in that one moment riding the perfect wave, his wave, Alex had found something. He had realized that all the planning in the world, all the training, all the effort put into timing, couldn’t account for the beauty of a single wave, a board beneath his feet, and the feeling of the water running through his fingers.
He had found that life, in all its vast significance, was a compilation of moments of living, not fighting to survive, not planning for tomorrow, but of living in the same moment in which he breathed, of grasping the moment when it came, and of allowing himself to accept that he was a part of something beautiful instead of just watching from the sidelines. He didn’t own the ocean, but for that moment, he had been one with the wave. The wave had truly been his.
“Should we head in?” Siale asked.
It was easy to lose track of time on the ocean. Trent was probably already waiting for them at the little airport.
“Let’s go,” Alex replied.
“You guys take care,” Brooks said. “We’ll be looking forward to surfing with you again!”
“Next summer,” Siale promised.
The human nodded. “We’ll be waiting.”
Chapter Twenty-six
Students began to arrive shortly after Alex and the others landed at the Academy.
“I’m so excited that this is our last year!” Cassie exclaimed.
“Are you tired of it here?” Tennison asked her.
She shook her head quickly, her curly brown hair swishing around her shoulders. “Not at all, but because it’s our final term, Professor Colleen told me that we get to be teacher aids. We can help teach the other students!”
“That’s only if you learned anything worth teaching,” Terith said, catching up to them.
“Any chance we can teach the new kids how to build internal-combustion engines?” Trent asked his sister.
“I don’t think it counts if you taught it to yourself,” she replied. “They didn’t exactly teach that in our classes.”
“Maybe they should,” Alex said. “It would be nice to focus on more practical stuff to prepare the students for the world and help them get jobs.”
“I’ve heard some of the human high schools have shop classes,” Siale pointed out.
Trent grinned. “That’s perfect!”
“What’s perfect?” Jordan asked, meeting them in the hallway.
“You,” Trent told her. He kissed her on the nose.
The sight of the ring on Jordan’s finger made Alex smile.
“No public displays of affection,” Terith told her brother.
“You’re just upset Von’s helping Professor Mouse set up the biology classroom,” Trent shot back.
“I could help,” she replied. “But they have a snake in there.” She gave a visible shudder. “Disgusting.”
“Maybe you’ll be the biology assistant and your job will be to feed it,” Trent suggested.
Terith paled at the thought. “I’d rather free the mice. They could go to the forest. I’m sure they’d be happy there.”
“Everyone should have the chance to live where they’re meant to,” Alex said. He looked up and realized everyone was looking at him. “I guess I said that aloud.”
“You did.” Siale slipped her arm through his. “You seem like you have a lot on your mind.”
Alex forced a smile. “Just thinking about the Choosing Ceremony.”
Jericho spotted them from the doorway to the Great Hall. The tall, brown-haired Alpha smiled. “Good to see you guys again. Did you have a good summer?”
“It was amazing,” Cassie told him. “We spent it surfing.” She exchanged a smile with Tennison. “For the most part.”
Tennison gave Alex a knowing look. “Yeah, for the most part.”
Alex smiled. “It was pretty relaxing.”
Jericho chuckled. “So now pretty relaxing means killing a horde of murderous mutants and announcing the wedding of the decade? My mom hasn’t stopped asking me when you guys are coming to the shop. I think she’s already set aside fifty dresses for you girls.”
“Oh, good!” Cassie exclaimed. “Mom’s going to take us next weekend. Siale, are you thinking the empire, an A-line, or something more like a ball gown? I’ve been thinking about getting gloves. Something lacey or silk would go just wonderfully with a sweetheart neckline and a mermaid cut, although I’m definitely in love with a few of the newer chiffon styles.”
Alex stared at his sister. She had grown up mostly as a tom-boy because of their situation. Learning how to fight and take care of herself had turned her into a tough, albeit shy, sister. Watching her delve into the world of fashion and wedding planning was revealing a whole new side he had never experienced before.
“What?” she asked, catching his look. “Mom got a bunch of magazines. I’ve gone through every page and cut out the dresses I like. It’ll give Jericho’s mom a better idea of what we want.” She smiled at Siale. “We could even match if you wanted, or do opposites. You’d look good in anything.”
“Thank
you,” Siale replied with a smile, though Alex could tell she felt almost as overwhelmed at the wedding planning as he did.
He leaned close to her ear. “Is the abandoned warehouse still on the table?”
She nodded. “Let’s go right now.”
“Done,” Alex replied with a grin.
“Everyone gather for the Choosing Ceremony!” Nikki called from the stage at one end of the Great Hall.
A thrum of adrenaline rushed through Alex at the sight of the werewolf students sitting in the Great Hall waiting for Dean Jaze’s address.
“Go on ahead,” Alex told Siale and the others. “I’ll catch up.”
He grabbed Jericho’s arm when the Alpha walked past.
“What’s up?” the tall werewolf asked. “If you’re worried about the Choosing Ceremony, don’t be. It sounds like we’ll probably be able to choose whoever we want again. If that’s the case, you’re back as my Second without question.”
Alex made sure everyone was out of sight and was careful to keep his voice low when he said, “I need you to do me a favor.”
“Whatever you need,” Jericho replied, his gaze curious.
Alex took a steeling breath. “I need you to choose Siale as your Second again.”
Jericho watched him closely. “Why?”
Alex looked past him at the students. “I’ve messed with the hierarchy in too many packs last term. I don’t need to do it again.”
Jericho ran a hand through his brown hair. “I’m not sure what you’re getting at.”
Alex set a hand on the Alpha’s shoulder. “Trust me. Please.”
Jericho finally nodded. “Alright, Alex, but you better know what you’re doing.”
“I do,” Alex said. It wouldn’t be easy, but he knew for sure what he needed to do.
They joined the others in the Great Hall. Alex avoided Jericho’s gaze.
“Welcome, students!” Dean Jaze said. He looked around the hall. “We’re growing in size every year. I’d like to extend a special welcome to our new first term students. I guarantee you’ll have an exciting experience at the Academy!”
