by Cheree Alsop
Jaze tackled Alex around the waist and drove him to the ground. He spun so that he had an arm locked around Alex’s neck. Jaze turned, blocking the cafeteria from view.
“Don’t stop fighting,” the dean said in his ear.
Jet’s voice echoed in Alex’s head. They were the same words his brother had told him before he was killed by Extremists. Alex had lived with those words as his mantra since the day he and Cassie became orphans. For better or worse, fighting was what he had and what he knew. He wouldn’t give up no matter who he fought.
Alex grabbed the dean’s arm and tucked his chin, slipping out of Jaze’s hold. He rolled back to his feet and bent his knees, his hands open and jaw clenched with determination. Jaze dove at him and slammed him into the closest table with the strength of a bear. Someone in the crowd screamed. Alex’s head rebounded off the wood as it splintered to pieces beneath them. He rolled to the right and stood in time to block a kick and answer with one of his own. It connected with Jaze’s jaw.
The dean fell back two steps and lifted a hand to his mouth. Blood trickled from the corner of his lip when he took the hand away.
“Good kick,” Jaze said, his stance at ready.
Jaze attacked with a left and then a right. The left hit home and Alex breathed out to ease the force from the blow, but fire burned angrily through his already bruised ribs.
When the right connected, Alex grabbed Jaze’s fist and spun inwards, using Jaze’s momentum to draw him off balance. Alex kicked low and threw his weight to the right, driving them both to the ground. Alex turned on one knee and wrapped his elbow around Jaze’s neck. In the next moment, his had his other knee in the dean’s back and his spine extended to the point that if Alex jerked back at all, it would cause fractures.
Alex’s heart thundered and his breath was ragged and loud. The taste of blood coated his mouth. He could hear the dean’s heartbeat and felt him take a tight breath.
At that moment, the Demon surged. Instinct bade Alex to finish the dean, to end his reign and take over, to lead the werewolves to a new life of freedom. The Demon fought against the thought of anyone having control. When Alex struggled to keep it at bay, it lashed out, sending physical pain surging through Alex’s body. He gritted his teeth and forced his mind to stay clear despite the Demon’s wishes.
It promised that ending Jaze’s life would give him the freedom he yearned for. The thought was tantalizing within the heat of the fight.
Alex held onto the thought that werewolves were meant to live in packs, to protect each other, to learn together. The Demon flooded his mind with images of the Academy walls, of cage bars, of being tortured. Alex felt his arm tighten around Jaze’s neck. He shook his head, trying to regain control.
The Demon battered him with the images he had seen while on missions with Jaze’s team, werewolves tortured, mutilated, left to die, finding Siale in the body pit, setting free so many others who would never live a normal life after all they had been through. The Demon argued with needle-like teeth and razor-sharp claws that cut him from the inside. Alex’s knee pressed harder into the dean’s spine. The Demon refused to sit back. It wanted to gain peace by force.
The Demon’s thoughts mirrored Drogan’s; the thought washed over Alex like a rush of cold water. He let out a breath through his clenched teeth. He wouldn’t take things by force. He wouldn’t hurt others to gain his own advantage. That wasn’t the werewolf way.
The dean grabbed Alex’s arm and rolled, using strength Alex didn’t know the Alpha possessed. Alex was thrown into the closest wall. The cement cracked. Before Alex could rise, Jaze picked him up and threw him again. Alex slammed through two pillars that reached to the ceiling of the Great Hall and landed against the back wall in a daze. Jaze was behind him with an arm around his neck and a knee against his spine.
Alex struggled, but he couldn’t break the dean’s hold. The silence in the Great Hall was palpable as if every student and professor was holding his or her breath.
Alex felt Jaze shift slightly as if he looked around the room. Alex wished he could see the expressions on the faces of the students and professors, but he could only see the wall in front of him.
Jaze released him and stepped free. Alex gasped and drew in a breath. Jaze held out a hand and he rose shakily to his feet.
“Jaze?” Alex asked softly, worried he had damaged his relationship with the dean by instigating the fight.
“We’ll bring the Academy into the open,” Jaze said.
“Are you sure?” Alex asked in surprise. “I lost.”
The dean nodded. “We’ll do it together.”
Alex smiled and a cheer surged through the Great Hall. Trays struck the tables and students clapped. A glance at the professors showed apprehensive but hopeful expressions.
“It could work,” Alex heard Professor Mouse say quietly to Lyra.
“It really could,” she replied.
Jaze barely appeared winded after the fight. Alex was still trying to catch his breath. He was amazed at how strong the dean had shown himself to be. Alex thought he had been winning; to be beaten by Jaze so easily unsettled him. He realized he still had a great deal to learn.
Expectant silence filled the room. Alex didn’t know what to say. Luckily, Jaze did. With a hand on Alex’s shoulder, he turned to face the Great Hall.
“I knew this term would be different.” He squeezed Alex’s shoulder. “And I should have guessed Alex would be the one to spur that on.” A few chuckles sounded. The dean took a calming breath and smiled. “Change is inevitable for progress. Werewolves can’t hide forever. I know I’ve been guilty of hoping we could live behind our walls and the world would leave us in peace.” He looked over at Nikki. His wife rested her hand on her burgeoning stomach and smiled back at him. “But werewolves weren’t meant to be caged. Our students, children, and faculty deserve to live in peace, and though the first steps may be shaky, we’ll learn to walk together with the humans.”
Another cheer sounded, louder this time. Students looked excited at the prospect of living a normal life. The professors gave answering smiles, though Alex could read the worry behind their gazes. He hoped he wasn’t making a mistake, but he had gone too far to turn back.
“Let’s eat before Jerald’s amazing cooking gets cold,” Jaze concluded.
“It’s already cold,” Brock pointed out from the table behind them. He glanced at the doorway to the kitchen and Cook Jerald gave him a disgruntled look. Brock picked up a forkful of eggs and waved them. “But you know me. I’ll eat anything!” The human swallowed it down with a huge grin that showed bits of waffle in his teeth.
Alex took a seat back at Pack Jericho’s table. Siale slipped her hand into his. He didn’t realize until he picked up his fork with his free hand that he was shaking.
“Seriously, Alex?” Trent said from across the table. “I questioned if you had a death wish before. Now I know it! Going against Jaze? You must be insane!”
“He could have beaten me easily any time during that fight,” Alex said quietly.
His friends stared at him.
“What?” Jericho asked. The Alpha watched him closely, his usually calm gaze troubled.
Alex glanced over his shoulder at the dean. Jaze was talking with Mouse and Nyra while little William attempted to share a bite of syrupy waffle that ended up in the dean’s lap. Jaze didn’t appear to notice. Nikki’s expression showed her worry as she cleaned up the mess.
Siale squeezed Alex’s hand. “Are you sure?” she asked.
The dean’s voice sounded again in his head. “Don’t stop fighting.” Jaze and Jet’s voices melded into one, echoing back and forth in his thoughts.
As much as Alex may have wanted to tell himself that he beat Jaze fair and square, the truth was obvious. “He wanted to show me that I’m not the strongest werewolf here. He’s still the top dog, but he still agreed to reveal the Academy to the world.” Alex shook his head, confused.
Trent nodded with a dawning smi
le of awe. “Of course he did. The first time he revealed werewolves to the world, it was a bloodbath. He can’t lead it again. You’ve become the face of the younger werewolf generations. The world knows you as the Demon of Greyton. You’ve proven that you believe in the cause enough to fight for it. You’re something he can stand behind.”
“He’s right,” Cassie said, leaning across the table from where she sat next to Tennison. “You’ve given the world something to believe in.”
Her fiancé nodded. “Maybe it’ll be enough.”
“It has to be,” Jericho said. The Alpha smiled at Alex. “If werewolves stand a chance, now is the time. That was a bold move.”
“Let’s just hope I don’t regret it,” Alex replied.
“It’s not like you make irrational, spur-of-the-moment decisions,” Trent said.
After a pause of silence, Pack Jericho broke into laughter.
Alex grinned. He had definitely had more than his share of controversial actions; becoming the Academy’s first lone wolf and challenging the dean to change the course of the school were only the most recent.
He looked around the room and his grin faded. Students talked excitedly and the snippets of conversation that came to him said everyone spoke about werewolves being accepted into society. Alex’s decision would change the lives of every student and professor at the Academy. He could only hope the change would be for the better.
Chapter Two
Familiar footsteps paused outside the door a moment before it creaked open.
“Alex, are you busy?”
Alex shook his head. “Come on in.”
Trent glanced around at the dusty quarters Alex had picked for himself.
“Nice,” he said, his tone doubtful. “Are you sure you don’t need a tetanus shot to sleep here? And wouldn’t you rather take a room instead of the couch?” He looked meaningfully at Alex’s duffle bag that lay open and sifted through next to the clean, if somewhat dust-layered, couch.
Alex shrugged. “It works. Did you need me?”
Trent’s eyes widened as if he just remembered why he was there. “Yes, Jaze needs you. He said to bring you to the Wolf Den right away.”
The thought of the new classes they should be going to fled Alex’s mind. He hurried to the fireplace and slid the hidden panel aside. Trent followed down the dark stairs toward the basement lair. Alex knew better than to ask what Jaze needed. The dean liked to have the entire team together before he told them the details of a mission. The thought of heading back out sent a thrill of excitement through Alex.
He pushed open the door and stepped into the Wolf Den. His heart slowed at the images on many of the screens above Brock’s elevated platform in the middle of the vast cavern.
It was the fight, filmed from across the Great Hall. Alex and Jaze circled each other. As Alex walked to the platform and climbed slowly up the steps, he heard his argument for bringing the Werewolf Academy public.
Jaze, Nikki, Brock, and Mouse watched the video in silence. On the biggest screen, Jaze threw the first punch. Alex blocked it and countered.
“I didn’t know how much Jet had trained you,” Alex told the dean quietly.
Jaze nodded. He turned away from the video and motioned for Alex to walk back down the steps. When they were away from the others, he said, “Jet said he wouldn’t always be there for me.”
The dean took a seat on the steps that led down to the helicopter.
Alex leaned against the railing.
“Your brother became my protector ever since the day I saved his life.” Jaze glanced up at Alex. “When I saw him in the ring, I knew I had to get him out of there.”
Alex knew some of the history between Jet and Jaze. Jet hadn’t been one to talk about his past, but Jaze knew how much Alex’s brother meant to him. Just hearing his name was enough to make Alex’s heart tighten from the pain of losing someone he looked up to so much, yet he yearned for it. He had gone so long without hearing others talk about his brother; hearing about him now felt like a breath of fresh air after being under water.
As if Jaze understood that, he said, “Jet was raised as one of the only Alpha werewolves in a werewolf fighting ring. He was pitted against dreadful odds, and he won because fighting was the only thing he knew.” Jaze stared out across the cave beneath the Academy. “Winning meant killing his opponents. The werewolves had a pact that they wouldn’t leave the losing members of a fight to be ended by the silver bullet from a guard. It was the only form of honor they could give each other in such a situation.”
Jaze was quiet for a few moments before he continued, “When I found out about the fighting rings, Mouse, Chet and I went to scope it out. I got there just as Jet entered a fight. He must have smelled me in the audience, because he stopped and looked straight at me through the fence. Even though he was bleeding and trapped in a horrible situation, there wasn’t anger or frustration in his eyes. Instead, I saw only determination to see it through. He was a fighter, a survivor, and he did the best he could with what he had.”
Jaze let out a slow breath. “But the last fight Jet was pitted in wasn’t fair. We had plans to break him out before the fight, but there was just no possible way to do it. They sent Jet into the fight outnumbered in every way possible, and his owner,” he said the word with a grimace as though it tasted bad, “Bet on him to lose.”
The cold of the metal bars beneath Alex’s hands seeped up his arms. He stared out at the helicopter in front of them without seeing it.
“Jet won,” Jaze continued softly. “Against all odds and after taking what were potentially life-threatening wounds, Jet defeated his attackers. In return, his owner sent him out in a cage and instructed her men to shoot him with silver bullets.” His voice lowered. “They were told to make him suffer before he died.”
“So much for honor,” Alex said quietly.
Jaze nodded. “I tried to get to him, but we were delayed by security. By the time I reached him, he had already been shot. But even though most werewolves would have died from the wounds, Jet was stronger. He survived to bring down the rest of the fighting rings at my side.”
Jaze turned so that he leaned against the railing and looked up at Alex. “That’s when he began to train me. Jet said he wouldn’t always be there, and teaching me how to fight was the best way he knew how to protect me even when he was gone.” Jaze’s forehead furrowed. “I think Jet always knew he wouldn’t make it to this stage in life, married, having kids. He once told me that fighting was all he knew how to do. When the fighting stopped, there wouldn’t be a place for him.”
Alex sunk down on the other side of the steps and leaned his back against the railing. “There would have been,” he said quietly.
Jaze nodded. “Yes, there would have.” He glanced at Alex. “Imagine if every student at the Academy could fight like Jet.”
Alex smiled. “We’d be a force to reckon with.”
Jaze chuckled. “Yes, we would.” He motioned toward the screen where the images showed Alex’s argument and the fight over and over again. “That’s out in the world now.”
Alex stared at him. “What?”
“Someone had a cell phone despite our policies. They recorded the fight and released it on the Internet. Brock says he’s never seen a video go viral so quickly.”
Alex was amazed at how calm the dean was being. “Get it taken off,” he said, rising to his feet. “They’ll know about the Academy, about you, about everything here! We need to erase it or—”
Jaze shook his head with a small smile. “You fought for the right to reveal the Academy to the world. Now it’s done.”
“But not like this,” Alex said. He motioned toward the screens. “Not with arguing and fighting. We’re supposed to be civilized and…and….”
“And human,” Jaze said, rising to stand next to him.
Alex hesitated. The word was exactly what he meant, but agreeing felt wrong. They weren’t human, they were werewolves. He wanted the world to accept them
for who they were, not pretend to be something different.
“You said what we would have wanted to say in a public statement,” Jaze told him quietly.
At that moment, Alex on the main screen said, “You might not be ready, but we are.”
“I wasn’t rational,” Alex told the dean quietly. He glanced away from his image on the monitor.
“You were acting in the heat of the moment. To the public, the dean of the Academy is brawling with a student. It’s not my best moment.”
Alex shook his head. “You’re an Alpha. That’s what Alphas are supposed to do.”
“Then don’t feel like we have to hide it from the world,” Jaze countered. “You want the world to accept us, they need to know the real werewolves.”
“You really think that’s the best way?” Alex asked, watching him and Jaze smash through a table.
Jaze smiled. “It’s our way.”
“We’ll up the detectors for the luggage,” Brock called down from the platform. “I don’t know how a phone got inside, but we’ll be more careful next time. All of the news stations have picked it up. I swear it’s running in a loop all over the nation.”
Trent followed Alex back up the tunnel to Alex’s lone wolf quarters. Alex sat on the couch with a shake of his head.
“I didn’t expect that to happen.”
“Guess I should hide this,” Trent said. He pulled something from his pocket.
Alex stared at the cell phone. “You took the video?” he asked in shock.
Trent nodded. “You wanted to bring the Academy to the world.” He slipped the phone behind a picture of a mountain at sunset on the mantel piece.
“But bringing a phone to the Academy is against the rules,” Alex replied. He was unable to get his mind around the fact that Trent was the one who had taken the video and posted it to social media.
“Being a werewolf used to be against the law. Things are changing,” Trent replied.
“Trent, you directly disobeyed Jaze’s rules. He’s the dean,” Alex pointed out.
