by Cheree Alsop
A female Demon leaped and caught the werewolf by the ankle. Chet’s hold slipped and they both plummeted to the floor. The Demons closed in. Vance threw himself on top of the fray. Even the huge werewolf looked small compared to the hulking bodies of the Demons Drogan had created. Claws and fangs pummeled the Alpha as he fought to pull the team member free.
Alex couldn’t get past the two Demons he fought in order to help Vance. Instead of taking them down, Alex changed tactics. He charged at both Demons. The attack caught them off-guard, allowing him to shove them back toward their companions. The Demon on his left swiped at his eyes. Alex ducked and grabbed the ankle of the werewolf Vance fought to save. He fell backward and used his momentum to pull the werewolf free. He shoved the team mate toward the ladder. To the werewolf’s credit, he began to pull himself up the rungs despite his wounds. Hands reached down to help.
“Vance!” Alex roared.
The werewolf spotted him through the fight. Blood streamed from a huge gash along the Alpha’s forehead and he looked as though he was standing by mere will alone. The Demons would tear the coach apart. Alex knew he had one chance to save his professor.
“Drogan.”
The rage-filled growl that echoed through the room turned the head of every Demon.
Alex took a step toward the back of the room. He knew that threatening the Demons’ Alpha would mean his death, but it was the only way he could think of to draw the attention away from Vance.
“I’ll kill you, Drogan,” he said, walking further from the trapdoor.
A glance over his shoulder showed the Demons following. Vance stumbled to the ladder. Chet quickly climbed down along with Kaynan and Rafe. They pulled the wounded werewolf up.
Alex continued talking, knowing that the longer he distracted the Demons, the more time he gave the teams to get clear of the mansion. “You’ve crossed a line, Drogan. You created Demons. What were you thinking?”
Silence met his question. Alex had expected as much. He knew Drogan wouldn’t disappear into a hole if there weren’t at least a few escape routes on the other end. He could only wonder how long his ruse would keep the Demons following him. The scraping of their claws sent chills of true fear down his spine. They were almost to him. He didn’t dare to look over his shoulder.
“Here goes nothing,” he whispered.
Alex channeled his Demon strength and ran at the wall. He leaped and hit high on the wall with both clawed feet. Shoving backwards and slightly to the right, Alex tucked and flipped. He hit the ground so hard his claws tore massive cracks into the floor. A quick check showed the Demons behind him and the trapdoor in front with no one in the way.
“I can’t believe that worked,” Alex exclaimed.
Growls of outrage met his words. Alex scrambled backwards and ran for the trapdoor. The Demons followed hot on his heels. A claw caught his shoulder. Alex threw himself into the air.
He reached, but he had mistimed his leap. The trapdoor was too far away. He could hear the Demons massing beneath him, ready to tear him apart. Alex couldn’t beat Demons that matched him strength for strength. There were too many of them. His only hope was that his team would get clear before they made it through the door.
A hand caught his clawed one. Alex stared up into Trent’s panicked face.
“I’m not leaving you behind!” Trent said.
The small werewolf pulled. Kaynan and Rafe grabbed Alex’s other hand. One quick yank lifted him clear of the hole.
Chapter Thirteen
Alex grabbed the trapdoor from beside the wall and slammed it onto the hole. The raging force of the Demons pounded against it.
“Get everyone to the helicopters,” Alex yelled above the chaos.
“The Black Team is clear,” Kaynan replied, scrambling to help him hold the door. “Our chopper is in the yard.”
The thud of a Demon’s body hit the bottom of the door so hard that massive cracks spider-webbed out from cement around the hole. Alex and Kaynan stared at each other.
“Run,” Alex said. He looked at Trent and Rafe. “Get out of here; I’ll come after you.”
“Are you sure?” Trent asked. The small werewolf looked completely terrified.
Another thud hit the door. The ground shuddered.
“I’m sure,” Alex replied. “Run. Now!”
At Alex’s command, Rafe and Trent took off for the stairs. Kaynan continued to hold on.
“Go,” Alex barked. “That’s an order!”
Kaynan stayed for one more slam, then ran after the others.
Alex drove his claws into the cement around the trapdoor. With each attack, the flooring crumbled further. Two more blows and he knew there wouldn’t be a floor left to hold onto.
Alex prayed that his team mates and pack mates had made it onto the helicopter. His earpiece had fallen out when he morphed into the Demon, otherwise he would tell them to take off. Maybe Trent had seen the futility of remaining. If the Demons got to the helicopter, they would all be killed. Alex could only hope his team was far out of reach.
The floor shook with the next slam. Alex’s claws broke free. There were twelve Demons in the room below him and Alex had no way to hold them back. Staying in the basement would be a death sentence. As much as he wanted to fight them all regardless of the losing battle it would be, the wolf drive for self-preservation took over. Alex shoved the door down and scrambled backwards across the crumbling floor. The Demons surged out, werewolf-human-Demon nightmares that could match his strength and were fueled by Drogan’s hatred.
Alex took the stairs four at a time. He flew through the mansion’s huge entrance hall and out the front doors someone had thoughtfully left open. The sound of the Demons charging after him gave fuel to his flight.
Alex was relieved at the sight of the empty front lawn. The helicopters had taken off. Both teams were gone and the humans with them. He spun, ready to take down however many of the Demons he could.
They spilled out the door. The heavy beating of a chopper sounded in the air. Alex looked up to see the Academy’s helicopter lowering above his head. Jericho and Tennison knelt on one of the struts holding a rope ladder. It wavered in the air a few feet above Alex’s head.
“Jump!” Tennison yelled.
“Hurry, Alex!” Cassie shouted.
Alex jumped just as the charging Demons swarmed into the yard. He grabbed the last rung of the ladder and was jerked into the air. The Demons scrambled on top of each other. One, a wild-eyed female with patchy red hair and fangs that protruded from her jaws, jumped off the others and latched onto Alex’s ankle. He let out a yell as her claws tore into his foot. Alex kicked, attempting to unlatch her as the helicopter rose above the mansion.
She scrabbled to pull herself up and drove her other set of claws deep into Alex’s calf. He kicked, but she wouldn’t let go. Panic filled Alex. He couldn’t let the Demon get to his friends. If she reached the helicopter, there was no doubt of the carnage that would ensue. He had only one choice. Alex grabbed the rope ladder with one hand and raised his other to slice through it with his claws.
The Demon’s grip loosened. Alex looked down to see darts protruding from her chest and shoulders. He glanced up and gave a sigh of relief at the sight of a gun in the hand of every werewolf in the helicopter. Four more shots followed. The Demon struggled to hold on. A dart hit her clawed hand. She let go and plummeted to the earth. Alex watched with a faint shred of hope that she would be killed on impact. Drogan’s creations had been bred for one thing, to kill every creature in their path. One less Demon could save hundreds, if not thousands, of lives.
To Alex’s dismay, at the last moment the Demon spun in the air and landed on the sidewalk hard enough to split the cement. The other Demons massed on the mansion’s front lawn and roared their anger that he had escaped. The battle wasn’t over by far.
Alex let his Demon fade as Trent steered the helicopter over the trees. He climbed slowly up the ladder. Hands grabbed his arms and pulled him into the
chopper.
Cassie stared at him. “Alex, that was too close,” she said with tears in her eyes. She hugged him tight.
“Is Alex okay?” Alex heard Siale ask over and over again in Cassie’s headset.
“Yes, he’s okay,” Trent reassured her. The little werewolf threw Alex a look that said it had been a close one.
“Talk to Siale,” Cassie told him. She put a headset on Alex’s head.
“Hey, Siale,” he managed to get out. Dray pulled him up onto a seat. He glanced over to see Vance bandaged and passed out on the floor.
“Alex,” she said, her voice cracking with relief. “Are you alright?”
“I’m good,” he told her. “But we have a serious problem. Tell Jaze—”
“He knows what’s going on. He’ll meet you in the Wolf Den when you land,” Brock replied.
The human’s voice had a touch of distance to it Alex didn’t recognize. “Is everything okay with the baby?” he asked.
“She’s healthy,” Brock answered. He paused, then said, “But Nikki’s struggling to hang on.”
The look on Cassie’s face told Alex everything he needed to know. He let his head fall back against the helicopter wall and looked out the window. After the battle they had fought and the danger that loomed for werewolves and humans alike, he could barely comprehend the thought of losing Nikki. She had been a mother for him when he arrived at the Academy. Her quiet confidence and the way she had loved him and Cassie when they were newly orphaned was such an example of selflessness that the thought of her gone from his life gave him physical pain.
“Let’s wrap your leg.”
Alex looked down at Jericho. The Alpha indicated the blood streaming down Alex’s calf to the floor of the helicopter. Alex nodded numbly. The Alpha worked with fast but gentle fingers. Alex closed his eyes and let his mind wander.
“You have to eat something.”
“I’m not hungry,” Alex’s young self replied.
Nikki crouched in front of him and held out a bowl of ice cream.
“Everybody loves ice cream,” she coaxed.
Alex shook his head. His black hair fell in front of his eyes. “I don’t like ice cream,” he lied.
Nikki gave a little questioning sound that made Alex glance up.
“You know,” she said, her voice kind. “It’s impossible to stay lost inside yourself forever.”
“Lost inside myself?” Alex repeated.
He didn’t know why he answered her. He wanted to stay mad at the world. His parents had been murdered, he and Cassie had been shipped off to the Academy, and Jet, his rock, his idol, his big brother, had been killed. Starving himself was the only form of control he felt he had left. He had stubbornly not eaten for three days despite Cook Jerald coming up with the most tantalizing dishes she could create. Alex just couldn’t find the ability to care anymore.
“Sometimes when tragedy happens, we lose ourselves deep inside,” Nikki told him. A small, sad smile touched her lips as if she knew exactly how he felt. “We feel numb, like we’re just going through the motions of being alive.” She brushed her hand along the cool stone of the steps he sat on. “Just feeling seems impossible because then we’d have to admit that we are still here while those we care about are gone.”
Alex nodded. The brief admittance of how he felt made his eyes burn with tears.
“I know you don’t want to be here,” Nikki said. She set the bowl of ice cream down and knelt on the step below him. “I know you want to be with your mom and dad and Jet. I know you and Cassie just want to go home and pick up life where you left off.”
The tears broke free. Alex ducked his head.
“I just want mom to hold me,” he admitted in a voice that cracked with emotion.
“Oh, Alex,” Nikki replied in a voice so gentle and understanding that he could hear his mother’s words in the way she spoke. “Can I hold you for her?”
Alex nodded and the sobs encompassed him. She pulled him onto her lap and held him while he cried heartbroken tears, lost in a world that had taken everything from him, but that failed to take him, too. He felt so alone, so broken and betrayed. He didn’t know how to face a world in which he and Cassie had survived and everyone else they knew had been killed. It didn’t feel fair, any of it.
“What about Cassie?” Nikki asked quietly when Alex’s sobs slowed.
“What about her?” he made himself ask. He wiped his tears on his sleeve.
“If you don’t eat, you’ll waste away, and then Cassie will have no one,” Nikki said, her voice gentle.
Alex hadn’t thought of that. Though his sister followed him like a shadow, she wasn’t haunted by the nightmares that trailed through his dreams. At that moment, he knew Cassie was playing in the Great Hall with her new friend Terith. The girls had been close since she and her brother showed up.
But Alex couldn’t let go and make friends with the other boys. He didn’t want to accept anyone else into his life, because he could only imagine that doing so would push the memories of his parents and Jet further away. He didn’t want to let them go.
“Cassie needs you,” Nikki said gently. “We all need you. You’re so strong, like your brother.”
“But he wasn’t strong enough.”
At his lost words, Nikki brushed his hair back from his forehead the way his mother used to. “That’s not the truth,” she said softly.
“But he died,” Alex replied. “He told me to never stop fighting, but he stopped.” His throat ached at saying the words that had haunted his thoughts. He felt like he betrayed Jet by saying them, but he had to know.
“He never stopped fighting,” Nikki told him. Her words were firm but still gentle when she explained, “Jet was so strong that he saved many, many families by fighting for what’s right.” She blinked and he realized that tears showed in her eyes as well. “Jet sacrificed himself to save Jaze and the rest of us. He fought so hard that they couldn’t kill the werewolves the Extremists had captured. Did you know that?”
Alex shook his head.
“It’s true,” Nikki continued. “Your brother fought to his very last breath.” Her tears trailed down her cheeks and she sniffed before she said, “He is the greatest hero I’ve ever known, and I know he’s proud of you. Jet would want you to protect your sister because if he was here, he would do the same thing. Do you think you can do that for him?”
A little nod followed. The chance to make Jet proud filled him with the first glimmer of hope he had known since arriving at the Academy.
“You’re going to have to be strong to protect Cassie, you know that?” Nikki asked.
Alex nodded again. His stomach growled when he looked at the bowl. It was mostly melted, but the rocky road ice cream looked like the best thing in the world at that moment.
“If you could eat this ice cream, it would be a good start,” Nikki urged. “Do you think you could do that?”
Alex nodded again. She handed him the bowl and he took a bite. His stomach twisted in hunger, so he took another one.
“Hello.”
Alex and Nikki turned at the quiet voice. The small boy who had arrived with Terith the previous day looked down at them from the top step.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
Nikki smiled at him. “Eating ice cream. Would you like some? I know where Cook Jerald hides her secret stash.”
Trent nodded. He looked at Alex. “I don’t have anyone to eat with. C-can I come sit with you?”
Alex would be strong enough to protect Cassie; of that, he was sure. Looking at the little werewolf on the top step who had come to the Academy also as an orphan, Alex saw another person in need of protection. He made up his mind then and there to make sure the little werewolf always had someone to watch over him.
“You can come eat with me,” Alex said. “The ice cream is good.”
Nikki walked up the steps. Alex glanced behind him and met her smile.
“Jet would be very proud of you,” she said
.
He smiled back, the first true smile he had given since they had arrived.
“Who’s Jet?” Trent asked.
Alex motioned to the wolf statue in the middle of the Academy’s courtyard and said, “My big brother.”
“Whoa, that’s your brother?” the little boy said in awe. At Alex’s nod, he said, “Man, that is so cool. I’m glad we’re friends.”
Alex smiled; perhaps Nikki was right. If he protected those around him, he could be like Jet. If Trent and Cassie needed him, he wondered how many others he could save to be like his brother.
Chapter Fourteen
Alex watched the sunrise from the steps where he and Nikki had first spoken so many years earlier. The door opened at the top of the steps and soft footfalls crossed the cement stairs.
“You did the right thing.”
Alex looked back at the sound of Jaze’s voice.
“How’s Nikki?” he asked immediately.
Jaze motioned for him not to rise. “I need to sit for a bit.”
The dean settled next to Alex with an exhausted sigh. The fact that Jaze didn’t answer his question spoke multitudes.
“You saved Vance and got the humans out of there. You did the right thing,” Jaze repeated. “We’ve sent out a nationwide notice about Drogan’s Demons; the GPA is working on tracking them. They’ll let us know as soon as they hear anything.”
Alex recognized the dean’s need to talk about things other than his wife who was drifting away despite everyone’s attempts to save her.
Alex forced his weary mind to focus. “I let Drogan escape.”
Jaze nodded. “But you saved both teams. That was the decision of a leader.”
“It was the heat of the moment,” Alex admitted. “I didn’t know what else to do. Maybe I shouldn’t have opened the trapdoor.”
“I would have.”
Alex was surprised by the dean’s admission. “Even with the risk?”
Jaze nodded. “In order to allow werewolves to overcome the fear society holds over us, we need to get rid of the nation’s most wanted criminal. If we can bring Drogan down, it’ll take major steps toward resolving the prejudice against werewolves.”
