by Cheree Alsop
“What’s the combination?” Kaynan called.
Jaze closed his eyes. A tear slipped down his cheeks. “Six, one, one.”
Kaynan spun the dial.
“The day Nikki and I got married,” Jaze continued. His words were more of a sigh that spilled from his lips. A drop of blood followed.
A baby’s cry broke through the air.
“Oh, thank goodness,” Alex heard Kaynan say from the safe.
“Aunt Siale,” little William sobbed.
“I’ve got you,” she replied.
Jaze said something Alex couldn’t hear. He leaned down.
The dean raised his free hand to the empty air and whispered, “Nikki, I’ve missed you so much.”
Alex’s tears fell on the hand he clasped. “Don’t go,” he pleaded.
A slight smile touched the corners of Jaze’s mouth. “You’re even more beautiful…than I remember.”
His labored breathing sounded harsh to Alex’s ears.
“I-I don’t know what to do without you,” he told the dean.
Jaze’s gaze focused on his face. A knowing look Alex recognized touched the dean’s pained expression. “You’ll…know,” he said. He winced and shifted as though trying to find a more comfortable position. He gave up and a weak smile touched his lips. “You’ve…always known.”
Alex shook his head. “You’ve always helped me.” His tears dripped down his nose to the dean’s hand.
Jaze’s focus shifted past Alex’s shoulder. His smile grew bigger. “Jet…” He took a wheezing breath and said. “Jet, you came back.”
A sob tore from Alex’s chest. He didn’t want Jaze to leave. He couldn’t imagine a world without the dean in it. Jaze had always been there for him, guiding him even without seeming to. Now, Jaze’s loved ones had come back for him. Those the dean had left behind during their fight to free the werewolves, the humans and werewolves Jaze had been forced to say goodbye to, had come back to welcome him with open arms. Alex couldn’t keep him from that no matter how lost he felt at letting Jaze go.
Jaze sucked in another breath. “Mom,” he said. Tears spilled down his cheeks. “Alex, they’re all here.”
Siale’s hand touched Alex’s shoulder. He glanced up to see Vicki resting quietly in Siale’s arms. The baby’s eyes reflected her father’s broken form. Kaynan reached them with William at his side. The little boy broke free and knelt next to Alex. Alex pulled him close.
“Is Daddy going to be okay?” William asked.
Alex looked down into the boy’s blue eyes. He had never lied to William. He knew there was no reason to start.
“No,” he said, his voice gentle. “But I’ll take care of you.” He met Siale’s gaze. “We’ll take care of you.”
She nodded with tears on her cheeks.
Alex set a hand on Jaze’s shoulder. “Go to them,” he told the dean. “Your children will be safe with us.”
“Love them…” Jaze’s whisper barely moved the dust in the air. “Love them all…like I love you.”
Alex nodded. His throat was so tight he couldn’t say anything else. He knelt down and pressed his lips to the dean’s forehead.
“I love you, too, Jaze,” he whispered.
A sigh left Jaze’s lips, flowing out with his last breath.
Alex sat back and William climbed on his lap. The little boy held his father’s sleeve. Alex listened to Jaze’s slow heartbeat. Jaze’s hand, the one he had held out to Nikki, Jet, and the others, dropped back to his chest. His heart gave one more beat, then stilled.
“Daddy,” William cried. He pressed his head against Alex’s chest.
Alex gently loosened his hand from Jaze’s and wrapped the boy up in a tight hug.
“I’ve got you, William,” he promised. “And I’ll never let go.”
Chapter Thirty
The nation mourned Jaze Carso’s death and honored him with flags at half-mast and a funeral ceremony broadcasted across the country. Words of gratitude for his bravery in ridding the nation of its number one enemy were spoken from leaders and civilians alike. Werewolves were granted citizenship in his name, and Extremists were confronted with extreme force.
Despite the beauty of the proceedings and the solemnity with which Jaze was granted a final resting place next to Nikki in the city in which they had met, Alex favorite part, the one he would always remember, came after the sun set.
“Our brother, a body of flesh and blood no longer your soul holds.” The words of hundreds upon hundreds of werewolves rang out through the forest.
“Run without the confines of bone and sinew, howl without the constriction of lungs or breath, and live within the embrace of the moon and her welcoming light.” The trees stilled as though in reverence to the wolf who had run beneath their forest canopy.
Silence spread. The honor and love was so profound Alex could feel it with every breath. Little William held his right hand and Siale held his left with baby Vicki asleep in her arms. The forest spread out below them, a vast, dark carpet that hid the world Alex had grown up in. The ruins of the Academy could be seen as a mound of black in the night beyond the crumbled walls. It was a tribute to Jaze, a place Alex would always consider home.
He tipped his face to the moonlight and said, “Your life is one with wolvenkind.” The voices below him joined in and concluded, “And your heart will beat with ours forevermore. You will not be forgotten.”
When the last word had finished its echo across the land, Alex cupped his hands around his mouth. The howl of remembrance he sang to the sky was joined by the hundreds of voices, werewolves giving tribute to the leader who had given everything to make sure they were safe. Jaze had united them and brought together the nation by destroying the enemy who had threatened to tear them to pieces.
Drogan’s violence and the extent he was willing to go to in order to bring human and werewolf kind to their knees had united both races. Jaze had given up everything, including his life, to stop Drogan. That selfless act spurred a movement of patriotism that joined werewolves and humans in, if not friendship, at least the beginnings of acceptance.
Alex howled his gratitude to the father-figure who had taught him the value of love, loyalty, and pack. He told of his appreciation for Jaze’s trust in including him on the missions, and of the dean’s understanding when things didn’t always go as planned. Alex howled his thankfulness for the Academy Jaze had built that had become a home to so many, and he promised Jaze that he would do his best to follow in the dean’s footsteps.
They waited at the top of the rise until long after the howls had died away and werewolves left the forest. The rising sun reflected on the lake Alex had jumped into first as a dare, then as a means of escaping his enemies, and now as the final memory of Jaze Carso, the werewolf who changed a nation.
When Alex and Siale walked back down the hill, their friends fell in around them. Cassie and Tennison held hands in front of the pair, and the professors met them in the forest. Together, the students and teachers of the Academy walked one last time beneath the trees to the school that meant something different to each of them, yet in their hearts, everyone had considered it a home.
***
Alex was awoken by Trent later that morning; his friend had caught him still in bed at the hotel in Greyton the city had thoughtfully provided for the werewolves while they were figuring out where to relocate.
“What is it?” he asked sleepily.
“It’s a phone call,” Trent told him. “You’re going to want to take it.”
Alex accepted the cell phone with the wolf paw Mouse emblazoned on the back of everything he could.
“This is Alex,” he said.
“Alex, this is Agent Sullivan of the Global Protection Agency.”
Alex sat up. “Yes, sir?”
“Mr. Davies-Carso, I was a friend of Jaze’s and I would like to express my condolences for your loss. The country has lost a fine man.”
Alex pushed his messy hair back from his forehea
d. “Thank you.”
“Now to business,” Agent Sullivan said. “According to our research, your father, Jared Carso, also known as the General, amassed a great deal of money in several private accounts. Policy normally dictates that this money be absorbed as an asset; however, in gratitude for your diligence and the sacrifices you have made to bring these terrorist threats to rest, the money has been transferred into an account for your use and the use of your posterity.”
Alex stared at Trent. The small werewolf nodded excitedly.
“Uh, thank you,” Alex said, still not quite sure he understood the man correctly.
“The account information and access will be sent to you within the next two days. We will call you back at this number with the details,” Agent Sullivan said.
Alex was about to say goodbye when Trent interrupted him.
“How much is it?” Trent asked excitedly.
“Um, if you don’t mind me asking, how much are we talking about?” Alex repeated.
A smile could be heard in the agent’s otherwise professional tone when he replied, “There are a few more accounts we are attempting to locate, but at this time, we are talking hundreds of millions of dollars. Good day, Alex.”
The agent hung up, leaving Alex to stare at the cell phone in disbelief. An enormous weight had just lifted off his shoulders, but he barely dared believe what he had heard.
Trent jumped up at down. “Hundreds of millions! We could put every student through college!” He laughed. “We could build a werewolf theme park with that much money!”
Alex grinned at his friend’s enthusiasm.
“We’ll know what to do with it,” he replied with a smile.
***
“I do,” Alex said.
“Do you, Siale Leanna Andrews, take Alex Davies-Carso as your lawfully wedded husband?” Kaynan asked.
Siale gave Alex her special smile, the one that made him warm all over and sent tingles down his spine. It was only by reminding himself that they were in the middle of their real wedding that he was able to keep from kissing her right then and there.
“I do,” she said.
“And do you, Cassie Ann Davies-Carso, take Tennison Matthew Hughes as your lawfully wedded husband?”
Alex had never seen his sister as happy as at the moment when she echoed, ‘I do.’
“And do you, Tennison Matthew Hughes, take Cassie Ann Davies-Carso as your lawfully wedded wife?”
The tall, pale-eyed werewolf smiled a sure smile at Alex’s twin sister. “I do,” he answered.
“I now pronounce each of you husband and wife,” Kaynan concluded. “Alex, Tennison, you may kiss your brides.”
Alex pulled Siale to him. Feeling the softness of her lips against his with the realization that she would be at his side forever made him the happiest he had ever been in his life.
“I love you so much,” she whispered.
“I love you,” he replied, staring down into the soft gray gaze he would get to see for the rest of his life.
A baby cried.
“He wants you,” Grace said. She held the little boy with dark red eyes up to his father.
“Now, Jaze, don’t make such a fuss,” Kaynan chided; he then tickled the little boy until he giggled.
Meredith smiled at them happily from her seat on the front row. Little Vicki and William were contentedly playing with the blocks she had brought. William took the block Vicki was trying to eat and stacked it on top of his tower.
“Uncle Alex, look!” the boy exclaimed.
“That’s wonderful!” Alex told him.
Vicki knocked the tower over. For a moment, William looked like he wanted to cry; then the same determination Alex recognized from William’s father came over him. He quietly picked up the blocks again.
“Now Vicki, please wait until I tell you next time,” he told her patiently.
Alex and Cassie passed Brock and Jennifer sampling the cheese and cracker appetizers Alex had picked out specifically for them.
“Did you hear about the explosion in the French cheese factory?” Jennifer asked her boyfriend.
Brock grinned. “I’ll bet all that was left was de Brie!”
They both laughed.
“I don’t get that,” Siale said.
Alex smiled at his wife. “Me, neither. We should leave it that way.”
She laughed her musical laugh and he kissed her on the nose.
Trent and Jordan caught up to them.
“Look how cute!” Jordan exclaimed.
Alex followed her gaze to where Gem and Dray played with their little girl. Jordan and Siale hurried over to talk to the couple. Colleen stood nearby with Rafe behind her. He had his arms wrapped around her sides with his hands resting on her large belly.
“Any day now,” Colleen told Gem.
“Our kids will have so much fun together,” Gem replied happily.
“Thank you again, Alex,” Lyra said, smiling up at him with Mouse at her side. “I can’t believe it.”
“Please believe it,” he told them. “You’ve done so much, all of you. It’s the best way I could think of to thank you all.” He winked at Mouse. “And the best way to ensure that you all stick around.”
Mouse grinned. “I don’t know if you needed to go as far as a private werewolf neighborhood, but I’ll take picket fences over Extremists any day. At least with the privacy, the kids will have somewhere safe to be on full moons.”
“We don’t have to worry anymore,” Lyra said. “We’re safe, remember?”
Mouse grinned at his wife. “Old habits die hard, sweetheart. It can’t hurt to be safe.”
Trent and Alex wandered the grounds where the ceremony had been. The structure felt new and old at the same time. Bricks from the Academy had been carried a long distance to help with the foundation.
Alex paused at his favorite overlook. The ocean rushed in and out below, sending spray up over the rocks in an arch that captured the daylight in a rainbow. He couldn’t wait to go surfing later that afternoon. Jerry, Brooks, and the others were already preparing for the barbecue on the beach. Alex had no doubt it would also involve a game of football.
Alex took a deep breath of the sea air. “So much for the Werewolf Academy,” he said with a slight feeling of loss.
Trent shook his head. “Who needs an Academy?” He waved an arm to indicate the building behind them.
Alex turned around to see the great black wolf statue that stood in the courtyard of the beautiful building. Sunlight caught on the silver seven on the wolf’s shoulder.
Trent smiled. “We don’t need a Werewolf Academy. We have a Werewolf University!”
If you enjoyed this series, I recommend The Silver Series following Jaze and the others from the beginning of their story. Here is the link for the first book FREE on Amazon- The Silver Series Book 1- Silver
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About the Author
Cheree Alsop is an award-winning, best-selling author who has published over 50 books. She is the mother of a beautiful, talented daughter and amazing twin sons who fill every day with joy and laughter. She is married to her best friend, Michael, the light of her life and her soulmate who shares her dreams and inspires her by reading the first drafts and giving much appreciated critiques. Cheree works as a fulltime author and mother, which is more play than work! She enjoys reading, traveling to tropical beaches, riding motorcycles, playing the bass for the band Alien Landslide, spending time with her wonderful children, and going on family adventures. Cheree and Michael live in Utah where they rock out, enjoy the outdoors, plan great quests, and never stop dreaming.
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