Initiation (Wolf Blood Academy Book 1)

by RaShelle Workman

  From the corner of one eye, I caught movement and turned. Across from me and two cars down were two people getting hot and heavy. The guy seemed to swallow her. He was so much bigger.

  Something about the situation felt off.

  I debated what to do, but I felt like I should make sure the girl was okay. “Hey,” I called out.

  They didn’t respond, and I decided just to leave them be and unlocked my door. At that moment, the guy lifted his head. His eyes flashed or seemed to glow. And his teeth? They reminded me of fangs.

  I was losing my mind.

  The guy smiled, and a shiver ran through me. “Did you want to join us?”

  “No,” I said and swallowed. But I still couldn’t let it alone. “Girl, are you okay?”

  The girl turned to me with a smile and a wave. “I’m better than okay,” she said, but I noticed she held a hand to her neck.

  “Cool,” I said with a rush of relief. Something was still off, but whatever it might be, it was out of my league.

  On the drive home, I kept thinking about Wyatt. I couldn’t help it.

  Around two, after I finished my homework, I lay in bed, trying to sleep. Wyatt and our conversation kept coming to mind. I hoped he came back. With my luck, he was probably just passing through. I’d missed my chance with the hottest guy in the world.

  Chapter Three

  Wyatt didn’t come back. Regret pressed heavily in my heart. After finishing my shift three nights later, I turned off all the lights and grabbed the trash on my way out. I hefted the bulging bags to the giant garbage can and tossed them in before brushing off my hands on my pants. On the way to my car, as I fished for my keys, a shadow crossed my path.

  Directly in front of me stood an enormous man wearing all black. That wasn’t what was sketchy. It was the black ski mask that had my hairs up. Four more men appeared behind him. All of them dressed the same.

  The leader rushed me. At that moment, it was like time froze. Or at least I did. All of my karate training went out of the window like I hadn’t been kicking ass the last decade. Instead of taking a stance or roundhouse kicking him in the head, I was immobilized like a rabbit in headlights. Before that moment, I hadn’t understood terror. Hardships? Sure. Failure? Definitely. But fear? Not like this.

  As he grabbed me, I raised my hands to protect my face. The leader slapped my hands away. “Stay quiet, Moonlight.” His voice was low and came out in a snarl.

  He knew my first name, though I hadn’t gone by it since forever. I preferred my middle name. “You—”

  “She’s hot,” one of the others said, interrupting me as he came around the leader. “Are you sure we have to kill her?” He shoved me against my car.

  “We could keep her,” another voice said. “Like a pet.” He clapped his hands together silently. “She can’t belong to a Legacy family. Look at her. She’s too tame. Like a puppy.”

  “Shut it,” my attacker snapped, his eyes never leaving mine. It was too dark, and I couldn’t make out the color. “We have a job to do. Let’s get it done.”

  Was that hesitation I detected rolling off him?

  I opened my mouth to scream.

  “Don’t even think about it.” He pressed a finger to my lips and pulled me to him, so close I could see the beads of sweat on his bronzed skin where his mask met the collar of his shirt. His scent pummeled my nose, a heady combination of fresh-cut wood and spice. It triggered a memory, but I couldn’t grab hold of where or how I knew it. Him. “If you let out so much as a peep, your mother will die.” His other hand circled my neck. “Nod, if you understand.”

  I did as he commanded, biting my lips together to keep my teeth from chattering. The car door handle dug painfully into my back.

  “Good.” He threw me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing more than feathers. “Make a sound and your dead. Fight me, and you’re dead.” Then he took off running. He and the others made their way out of the parking lot, crossing and heading down my street.

  If I screamed, someone would hear me. I opened my mouth, but before I got it out, a wolf howled.

  “Do it, and I’ll kill your mother in front of you on your ugly lawn,” the guy holding me snarled.

  Tears formed on my lashes, and I let out a harsh breath. “Don’t hurt her,” I whispered. It was hard to speak with his shoulder jabbing into my stomach.

  “Don’t give me a reason then,” he grunted.

  Quicker than I thought possible, we reached the end of my cul-de-sac. He crossed onto my neighbor’s lawn, went into their back yard, and then leaped the fence like it was a foot tall instead of six.

  We were in the Shade Rasa.

  From a young age, the forest had scared me. Probably because my mom was always telling me to stay out of it. Enchanting trees with oddly colored leaves of various shades of fuchsia and lavender grew everywhere. Tonight, all I could see were the gloomy and sharp bushes reaching out to rip at my skin.

  The forest was something of an oddity. Around the world, on every continent, a forest exactly like ours flourished. There was no scientifically explainable reason for it. Once in a while, the news did a segment reminding the world the woods were shrouded in mystery, but nothing beyond that. On every continent, each forest was called the same thing too: Shade Rasa. The name was as universal as the shape, size, and scope of the woods, almost as if they were connected somehow.

  More wolves howled in the distance, sending my rapidly beating heart into overdrive. I thought the sound might slow down my captor, but he continued running deeper, passing massive trees, their needles giving off an unusually sweet scent. Even though it was dark, I knew the leaves were changing from lavender to purple and rosy to rust red, though they hadn’t fallen yet.

  A cobweb brushed against my face, and I swatted at it, letting out a squeal.

  My captor grumbled, readjusting me on his shoulder. “Hold still,” he seethed.

  He walked for what felt like hours, but it could’ve just been minutes. The monotony gave me time to consider what my kidnappers said. Something about me being a legacy. I didn’t know what a legacy was, and I didn’t really care. I had to come up with an escape plan, but panic kept causing my brain to misfire. At some point, I think I passed out. Hanging as I was, like a ragdoll, there was nothing to see anyway. It wasn’t until he dropped me that I woke, letting out a sharp breath at the pain radiating through my tailbone. To my right raged a wide river, the noise drowning out anything else. I looked up, hoping to catch a look at my kidnapper. From the thrillers I read, I knew the murderer always revealed his face before doing the deed. And there was no doubt I was about to die. It was too dark to see much. As I squinted, I could tell the male still wore a mask as did the others.

  I kept searching for an escape, but the other four men stood around me, and the river blocked my path as well. I debated running into the water and hoping to get away, but I wasn’t a great swimmer.

  “What are you waiting for?” one of them asked.

  “Let’s get this over with.”

  “Seems kind of vicious to kill her. I wonder why the Keepers want her dead,” another said, chuckling darkly. “Not that I care. If we can’t do her, then hurry up and drown her. I want a quadruple cheeseburger and a strawberry milkshake.”

  Fear had held me silent this long, but no more. I wouldn’t die without doing all I could to escape. Rolling onto my knees, I tried to stand. My legs were asleep. Pins and needles shot up and down my legs, making it hard to move.

  One of the men pushed me over, sending me to my butt again. Frustrated tears filled my eyes, and I dug my hands into the dirt. “Leave me alone,” I spat, throwing what I held in my hands at him.

  The dirt pelted him but didn’t do any damage. “She’s feisty,” the guy said without moving.

  My legs finally woke up, and I flipped onto my feet, crouching down like a cornered animal. “Don’t touch me.”

  A low rumble came from the one who had been carrying me. At his growl, the others stepp
ed back. As one, their heads bowed in submission.

  “Who’s the leader of this pack? Last I checked, it wasn’t any of you,” he snapped.

  I tried to run around him, but he caught me. “You’re not going anywhere, sweetheart.” He held me in place with one arm. It was like running into a brick wall.

  His voice. It did sound familiar. “You don’t have to do this,” I said, biting the inside of my cheek as I pushed against him with all my might.

  “Actually, I do.” Without effort, he grabbed hold of my pants at the waist and dragged me toward the river.

  “Let me go, damn you!” I wanted to be confident and do something to prove I was a fighter and that I wasn’t going to take this crap. That my black belt in karate meant something, but he was so strong, and while I was trained, it had always been in a safe setting where my life wasn’t in mortal danger.

  The man didn’t respond.

  I tried to reach back and grab his hand. I scratched him with my nails, but nothing deterred him. “Let go of me! Why are you doing this?” I was screaming incoherently. Things that didn’t make sense.

  “Stop fighting. It’ll be easier if you don’t struggle,” he said, his voice defeated.

  “Screw you!” I dug in my heels as he dragged me, fighting with all my might. It didn’t seem to slow him down. My shoes came off along the way, followed by my socks, and when my feet hit the icy water, my breath caught in my throat. “Why are you doing this?”

  “I don’t have a choice.” He stopped in the middle of the river and set me on my feet, his eyes boring into mine. Still, I couldn’t see the color, only the intensity. “Know this gives me no pleasure,” he said and thrust me under the river, pinning me down with one hand.

  Water filled my mouth before I clamped my lips shut and tried to hold my breath. The icy water was like daggers, stabbing me over and over. He kept me under with one hand and pulled an enormous rock from its place to the left of him and dropping it onto my waist and hips, trapping me. Pain radiated through my chest as my ribs broke, but I refused to scream and expel the last of my precious supply of air.

  They say before you die, your whole life flashes before your eyes. Not true. As I thrashed about, struggling to break free, I saw nothing about my nearly eighteen years of life. Was that because I hadn’t accomplished anything yet? Besides going to high school and playing a few silly parts in plays, my life was limited. I hadn’t even fallen in love.

  My lungs screamed, begging for relief as I beat against the crushing rock. Eventually, my body gave up, and I lay still, my thoughts drifting peacefully, imagining the billions of stars overhead, shining brightly in the Milky Way.

  Right before the darkness swallowed me forever, I heard a low howl. The rock was suddenly gone, and I bobbed to the surface, too weak to move. Strange yellow eyes appeared before my face. They were attached to a wolf so enormous and so black he took over the night. Sharp teeth clamped down on my shoulder, piercing the skin. A whoosh of adrenaline skittered along my body, like a ghost over my grave. Except it didn’t leave. The sensation sank in and filtered along my veins, pumping through to my heart and back out again. Power, my mind said. It was savage and uncontrollable like a monster was growing inside me.

  There was some pain, but it was far away as if the agony didn’t belong to me, and I felt it for someone else. I was too busy coughing and heaving and gasping for air.

  As the wolf dragged me from the water, rocks and dirt scraped against my heels and ankles, tearing at my tender skin. I didn’t mind. All I could focus on was getting enough air. And there was never enough. The wolf let go and whined, his nose pressing against my cheek as he licked me.

  Screw the Keepers and my father. We have a blood bond, and that makes you mine.

  The words filtered along my subconscious, dreamlike. I coughed some more, my lungs heaving while my broken ribs screamed. None of it made sense.

  The wolf nudged me with the tip of his nose and licked me again. It should’ve been gross, but it was somehow endearing. Plus, I hurt too much to concentrate on anything other than staying alive. His eyes found mine. They were so desolate, and I wanted to reach out and feel if his fur was as soft as it looked as I comforted him. It’s okay, I thought, determined to reach out to him. But my body wouldn’t obey, and my eyelids grew so heavy. Heavier than the boulder had been. They shut, closing out the stars and the night and the massive black wolf. Death was lonely, and I was grateful he was there to keep me company.

  “Can you hear me, Diana?” a soft female voice encouraged.

  I blinked my eyes open, but they were blurry like seeing through water or a dirty window.

  Maybe I had died.

  A face leaned in. As it drew closer, I saw a striking woman. She smelled of lemon and rich soil. Her hair was long, white-blond, and part of it was pinned back. Flowers that reminded me of daisies made a crown around her head. Her skin was deep brown, and her eyes studied me intently. “You’re going to be fine,” she said and stood. She wore a flowing gown, the same color as the yellow center of the daisies. Her feet were bare except the matching flowers between her toes. They traveled up her foot and around her ankles. “You are the first, Diana. But you won’t be the last. There must be three. Wolf blood. Vampire blood. Magic blood. For so long, I've been waiting for you, wolf blood. My chosen daughter.” Soft laughter erupted from her. “Come, my beauties. Witness that the prophecy has finally begun.” She raised her hands.

  All around me, I heard sounds I didn’t understand. Things—monstrous horrors—appeared all around me. Creatures my brain struggled to comprehend. They filtered around me one by one.

  It didn’t even occur to me to be afraid or fear what I was seeing.

  This must be a dream.

  After what felt like days, the woman was alone once again. She knelt and took my face in her hands. “Sweet Diana. You need not be troubled. I am Mother Earth, and you are the first of my emissaries. Born of my magic. Your purpose was dormant, but no more.” Her eyes filled with tears. “You will be taught to kill, and you will be good at it. There is one Wyatt Wright. He will do all he can to distract you from what is important. I sense the blood bond between you, and while I am grateful he awakened your wolf, you must resist him at all costs. For he is not your destiny, sweet Diana, and seeks to lead you astray.” She leaned back. “Now,” she began, caressing a finger across my forehead. At her touch, there was pain, like what happens when eating ice cream too fast.

  I clenched my eyes shut for the briefest moment.

  “Now you know the secret truths of the Shade Rasa,” Mother Earth continued. “Soon, I will unleash my monstrous beauties on the world as in the days of old. They will lay waste to cities and countries until enough are dead, and nature can flourish once again.” She took my hand, clinging to it with both of hers. “I want to live in harmony with humanity. My beauties and I wish for nothing more than peace.” Anger flashed across her face, contradicting her words. “But I will not allow much more destruction. The world is dying, and humans are to blame.” Her face softened, and my heart warmed. I loved her already though I had no idea why. “That is enough for now. You will remember my words when you are ready. But I'll cast a spell against Wyatt. You may crave him, but you must resist. The fate of the world depends on you. Rest easy, Diana.” A tear fell from one of her eyes and dropped onto my cheek. “Until we meet again.”

  Chapter Four

  When I woke, I felt… good. Like I hadn’t nearly been drowned or had broken bones or was bitten by a wolf. In fact, I felt terrific. Maybe I was dead? That was a possibility. Birds chirped overhead, and little animals skittered around in the brush nearby. I opened my eyes. Light filtered in through the colorful trees. Leaves danced lazily, and the sky—at least the little bit I could see—was clear and blue.

  I lifted one hand, studying my fingers. They looked the same aside from the dirt under my nails. Gingerly I sat, remembering that the rock had broken my ribs. I breathed in deep. There was no pain. I check
ed the bare heels of my feet, but the skin was pink and looked new.

  “What the ever-loving hell?” Had I dreamed what happened last night? It was possible someone could’ve slipped something in my water while I was at work. A hand went to my head. My hair was tangled like a family of beavers had built a dam in there. I wasn’t sure if that was evidence for or against my dream theory.

  I got to my feet and went over to the river. It was clear something had been dragged into and out of it. Not only that, but there were large paw prints all over the shore. Wolf, my mind shouted, and a surge of power rushed through me. My eyes narrowed, and my pupils zeroed in on my surroundings. I could see the very veins on the leaves and hear the tiniest of insects meandering in the dirt. I checked my shoulder where I’d been bitten. There were holes in my shirt, and when I pushed it away, I saw the scar where the wolf bit me, but the wound was completely healed.

  Was the wolf still around? I tilted my head, listening for danger, but there was only a gentle calm. Strange, since I was in the Shade. A memory niggled at the back of my mind, but it was unreachable. Shaking my head, I started away from the river, searching for my shoes and socks. They weren’t anywhere. I guessed the crazy murderous men took them, so there would be no evidence of what they’d done.

  Though I was deep in the forest and had never had a great sense of direction, I somehow knew which way would lead me back home. More than once on my walk, I froze after hearing the sound of something big moving. Each time, the niggling sensation returned. As though I should know what lay hidden beyond my sight. I hurried on until I reached the fence.

  “Great,” I whispered.

  On the other side of the fence, my neighbor Jessica was out in her yard, her back to me, and she was digging in her flowers, probably planting tulips for spring. I debated whether to ask Jessica for help, but my body had other plans. Before I knew what I was doing, I jumped over the fence and landed with a thud on the other side. “How?” I glanced back, unable to believe I did that.