by Jayme Morse
Werewolf Academy Year One: Hidden Alpha
Copyright © 2019 by Jody Morse and Jayme Morse
All rights reserved.
Werewolf Academy Year One: Hidden Alpha is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents in this book are products of the authors’ imaginations or have been used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons or locations is coincidental and not intended by the authors.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Jody Morse and Jayme Morse.
Click here to visit Jody & Jayme’s Facebook fan page for updates about the Werewolf Academy series.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter One
“Shots! Shots! Shots!” My best friend Maddie shouted in sync with the song “Shots” by LMFAO as we both threw the tequila back.
The liquor burned the back of my throat, but it was a good burn.
“I am so drunk,” Maddie said loudly over the music. “And you know what? Fuck Robbie! He has no idea what he’s missing out on!”
Robbie was Maddie’s on-again-off-again boyfriend. Right now, they were off-again—and she was a hot mess. As usual.
“You can do so much better,” I said, slurring a little as I spoke. I held up a red Solo cup. “Here’s to finding new guys this year!”
“To new, better guys,” Maddie agreed, hitting my cup with hers. “I need another drink. You want anything?”
“Another beer.” I knew I was going to end up regretting this combination of tequila and beer in the morning, but that was okay. I’d needed this: to get away from reality. To escape. And Branden Mitchell’s annual back to school party was the best place to do that.
It was the Friday before our senior year. I had a feeling about this year. A new school year always meant new beginnings, but this year was going to be different. Everything was about to change, even more than it already had. I wasn’t sure how exactly I knew that, but I could feel it in my gut.
Things were about to change, but I wasn’t sure if it was for the better… or for the worse.
Not that things could really get much worse than here.
I glanced over at the drink table and saw Maddie talking—no, flirting—with Robbie. Her head was tilted back in laughter as she touched his arm lightly. I rolled my eyes, knowing that I had probably lost my best friend for the night.
I scanned the area, looking to see if there was anyone else at the party who I was friends with. I headed deeper into the yard where a bunch of the jocks were sitting around a bonfire.
As I got closer to it, the scent of fire wafted in through my nostrils.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I could see the smoke billowing into my bedroom. I could smell the fire again, a scent that I had been trying to get out of my hair and off my clothes for the past two weeks—a scent that just seemed to want to cling to me, haunting me.
I had to get the hell out of here.
Note to self: stay far away from fires, especially two weeks after your parents are killed in one.
Opening my eyes, I whirled around—and found myself colliding with a rock-hard chest that belonged to a tall person—a very tall person.
This guy seriously had abs for days; I could see the ripples of his six-pack through the black t-shirt he was wearing.
Glancing up into his eyes, my breath caught in my chest. I had never seen him before, but he was the most gorgeous guy who I had ever laid eyes on. He had black hair, which was shorter on the sides than in the front and a five o’clock shadow that covered his sharp, angular features.
But it was his eyes that stood out to me the most. They were a striking shade of blue, a color that reminded me of the ocean.
His eyes locked on mine, piercing through me… and I felt something I had never felt before.
Attraction. I had never felt this attracted to anyone who I’d ever met in my life. I was drawn to him like a moth to a flame; it was like we were magnets.
There wasn’t even an inch between our bodies, and I was pretty sure that both of us wanted to be closer.
We just stood there, staring at each other for a long time, before he finally broke the ice.
“Would you like to dance?” He spoke in the sexiest, deepest voice I had ever heard in my life. It made goosebumps erupt on my arms.
“Yes,” I managed to say.
As we moved to the center of the yard where other people were dancing, we began to move to the music.
It felt like there was this heat, this indescribable tension between us, unlike anything I had ever felt before.
“What’s your name?” I asked him.
“Theo.” His blue eyes locked on mine.
“I’m Raven,” I told him.
“You’re also stunning.” His eyes didn’t move from mine as he said the words.
“You’re not so bad yourself.” Of course, that was an understatement. He was, no lie, one of the hottest guys I’d ever laid eyes on.
“Are you new here? I’ve never seen you before,” I went on.
He continued to hold my gaze. “I’m just passing through town.” He paused. “Then again, you just might be the reason I need to stay.”
A wave of liquid courage came over me then, and I did the one thing I wanted to do more than anything.
I pressed my lips to his, kissing him.
He seemed surprised by my kiss at first, but then his lips came crashing down on mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck as his tongue explored my mouth.
His kiss was riddled with passion, a fiery desire that matched my own evenly.
When I pulled away, I was breathless. I met his blue eyes again. Holy fuck.
At that moment, something came over me. I wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or the heat of the summer night, but I suddenly felt incredibly dizzy.
Before everything went dark, I could have sworn I heard him say, “Holy fuck is right.”
I hadn’t said that out loud, had I?
***
When my eyes fluttered open, I was laying on the ground.
I glanced around. There were four guys surrounding me, including Theo, the guy who I had kissed at the party.
Wait. I had really kissed a total stranger?
“Actually, you did,” Theo answered.
“Did you just hear my thoughts?” I sat up, even though my head was pounding. I was sort of out of it right now, but I was positive there was no way I had said that out loud.
“Yup.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “How?”
“Th
ere’s something you should know, Raven. It’s the reason you’re here.” Theo’s blue eyes locked on mine. “I’m a werewolf.”
He had I kissed someone who believed he was a werewolf?
Note to self: never drunkenly kiss a stranger.
“I’m not a weirdo,” Theo said softly.
Okay, how did I explain that? He could obviously hear my thoughts.
“Obviously,” he agreed.
I stood up then. I needed to get as far away as possible from Theo—assuming that was even his real name—
“It is,” he interrupted.
“Would you stop that?” I glared at him. “I don’t know how you’re able to listen to me, but this has to be some sort of prank. There’s no way you’re a werewolf.”
“Actually, I am.” Theo met my eyes. “We all are. Let me introduce you to my pack—we’re known as the Darken pack.”
“Why is your pack called that?” I found myself asking. “Is it because you’re all bad wolves?”
“It’s a long story,” Theo replied.
I shrugged. “I’ve got all night.”
If he was going to make up some bullshit story about being a werewolf with a pack name like Darken, he should at least have some meaning behind it.
He hesitated for a moment. “Werewolves generally have gray fur, but it tends to be lighter in color. There are also some red wolves, but that’s incredibly rare. Our pack is darker than all the rest. My pack members are all very dark gray in color. I’m only one of a few in the world.” He shrugged. “That’s part of how we came up with the name.”
“And the other part?” I asked.
“It sounds a little bit intimidating, doesn’t it? You asked me yourself if we’re bad wolves.”
“Why would you want to sound like bad wolves if you’re actually not bad wolves like you claim?” I found myself asking.
He met my gaze. “We have to keep the other werewolf packs on their toes. They need to know that they should never mess with us. And it works out that way—most of the time. Now, let me introduce you to the others.”
Theo motioned to the guy who was sitting to the left of him. The guy had longish blonde hair that fell into his forehead and gray eyes. Like Theo, he was tall, muscular, and incredibly good-looking. He reminded me of a Baywatch Lifeguard. “Raven, this is Colton.”
“Hey, Raven.” Colton flashed me a grin—a heart-stopping, gorgeous grin.
“And this is Rhys,” Theo went on, motioning to the auburn-haired guy with dark blue eyes. He was the shortest of the four, but they stood well over six feet. Like the others, Rhys was still really muscular—more muscular than any of the guys who went to my high school.
“And Aiden,” Theo said, pointing his chin at the last guy in the group: a guy with dark brown hair, tan skin, and honey brown eyes. Like the others, his body was rock solid.
Why were they all so muscular? Were they, like, bodybuilders?
Theo let out a little laugh. “We’re not bodybuilders. We are, however, werewolves. Werewolves naturally have a higher proportion of muscle—far more than the average human.”
“There’s no way werewolves are real,” I replied, shaking my head.
“Actually, we are,” Aiden spoke up. “And you’re one of us.”
I glanced over at him sharply, staring at him like he had four heads. “I’m a werewolf?”
“It’s the entire reason I’m able to listen to your thoughts,” Theo said quietly. “When you kissed me, something happened—”
Colton nudged him and shook his head. “Not yet. She’s not ready for that.”
Theo glanced from Colton to me. He swallowed hard and then paused for a long moment. Finally, he said, “There’s something you should know, Raven.”
“What?” I asked, unsure of why I was even bothering to hear them out. I didn’t believe anything they were saying.
Or did I? Wouldn’t I have left them if I really didn’t believe them? Was it possible that a small part of me was actually entertaining the possibility that they—and I—were werewolves?
“Your parents didn’t just die in a fire,” Theo told me. “That fire was set by their archenemy.”
“H-how do you know about the fire?” I recalled that I hadn’t talked about my parents or the fire at all when I had kissed him. I hadn’t known him long enough to talk about any of that.
“We were close friends of your parents,” Rhys explained. “We made a promise to them many years ago. We promised them that we would take care of you in the event that something should ever happen to them.”
“We promised to protect you,” Colton added.
“That’s the reason we’re here. To protect you,” Aiden agreed.
I glanced at each of them. If they were making this up, they would have had some nerve. “Protect me from who?” I found myself questioning.
“Their enemy. The one who killed them,” Rhys explained.
“And who would that be?” I pressed.
“His name is Milos Santorini,” Theo answered. “He is the Alpha of one of the most powerful packs in the world.”
“Why would he have wanted to kill my parents?” I asked.
“Because of you.”
“Because of me?” Was he indirectly blaming me for my parents’ deaths? I wasn’t a goody two shoes, but I hasn’t ever done anything that would have made someone want to kill my parents.
“Milos wanted you to be his wife,” Theo explained. “He wanted you to rule his pack alongside him.”
“Why me?” I questioned.
“Your parents were both very powerful werewolves. Your father was the Alpha of a very powerful pack. Milos felt that, together, the two of you would rule the world.”
I allowed what they were saying to set in, but then I shook my head. “There’s no way any of this is true. Werewolves aren’t real.”
“Wanna bet?” Aiden asked.
Before I had a chance to answer him, Aiden began to unbutton his shirt, revealing just how chiseled his chest was. God damn.
Before he had even taken it all the way off, he had dropped down onto all fours. Moments later, a gray wolf stood there instead, staring back at me.
I took a step back, nervous that he was dangerous.
“He won’t hurt you,” Theo assured me.
I glanced over at him. There was no denying that he really could hear all of my thoughts…
“You can’t say you don’t believe us now.” That voice had definitely belonged to Aiden, but he was in his wolf form—and his lips hadn’t moved.
“H-how did I just hear him speak?” I asked the others.
“You heard it because you’re a wolf,” Theo explained.
“Oh.” I swallowed hard. A part of me was beginning to believe them, but if what they were saying was true…
Well, this was all so crazy. It would have meant that my parents were werewolves and that they had kept this a secret from me my entire life. How could that possibly be true?
Except, Aiden had just turned into a werewolf—and I was watching him shift back into his human form—right in front of me. So, they were being honest about that. Why would they have lied about the rest?
“We’re not lying,” Theo assured me.
“Unless I’m just really drunk and this is a dream or something.” I pinched myself just to make sure.
Nope. Definitely not a dream.
“You need to come back to Werewolf Academy with us,” Theo told me then. “We believe it’s the only place you’ll be safe from Milos.”
“As safe as she can be, considering we have no idea where Milos actually is,” Colton added.
“Werewolf Academy?” I asked with raised eyebrows.
“It’s a boarding school for werewolves—shifters, like us,” Theo explained. “You will enroll as a student. The Headmaster is already expecting you.”
“Maybe I don’t want to be a student at Werewolf Academy,” I protested. “Maybe I want to stay at West Brook High and finish out my senior year
like a normal teenager.”
“You’re not a normal teenager, I’m afraid, and the Academy is the safest place for you. You will have constant security. And more importantly, you will learn to control your inner wolf. You will learn more about this life.” His eyes locked on mine. “The Academy will train you to be the most powerful werewolf you could possibly be.”
I just stared back at him, not entirely convinced.
“Let me put this into perspective for you, Raven,” Theo said with a sigh. “Milos has already killed your parents. We fear that if you don’t come back to the Academy with us, he will come back for you. He will force you to marry him, to rule the world with him, or worse. If you don’t go with him willingly, he might kill you.”
“So, what do you say?” Aiden asked. “Will you come to the Academy with us?”
I glanced from him to Theo, to Colton and Rhys.
What did I really have to lose? I had already lost everything: my parents, my home. I could stay here and possibly risk being killed if what they were saying was true, or I could go to this Werewolf Academy with them. And they were all so gorgeous.
“Okay,” I said after a long moment. “I’ll go to the Academy.”
“I knew you’d make the right choice.” Theo smiled. He pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to me. “In order to get to the realm where Werewolf Academy is, you need to put this on.”
I glanced down at necklace, a simple white gold chain with a round pendant that reminded me of an opal but even prettier.
“It’s a moonstone,” Theo explained. “When you put it on, it will transform you into a werewolf and take you to the gates of Werewolf Academy.”
“Are you all going, too?” I asked.
“Yes, we have our own moonstone necklaces,” he replied with a nod.
I took a deep breath. I was about to find out the truth, one way or another. If I put the necklace on, I would turn into a werewolf—if I was really a werewolf.
With shaky hands, I pulled the moonstone necklace on over my neck, and instantly, I could feel my bones shifting and contorting. Light gray fur—so light that it was almost a shade of white—began to cover where my skin was, and my hands were turning into paws.
It was happening.
