by Cheree Alsop
The rest of the students fell away when they reached the dean’s office. Jaze shut the door and turned back to Alex with a shake of his head.
“You weren’t supposed to go outside the walls alone.”
“I wasn’t alone. Kalia was with me,” Alex pointed out.
Jaze speared him with a look. “Alex, you endangered Kalia, you endangered yourself, and—”
“And he showed us the holes in our defense system.”
Both werewolves looked at Jaze’s chair in surprise. The chair spun around, revealing Brock with an ice cream cone in his hand.
“We needed to know,” Brock said.
An expression close to rage filled Jaze’s usually calm face. “You knew Alex was going out there?”
Brock rose from the chair as if he realized it had been a bad idea. “Well, uh, the cameras, you see, and...” His voice died away. He licked the ice cream cone.
The phone on Jaze’s desk rang. Brock reached for it, but glanced at Jaze and stopped. Jaze picked it up.
“Can you help me with William for a minute?” Nikki’s voice asked on the other end of the line. “He spit up and it’s all over our bed.”
“I’ll be right there,” Jaze promised. He hung up the phone and stood there for a long moment looking out the windows.
Alex barely dared to breathe. He preferred it if Jaze had forgotten he was there.
“We’ll talk about this later,” Jaze told them both in an even voice without turning back around.
“Okay,” Brock said quickly. He headed for the panel in the wall.
“Let me know as soon as Mouse finds the location of the shooters,” Jaze said.
“Will do,” Brock promised. A drop from his ice cream cone fell to the floor. Brock paused beside the open panel. He glanced at the drop, then at Jaze’s back, and hurried through the panel. It slid shut behind him with a quiet shush.
Jaze crossed to the door without looking at Alex. “I’m going to take care of my family,” he said. “When everything, including myself, has calmed down and we have more information, we’ll regroup.” He met Alex’s gaze. “Until then, Stay. Inside. The Academy.” His strong words left no doubt about the Alpha command that filled them.
“I will,” Alex replied.
Jaze nodded and left through the door.
Alex sank onto one of the chairs that ringed the dean’s desk. Until that point, his limbs had held up despite the strain he had put on them. He had carried Kalia from the train tracks to the Academy even with his heart faltering. The adrenaline had begun to fade once they reached the Academy. Alex hadn’t been sure during Jaze’s short phone conversation with Nikki if he could stay up, but he didn’t want to cause a scene, even with only two people.
He let his head fall back and concentrated on what was happening inside of him.
His heartbeat sounded almost normal. He could feel the blood pulsing through his veins, carrying life-supporting nutrients and oxygen to his limbs, organs, and brain. The rhythmic whump-whump was occasionally followed by the slightest stutter, something that hadn’t been there before. It would go away, he told himself. He hoped he was right.
When he could manage, he pushed himself to his feet and left the office. He could hear the sounds of the students eating in the Great Hall, but couldn’t muster the energy or appetite to join them. Instead, he made his way to the medical wing, hoping to find that Kalia had already left.
The second he set foot in the white-curtained room his nose told him Kalia occupied, a hand grabbed him by the throat and shoved him against the wall.
“What happened out there?” Boris demanded, his face inches from Alex’s.
Alex struggled to breathe. His strength hadn’t returned enough to free him from the angry Alpha’s grasp.
“What happened?” Boris growled.
Alex pulled at the Alpha’s hand. His heart skipped several beats, protesting the lack of oxygen. Boris finally relented and let him down just enough for his feet to touch the floor. Alex gasped in a breath; it rattled through his bruised throat.
“We were shot at,” he managed to get out.
Boris looked over his shoulder at Kalia. “She didn’t get shot.”
Alex shook his head quickly. “Her eyes turned gold, I think from the rush of what was happening, and one of her headaches hit her.”
“How did she get back here?” Boris asked.
“I-I carried her,” Alex said. He couldn’t keep up pretenses any longer. He let his legs give way. Boris stepped back and Alex slid to the ground. He leaned his head against his knees and willed his heartbeat to steady once more.
“How far was it?” Boris asked after several minutes had passed.
Alex blew out a slow breath. “By the tracks.”
Several more minutes of silence filled the room. Only the steady beeping of the heart monitor on Kalia’s finger dared to continue. Alex wondered vaguely what it would sound like if he put it on his finger instead.
Boris grabbed Alex by the shoulders and lifted him into a chair.
“You look like you could use Lyra’s help, too,” the Alpha said quietly.
Alex shook his head tiredly. “I just need to sit here a while. I’ll be fine.”
Boris looked like he wasn’t so sure.
Alex heard the Alpha’s stomach growl. After everything that had happened, eating seemed so trivial and meaningless that Alex couldn’t help the chuckle that rose from his chest.
“What are you laughing at?” Boris demanded, his voice less harsh than before.
“You’re hungry,” Alex said, still chuckling.
“Yeah, so what?” Boris asked defensively.
Alex shrugged. The laughter faded away. “I guess after everything, I couldn’t imagine eating.”
Boris snorted. “I never stop. I don’t know how Cook Jerald keeps up with us all.”
“If you saw the delivery trucks that come before the term starts, you’d know.”
“There’s a lot of them?” Boris guessed.
Alex nodded. “Hundreds.”
Boris huffed a small chuckle at the exaggeration.
Alex waved a hand. “Go eat. I’ll watch over Kalia.”
Boris looked torn. He glanced in the direction of the Great Hall, then back at his sleeping sister. “Lyra said there’s no telling when she’ll wake up.”
“So don’t worry,” Alex replied. “I’ll make sure she’s okay.”
Boris’ stomach growled again. He finally sighed. “Guess I’d better. I get cranky when I don’t eat.”
Alex rubbed his neck. “You better eat something then. I don’t think I could handle more crankiness.”
Boris nodded and walked to the door. He paused before going through it. “Alex?”
“Yeah?”
Boris gave him a small smile. “Thanks for carrying Kalia back here.”
“Anytime,” Alex replied.
He listened to the huge Alpha walk up the hall. The beeping filled him with a breath of relief. His heartbeat steadied as if the rhythmic sound of Kalia’s pulse calmed his heart as well as his thoughts.
Chapter Twenty
Meredith’s voice awoke Alex. “Jaze asked me to send you downstairs,” she said, peeking into Kalia’s room. She gave Alex an apologetic smile. “Sorry for waking you.”
“It’s alright,” Alex replied. He stretched, feeling much better after his short nap despite the uncomfortable chair he had fallen asleep in. “I’d better go see what he wants.”
Meredith gave him a warm smile. “I’ll let him know you’re on your way down.”
Alex watched Kalia for a moment. Her steady breathing and the quiet beeping gave him the reassurance that she would be alright if he left. He crossed the hall to the panel and put a hand to it like he had when he first smelled Brock’s meatball sandwich wafting up from below. The panel slide open to reveal the tunnel.
“Where are you going?”
Kalia’s voice made Alex’s heart leap. He looked back to see her leaning
against the door frame. Her white-blonde hair was mussed and exhaustion still showed in her gaze, but the color had returned to her cheeks.
Alex realized she was looking at the tunnel. “Oh, uh, to Jaze,” he said.
“I’m going, too,” she said, giving him no choice in the matter.
Alex wasn’t sure how the dean would feel about him showing Kalia the entrance to their secret hideout. Kalia crossed the hall. She stumbled slightly and righted herself with a hand on Alex’s arm.
“Will you show me the way?” she asked.
Her voice was softer than normal, less demanding. She watched him with her bottomless blue eyes, her light eyebrows pinched together with worry or pain, he didn’t know which. Alex couldn’t have refused her anything.
“Of course,” he replied. He stepped into the darkness and led her through the door.
The panel slid shut behind them, sealing out the light.
“I guess this is where it comes in handy to be a werewolf,” Kalia said.
Alex nodded, realized she couldn’t see him, and said, “It helps to see in the dark.”
“Just don’t try to guide me with your eyes closed.”
Alex grinned at the memory of running into the tree branch. “That was pretty stupid.”
“Not as stupid as you trying to carry me all the way to the Academy. We just got done talking about your heart,” Kalia reminded him.
Alex searched for a change of subject. “How’s your headache?”
“Much better,” Kalia replied with relief. “A bit of it is lingering, but I barely notice.”
“I’m glad,” Alex replied.
He was careful to lead her around the corner, then down the stairs.
“Where are we going?” Kalia asked after walking beside him in silence.
“The bat cave,” Alex answered. He gave a little chuckle. “Jaze hates it when I call it that. I really think they should call it the Wolf Den. It’s the command center for all of Jaze’s rescue and monitoring activity. He keeps an eye on all the werewolves in the nation, and spends a lot of time rescuing those who are captured by Extremists or are in danger.”
“I didn’t know he still did all that,” Kalia said with amazement.
“Me, either,” Alex replied. “Now that I get to go with him, it’s amazing to see how much he takes care of. He carries so much on his shoulders, but he never lets it show.”
“He’s here,” Brock said, swiveling in his chair in the great cavern to face Alex.
Jaze turned from where he stood next to the human. His brow furrowed slightly at the sight of Kalia.
“Alex brought a date,” Brock said proudly.
Jaze and Alex shot him matching looks.
“It’s not a date,” Alex replied. “Kalia saw me entering the tunnel and asked if she could come.”
“That’s where you say no if it’s not a date,” Brock pointed out.
Jaze gave a small shake of his head. “It’s a little too late for foresight,” he said. The dean smiled at Kalia. “Welcome to our headquarters. I’m glad you’re feeling better.”
Kalia was busy gaping at the vast cavern. “I, uh, yeah, thanks,” she replied, taking in the equipment and vehicles. Her gaze stopped on the helicopter. “Alex was right. This is like the bat cave.”
Brock burst out laughing. Jaze rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Alex.”
“Are you sure you won’t let me call it the bat cave?” Alex tried to press.
Jaze shook his head. “We’re not bats.”
“We could dress up like Batman,” Brock offered.
“You’re not helping,” Jaze replied.
Brock sighed and took a bite of the donut that sat on the plate next to his station.
“The Wolf Den, then,” Alex conceded.
Mouse appeared out of the tunnel Alex and Kalia had just exited. “I have some information. You’re not going to like this,” the small werewolf said. “We might want everyone to know what’s going on.”
“Call a meeting upstairs,” Jaze instructed.
Mouse nodded and disappeared through the tunnel again.
Jaze led the way up to the smaller command room. He motioned for Alex and Kalia to take a seat at the table. Kalia looked torn between amazement at their surroundings and exhaustion from her headache. Alex’s heart went out to her.
“It’s a lot to take in,” he whispered.
“It’s amazing,” she replied. “It’s like finding out our dean is a double agent, only he’s not, he’s doing exactly what we know he did before the genocide and during, except that he’s still doing it when I thought he was just a stuffy old dean.”
“I’m not that old,” Jaze spoke up.
Kalia’s mouth shut quickly as though she was suddenly aware she had said everything within the dean’s earshot.
“It’s alright,” Jaze told her with a kind smile, taking a seat across from them. “I may be a bit stuffy.”
She shook her head quickly. “Not stuffy, really. You’re just more, reserved, unapproachable.”
Jaze’s eyebrows rose. He looked at Alex. “Am I?”
Alex shrugged. “Not to me, but I’ve known you for years. You’re just Jaze.”
Jaze let out a half-snort, half-laugh. “Just Jaze, huh? That sounds pretty simple.”
“It should be,” Nikki said, walking into the room. “But it never is.”
Jaze rose and gave her a hug and a quick kiss. “How’s William?”
“Gem’s got him. She’s having a blast. He likes to pull her pink hair,” Nikki replied.
Jaze smiled as his wife took a seat at his side.
“Another shooting?” Chet said as soon as the door closed behind him. “How are they finding Alex? Have they shot at Cassie?”
Jaze shook his head. “Apparently they’ve settled for trying to take out one at a time.”
The rest of the professors were filing in. If anyone found it strange that Kalia was sitting at the table, they didn’t say anything. Meredith took a seat next to Alex. She patted his arm.
“We’ll figure this out,” she said.
“Yeah, if we can find out how they’re locating him,” Chet replied.
“Maybe they have snipers waiting day and night,” Vance suggested, taking a seat on Jaze’s other side.
“Perhaps there’s some form of facial recognition,” Brock suggested.
Kaynan sat down on Kalia’s other side. “That wouldn’t make sense. The first time Alex was shot at, he was in wolf form. This time it sounds like he was human.” He glanced at Alex for confirmation.
Alex nodded.
Mouse and Lyra were the last professors to walk through the door. Mouse pulled out a chair for Lyra and made sure she was comfortably seated before he said, “Heat signature recognition.”
Everyone exchanged glances and looked as lost as Alex felt. Apparently none of the other professors had heard of it before either.
Mouse tipped his head toward his wife. Lyra took up the explanation. “Apparently Drogan’s missiles have the capability of recognizing Alex’s individual infrared heat signature. That’s why they almost hit him in his wolf form and his human form.”
“But why would they miss?” Vance asked. “If they can lock onto one person, why wouldn’t they follow him until it was a direct hit?”
Mouse spoke up. “Reflections. Drogan’s using an advanced version of the Javelin Heat Seeking Missile, but it’s almost impossible to separate direct infrared emissions from the reflections of a person’s heat signature. Trails, if you may. That’s why the missiles hit close.” He nodded toward Alex’s shoulder. “Too close, but didn’t quite reach him. If Alex had held still a moment longer in each instance, he probably would have been killed.”
“So you’re saying that they have a way of identifying Alex’s individual heat signature in whichever form he is in even amid all of our students at the Academy?” Jaze asked.
Mouse nodded. “It seems that way.” He took Lyra’s hand. “We’re already looking for a
way to counteract it, but it may take us a while.”
Alex felt sick. “If they know where I am, then I’m a danger to everyone here. No one’s safe around me.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Jaze reassured him. The dean looked at Vance. “Christmas break starts next week. We have to assume Drogan has the Academy scoped out and will be ready to try again. Alex isn’t safe here until they can figure out a way to thwart the missiles. Can he go to your place?”
Vance was quiet for a minute as he thought it over. He finally shook his head. “While I understand your consideration of the overwhelming security at my mom’s house, I couldn’t put Alex through that. Mom insisted on rebuilding the guest wing and it’ll be difficult to keep the crews tight.” He gave Jaze a searching look. “We also know the place is being monitored by more than just our allies since she funded the repairs here last year. I don’t think it’s a risk we should take.”
Jaze nodded. He was about to suggest something else when Kalia spoke up.
“What about my house?”
All of the professors look at her. She shrunk a little bit in her chair, but kept her gaze on the dean. “You know my mom and dad. Our house always has like thirty security agents all over the place. I can’t even sneak out of my room without someone running to my mom. It’s ridiculous.” She looked at Alex. “But ridiculous might be what we need right now.”
“You want me to go to your house during Christmas break?” Alex asked incredulously.
Kalia nodded. “Mom and Dad won’t care. They barely know I’m there anyway.” She seemed embarrassed that the admission had escaped her, but she turned her unwavering gaze back to the dean. “Alex would be safe.”
Jaze looked at Mouse and Lyra. Mouse lifted one shoulder. “It’s not a bad idea. When the vehicles come to pick up the students, Alex could escape through them to the car. It’s impossible for thermal imaging to pick up through the tinted glass. If we got him out of here, he could be safe until we figure out how to defend against the missiles.”
“I’ll make the call to Mrs. Dickson,” Nikki offered. “I have a feeling she won’t be thrilled about us sending another werewolf to her house.”
