Werewolf Academy Book 2

by Cheree Alsop

  Meredith stared down at the tiny scene. “It’s beautiful!” she exclaimed.

  The smile that glowed on her face warmed Alex’s heart.

  Meredith shook the snow globe, causing tiny flakes to dance through the water and swirl around the wolf family.

  “It’s perfect,” Meredith said. Alex was surprised to see tears in her eyes. She pulled them both close again and gave them an even tighter hug.

  “I made you this!” she exclaimed, letting them go as if suddenly remembering. She hurried to a cloth bag by the table and pulled out something long. She walked back to Alex and wrapped the scarf around his neck. “I know it’s silly to make scarves for werewolves, since you don’t get that cold and all, but I liked the colors and figured it was something. I’m not exactly sure what else you would like, so I guess you’ll have to settle for this even though it’s only a scarf and I’m sure there are many more things you would have liked. I just don’t know enough about—”

  “I like it,” Alex said with a warm laugh.

  “You do?” Meredith asked with a hopeful smile.

  Alex nodded. “Very much.” He wrapped the scarf made of black and silver thick, soft yarn closer around his neck. “It fits perfectly.”

  Aunt Meredith and Cassie laughed.

  “That’s the nice thing about scarves,” Meredith said with a pleased smile.

  Cassie grinned. “She made me one, too. I’ll show it to you when we go back upstairs.”

  “Thank you, Aunt Meredith,” Alex told her, giving his aunt another hug.

  “You’re welcome, Alex. I’m glad you’re back,” she replied.

  ***

  Alex made his way to Nikki and Jaze’s rooms. He found Nikki in the living room playing with baby William. Nikki gave him a big hug.

  “It’s great to have you back,” she exclaimed.

  “Thank you,” Alex replied, ruffling baby William’s hair. “Have you seen Jaze?”

  Nikki shook her head. “They left a while ago on a mission. You could check with Brock.”

  Alex thanked her and slipped through the hidden entrance to the tunnel from Jaze’s main living quarters. He worked quickly along the passage without the need of light. He was anxious to find out if Mouse had figured out a way to block Drogan’s heat signature recognition technology so that the other students would be safe while he was at the school. If not, he was determined to leave again and return only when his presence wasn’t a danger. His time out with Boris had let him know that there were indeed werewolves living successfully in hiding. If he had to, he would join them.

  “Brock?” Alex called when he reached the small monitoring room.

  The human was nowhere to be found. Alex left through the side tunnel to the huge security cavern.

  “Brock!” he yelled.

  There was no answer. A seed of foreboding began to sprout in Alex’s chest. Whenever Jaze’s pack was on a mission, Brock’s job was to be their eyes and ears. He was always glued to the screens, yet he was nowhere to be found.

  “Brock, come in Brock.” Jaze’s voice demanded.

  Alex grabbed the small headset near the computer.

  “Jaze, it’s me, Alex.”

  “Alex, what are you doing there? You’ve got to find Brock,” Jaze said.

  Alex scanned the monitors. They showed scenes from security cameras around a large facility he didn’t recognize. None of the footage from the team’s cameras came through.

  “What’s going on?” Alex asked.

  “We’re trapped, and there are other lives on the line. If you can’t find Brock, I need you to call the GPA. You’ve got to send them to our location. I’ll upload it to you now.” Coordinates appeared on the screen.

  “Got it,” Alex answered.

  “And Alex,” Jaze began. The voice muffled. Several shots were fired. Static filled the air.

  Alex’s heart began to race. “Jaze?” he called. There was no answer.

  Alex raced up the stairs. He burst into Pack Jericho’s quarters. Cassie and Tennison were playing a card game on the floor while Jericho, Terith, and Trent were discussing night games diagrams at the table.

  “Alex, what’s wrong?” Cassie asked, alarmed at the look on his face.

  “I need all of you to come with me and not ask any questions,” Alex replied as he fought to catch his breath from the mad dash.

  “Let’s go,” Jericho commanded.

  Von appeared at the doorway to the hall. “What’s going on?”

  “Von, can you cover for us for a bit?” Alex asked. “We’ve got to go do something, and we might be a while.”

  “No problem,” Von replied.

  Kalia walked in from the girls’ hallway. She paused when everyone looked at her.

  “Uh, is everything okay?” she asked uncertainly.

  “Kalia, come with us,” Alex said.

  At his tone of command, she fell in line behind the others. Alex raced back down the stairs. The sound of the six other set of footsteps filled him with certainty that he was making the right decision.

  Alex led the way into Jaze’s office and shoved open the door to the tunnel. The members of Pack Jericho stared at him with astonishment.

  “I don’t have time to explain,” Alex said. He motioned them inside. Kalia, at least, had been there before. She helped lead the others down to the main cavern.

  “Welcome to the Wolf Den,” Alex said, shoving past his pack mates. He hurried to the surveillance wall, then turned to face them. “Jaze and the others are trapped on a mission. We need to get them out.”

  “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Trent asked.

  Alex pointed to the helicopter. “Can you fly that?”

  Trent swallowed noisily, then nodded. “I’ve been working with Professor Mouse on a smaller style, but the basic controls should be the same.”

  Alex nodded. “Then this is a good idea. Everyone to the chopper.”

  He grabbed Kalia’s arm before she could join them. “Not you. I need you here.”

  “You going into danger,” Kalia argued. “I’m not staying behind.”

  Alex pointed at the screens. “I need you to be our eyes and ears.” He picked up the headset. “Someone has to let us know if we’re walking into danger. Can you do that?”

  Kalia hesitated. Her eyes roamed from the helicopter to the weapons desk on the other side of the room. “You’re going armed?”

  “Definitely,” Alex told her.

  “Be careful,” Kalia said. To his surprise, she kissed him lightly on the lips.

  Alex stared at her in shock.

  “Come back here, okay?” Kalia asked quietly.

  Alex nodded numbly.

  Kalia smiled. “Go then.” She pushed him gently toward the weapons table.

  “Come on, Romeo,” Jericho called, already sorting through the guns, knives, grenades, and other equipment Alex didn’t even know the name of.

  Alex shook himself and jogged to the table. He picked up a Glock. “These guns are loaded with sleeping agents.” He glanced at the others grouped uncertainly behind him. “Don’t shoot anyone in the head.”

  “Got it,” Trent said, reaching for a gun.

  Terith grabbed his hand. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

  “Do you want to wake up tomorrow and find out that all of our professors are dead?” Alex asked. He felt bad about being so blunt, but he knew they were wasting precious time arguing.

  Terith shook her head.

  “Then choose a gun and get to the helicopter,” Alex concluded.

  To his relief, everyone obeyed. They piled into the helicopter and pulled on the headsets. Alex took the seat next to Trent. After verifying that everyone was buckled in, he gave Trent a thumb’s up.

  “It’s great to have a helicopter in the basement of the Academy and all,” Trent began. “But how do you expect me to fly through a cement wall?”

  Alex leaned over and pushed the button Mouse had pressed. The ceiling opened. The other
s stared in awe as the greenhouses split and lifted to give them space to depart.

  “Okay,” Trent replied. “No more questions.” He started the rotors. After a few minutes of double checking to ensure that he had the controls figured out, Trent maneuvered the helicopter into the air.

  “I found Brock,” Kalia called into their headsets during their flight.

  “Where was he?” Alex asked, relieved.

  “In the bathroom. There’s a shoe streak across the floor. He must have slipped. His head has a huge gash in it and he’s lost a lot of blood. Meredith’s taking care of him.”

  “Good to know,” Alex replied. “If he’s conscious, ask him how to contact the GPA. We’re going to need them.”

  “Will do,” Kalia replied.

  Alex turned his attention to the path they were taking. Night was starting to fall. He was grateful it would help cover their flight.

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  The coordinates led them to a short, squat building on the outskirts of the capital. Trent landed the helicopter with a jarring thud about a half mile from the complex.

  “You call that flying?” Terith asked.

  “I said I’ve flown before, not landed,” Trent replied. “It’s not as easy as it looks.”

  “Obviously,” Terith retorted.

  Jericho confronted the pack. “We’re in a dangerous situation. Everyone have each other’s backs and take care of your pack mates. If this doesn’t work, we’re going to all be in trouble.”

  Trent dug through the back of the helicopter.

  “What are you looking for?” Alex asked.

  Trent pulled out a huge pipe with handles.

  “Are you kidding me?” Tennison exclaimed, backing away from the small werewolf. “You brought a bazooka?”

  “A manportable recoilless antitank rocker launcher weapon, to be exact,” Trent corrected him. “And yes, I brought it.”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Jericho asked.

  Trent gestured toward the wall. “How else are we going to get in?”

  “The explosion will send everyone in the area to the site,” Cassie said.

  “In which case, you should probably be somewhere else,” Trent recommended.

  “That wolf’s crazy,” Tennison said as they hurried away from the determined looking student.

  “Yeah, but he’s also brilliant,” Terith defended him. “Give us five minutes,” she said into her headset.

  “Got it,” Trent replied.

  “What do you see, Kalia?” Alex asked with a finger on his earpiece.

  “The cameras are empty for the most part. I see a few guys on the second level, but other than that, nothing.”

  “That’s what worries me,” Alex replied.

  He met Jericho’s look. “Professor Mouse had a camera that read the heat signatures so we knew where every guard was. It would be handy about now.”

  “You’ve been out with Jaze’s pack?” Jericho asked in amazement.

  “A few times,” Alex told him. “It was more organized than this. I wonder what went wrong for them.”

  “I hope we don’t find out,” Jericho replied.

  Alex couldn’t have agreed more.

  “I got ahold of the Global Protection Agency,” Kalia said into their headsets. “They’ll reach you in about ten minutes. Agent Sullivan said not to act until they arrive. He doesn’t want to risk anyone getting killed.”

  “I’d have to agree with him,” Alex said.

  His headset crackled and Trent’s voice came over the intercom. “We’re seriously waiting for them?”

  “We need to,” Jericho replied. “Rushing into things like this blindly will definitely get at least a few of us hurt if not killed. It’d be smarter to wait.”

  “Great,” Trent muttered. “Just what I need, to stand in the snow with a bazooka on my shoulder waiting to become a target for the next ten minutes. Any chance they have this heat signature technology you’ve been talking about?”

  The thought sent a chill down Alex’s spine. “If Drogan has anything to do with the trap, there’s a very good chance of that. Be ready to move.”

  While they waited, Alex sent Terith back to cover Trent. He sent Cassie and Tennison to take cover on the other side of the compound so that if one of the pairs got caught, the others wouldn’t be compromised.

  “The GPA has arrived,” Trent said.

  “Are you sure?” Jericho asked.

  Trent’s tone was thick with irony when he replied, “Unless men dressed in black wearing jackets that say GPA are here to trick or treat.”

  Alex put a hand on Jericho’s arm to keep him from replying.

  “Trent gets sarcastic when he’s stressed,” Alex said in an undertone. “It’s his way of dealing with the pressure.”

  They waited for the black forms to make their way over.

  Alex recognized Agent Sullivan from their first mission together. “You guys have a way in?” the agent asked, straightening his black suit as though the run through the snow had been a bit of an inconvenience.

  “Trent’s got a bazooka,” Jericho told him.

  Agent Sullivan rolled his green eyes. “Where did you get these boys, Alex?”

  “They’re a part of my pack,” Alex explained. “Jaze’s pack is made up of our professors, so they wanted to help get them out.”

  “Not that we enjoy school,” Trent muttered on the other end of the headset.

  Alex chose not to repeat the werewolf’s words.

  “Fine,” Agent Sullivan said. He pulled out a small screen. “Who’s your surveillance team?”

  “Kalia,” Alex said. “She’s back at the command center.”

  “Another student?” the agent asked. At Alex’s nod, Agent Sullivan sighed. “Fine.” He typed something on the screen. “What channel are you on?”

  When their headsets were synced, the agent said, “Kalia, I’ve sent you the live feed from our cameras. Are you getting it?”

  “No, uh, yes. I see it,” Kalia replied. They heard a quick intake of breath. “There are at least thirty people in that compound.”

  “It’s alright,” the agent replied calmly. “Some of those will be Jaze’s pack. If we can free them, we’ll doubled our force. What we need to do is locate them. Is there anything you know of that you can use to identify them?”

  “Let me check with Brock,” Kalia replied.

  “Why isn’t Brock there?” Agent Sullivan asked when Kalia’s microphone clicked off.

  “He apparently slipped in the bathroom and hit his head,” Alex told the agent. “That’s why we’re here.”

  Agent Sullivan shook his head. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the slip is food related. I’ve told that boy sandwiches will be his downfall.”

  Alex smothered a laugh with the realization that the agent hadn’t meant to make a joke. Jericho nudged him in the side with an elbow. Alex sobered and turned his attention back to the compound.

  “Okay,” Kalia said breathlessly. “Apparently Kaynan has a tracking device on his wristband knife, whatever that means. Brock said to enter the sequence...” Her voice fell away as she followed whatever Brock had told her to do. “There!” she exclaimed. “They’re in the top floor in the middle of the compound. By the looks of it, there are a dozen men guarding them, and others circling the hallways.”

  Agent Sullivan clicked off his headset so the others wouldn’t hear. “This doesn’t make sense,” he said quietly. “Jaze knows better than to get himself caught like this. We have to assume he has ulterior motives in this one.”

  “What do you mean by ulterior motives?” Jericho asked.

  The agent met both of their gazes. “We have to assume that Jaze got caught for a reason. Perhaps he found something, or someone is there that he wants us to find.”

  “Drogan,” Alex said. The name sent a shiver down his spine.

  Agent Sullivan nodded. “Perhaps, or the General. Whatever the case may be, we’re about to go into a fi
refight none of your friends are prepared for.”

  “They’ll fight,” Alex reassured him.

  “They might die,” Agent Sullivan replied.

  Alex met the agent’s stern gaze. He let out a slow breath, thinking it through. Alex finally nodded. He put a hand to his headset again. “Alright, Terith, Trent, as soon as the wall blows, get back to the chopper. Pick up Cassie and Tennison. We’ll call you as soon as we need an airlift.”

  “No way,” Trent argued immediately.

  “We’re not leaving you,” Cassie echoed.

  Alex met Jericho’s eyes. The Alpha nodded. “This is your Alpha speaking,” Jericho said over the headset. “You four will get to the helicopter and meet us when we’re ready. That is an order.”

  Thought Alex knew how badly the others wanted to argue, they answered with silence.

  Jericho locked eyes with Alex. “Do I need to order you, too?”

  Alex returned his gaze. “Jaze is my family. The rest of the professors are, too. I’m not leaving them if I can help them get to safety.”

  “Fine,” Jericho relented. “But we’re going in together and getting out together. Understand?”

  Alex nodded.

  Agent Sullivan touched his earpiece. “Brace, open a door for us on the south side. I want silence. Thrash, cut the power as soon as the explosion hits. Trace, take team Bravo and sweep the north side. We’ll be cutting around as soon as we’re clear. On my five, Trent. You ready?” At Trent’s affirmative, the agent said, “Five, four, three, two, one.”

  An explosion rocked the rapidly growing darkness. Immediately, red and white search lights and sirens cut through the night.

  “Let’s go,” Agent Sullivan breathed.

  They ran behind the agent to the south side. Instead of cutting through a door lock like Alex had expected, Brace had conveniently detached the entire door and left it leaning against the wall. Agent Sullivan shook his head with a small smile at the sight and led his team inside. Alex and Jericho fell in with Sullivan’s men as they swept through the building.

  The lights went out. Chaos erupted. Emergency lighting flickered on overhead as Agent Sullivan’s men took down guards on either side of the hallway. Guns flashed. Acrid smoke from smoke grenades filled Alex’s nose. His wolf eyesight was confused by the whirling emergency lights attached to the sirens that blocked out any chance to hear the enemies approach. Alex felt cut off, his senses delayed. The smoke thickened. Men yelled and guns fired. His heart beat a staccato rhythm in his chest, threatening to burst out of it.