by JJ King
“I’m sorry,” he said, meeting my gaze with an intensity that seared through me.
I wanted to touch him, to soothe the lines of worry that had appeared on his forehead just like he’d chased away the darkness for me.
“I have to go,” he murmured.
He lifted his hand as if to touch me again, and I leaned forward, eager for that contact. A wave of disappointment washed through me when he forcibly lowered it again.
“I’ll see you soon, Lexi.” He inhaled deeply, as if marking my scent, then added, “I promise.”
Then he was gone, and the loss of him made my heart ache. I raised a hand to my forehead and touched the skin there to see if I had a fever. My skin was hot but not from illness.
I stared out the window facing the courtyard below and choked back a derisive laugh.
Old Ones, I was fucking weird. Why couldn’t I just be normal?
Chapter 2
My feet pounded on the concrete walkway that led from my dorm room to the back quad.
I ran because I couldn't stop. I ran because the demons chasing me were faster than my own thoughts and could only be stifled by the pounding of my feet on the earth that grounded me.
I didn’t always have the nightmares, not anymore, but tonight I’d known they would come, and they had. In the dreams, Raphael didn’t have a face. He was just a mass of darkness, a black hole of seething rage that saw everything, knew everything, hated everything.
He hated me. He hated us all because we weren’t right. We weren’t the one he wanted. No, he wanted only Mia, the mother.
I heard his screams in my mind even when I plugged my ears and screamed right back. I couldn’t do that here, though, not with students all around me, living right next to me, divided only by the thin walls of Beta Wolf Academy.
So, I had to escape. I had to run.
Campus blurred as I raced past one building after another, making my way to the gate at the far end. This wasn’t my first run or my first nightmare, but it was the worst I’d had since arriving here.
The gate loomed, iron and solid, set there to protect us, to keep those who would harm us out. Except what was harming me right now was inside those walls, inside my skin, so I needed out.
I eyed the locked gate and wondered how the hell I could scale it without being caught. The Academy employed guards who patrolled the campus all night while we slept. There were none in sight right now, I confirmed as I scanned the length of green grass that made up the back yard which housed several running tracks and outdoor physical education centers.
I moved closer to the gate, staying safely tucked away behind a large apple tree surrounded by benches. There was no way out that I could see, no weakness in the fence, which was constructed with vertical pickets that made climbing it difficult.
But not impossible.
There had been vertical bars in the mountain, too, and with nothing but time and boredom on our hands, those of us feeling stir crazy would attempt to climb them, just for fun. We had to time it perfectly, too, because Raphael’s guards hadn’t been opposed to using their fists or batons on us as punishment. We did it anyway, because boredom was worse and nothing they could do to us could stand up to what Raphael did regularly.
So, I narrowed my eyes and looked for the metaphorical chinks in the chain and found one. Outside the fence, there was only clear land, no structures or trees had been left standing to use as a way in, but inside the fence—
A small flower garden sat next to one section of the iron wall and in the middle of the blossoming pinks and purples sat a bench with a high back. It wouldn’t get me over the top, not completely, but if I timed it right and leaped high enough off the top of the back, I should be able to hook my hand between two of the pickets.
I checked again for guards and saw one at the far end of the field. She wore the uniform of the Academy and a walkie-talkie on her waist.
I slid deeper into the shadows and squat down, staying silent.
There was no wind tonight, nothing to carry my scent to her. She scanned the length of land, shone her flashlight over a few structures, then turned and disappeared between two buildings.
Not very good security, I thought wryly.
If it weren’t for the fact that I was happy to be able to escape right now, I would be worried for our collective safety. Especially after what had happened at Alpha Wolf Academy last fall. Of course, that university was filled with the children of rich and influential wolves while Beta Wolf Academy was filled with those whose parents couldn’t afford the best or those whose academic or behavioral records didn’t shine quite as bright.
I thought back to Lucian and wondered which of those categories he fit into. He hadn’t seemed like a rebel misfit at first glance, but it wasn’t smart to judge a book solely by its gorgeous cover.
I gauged the distance and the force I would have to use to spring up far enough to grab the top of the fence, rocked back and forth on my sneakers, then moved.
My feet hit the ground hard, pushing me forward with as much speed as I could muster. I pumped my arms, keeping my eyes trained on the bench and my goal. The toe of my left sneaker fell perfectly in step on the edge of the bench, launching me up. My right foot hit the top of the bench and I sprang, pushing my muscles to their limit.
I flew through the air, my hands extended, aiming for those small handholds between the pickets. I hit the wrought iron and my fingers wrapped around one of the spaces. With a grunt of effort, I managed to secure my other hand.
I hung there, suspended between the heavens and the earth, and chewed on my lip. I’d been in such a panic to get out that I hadn’t really thought through how I would manage to propel myself from this point to the end goal. I gripped the metal tightly and began to pull myself up.
Pretty quickly, I realized that my hands were in the wrong position. I muttered a curse and switched my handhold, palm up, then began to pull myself, inch by inch, higher until my chin touched the parallel bar. I hooked it there, breathed out heavily, and kept pulling.
My toe scrambled between the pickets but found no purchase. I needed a crossbar to hook onto but there was none except near the top. I fought to hold on as my fingers went hot with pain, then numb and shaky. Finally, with tears streaming down my face, I squeezed my eyes shut and let go.
I didn’t hit the ground. Instead, strong hands caught me around the waist and lowered me. The moment my feet touched the ground I jumped back, shoving against a thick chest, then leveled my hands in front of my face.
“What the hell do you want?” I hissed at the guy standing a foot away, his dark eyes watching me intently.
“I wanted to stop you from smacking into the ground and breaking your ankle,” he said in a voice that was a little annoyed, a little amused, and thick with a Russian accent. “What exactly are you trying to do here?”
He arched a thick eyebrow and waited.
Annoyance chased away the dregs of my nightmare and I focused all my negative attention on the guy standing in front of me.
I curled my lip back, revealing teeth in what would’ve been a snarl had I been in my wolf form. “What does it look like I’m trying to do?”
“It looks like you’re trying to break your neck by climbing over the fence.” He tilted his head to the side and studied me. “You know we aren’t prisoners here, right? If you go to the front gates and ask, they might let you out. You’d probably have to wait until morning but—”
He broke off and shrugged.
I flushed with anger and embarrassment. I hadn’t been thinking rationally and I’d reverted to my past circumstances and acted as if I actually were a prisoner. My hands fell to my side, drained of energy. I swallowed and tipped my chin up, choosing to embrace my anger rather than my fear.
He leaned forward, eyes narrowing, and inhaled deeply.
Panic filled me. He was in my space. Before I could stop myself, my hand shot out and connected with his chest, pushing hard enough to make him stumble
back. A buzz of electricity, surprising and sharp, shot up my arm. I glared at him and yanked my hand back.
His lips lifted in the mockery of a smile, twisted so that one end was higher. My gaze flicked to that mouth and, for an instant, my mouth watered. Disgust roiled through me at my reaction, so I funneled that emotion into my verbal attack.
“You don’t know me,” I said between clenched teeth, advancing on him with my chin raised so I could stare him straight in the eyes. “You don’t know anything about me. So, why don’t you just back the fuck off and leave me alone.”
I raised my hand to shove him again.
He caught my wrist before my hand could slap against his chest and held it firm. Sparks that felt like pure electricity exploded where our skin made contact. Instead of pulling away, he tightened his grip and yanked me forward so that he hovered above me, eclipsing me.
I should’ve been afraid, or annoyed, or something, but my brain couldn’t compute what was happening between us. Flames spread from that small contact down through my arm over my skin like wildfire. I gasped, my eyes going wide, and stared up at him.
His face was like granite, unyielding and hard, but there was something in his eyes that flickered in surprise.
Then, as fast as it had happened, he let go and stepped back.
I resisted the urge to check my wrist to see if it was burned because I knew it wasn’t. Magic wasn’t real. I wasn’t burned. I was just overreacting to physical stimulus. Between this and what happened earlier with Lucian, I knew the issue was me. Something was wrong with me and I needed to find out what or risk having this happen with more guys.
But, if it was wrong, then why did I want to touch him again?
I crossed my arms over my abdomen because my fingers were itching to reach out.
His chest was wide and cut down at his waist in a way that made me want to strip the shirt from him so I could see if he was as defined as my imagination was assuming.
Slowly, as if in a dream, I let my gaze run over the length of him, taking in as many details as I could in the moonlight. He was taller than me, but I’d known many men taller than me. He was bigger than me, but I wasn’t afraid of his strength. He was dark and menacing and so intense it stole my breath, but I wanted to touch him.
His scent reached out to me, just as dark and intriguing as everything else about him. I breathed it in and felt it move through my blood like a living thing. My body reacted, betraying me in the most primal way possible.
He chuckled and the sound of it both aroused and sent a fresh wave of annoyance through me. I narrowed my eyes and glared at him. But before I could spew the vitriol that leaped to my lips, he spoke.
“I can help you, you know,” he said in a deep rumble of softly rolled vowels that sounded sexy as hell. He pointed his chin towards the fence. “All you need is a little height.”
“I’m almost five foot ten,” I said sharply, with a frown. I wasn’t used to feeling short, since I was usually the tallest girl in any room.
He shrugged. “If you don’t want my help—”
He turned as if to walk away.
A new kind of desperation washed over me, not to get out anymore, but to have him stay. I didn’t understand my reaction, but as annoying as I found him, he made me feel safe. The fear and manic need to escape campus had dulled the moment he’d touched me. I didn’t know if it was just a distraction or something more, but he had chased away my demons, and for that I was grateful.
“Wait,” I said, not wanting him to go. My mind raced to find a reason to keep him from leaving but found none other than my original goal. “I’ll take the lift. I just—need to get out.”
He studied me with those dark eyes and I thought maybe he’d changed his mind. Then he nodded and moved forward, lacing his fingers together to offer me a leg up.
I kept my gaze locked on his as I placed my foot in his palms and rested my hand on his shoulder. Heat flared between us, and his eyes went wide.
“Ready?” he asked with that thick accent that I was starting to crave and arched a brow almost as if in a dare.
Spite reared its ugly head and pushed me forward. I narrowed my eyes and nodded then braced to be thrown into the air and hoped to hell I wouldn’t kill myself with him watching.
A bright light hit my eyes, blinding me completely, and an angry voice shouted, “What are you two doing? Get away from there.”
The sound of shuffling feet and the buzz of a walkie-talkie told me we’d been caught by security.
Embarrassment flooded my cheeks with color and heat as I reluctantly let go of his shoulders and lowered my foot. I turned to face the security guard.
“It’s my fault,” I said, telling the truth. “I just wanted to get out and run, but I couldn’t get over the fence.”
I heard how foolish I sounded and looked down.
The guard ignored me and pointed the flashlight straight at my partner in crime’s face. The walkie-talkie buzzed again.
Her eyes focused in a glare that showed clear dislike and annoyance.
“Two students found at the back of campus attempting to scale the fence,” she spoke into the walkie-talkie.
A reply came back. “Can you identify either of them?”
“The female is unknown at this point, but the male is Dimitri Baskin.” She lowered the flashlight and spoke words that sent a shiver dancing across my nerves. “I’m bringing them both in. Tell the headmaster we’ll be there in ten.”
Chapter 3
Headmaster Gabriel was an imposing man, with a full head of hair streaked with shots of silver, and intense green eyes that narrowed like lasers on Dimitri.
“Mr. Baskin,” he said in a voice that boomed out of him, too loud for the room even given its size. “We’ve talked about this. More than once, as I’m sure you recall since the last time was only last week. So, please, how about you explain what it was you were doing.”
His eyebrows rose in question.
Dimitri sat in the chair next to me, his back ramrod straight, and his gaze fixed on the Headmaster as if he wasn’t afraid of anything in the world, even the man who ran Beta Wolf Academy.
“I was offering a leg up,” he said in a relaxed tone that belied his stance and the thick tension in the room.
I glanced at him, wishing I could feel a fraction of the calm he apparently felt. Instead, it took every ounce of my focus and strength to refrain from jumping up and pacing the office, back and forth, back and forth, like I had the cells within the mountain.
Beneath my skin, my nerves were on fire and not in a good way, not in the way Dimitri's touch had made me feel. I wished the calm I’d felt deep inside, beneath the excitement and annoyance, would come back. Part of me wanted to reach out and touch him to see if it would work. But I couldn’t, so I stayed motionless and kept my gaze down, trying to stay invisible, and praying I wouldn’t be expelled for trying to sneak off campus in the middle of the night.
Beyond all that, though, was a niggling realization that my actions, my choices, had somehow gotten another person in trouble. It was obvious trouble was no stranger to Dimitri’s life, based on the rapport I was seeing between him and the Headmaster, but this hadn’t been his fault; he’d been helping me. He had been out roaming campus in the middle of the night, doing Old Ones know what, but that was beside the point. He’d gotten caught because of me.
“It was my fault,” I blurted, lifting my gaze to face Headmaster Gabriel, whose eyes went wide at the sound of my voice, the insistence in it. Seeing the doubt that sprang instantly to his eyes, I kept going, trying to explain without revealing why I’d really been out there and what I’d really been trying to do. “He’s telling the truth. I was out there, just me, and I got myself in a bit of trouble. He helped me, that’s all.”
I twisted to look at him, my stomach a roiling mass of panic and fear that I would be caught and sent away or, as unrealistic as it seemed, that I would be locked away. I fought down the panic, telling myself repeate
dly, as Dr. Bennett taught me, that I was safe, that Raphael was dead, and that I would never be locked up again.
The Headmaster eyed me speculatively, then nodded slowly.
“Okay,” he said, without asking any further questions. “Well, Alexis, you may not know this yet since you’re so new at Beta Wolf Academy, but we prefer our students remain on campus at night unless they sign out at the front gate. There's a lot of very concerning things going on in our world right now, and we just want to keep you all safe.”
His level gaze and look of understanding made my throat fill with emotion. He knew. Of course, he knew. This school had been chosen for me specifically and strings had been pulled to have me attend during the last semester of the year. Of course, he knew; it was so obvious now.
A shudder went through my body that I couldn’t hide, and I saw Dimitri’s eyes narrow. His eyebrows furrowed in thought as, I assumed, he tried to figure out what was going on between me and the Headmaster, then he turned away from me and waited in silence for his punishment.
He was either brave and strong or stubborn as hell.
The silence stretched for a moment, then longer, and the tension began to ratchet up higher again. I bit down on my bottom lip and pressed my feet into the floor, grounding myself in the here and now, and waited to see what would happen to Dimitri.
Headmaster Gabriel took a deliberate inhalation and exhalation.
“Well, then, I suppose you’re both off the hook this time.” He leveled his gaze on Dimitri and added, “But I expect this to be the last time I’m called out of bed this term. Agreed, Mr. Baskin?”
Dimitri nodded, sharp and brief. “Agreed.”
He waited for the Headmaster to rise from his chair then followed suit and turned to give me the right of way.
I moved forward, towards the door, on legs that shouldn’t have been working, they felt so jittery inside. Still, they carried me out of the room, down the hallway, and out of the building with Dimitri at my side, both of us silent. He walked stiffly, physically holding back the emotion that I’d seen spark in his dark eyes before hiding behind a wall of attitude.
