by Cheree Alsop
Siale didn’t hesitate. She climbed on behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist.
Alex started the engine. He pulled the motorcycle carefully toward the door. “Thanks again, Trent!”
“We’ll see you soon, I hope,” Siale called over the sound of the engine.
Trent waved as Alex revved the engine. They sped through the door and out onto the courtyard. The few students who mingled out there after dinner watched them depart through the gate Trent had thoughtfully opened.
“He’s a good friend,” Siale said, speaking loud enough to be heard above the wind.
“He really is,” Alex replied. He turned his head slightly and said, “He’s always got my back.”
Siale’s arms tightened around his waist. “Just like me.”
The smile that spread across Alex’s face stayed as he maneuvered the motorcycle down the long winding road from the Academy. The feeling of the wind pushing against his shirt and the hum of the road beneath his tires chased away all other thought. The fact that Siale was behind him filled him with a warmth the coldest night couldn’t chase away. He put his left hand over hers as he drove down the road.
Alex pulled over after darkness set in. “This is where I hit the deer,” he said. He turned off the motorcycle, careful to park it far enough off the road that nobody would mess with it.
Siale climbed off after him. “I heard a loud bang and some sort of engine sound. I thought you’d gotten shot,” she admitted.
Alex took her hand. “I don’t always get shot at,” he said, hoping to make her smile.
She did, but with a small shake of her head. “It seems like you do quite often.”
He hesitated, then nodded in agreement. “I guess more than the average werewolf. Comes with the whole pack search and rescue thing.”
“I suppose,” she said.
He glanced at her. “What does that mean?”
She lifted her shoulders in a small shrug. “I think you’re a little reckless.”
Alex laughed as he led her into the trees along the side of the road. “You’ve been talking to Cassie, haven’t you?”
Siale nodded. “She’s convinced you have a death wish.”
“It’s really the opposite of that,” Alex explained as he helped her over a fallen log. “It’s more like a wish for a life better than what we’ve been given. I think werewolves deserve more.”
“How will that happen?” Siale asked, ducking under a tree branch.
Alex ran his fingers along the smooth bark of an aspen, careful to keep his gaze from Siale’s when he said, “We need to come up with a way to reintroduce werewolves to society.”
After a moment of silence, Siale replied, “That would be nice.”
Alex stared at her. “I thought you were going to laugh.”
Siale shook her head. “You’re not the only one who wishes we could leave whenever we want and not feel like there’s a target on our backs.”
“Exactly,” Alex said, glad someone understood. “Werewolves used to live with humans and nobody knew the difference. It was only when the Extremists starting attacking that Jaze had to reveal our race to the world.” His voice lowered. “That didn’t exactly go over well.”
“No, it didn’t,” Siale said.
At her silence, Alex knew she was thinking about her mother. Thoughts of his parents surfaced, memories he had pushed away to keep the pain at a tolerable distance. Through their young lives, Mindi and Will had been the best parents any child could ask for. The truth that they had adopted the twins hadn’t surfaced until Alex’s fight with Drogan.
Meredith was a loving mother, but her sister Mindi’s face was the one that had smiled down at Alex above the crib. Will had held his fingers as he learned how to walk. He remembered roasting s’mores over the fire pit in the backyard, and learning how to tie his shoes with Mindi’s patient guidance.
His thoughts flashed forward to the day they died, to Drogan’s hate-filled mismatched eyes, and to the feeling of emptiness when Jet rescued the twins and left them at Two before he sacrificed himself to save hundreds of werewolves from the General.
“It doesn’t have to be that way again.”
Siale’s soft voice broke through Alex’s memories. The feeling of her hand was gentle on his cheek. He put his hand over it, willing her touch to chase away the ache in his chest. His heart gave an uneven beat. He took a calming breath and met her gaze. The gray depths of her eyes showed the same pain he felt.
“We’ll find a better way,” he promised her.
“I know we will.”
Alex forced a smile. “This is getting way too serious.”
“What do you have in mind?” she asked with a small answering smile.
“Let’s run. Really run.”
Siale nodded quickly. “Yes, please. It’s been way too long.”
Alex stepped behind a tree and pulled off his clothes. A chill ran down his skin, replaced by the warmth of thick gray fur as it covered his body. He relished the way the chaos of his thoughts receded, leaving instinct in the forefront. Wolves had no need for worries that cluttered the mind, especially things that had no impact on the daily need for survival.
Siale’s lavender and sage fragrance filled his nose. He took a deep breath, reading the scents of a deer that had passed not long ago, along with the sharp, brittle smell of the sap within the pines as it froze from the drop in temperature. Alex shook, settling his limbs and enjoying the feeling of his wolf body. He stepped into the moonlight.
Siale pranced in front of him, her light gray form like a pale shadow beneath the trees. The white marks on her shoulders and chest stood out in the darkness. She yipped and bent down with her haunches in the air, calling him to play like a puppy.
Alex gave a snort of laughter and took a step forward. Siale darted off into the night. Alex ran after her, his wolf stride eating up the ground with ease. He caught up to her, then loped at her side. The smells of the forest filled his nose. His brain categorized and filed them as quickly as they came to him, the scent of a snowshoe hair, its fur no doubt taking on the pale colors of winter, the droppings of an owl fresh from overhead, the padded footprints of a lynx stalking beneath the trees, and the footprints of two other wolves wandering across the frosty loam.
Alex pulled up short. Siale stopped when she realized he was no longer beside her. Alex sniffed the tracks again, though he didn’t need to. His sister’s scent and Tennison’s cedar trail were unmistakable.
The thought of Cassie and Tennison out beyond the walls filled Alex with worry. He gave a bark and jerked his head toward the tracks, pulling his ears flat against his skull. Siale nodded. Alex took off along the trail and she followed close behind.
Alex’s paws drummed along the forest floor in a cadence he usually enjoyed, but this time he was too filled with worry for his sister to think about it. He leaped over a fallen pine, ducked branches, and followed the tracks around a huge boulder. Siale ran beside him with the stealth of a ghost, her footsteps nearly inaudible.
Convinced that he was about to find his sister at the mercy of Extremists or worse, Alex galloped headlong into the next meadow. He nearly ran straight into Cassie and Tennison both in wolf form sitting next to a pond.
Cassie jumped at her brother’s sudden appearance. Tennison rose and gave Alex a searching look. Alex checked quickly around the meadow, sure he was missing something. His heart thundered in his chest and he fought to catch his breath and sniff for danger at the same time.
Siale bumped his shoulder with her own. Alex glanced at her, wondering if she had seen any danger. Siale pulled her ears back and she snorted, opening her mouth in a wide, toothy grin. Alex realized how foolish he was being. He sat down with an answering snort of laughter.
Cassie ran up to him and, instead of stopping, bowled him over with her shoulder. Alex grinned up at her apologetically. Instead of appearing upset that their evening had been interrupted, Cassie tipped her head toward the forest. Alex nod
ded. Siale and Cassie took off side by side into the dark trees. Tennison gave Alex a look as if to say girls will be girls and followed them out of the meadow.
Alex was the last to leave. The moonlit grasses swayed in the gentle midnight breeze. The slight ripple of the water in the pond was musical and light. Crickets chirruped within the grass, their songs quiet as though they knew their green world would soon be blanketed in snow. A squirrel, restless in the night, awoke and scolded its creaking tree before it settled back to sleep.
To Alex, it felt as though the scene was frozen in time, the moonlight dancing along the surface of the water, the stars bathing his shoulders in warmth felt more by his soul than his body. He wanted to hold it in his mind forever, because at that moment, the meadow was filled with such peace. It felt as though everything within it had a place and hope.
Alex smiled inside. Jet had once said that the scent of grass reminded him of hope. Alex thought he finally understood.
A shoulder touched his softly. He looked into Siale’s soft gray eyes. She didn’t have to smile for the joy in the depths of her gaze to fill him with happiness. She tipped her head, her eyes questioning. He let his tongue hang out in a dopey wolfish grin.
Siale snorted a laugh and trotted back into the trees. Alex followed, pausing one last time to look back at the quiet meadow before he left it behind.
“Scold all you want, Alex. If you can leave the walls, we can, too,” Cassie said hours later as she and Tennison followed Alex and Siale back to where they had left the motorcycle. His sister was taking full advantage of the fact that Alex was still in wolf form and couldn’t reply to her arguments. “I know you don’t approve, but sometimes it’s nice to remember that there’s a world outside the gate. I’m sure Jaze and Nikki wouldn’t be thrilled with us, either, but wolves weren’t meant for cages.”
“I don’t think Alex minds too much,” Tennison told her as they walked side by side behind Alex and Siale. “He was out here, too.”
“Yes, but Alex seems to think he can do whatever he wants as long as everyone else is safe.” Alex glanced back in time to see her spear him with a look. “But he can’t expect us to go crazy like I would if I didn’t get out from time to time.” Her eyes narrowed. “Now don’t give me that look, Alex. This isn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last.”
Alex glanced at Siale. The light gray wolf looked like she was going to burst out laughing at any moment. He rolled his eyes and she gave a snort of laughter as though she couldn’t it keep inside any longer.
“And furthermore...”
“You’re going with ‘furthermore’?” Tennison asked.
“Yes,” Cassie replied shortly. “This requires a furthermore. Furthermore, I have my own life to live and you can’t expect me to be sheltered behind your brotherly protectiveness any longer. I can defend myself.”
“She can,” Tennison verified.
By the time they reached the motorcycle, Siale looked as though she was holding in the laughter only by sheer willpower while Alex was convinced that if he had to listen to his sister scold him any longer, he was going to explode. He quickly changed into his clothes and stepped out ready with a barrage of answers for her one-sided arguments.
“Don’t do it,” Tennison said before he opened his mouth.
“But I—”
Tennison shook his head with a quick glance in Cassie’s direction. Alex’s sister was busy looking the motorcycle over with an obvious expression of disapproval. Siale was in her human form again and watched Cassie with the same laughter in her eyes.
“It’s easier if you just let it go.”
“I can’t let it go,” Alex replied. “Otherwise Cass’ll think she can do anything she wants. She shouldn’t be out here.”
Tennison’s eyebrows lifted. “Now you’re saying exactly what she said you would.”
Alex sputtered for a moment, searching for words. “Well, uh, she really needs to be safe. The General’s looking for Drogan and if he knew Cassie was my sister, and his daughter, he would kill her for sure.”
“But he doesn’t know,” Tennison replied.
Alex paused with his mouth open. He closed it again, then gave in. “No, he doesn’t know.”
“And he won’t.”
“Not if I have anything to do with it,” Alex replied quietly.
Tennison nodded. “That’s settled then. You know your sister won’t stay within the Academy walls, so you might as well save your breath and not argue with her. She’ll be safe from the General as long as he doesn’t know she’s his daughter, and you’re not going to tell him. So that’s that.”
Alex wanted to argue. He began several arguments in his head, but they quickly tapered off. He finally sighed. “Sounds like she’s got you trained.”
“I’m glad you wear a helmet,” Cassie called from the side of the motorcycle. “At least that’s one smart thing you’re doing.”
Tennison gave a quiet chuckle. “I think she has both of us trained.”
Alex grinned ruefully and followed the werewolf back to the motorcycle.
Chapter Nineteen
“It’s one thing to lose with style. It’s another to let them know we are going to be a team to reckon with,” Coach Vance said in yet another high school locker room.
“You mean we get to win this time?” Trent asked tentatively.
Vance nodded. “We’ve lost enough to keep us out of the finals. Let’s win our last game and give them the heads up that next year we’ll be a team to contend with.”
“Let’s do it!” Amos said, jumping up. The huge werewolf almost hit his head on the ceiling. “Me pound humans.”
“No, not like that,” Vance contradicted.
Amos was a stand-in for Raynen who had failed enough tests that Nikki had removed him from the team until he could improve his grades.
The hulking werewolf grinned down at Alex. “I protect you.”
“Yes,” Alex told him. “But don’t hurt the humans.”
“How ‘bout a little knock?” Amos asked. The werewolf clenched his hand into a fist and brought it down on top of one of the lockers with enough force to dent it and make the door fly open. “Uh, oops.”
“Oops is bad,” Alex told him. “If we hurt the humans, we can’t play anymore.” He was nervous about taking the huge werewolf out there. Though the behemoth had done well in practice, that had been against werewolves who could stand his brute strength. Alex knew the humans wouldn’t be able to last against those fists.
“No hurt humans?” Amos’ voice carried a comical hint of confusion.
Alex fought back the urge to laugh. The entire team, as well as Coach Vance, was watching, and if he couldn’t get Amos to understand, they would all be running back to the Academy with Extremists on their trail.
“Humans are our friends,” Alex began.
“Human lover,” Torin muttered.
Several other members of the team broke out in laughter. They quieted at Alex’s look.
He tried to speak in terms Amos would understand. “Humans break easily. You have to be careful with them. Don’t push or hit too hard.”
Amos was silent for a few minutes. He finally nodded. “Okay. Me be nice to humans.”
Alex plastered a smile on his face. “Okay. Good. Let’s go play.”
He watched the others file out to the field. The cheering and talking from the other team competed with the sound of the pep band warming up and the calls of the cheerleaders from the home school as they got the crowd ready for the game.
“You think this is going to work?” Vance asked quietly.
Alex took a breath and let it out slowly. “I sure hope so. I mean, what else can we do at this point?”
Vance shrugged. “Say the team came down with Parvo?”
Alex grinned. “Telling Ridgeline High School that our students caught a dog virus would probably raise a few questions.”
“Probably answer a few, too,” Vance said with a small chuckle. He le
d the way outside and Alex followed.
The sun pierced his eyes, bathing the small field regardless of the chill that bit through even Alex’s jersey with merciless teeth. The fans in the stands wore coats, scarves, hats, gloves, and anything else they could use to keep the cold at bay. Many held cups of hot cocoa and coffee in an attempt to warm themselves from the inside out.
The cheerleaders from Ridgeline High waved yellow and green pom poms and shouted cheers; their breath left little clouds of fog in the air with each phrase. The few members of the crowd that could be persuaded to stomp and clap appeared to do so as a means of getting warm more than to follow the school spirit infused girls and boys.
“We seriously need to get us some of those,” Boris said, nodding his head toward the cheerleaders as Alex and Vance reached the huddle.
“No way,” Torin replied. “They hurt my ears.”
Boris grinned. “Wimp.”
“Come on, ladies, let’s show them what we’ve got,” Coach Vance said loudly. He then lowered his voice so only those in the football huddle could hear, “But let’s do it in a way that doesn’t kill the humans and expose our school. Got it?”
“Got it!” the werewolves replied.
Alex could see the excitement in their eyes beneath their face masks. They were being given a chance to actually win. He knew they couldn’t blow the Ridgeline muskrats out of the water completely, but just winning at all would feel great.
“Let’s take it nice and easy,” he said quietly as they made their way across the field.
“I think we should just plow them all over,” Torin responded dryly.
Alex didn’t reply. He crouched and looked around. Silence filled the small stadium. The few members of Vicki Carso’s Preparatory Academy who had been allowed to attend the last few games based on their ability to stay calm and keep up the professional appearance of the school watched their team with abated breaths. Cassie clutched Siale’s hand. Kalia sat near them, her eyes wide. Alex grinned. It was time to give them something worth watching.
“Hike,” he yelled.
