by Kat Zaccard
We wandered into Luciana’s Café for lunch. Luciana was behind the counter and greeted us warmly. She smiled at me and said, “Diego’s running patrols today, dear.” I smiled at her but didn’t respond. I hadn’t asked about Diego; why would she mention him? What did he tell her about me? What did she think of me?
“Who’s Diego, Alice? A special someone?” Damka squeezed between me and Anatoly in line. I assumed she was acting on Fanya’s behalf. I hadn’t missed the exchange of jaded looks when Anatoly had chatted with me and Hayley on the walk. I didn’t mind, really, since I had no interest in flirting with Anatoly. But I was worried Luciana had overheard her and would get the wrong idea. Luciana, for her part, smiled and started to carve an extra-large slice of carrot cake, even though I’d only ordered a BLT.
“He’s a Sliver that I used to run patrols with,” I said. Luciana wrinkled her brow, knife hesitating. “And a really good friend,” I added. Hey, maybe I was selfish, but Luciana did make the best carrot cake! I felt a twinge of guilt at the errant thought, remembering all the deserts I’d shared with Kulani. I was getting used to the passing clouds of grief, but the stab of pain wasn’t any less dull.
I turned my attention back to the group, hoping Anatoly didn’t read too much into my comment. Anatoly looked nonplussed, and I feared he might have a bit of the royal arrogance I’d seen in Logan, too proud to be put off by a commoner. I wanted to give Anatoly the benefit of the doubt, though; he’d been nothing but cordial to Shea, knowing full-well her Winterstone status.
After everyone ordered, we pushed some tables together to make enough space for the nine of us. We had a pleasant lunch with the Mt. Henley crew telling our new friends from abroad about the teachers and classes while they shared with us some of the new training drills we’d be running. Everyone was excited by the prospect of junior patrols.
“Of course Alice will be on one; she already ran patrols for part of last year,” said Sara.
“I don’t want to run patrols,” admitted Lola. She was the most timid among us. She’d run off when the upyr had attacked. No one held it against her, but she looked terrified at the thought of junior patrols.
“You won’t have to,” soothed Sara, “but I plan to join.”
“Me too,” said Hayley.
“Me three,” chimed in Shea.
We all turned at the sound of her voice and greeted her and Adam warmly. We introduced the guys and pulled up more chairs while they placed their orders. Our conversation continued, and we discussed which human training to focus on. Most werewolves practiced various martial arts as pups since they couldn’t shift until their sixteenth year anyway. A few worked with weapons, though it was less common.
Headmaster Giovanni had suggested I take up archery given that my status would keep me out of any real action. I had argued the point while he tried to mollify me that a general leads and directs the troops. While his demeanor had annoyed me at the time, I’d appreciated the book he’d lent me, The Art of War. Sun Tzu was a true master. While I hoped for peace, it was unlikely the upyr would grant it, not to mention whatever Queen Christina was planning. Our conversation turned to tracking and other survival skills. Some thought tracking and scouting as humans was too hard to learn.
“It’s impossible!” complained Lola. “How can you be sure some broken twig means your prey went that way?” She gestured abstractly.
“It’s not impossible,” reasoned Sara. Lola crossed her arms with a harrumph.
“It’s worth doing, though,” said Anatoly. “We only have so many days under the moon to shift. Most of us here already have five or six days, but Mount Henley students seem woefully behind.”
“Not Alice,” said Shea. I kicked her under the table.
“Um, she’s got, um, more,” she finished lamely with a wince.
I shifted the attention from me to her. “Shea’s up to six days already.” Casimir whistled appreciatively and Shea blushed.
Adam grinned and wrapped his arm around her. “That’s my girl.” Subtle, Adam, real subtle.
I was biting back a feminist retort when a noise drew my attention. I turned as the café door opened with a chime. Diego entered the room, wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a guitar slung over his back. I stared at him for a beat. How does someone look so good in a ratty old t-shirt? He looked over at me and smiled. I waved my fork at him and motioned for him to join us. He grinned and nodded. God! Did I have cake on my face? Diego set his guitar behind the counter. He said something to his mom, then walked toward us. It was Shea’s turn to kick me under the table. I had forgotten the other ten people at our table.
“Hey, Cas, grab another chair,” said Anatoly. He was nothing if not confident. Casimir grinned. He exuded a casual, easy-going manner. He brushed his brown hair out of his blue eyes and got up to get another chair.
I smiled at Diego. “This is my friend, Diego Galvan. Diego, this is Prince Anatoly Ivanov, Princess Fanya Baron, Damka Sokol, Casimir Tichy, and Jaro Nokto. Diego runs patrol.”
Anatoly gave a dramatized salute, earning a chuckle from the group. Fanya smiled brightly and brushed her long red locks over her shoulder. Damka had a stern look on her sharp features, but softened marginally when she looked up at Diego. Jaro’s dark eyes widened in appreciation. He helped Casimir move the chairs around. Jaro was leaner than Casimir, but like most Weres, they were both more muscular than the average human teenager. It was weird to notice the distinction, but teen wolves definitely grew faster and stronger than their human counterparts. Personally, I was proud of my hard-earned muscles.
“Nice to meet you. How do you like Mount Henley so far?” Diego greeted my new friends pleasantly as he took a seat.
“It’s been quite the adventure,” Anatoly answered for the group. He eyed Diego appraisingly. Anatoly maintained his air of casual elegance, leaning back in his chair.
Diego fit into our group easily and conversation resumed. Anatoly peppered him with questions about running patrols. It was obvious that Anatoly had lots of military training, but if he was trying to catch Diego out of turn, he didn’t succeed. They exchanged friendly banter about what types of training were best.
“I’ll admit that we’re novices at dealing with upyr. We will definitely welcome any additional training on that subject,” Diego conceded.
Anatoly’s easy confidence faltered ever so slightly. “We’re all novices when it comes to upyr. We’ve been training for the upyr much longer, but I still have yet to meet one.”
Lola shuddered and Sara wrapped an arm around her, glaring at Anatoly as if he’d upset her on purpose. “Consider yourself lucky.”
“Were you also at the attack?” Jaro asked, unprepared for Sara’s intense attitude. Anatoly leaned forward.
Hayley jumped in, “We were all there, along with two of our best Slivers. They were waiting for us. One was lying in the road and the other attacked from the woods.”
“It was a total ambush,” Adam agreed, subconsciously rubbing his arm. “Sir Henry and Kulani protected us, until…”
Shea reached for his hand. “Sir Henry was knocked out and Kulani was killed.”
Fanya gasped and Jaro looked sorry to have asked.
“Then what happened?” Damka asked quietly while she anxiously tugged at a blonde lock.
Diego squirmed uncomfortably.
“Hayley saved my life,” I said. “She threw herself at one of the upyr that would’ve killed me.”
“It all happened so fast,” Hayley added modestly. “Adam and Shea were battling one, and we were battling the other. It’s all kind of a blur. At some point, Diego showed up, but I got knocked out.”
“But the upyr?” Casimir asked.
“Diego killed them,” replied Hayley matter-of-factly.
Fanya gasped again into the stunned silence of the group. Cas seemed impressed and Jaro looked thoughtful. Anatoly looked like he’d swallowed a bee.
“I had help,” Diego replied softly, his eyes finding mine.
&n
bsp; Casimir whistled. “Damn! Jaro did you hear that?”
“I heard, Cas; maybe we do have a few new tricks to learn,” Jaro replied. To Diego, he said, “So you’re the famous upyr killer, then?”
“You really killed an upyr by yourself?” Fanya leaned toward Diego.
“Technically, two,” piped up Adam oh-so-helpfully.
“It sounds like the Princess helped.” Anatoly smiled at me.
“Hayley, Shea, and Adam were there too. Not to mention the Slivers on guard. We had a lot of help. They were pretty wounded by the time we finished them off.” I was rambling. It was hard to explain how three teenagers took out two upyr, even wounded. No one else knew about Sloane’s part of the rescue. She’d killed one of her own kind to save Shea. And we couldn’t explain about Diego’s super shift. One wolf alone shouldn’t be able to decapitate a vicious upyr.
“Still, you did finish them off,” Adam said proudly. Adam had been knocked unconscious during the attack, as had Hayley. Neither of them knew the full extent of the skirmish. Diego shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He actually did deserve at least half of the praise, but he couldn’t tell them about his super shift. His secret weighed heavy.
Cas whistled. “Well, I for one am excited to learn from a Sliver and an upyr killer.”
Diego looked embarrassed. I shot him a smile and a shrug. His eyes twinkled briefly at me before turning to answer Jaro’s question about the added security measures at school.
Our discussion got a little more serious as we jostled with the knowledge of the increasing upyr threat. Most of us had noticed the subtle shift in the tone of newspaper reports. While the Great Pack was still being reassured that the threat was manageable and well within control, it was impossible to ignore the increased sightings and suspected attacks. The Royal Herald downplayed many reports suggesting human culprits or wild animals. It was hard to convince a group of werewolves that a random wild animal attack was to blame. We all had a renewed desire to train, well, except Lola. When lunch was over, we cleared our dishes to help Luciana before leaving.
Diego retrieved his guitar and waved goodbye. I caught up with him just outside the café.
“Hey, Diego, wait up.” I motioned for the others to go on without me.
“Hey, Princess,” he said sweetly. My belly flip-flopped, and I grinned at him.
“I haven’t heard you play in a while.” I nodded at his guitar. “Are you working on anything new?”
“Oh, this and that.” He smiled.
“I’ll be leading a junior patrol, but I wish I could get back on regular patrols,” I said. Was I babbling? Damn my mom, nurture and nature were neck and neck.
“That’s great, though. It will give you a chance to practice leading, and it will keep you safe.”
“Hey, that’s not your job.”
“Yes it is.” His chocolate eyes glowed, and I felt my cheeks flush. “Come on, I’ll walk you back to school.” I scowled, not wanting to be reminded of our age difference. After the attack last May, students weren’t supposed to be outside alone. He was eighteen, and I was about to turn seventeen in a couple weeks. I didn’t think that was a big difference, but apparently, I was too young for him. I tried to ignore the voice in back of my head saying I was too betrothed for him. I knew that. I just wanted to keep my friend. Really.
We started to walk down the path, suddenly shy. Finally, I asked, “So, have you wolfed-out lately?”
Diego laughed. “Wolfed-out?” he inquired.
“Well, it’s either that or super shift? Which do you prefer?”
“Hmm, the jury’s out.” He smiled. He had the best smile.
“Well, anyway, you know what I mean.”
“No, it hasn’t happened again. I did try this last full moon, but I just don’t know how I did it.”
“Maybe you have to be really threatened? Like an adrenaline response to fear or something?”
“Maybe, or maybe…” He trailed off.
“What?” I prompted.
“Well, this might sound stupid, but maybe I can only do it when there’s an upyr around.”
“Do you think?”
“I don’t know. I never did it before an upyr crossed our borders. Remember, Jack and I had tracked an unfamiliar scent the day I met you.”
“You remember that?” I stopped walking and looked at him.
“Of course.” He held my gaze a moment then looked away. We continued down the path.
“Anyway,” he went on eventually, “I’ll try again this next full moon. Maybe the moon will help.”
“It was full last time. Maybe I can help?” I felt foolish as soon as I said it.
“How?”
“I don’t know”—but I did—“When I had my first full moon shift, there was a kid who couldn’t shift back into her human form.”
“Yeah, that can happen. It’s scary for new pups. Some lose themselves and never shift back.”
“Right, well, at the time, I didn’t know I could, you know, influence people with my alpha powers. But I just had to help. So I went over to her and tried to calm her down. I don’t really know what I did, other than think calming thoughts at her, I guess. But, well, it seemed to help. She shifted back,” I finished lamely.
“So you want to, um, think calming thoughts at me?” Diego grinned.
“I don’t know! Maybe?” I swatted his arm, which he caught playfully. Still, his reaction to my mention of my alpha influence put me at ease. I feared my friends would hate me if they knew I could subtly influence their actions, not that I would. But even losing your self-control for a few moments must feel horrendous. It made me ashamed of the power. Pamela had acted a little freaked out by me ever since I’d helped her shift back last year. She still avoided me as far as I could tell. Sure I kept Diego’s secret too, but his acceptance of my alpha powers soothed my nerves.
“Well, it can’t hurt, Princess.” He gently squeezed my hand.
“Don’t call me Princess,” I grumbled, looking up at him. He smiled back at me, his dark eyes, pools of chocolate, swimming in humor. We stood there a moment. Then the spell broke, he released my hand, and we continued on our way.
We nearly reached the clearing that opened up to Mt. Henley’s grounds when we heard paws pounding the path towards us. We stopped as the wolf reached us and shifted into one extremely annoyed-looking Sir Henry.
“Princess! There you are,” he declared, somewhat less than formal in his frantic state.
I hadn’t seen Sir Henry since Kulani’s funeral. He still looked like the same handsome young Sliver with his dark blond hair and chiseled good looks. But something about Sir Henry’s energy had shifted. He was of royal birth and, besides Diego, one of the youngest Slivers on patrol. He used to be so jovial and carefree. He’d only said a few words, but his attitude had shifted. He seemed more protective and wary than the easy-going friend I remembered. He had blamed himself for not protecting Kulani. I knew it wasn’t his fault, and I had told him so last May. Six werewolves could barely take out an upyr, let alone one.
“Henry! It’s wonderful to see you again.” I stepped forward to hug him but stopped with a blush when I realized his nudity. Henry, like most werewolves who were raised knowing their nature, didn’t notice my embarrassment, but did notice Diego standing next to me.
“Are you on security detail too?” he inquired. He still looked flummoxed, like he wasn’t sure if he should be thanking Diego or scolding him. I had the feeling he wanted to scold me too, and only my rank was preventing him.
“Um, I had put in for it, but no, not yet.”
“Huh, well then, I’m glad you escorted the Princess back to school. Your Royal Highness, you cannot be wandering the grounds alone. Ms. Grizzle and Jack will have my hide if they find out you went to Dryden alone.”
I knew about the increased upyr threat, but I wasn’t thrilled with the new restrictions. “I wasn’t alone, Sir Henry. I went to Dryden with my friends, and as you can see, Diego is with me now.”
Sir Henry looked pained. “Your Highness, there are new security measures in place since the attacks on the school last year.”
I felt ashamed. I should not be causing Henry any more worry or stress. “I’m sorry, Sir Henry, I won’t tell if you won’t.” He weighed his options then agreed, making me promise I wouldn’t wander off alone. He also insisted he escort me back to my dorm.
Having no other reason to stay, Diego made his goodbyes. I hoped I’d see him during patrols and training, but didn’t say so aloud. The easy comradery of before had been lost like a dandelion wish when Henry showed up. Sir Henry shifted back into his wolf skin and I followed him down the path toward school.
Chapter 11
The week passed pleasantly without a single sighting of Jillian or Logan. I knew the reprieve was over when Monday morning rolled around, bringing with it the first day of school. I met Shea and Hayley in the dining hall for breakfast. Our trays were laden with mountains of food, and we happily chatted about our schedules.
Sara and Lola showed up, followed swiftly by Fanya and Damka who had become the newest additions to our group. Some of us had a few morning classes together, and we were extremely pleased to see we were in the same training group for junior patrol. Lola had opted out of junior patrols, but per usual, everyone was expected to take training courses in the afternoons. Usually, we trained in our human forms, since most students could only shift the three nights of the full moon. I wondered if Shea and I would be able to add additional wolf days to our schedule once Coach Murry learned we had added a few days over the summer.
A shadow fell over our table and Jillian’s voice pierced our conversation.
“You may think you’ve won, but you haven’t.”
I turned in surprise. Was she talking to me? Of course she was. Jillian stood with her hands on hips, her blue eyes narrowed to slits and her ice-blonde hair pulled back in a severe ponytail. She was flanked by Crystal Schmidt and Laureine Michaels, who looked slightly less certain, but no less threatening. They were all tall with straight bleached hair, though Laureine had green streaks in her locks. Jillian’s style preference leaned towards designer prep, whereas Crystal and Laureine liked to sport short skirts, midriffs, and lots of heavy makeup. I always wondered what shifting did to all that makeup. I mean, you had to be a mess afterwards when you shifted back, right? Don’t get me wrong, I loved wearing mascara and dressing up on occasion but chose not to go full-on glam when I was working out or shifting wolf.
