Moon Rising (Mount Henley Trilogy Book 2)

by Kat Zaccard

  Chapter 21

  January was wearing on, and we were getting record numbers of snowfall. Junior patrols had been suspended, which solved the problem of dealing with Damka on patrol, but added aggravation to the school at large. The week had been cold and dreary. We all wanted to run outside the confines of the manicured estate. Jack had also put the kibosh on me running on his land for the time being, which meant I was as frustrated as everyone else. I started seriously training in archery to vent my frustration. It was a good distraction and a practical skill. I was improving steadily, but it wasn’t as satisfying as shifting.

  We needed permission and an escort to visit Dryden, which was hard to come by, given that patrols were running around the clock. It didn’t help that most of the school blamed me for the restrictions. I’d found the deer, I was a member of the council who had imposed the restrictions, and I was next in line to be Queen which gave the illusion of control.

  When our next full moon run approached, we were warned not to stray too far and that each group would have a Sliver assigned to them for protection. I saw Becky and Melinda among the Slivers and hoped one of them was assigned to our group. I was pleased when Melinda sauntered toward us.

  “Okay, you lot, I know you have extra days under the moon, so we’ve been given the go-ahead to shift today. Where’s your sixth member?”

  I looked around for Damka. She was standing over with Pamela and Jillian’s group.

  “Damka! Over here, please.” Melinda called.

  Damka came over to us. “I’d rather work with Pamela’s group today.”

  “Don’t you want to shift? Jillian’s group doesn’t have that many days yet.” Melinda looked confused, since most wolves were itching to shift as soon as possible.

  “I know, but maybe I can help them?” Damka glared at me.

  Melinda shrugged and led us through the arena gates.

  “How’s Sequoya doing at school?” I asked Melinda, trying to soften her up for bigger questions.

  She smiled proudly. “She’s doing great! She’s dying to shift, of course, but she still has two months to go.”

  “That’s exciting!” I meant it. I really liked Sequoya and expected she would be a Sliver in no time if she took after her mother. I said as much.

  “Aren’t you sweet!” she replied.

  “So any more upyr sightings since the attack?” I asked. I was shooting for casual but lobbed a total air ball instead.

  Melinda’s grin faded. “No, but we’ve seen more dead animals on the perimeter. We think they’re testing our border strength.” She glanced around at the distant mountain peaks.

  “I’m worried they’re getting bolder,” I said quietly.

  “Me too, Princess. Now let’s do something about it and get to training.” I appreciated that she’d overlooked my tactlessness and answered me honestly. Melinda treated me like the adult I was about to become. Sequoya was lucky to have a mom like her.

  It was great having Melinda show us her skill and expertise as a Sliver and patrol. She complimented our wolf communication skills—the tail twitches, nods and yips that constitute werewolf language while in wolf form. I didn’t use my telepathy once, both to prove our pack skill to Melinda and to prove my commitment to stay out of my friends’ heads. By the end of training, we were happy with our progress. Melinda was especially impressed with how well we were learning to shift mid-attack from human to wolf and vice versa. I was proud of my pack, even though we were a member short.

  Back in the locker room, Damka gave us the cold shoulder. Pamela sneered and whispered with Laureine and Crystal. Fanya tried to approach Damka but was rebuked. She looked sulky, and I guessed she regretted not getting to shift. I was surprised to note that Jillian wasn’t participating in the axis of distrust. Looking around, I finally spotted her by the mirror. She was brushing out her damp hair. Something about the movement seemed sad. She didn’t have her normal spark and brisk confidence. Looking closer, I noticed her lack of makeup and didn’t see her reaching for a hair dryer. Her outfits were still posh, but her accessories were lacking their usual flair. I was surprised to realize that I admired Jillian’s fashion sense. I missed it too.

  Turning back to my friends, I listened as Hayley regaled her expertise on the training field today. She had perfected a wolf shift into a flying side-kick maneuver that she’d been working on for moons. Sara had been on the receiving end of the shift to flying kick and looked slightly less pleased as she rubbed her jaw. She did crack into a smile with a wince when we all congratulated Hayley on her achievement.

  ◆◆◆

  The following week, I had another civics lesson with Headmaster Giovanni. Ms. Cope wasn’t in her office when I arrived. I tried to snoop around her shelves but found little of interest. When I was called into Headmaster Giovanni’s office, I decided to try to get some answers out of him that I cared about.

  “So how many queens have had alpha powers?”

  Headmaster Giovanni raised an eyebrow but didn’t look terribly surprised by the question. “Ah yes, it has come to my attention that you’ve been boasting about having some of these rare gifts?”

  “I haven’t boasted!”

  “Hmm, do you possess alpha powers?”

  “I … I’m still trying to figure out what they are.”

  “Princess Alice, do you think I know nothing about what goes on around here?”

  Um, yes? I wanted to say but bit my tongue.

  Headmaster Giovanni chuckled. “I’ve noticed your extra moon days and your easy communication with your junior patrol pack. It seems that others are spreading rumors you’re a Sliver that can influence werewolves’ minds.” He chuckled at the idea, and I laughed nervously along with him.

  “It just goes to show how much power a few words can have! To answer your question, there’s little mention of alpha powers in our most modern texts. But many ancient volumes describe alpha powers in some of the great queens.”

  “Can I see these books?”

  “Oh my dear, they are archived in the royal library. I will petition the Queen for them, but she is loath to lend such valuable volumes.”

  “I bet,” I muttered. “What about my mother? Did she have any alpha powers?”

  “She did. In fact, she was the only Luna in modern times to be able to communicate telepathically with her pack.”

  I had already known that from Jack. “Any others?”

  “If she did, she kept them secret.” He looked at me pointedly, and I wondered if he thought I was a fool. “It’s curious, though, that she was so powerful while others in her family were so weak.”

  “What others? I thought I was the last Luna?”

  “You are, my dear.” I gave him a pointed look. “Oh, no, I wasn’t referring to you, Your Royal Highness. Please forgive me, I’ve overstepped.” He tried to divert my attention, but I wouldn’t have it.

  “What do you mean, then? Please, Headmaster Giovanni, I’m here to learn about the law and my family is the law. If you know more about them, I have a right to know.”

  “It’s not relevant; he is long dead and burned anyway.”

  “Please explain. Are you referring to my late Uncle Frederick? I always wondered why he never assumed a seat on the council. I know that before my father, there was never a king, but I would’ve thought he’d at least have a seat on the council prior to her coronation.” I hadn’t been able to find out much about the long dead uncle who’d married Jillian’s mom, securing her as Queen Regent after my mother’s death.

  “Well, that’s a closely guarded family secret.”

  “A secret you know about my family,” I stated pointedly.

  The headmaster sighed. “Yes, I suppose you of all people have a right to know.”

  Duh! I wanted to say, but I waited patiently.

  “The truth of the matter is tragic, I’m afraid. It seems that your uncle Frederick was a runt.”

  “A runt?” I’d heard the term before, but I was surprised to l
earn my late uncle had been one.

  “Yes, that’s right. He never shifted into his wolf after his sixteenth birthday. It was terribly embarrassing for such a noble clan as the Luna line. He quietly left Mount Henley and finished his schooling abroad. When he returned to the family, it was clear that your mother, Marguerite, would be taking the throne. He never begrudged her, though he lived most of his life as a recluse. It was only after his marriage to Christina Reynolds that he ever made any public appearances.”

  I was grateful for the information and pleased that Headmaster Giovanni had finally been forthright with me. Perhaps he too was starting to see that I would one day be his queen.

  “What can you tell me about Ms. Cope’s family?”

  “Ms. Cope? Why do you ask?”

  “Um…” Why was I asking? “I just, haven’t met any other Copes and was curious about her clan.” I thought the excuse was pretty lame, but many werewolves were snobbish when it came to family clan status.

  “Oh, well, they don’t have a very high standing. I believe Tryna is the last of her name since her mother died.”

  “Her mother’s dead?”

  He looked at me quizzically. “Yes, some time ago. She used to run the infirmary on campus back when Tryna was still in school herself.”

  At dinner that night, I relayed the information to the girls. Well, most of the girls. Lola and Damka were still avoiding us. Sara looked thoroughly depressed but brushed off any attempts to talk about it.

  “We have to find out what she knows!” Hayley was very enthusiastic to break out her ninja skills.

  “We can’t tie her up and interrogate her!” Shea laughed.

  “No, but we can sneak into her office,” I suggested.

  “Alice!” exclaimed Hayley. “I think I’m a bad influence on you… I love it!”

  We all laughed and began planning out our B&E.

  ◆◆◆

  By Friday night, we had a plan in play. We were all sleeping in Shea’s room. Actually, it wasn’t all of us since, Lola and Damka weren’t there. The ice hadn’t thawed between us, and I feared it never would. When I thought about how Pamela and the others had looked at me with such distrust, I felt awful. I’d better not dare tell anyone else about my alpha influence, or I might not have a pack left. I shook myself out of the morose thought and tried to get my head in the game. We were on a mission.

  The plan was to sneak out of Shea’s window after midnight. Not very original, we knew, but effective nonetheless. We’d been tracking patrol movements all week. It actually had been kind of fun and proved a suitable distraction from the lack of full moon runs. In fact, that was our cover story if anyone caught us. I was trying to go for a run, and if the others got caught, they were trying to shift and protect me. It was a bit of a stretch since the moon was nine days away, and technically, the Fur Patrol was only at five before. (Four days before the full moon, plus the night of the full moon, plus three days after the full moon, equaled eight total days under the moon for my mini pack. I was super proud of them.) Of course we hoped we didn’t get caught but figured if we did, our excuses wouldn’t matter anyway. We’d be suspended or worse. If we got caught in or near the school, we planned to lie about leaving a book behind that we needed for a paper due Monday. We had it all covered.

  The most challenging part of our escape out of Shea’s window proved to be keeping quiet while Ms. Grizzle paced the halls. When the coast was clear, we hopped down into the snow behind the bushes under the window sill. I surreptitiously snapped off a few juniper sprigs and passed them around. We rubbed the prickly needles on our hair and clothes. We hoped the evergreen scent would mask our own, but given a werewolf’s heightened sense of smell, that was most likely wishful thinking. I swallowed and hoped this whole plan wasn’t wishful thinking.

  We had ten minutes before the next patrol passed to get across the lawn and to the back of the mansion. We darted out from the bushes single file. I was last, using a larger juniper branch to wipe out our tracks. The snow was a little too deep to be effective, so I kicked the snow around and hoped that the scene would look like an animal passed by and not five girls. Luckily, the path to the door was well shoveled and sanded, given that the populace of the Apollo and Artemis dorms traveled that route daily. We darted up to the back door without incident.

  Hayley grabbed the door handle and swore under her breath. “I told you it would be locked,” she hissed.

  “And I told you, I got this,” replied Fanya, pushing her out of the way.

  We watched in amazement as Fanya pulled a hair pin and a bobby pin out of her long red hair, which she had pulled back in a French braid for our mission. She inserted the bobby pin with a twist and deftly maneuvered the hair pin around in the keyhole. The lock tumbled, and we all exhaled in relief as the door clicked gently to unlock. She looked over her shoulder at us with a proud smile. When she saw our mouths agape, she scowled.

  “What?” she asked with a shrug. “It always looked so cool in the movies. I had to learn how.”

  Sara grinned and chucked Fanya on the shoulder. “Well done, Princess.”

  We pushed the door open with a long eerie squeal. Cautiously, we stepped inside and closed the door behind us. The long marble halls were dark and spooky at this late hour. We tried to wipe our feet on the mats, but we were covered in snow. One step on the marble floor was a loud squeak that echoed down the hall. We looked around at each other then shrugged out of our shoes. We tucked them behind a pillar near the entrance. We slipped quietly down the hall, sliding on our socks and trying not to giggle. My heart was racing, but I couldn’t help smile as we skittered to a halt in front of the office door.

  Fanya worked her magic again, and we tumbled into the room after the lock. We clicked on the flashlight app and began searching. I realized that the phones would be a dead give-away that we weren’t actually trying to shift and prayed we didn’t get caught in the office. Then it occurred to me that we might get accused of searching for test answers. There was no way I could tell my parents I got suspended for cheating! I chuckled nervously to myself given the much larger problems on my plate. Shea shushed me and nodded toward a chest in the corner. The hopeful object proved useless, filled with extra hats and scarves for kids that forgot to dress for the Canadian winter. Werewolves tend to run a little hot, but even we felt the cold when the wind-chill was twenty below zero. (No, that’s not in Celsius. Give me a break!)

  I glanced at the time on my clock. “We gotta go.”

  “But we haven’t found anything yet,” complained Hayley.

  “The next patrol will be passing soon,” urged Sara. She wasn’t used to, nor did she like, breaking the rules.

  “Come on, there’s nothing here,” Fanya grumbled.

  We did our best to leave everything as we’d found it and closed the office door behind us in defeat. The quiet recession to the back door was far less enjoyable than the way there had been. We retrieved our shoes and did our best to wipe up some of the slush we’d tracked in. Now we just had to get back to Shea’s room without getting caught.

  We opened the back door a couple inches to avoid another loud squeal and filed out one by one. We got to the bottom of the steps, and Diego stepped out from behind an evergreen tree.

  “Going somewhere?” He stood there, arms crossed, face looking even more cross.

  Fanya let out a little scream, and Shea clamped a hand over her mouth to shut her up.

  “Uh, hi, Diego.” Yeah, this wasn’t running into him in Dryden; this was us getting busted.

  “We’re so busted,” Hayley whined, echoing my thoughts.

  “Listen, Diego, perhaps you can just forget about this.” Fanya gave her most flirtatious smile. I frowned but was mollified to note Diego seemed unmoved by the display.

  Diego looked at me. I’d never seen him so angry. It radiated off of him like heat, although that could have been actual steam, I was a bit distracted by his nudity. Clearly he’d been patrolling in his wolf ski
n.

  “So, you um, sniffed us out?” I tried levity. I missed the mark.

  “Alice! You promised not to put yourself in danger! How could you be so stupid?”

  Woah, Diego was pissed. I’d never seen him lose his cool like this. It’d be kinda hot if it wasn’t directed at me. I did not just think that!

  “Hey, that’s your future queen you’re talking to!”

  “Shut up, Hayley!” we both said in unison. We turned back to each other and each cracked a small grin.

  Hayley harrumphed, “Glad you agree on something.”

  Sara was trying to make herself look as small as possible, hard to do for a six-foot-tall, copper-haired Amazon. She looked like she wished she could fade into the background of the winter wonderland around us.

  “Look, Diego, I have a really good explanation. But it might take longer than we’ve got before the next patrol comes through. Please,” I implored, “please, let us go.”

  Diego sighed, and his shoulders lost their rigidity. I held my breath, hopeful. “All right, Princess, I won’t rat you out.” He winked at me as I recalled a previous conversation in which I asked him to keep a secret.

  “Thank you,” I breathed.

  “Don’t thank me yet; we still have to pull it off. You girls left a trail a blind runt could follow.”

  Diego followed us back to Shea’s window. He shook his head at the disturbed snow on the ground. I tried to explain about the juniper branches and the hoping to pin the mess on an animal.

  “Did you really think that would fool anyone?” He swept his hand to take in the scene. Even in the quarter moonlight, I could see the obvious tracks from the window to the sidewalk.

  “Yeah, I guess we overestimated the plausibility of some of the finer details in our plan,” I admitted.

  “Oh, this was planned?” he teased. He helped boost each of us up and through Shea’s window. I was the last one in, and I stuck my head back out to thank him.