Werewolf Academy Book 3 Page 9

  “Thanks again,” Alex told Cherish at they made their way outside.

  “Don’t mention it,” Cherish replied. “Just be sure to catch another game whenever you’re this way. It’ll be—” She stopped talking.

  Alex followed her gaze to the three men standing around his motorcycle; the rest of the soccer group crowded behind Alex and Cherish. The men looked young, like they were just out of college, except Alex doubted by their appearances that they had ever actually made it to college.

  “Does this bike belong to one of you?” a man with torn jeans and a red bandana tied around his head asked. The man’s hair was buzzed with a star shaved into both sides of his head.

  “It belongs to me,” Alex said. He heard breaths of fear from the students behind him.

  “We like it,” another man with a red bandana tied around his arm said. “Don’t we, Ruse?”

  The first man nodded. “Yeah. We like it a lot.”

  “Thanks,” Alex said carefully.

  “It’s pretty awesome,” Steve said from behind Alex. Alex heard the student’s outlet of air when Ren elbowed him in the side.

  “How fast does a bike like this go?” Ruse asked.

  Alex took a step closer, careful to keep himself between the three men and the students.

  “I pushed it over a hundred on the way here,” Alex answered.

  Ruse whistled and eyed his companions. “It’d be fun to ride a motorcycle that fast. I think I should give it a go. What do you say?”

  Alex shook his head, but kept his smile. “I can’t let you do that.”

  “Come on,” Ruse replied, closing the distance between him and Alex. “I think you should.”

  Alex heard whispers as the kids behind him debated whether to call the police.

  “Nobody rides this motorcycle but me,” Alex said, his tone still friendly.

  Ruse’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t think you understand. We want your bike.” A click caught Alex’s attention and knife appeared in Ruse’s hand.

  The other thugs opened similar knives. The blades were longer than a hand and glinted in the morning light. Alex glanced around. They were alone on the street in the early morning. A few cars breezed past on the road, but nobody even so much as glanced into the small café parking lot. The way the building was angled, there weren’t any windows in view. They were completely alone.

  “Give us the key,” the man with the bandana around his head said, holding out a thick-fingered hand.

  “I think you should listen to him,” Josh whispered behind Alex.

  “It’s not worth it, man,” Ren said.

  Alex pulled the key from his pocket. He looked behind him at the terrified faces of the seven boys and girls who had so willingly invited him to join their game. If he wasn’t careful, some of them could get hurt. Cherish met his gaze. Her own was pleading.

  “Give him the key,” she said, her voice shaking.

  Alex nodded. “You can have it,” he said. He threw the key at Ruse.

  It hit the man square in the chest and fell to the ground. The man bent down, and Alex was there.

  He elbowed Ruse in the back, and slammed his fist sideways across the second man’s jaw. The third tried to swipe at his face. Alex leaned back just far enough to miss the blade, then dropped to one knee, spinning to knock the man’s feet out from under him. Alex rolled backwards in time to miss Ruse’s attempt to cut his throat. He kicked hard as he rolled, connecting with the blade Ruse held. The knife shot out of his hand and clattered to the ground near Cherish’s foot.

  Alex reached his feet and kicked high, catching the second man in the jaw again. When he stumbled back, Alex followed with a punch to the face, then one to the stomach. The man doubled over just as Ruse was getting back to his feet. Alex ran and jumped, rolling with his back over the thug’s and connecting with a two-footed kick to Ruse’s chest.

  The whisper of metal through the air warned him and he ducked and spun, knocking the third man’s legs out from under him. The man’s hand hit the ground, sending the knife from his grasp. Alex slammed a fist into the man’s jaw. His eyes rolled back and he stopped struggling.

  Ruse and the man with the bandana on his arm struggled to their feet. Alex placed himself between the two thugs and the kids who waited with wide eyes. There were tears on Sarah’s cheeks, and she and Cherish held hands, their faces white with fear.

  It was clear when Alex met Ruse’s eyes that the man hadn’t been prepared for a fight like that. Alex bent down and picked up one of the knives. Ruse took a step back. Alex closed the knife and tossed it at the thugs. It hit Ruse in the chest. The man caught it before it hit the ground.

  “Leave while you can,” Alex said.

  Tension hung in the air between them. After a moment, Ruse nodded. He and the other man picked up their friend. The three of them disappeared around the corner.

  Alex’s senses strained as his listened to their unsteady footsteps fade away. He hoped they wouldn’t be back bothering students for a long time.

  Alex turned around. It wasn’t until he saw the expressions on his friends’ faces that he realized what he had done. The adrenaline pounded through his veins. Though he hadn’t phased to wolf form, he had beaten three grown men while barely raising his heartbeat. The thugs who wanted to steal his motorcycle had turned tail and run from a sixteen year old boy. He had really messed up. All he needed was for one of them to call him a werewolf and he was done.

  Cherish and Sarah still held hands while Jen gripped Josh’s arm, her fingers white and eyes large as she looked at Alex.

  “That may have been the most impressive thing I’ve seen in my entire life,” Josh said.

  “Seriously,” Tanner seconded. “That was incredible.”

  Alex dared to take a breath. He forced a shrug past his tight muscles. “I like my bike,” he said.

  Steve and Ren burst out laughing as though he had said the funniest thing in the world.

  “You must,” Steve said, walking over to pat Alex on the shoulder. “I’ve never seen anyone do that to save their motorcycle.”

  Ren shook his head. “It’s like you were a ninja or something.”

  “Where’d you learn that?” Tanner asked.

  The question hung in the air until Sarah said, “Maybe we should all go to your boarding school.”

  The others nodded.

  “I’d never be afraid to walk the streets at night,” Jen said.

  “And Dad wouldn’t have to worry about someone robbing the store again,” Cherish told them with a grin. “I’d be Ninja Cherish.”

  “Then I’d be even more afraid of you,” Ren said.

  Cherish laughed and hit his shoulder. Ren winced dramatically.

  Tanner checked his watch. “We’d better get going.”

  “Yeah,” Josh said reluctantly. “Mrs. Bowley doesn’t like it when we’re late. I’d don’t think she’d even take an attempted motorcycle robbery as an excuse.”

  “I’ll catch you guys some other time,” Alex said.

  “Soon?” Jen asked, batting her eyelashes at him.

  “Jen,” Josh replied in an exasperated voice.

  “I’m not sure,” Alex told them. “But keep a spot open for me.”

  “We will,” Sarah promised.

  Alex climbed onto the motorcycle and started it. He glanced at the buildings around them and hesitated.

  “Anyone know which way is north?” he asked.

  Sarah and Cherish pointed in opposite directions. Jen didn’t even try.

  Tanner laughed. “It’s that way,” he said, indicating the road to their left. “Don’t trust these guys. They get lost in the mall.”

  “On purpose,” Sarah replied.

  Alex laughed. “Catch you guys later.” He drove slowly out of the parking lot and waved back at the seven friends who watched him go.

  It was with a heady feeling that he headed back toward Haroldsburg. The trip on the motorcycle had been far different than anything he co
uld have hoped for. He had no doubt Trent was breathing a sigh of relief at the tracking device headed for the Academy.

  Though he didn’t know how much of his encounter with the humans he should relate to his friend, he owed the werewolf a great deal of thanks. Seeing the world through the eyes of normal humans had changed the way he thought about things. Alex smiled and shut his visor, letting the hum of the tires on the road fill his thoughts with peace.

  Chapter Eleven

  “You played soccer?” Meredith repeated.

  Alex had gone through the normal motions of school at the Academy while thoughts of the encounter raced over and over in his mind. He had finally tracked down his mother in the small nurses’ lounge at the end of the medical wing.

  Alex nodded. “It was amazing. I had to remember not to use my werewolf strength.” He smiled at the thought of the ball hitting the slide. “But they treated me like just another student.”

  “You are just another student,” Meredith said with a fond smile that told Alex she thought completely the opposite of what she said.

  “For a while there, I thought I was,” Alex admitted.

  A shadow crossed his mother’s face. She sat back, watching him. “Alex, I don’t know if it’s safe for you out there.”

  “I was careful,” Alex reassured her. “Nobody followed me.”

  “What if you did something that clued them in on what you were?” The worry in her voice ate at him.

  Alex thought of the fight with the thugs, then pushed it away. “I didn’t. They think I’m just some kid on a motorcycle. I’ll never see them again.” A slight hint of regret twisted his voice.

  Meredith let out a little sigh. “I know you get tired of everyone worrying about you. I think it’s great that you made some human friends and everything went well.” Her brow creased. “What I worry about is if you get too comfortable with them and let down your guard. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

  Experience gave depth to his mother’s words. The sadness and remembered fear that filled her blue eyes reminded Alex that she had been captured on the streets and taken to the General who tortured and abused her. Alex took her hand. “Mom, I promise I’ll be careful. I’ll always come back.”

  Her eyes filled with tears. “When the General’s involved, promises get destroyed. I just don’t want to lose you.”

  Alex could feel the scars on her palm where she had been cut with a silver knife. He bore similar scars around his wrists and ankles from his confinement with manacles when Drogan captured him. “I’ll always be here,” he promised quietly.

  Meredith gave him a tight hug. Alex held his mother, wondering not for the first time at how frail she felt even with her time at the Academy. Protectiveness welled up inside of him. She was his mother and he would make sure that the General never laid his hands on her again.

  ***

  Alex leaned against Jet’s statue. He refused to accept the fact that Jet wasn’t his brother. He felt it every time he touched the statue. In each memory he had been with Jet, the tie between them was real.

  Jaze’s words came to him. “It’s in here. Brothers share a soul, a heartbeat; they bleed together, fight together, and have each other’s backs. When Jet was with me, I was never afraid. I knew he had my back, and he never let me down.”

  Alex took a shuddering breath. “I feel so trapped,” he said aloud to the statue that watched over him. “I feel like every time I take two steps forward, I’m pulled three back.” He studied the Academy’s dark windows. “I want to protect them, to keep Cassidy and Mom safe. I want to be the brother and son that they need.” His throat tightened. “But I also want to be out there.” He turned his gaze to the gates and the road beyond. “I felt what it was like to just be myself. I didn’t have to worry about attacks, or what the rest of my pack would think.” He sighed. “It was nice.”

  The words were hard to admit. It felt like he was betraying something that made him what he was. He wondered if Jet ever felt the same way, as if he was trapped with no way to break free and no right answer.

  Footsteps made Alex smile. He wondered how Jaze always knew when he was troubled. The dean certainly had a gift for words that helped. He listened to the soft swish of Jaze’s shoes across the grass. The dean paused near the front of the statue.

  “Jet, I need some advice. Alex has caused so much trouble that I don’t know whether to make him scrub toilets or put him to work with Dray in the gardens.”

  Alex laughed. “Dray’s going to be upset that you rank his gardens the same as the toilets.”

  Jaze chuckled and walked around the statue. “It is if he keeps planting mint in the greenhouses. The smell gives me a headache, but he insists that it’s supposed to cure headaches instead.”

  “What did you tell him?” Alex asked curiously.

  Jaze’s smile deepened. “I asked him if he ever met a dog that liked mint.”

  Alex laughed. “Has he ever met a dog with a headache?”

  Jaze leaned against the statue next to Alex. “Touché,” he replied with a grin. The smile faded as he looked up at the stars and the dark form of the statue. “It’s so much easier to think out here,” the dean said, his voice softer than before. “I come out here to clear my head.”

  “Me, too,” Alex admitted. He slid down the statue so that he was sitting with his back against the base. The cool grass tickled his bare feet.

  After a minute, the dean joined him. They sat in silence, enjoying the breeze that carried a chilly bite, reminding the pair that winter would soon be on its heels.

  “What were you talking to Jet about, if you don’t mind me asking?” Jaze said eventually.

  Alex leaned his head back, watching the stars wink down at them while he replied, “I just feel like sometimes there’s no right decision. I was wondering if he felt the same way.” It felt funny to admit it aloud, like he was a four year old asking why the sky was blue. There were obvious answers, but it was the reason behind the question that filled him with unrest. It wasn’t so much the color itself, but would another color have worked just as well. If the sky was red, would the world be the same?

  When Jaze replied, his tone was distant as he told memories Alex didn’t know. “You know that your brother was kidnapped when he was a baby.”

  Alex appreciated the way Jaze always referred to Jet as his brother. He nodded.

  “What do you know of his childhood?”

  The question caught Alex by surprise. He thought about it. “Not much. I know it wasn’t pleasant.”

  Jaze nodded, his gaze sad. “Jet was raised through the atrocities of underground werewolf fighting. He grew up in a cage, beaten and forced to fight in order to survive.” Jaze ran a hand across his forehead, pushing his blond hair back. “Jet had to choose between killing the werewolves he was pitted against or to give up and die. The Jet I knew would have chosen to die, except for the fact that instinct refuses to submit.” Jaze’s brown eyes were filled with knowledge when they met Alex’s. “An animal will fight for its life with every last shred of breath. When a werewolf is put in the same position, the same instinct takes over. A werewolf cannot choose to die.”

  “So Jet had to kill other werewolves,” Alex said quietly. The dean’s words filled him with horror.

  Jaze nodded. “The only reason I tell you this is so you can understand that sometimes we have to fight to remember who we are and what our purpose is here. Jet told me once that the werewolves he had been forced to kill stayed with him, reminding him to live the best life he could in their honor.”

  “How did he get out?” Alex asked, his voice just above a whisper.

  Jaze closed his eyes. “I found him at one of the fights. The woman who owned him had pitted him against other Alphas and bet against him. She wanted him to die.” A small smile crossed the dean’s face. “But Jet rebelled in the only way he could. He survived.”

  “He won the fight,” Alex guessed.

  Jaze nodded. “So the woman had her
men take him out and shoot him. We got there right after. It was a hard fight to save his life, but you know how strong he was.”

  Alex nodded.

  Jaze let out a slow breath. “He told me once how terrible it was to know that in order to live, someone else had to die. He couldn’t choose to die. He was trapped to the point that when he was shot, the bullet promised the only relief he had.”

  Alex thought about that in silence. He knew a hard past had been the reason for the haunted depths to Jet’s eyes, he had never known until that point how hard it had actually been. His own problems seemed so small in the light of what Jaze had told him.

  Jaze gave Alex a small smile. “No matter what Jet went through, he became the most selfless person I’ve ever met. He laid down his life to save hundreds. For some, it would have been a hard decision. For him, it was merely an extension of who he was. The families of those hundreds, and the students inside this school, will never forget him.”

  Alex knew it was true. The day he told the students he was Jet’s brother, he had seen it in their faces. Jet had given them their lives back. Alex pointed at the silver seven on the wolf’s shoulder. “What was the seven for?”

  Jaze didn’t need to look up. “That was the tattoo they gave him during the fights so they could keep track of the werewolves. The ink was silver based, so it carried over to his wolf form.”

  “Didn’t that hurt?” Alex asked.

  Jaze nodded. “But I think Jet went through so much that it didn’t bother him.”

  Alex studied the silver seven on Jet’s shoulder as the information Jaze had told him rushed through his mind. He hadn’t known about the fighting rings— only that Jet had gone through something terrible in his childhood. The truth was far worse than Alex had imagined.

  “How did you like the motorcycle?”

  Jaze’s question broke through his thoughts. Alex couldn’t deny the smile that stole across his face. “It was amazing.”