Werewolf Academy Book 1: Strays (16 page)

Jericho gave him a stern look. “I don’t want you running on that leg, and that’s an order from your Alpha. Take it easy this week. You can join in the next.”

“Yes, sir,” Alex replied with a hint of sarcasm.

Jericho rolled his eyes. “You’re going to be trouble, aren’t you?”

Alex shrugged. “Guess you’ll have to wait and see.”

Jericho looked at Cassie who hung back against the Academy wall. “I have no reason to leave your sister out of the training.”

“Cass,” Alex called.

She walked over slowly as if reluctant to hear what they were talking about.

“Jericho needs you in training,” Alex told her.

Her eyes lit up. “I thought you’d see us as a security threat and leave us out.”

Jericho studied her. “Should I?”

She shook her head quickly. “Nope. I just have a tendency to overthink things.” She ran down the stairs before he could change his mind. Terith smiled when Cassie joined the rest of Pack Jericho.

“She’s a sharp one,” Jericho noted.

Alex grinned. “You have no idea. Have fun, Captain.”

Jericho chuckled as he ran do
wn the stairs to lead his pack.

“I didn’t see that coming.”

Alex turned at Kalia’s voice. He gave her a smile. “Thanks for the support.”

She shrugged. “I think Boris was ready to kill you.”

He nodded and leaned against the wall to ease the weight from his leg. “Yeah, me too. Why’d you do it?”

She was
silent for a few moments. When she spoke, her voice was quiet. “My parents hid the fact that Boris was a werewolf from me for years. They sent him away here during the school year and said he was at the military academy. He was always so angry when he came home, and I realize now it was because he could never speak about what he was. He was always forced to hide it, to be ashamed of it.” She smiled. “You gave him something today when you turned the training over to him.”

The thought made Alex feel a bit better about his decision. He eased carefully down the wall so that he could sit with his leg out. “Yeah, but you stood up for me before you knew what I was going to do.”

A small smirk showed on her face as she sat down beside him. “Maybe I have my own form of rebellion.”

Alex snorted. “So you were trying to cause dissension?”

She raised her eyebrows. “Now who’s using big vocabulary words?”

He grinned. “Let’s just say that being a Lifer at the Academy comes with its share of perks.”

She laughed. “If that’s a perk, I’m glad I’m not a Lifer.”

He chuckled and rested his head against the brick wall. A pack of wolves rushed by in a tight formation. He recognized Drake leading them. Pack Jessilyn was close behind.
“Looks like training is going well,” he noted.

Pack Torin came loping by. Alex sat up when he saw Pack Boris rounding the opposite corner. They ran straight at each other.

“Oh, great,” Kalia muttered.

Torin and Boris veered to either side at the last moment. Each Alpha snapped at the other
while the packs broke through with growls and a few snarls.

“Guess you can’t change everything,” Kalia said.

“Who says I want to?” Alex replied.

Kalia laughed. “So you approve of dissension?”

Alex thought about it for a moment. “I do.” At Kalia’s look, he explained, “Packs in the wild defend their territories against other packs. It bands them together to fight for what they love.”

Kalia gave a huff of surprise. “And I just thought you liked trouble.”

He smiled. “I won’t deny that trouble between the packs keeps their attention from me. I’ve managed to cause a few problems this term already.”

“Yes, you have,” she agreed.

Alex glanced at her. “Shouldn’t you be running with Pack Boris?”

She shook her head. “What am I supposed to do? Bite at someone with my human teeth? Scary.”

He stared at her. “You wish you were a werewolf.”

Kalia appeared affronted. “I do not,” she protested.

Alex nodded. “Yes, you do. You wish you were out there training with the rest of them. You want fur and fangs.”

“I do not!” she replied with a laugh. “That’s ridiculous. I hate werewolves.”

“So that’s why you’re sitting here talking to one?”

She looked surprised, then embarrassed. “You’re different than they are.”

“I turn into a wolf, too,” he pointed out.

“Not that,” she said. “You’re not
another follower, even though being a Gray, I think you’re supposed to be.”

He
fell silent.

She glanced at him. “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head. “Don’t be. You’re right.” He leaned forward with his elbow on his good leg and studied the cement at his feet. “I’ve never fit in here, no matter how hard I pretend. This is the first year I’ve actually been a Second. Usually, I’m picked last and spend my time wishing for summer when the Termers go home.”

“And now?” Kalia asked.

He let out a sigh. “Now, I have a position, but I don’t know how long Jericho’s going to tolerate me. I have so many of my own ideas it’s hard to follow somebody else, even when he is a good leader.”

“Perhaps you can lead by following,” Kalia suggested.

He gave her a quizzical look. “What does that mean?”

She laughed at his tone. “You already did it. Look.” She gestured toward another wolf pack running by. This was led by Shannon and Shaylee. The white wolves led their Grays silently. The pack ghosted by on soft paws. “They’re doing what you suggested, but you’re not leading them.”

“Yet their accomplishing what I set out to do,” Alex concluded quietly.

She nodded. “Keep it up, and everyone will be answering to you without realizing it.”

Alex gave a huff of approval. “I’d say I was smart, but I didn’t realize that’s what I was doing.”

Kalia grinned and her icy blue eyes danced. “So your sister’s the brains of the operation?”

“Don’t tell her,” Alex said. “It’ll go to her head.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Kalia promised.

Alex stood by the door in the closet a few days later. He tried to push against it, but it was locked from the inside. He found a knot hole near the middle of the door. He touched it. To his surprise, a little red light scanned his finger. The door refused to budge. He realized that falling through it the other day had been a fluke. Someone must have not shut it all the way after using the fingerprint scanner.

It was well past
three o-clock in the morning. The packs had already gone to bed, and Alex hadn’t heard any sounds from the instructors’ wing when he walked by. He took a chance and tapped on the door.

No one answered.

Alex glanced around the supply closet. Above the shelves of paper towels and toilet cleaner, he spotted a small camera. Alex grinned and waved, giving his best innocent expression. He knocked on the door again while looking at the camera.

He heard footsteps up the stairs.

“I can’t let you in here.”

Alex smiled at Brock’s voice. “Yes, you can.”

“No, I can’t,” Brock answered. “This is a highly restricted area.”

“Then why are you in there?”

Brock blew out an exasperated breath. “Because I work here.”

“But you’re not a werewolf,” Alex pointed out.

“That really doesn’t matter,” Brock answered.

Alex leaned against the door. “Then we should work together. We’d be a good team.”

“What makes you think I want to be on your team?”

“Because you were my brother’s friend,” Alex answered.

There was silence, then something beeped and the door slid open. Brock stood in the way before Alex could go down the stairs. He held an apple in one hand that had two bites taken out of it. “What does that have to do with anything?” the spikey-haired human asked.

“It has to do with everything,” Alex said quietly, his tone serious. “
Drogan killed my parents. Jet would want them avenged, especially since they seem so intent on killing his siblings as well.”

Brock hesitated. Alex could tell he had gotten to the man. “You really should let Jaze handle it,” Brock finally said.

Alex jumped on the indecision in his voice. “I am, really. I just want to be better prepared if Drogan comes back, and so I need your help.”

“Do you?” Brock asked dryly.

His tone caught Alex off guard. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Brock sighed and led the way back down the stairs.
He took a bite of the apple as he walked. The crunch echoed down the staircase. Alex followed close behind. As soon as the werewolf passed, the door slid shut. He limped down the stairs after the human.

“It means that I’ve been watching you
r little night games exercises the past few nights. Everyone else passes it off as some new game you guys made up, but I can tell it’s more than that.”

Alex was glad to see that the room was empty. The wall of cameras from the Academy that lined the north side showed empty halls and a quiet forest. “What makes you say that?”

Brock sat down on his chair and spun around to face the werewolf. “Because they’re the same exercises Jaze ran with the professors here when the Academy first opened.”

Alex took the next seat. “Why did they stop?”

Brock shrugged. “We got more students, and Mouse’s cameras were supposed to work better, and— why am I explaining anything to you?”

Alex smiled. “Because you’re going to help us.”

“What? Give your little werewolf army the information to track Drogan down so you can end the threat once and for all?” Brock’s eyes widened at the expression on Alex’s face. “That’s exactly what you want to do, isn’t it?”

“Yes, except that finding
Drogan doesn’t end the threat, because the General will still be out there.”

Brock’s eyes narrowed. “And you think that by finding the son, you can flush out the father.”

Alex leaned forward in his chair. “Just like they used Cassie to flush me out. Blood is strong. We can use that against them.”

“What’s this
we
business? You heard Jaze. Let them handle it,” Brock protested.

“I can’t do that,” Alex replied. He sat back in his chair and folded his arms. “They killed my parents and threatened my sister. That’s enough
to make anyone see red. I’m trying to handle it the right way.”

“You can’t expect a bunch of students to act like an army,” Brock argued.

“You’re right,” Alex agreed. Brock’s mouth fell open. Alex continued, “But I can expect a bunch of werewolves to act like a pack. That’s all I’m doing, using instinct to my advantage.”

Brock’s eyebrows pulled together. “You really do know what you’re doing.”

“I know a little extra security couldn’t hurt this place,” Alex replied. He gestured at the cameras. “It looks like you have it all covered, but I just want to be careful. Cassie’s safety is my greatest concern. No little girl should have to wake with night terrors each night because she was there when her parents were murdered.”

“You’re the same age she is,” Brock said quietly.

Alex leaned his head in his hand, his gaze on the floor. “On the outside, yes, but not on the inside. I held Cassie against me so she wouldn’t see them die, but I couldn’t let Drogan’s men be the last thing my parents saw. They knew I loved them, because I didn’t look away. I wasn’t strong enough to save my parents, but when my mom mouthed that she loved me before Drogan cut her throat, I said it back, and she knew I meant it.” Alex let out a shuddering breath and looked at Brock. “I am Cassie’s protector. I never want her to go through something like that. If I can find Drogan and the General, she’ll never have to.”

Brock sat back in his chair. He ran a hand down his face as if the things Alex had told him bothered him deep inside.
His foot tapped on the floor as he thought. He glanced at the pile of junk food sitting next to his workplace, reached for a donut, then shook his head and sat back. He finally made up his mind. “I’ll help you,” he said. “What do you need?”

Alex’s face lightened. “Jaze mentioned that
Drogan was in Haroldsburg when Cassie and I were attacked. I just need to know if he appears there again, that’s all.”

“Alright,” Brock agreed. “I’ll let you know.”

Alex stood. “Thanks.” He shook Brock’s hand, then headed for the stairs. He paused with his foot on the step. “Hey, any chance I can get clearance for down here?”

“No way,” Brock replied sternly.

Alex chuckled as he made his way up the steps. “I had to ask.”

The door at the top beeped, then open
ed. Alex stepped through into the storage closet.

“You’re turning into a regular insomniac,” Jericho noted when Alex opened the door.