Werewolf Academy Book 1: Strays (6 page)

“We’re good,” Raynen muttered. He turned and barked, “Get out here.” He stalked down the hallway without waiting for his pack to respond.

Jericho’s pack waited res
pectfully until they were gone.

“Let’s eat,” Jericho said simply before walking down the hall.

The rest fell in line behind him. Cassie smiled at Alex. He couldn’t help a thrum of excitement that went through him at the thought that perhaps this term would be different from all the rest after all.

Each pack sat at their own rectangular table spaced along the Great Hall. A spread of turkey, baked potatoes, honeyed ham, fresh rolls, stuffing, and cranberry sauce filled each table.
Spiced eggnog and horchata made up the drink choices along with iced water with floating lemon slices.

“This is better than anything we eat at home!” Marky exclaimed.

Alex gave the boy a warm smile. The werewolf was one of the new seven year olds at the Academy for their first term. He had become a part of their pack by default because it was either Marky, a Fifth Year named Justice who glared daggers at Alex and would no doubt kill him in his sleep if chosen for Jericho’s pack, or Brace, a werewolf Alex had scuffled with on a few occasions and chose not to put that on his pack.

Seeing Marky’s expression as he took a bite of turkey convinced Alex that he had made the right decision. “You’ll eat good ever
y day you’re here,” Alex told him.

Marky’s wide
green gaze widened. “You mean the Strays eat like this all year long?”

A fierce rage swept through Alex. H
is hands clenched into fists. Trent opened his mouth to snap at the werewolf, but Alex took a calming breath and held up a hand. Jericho watched them both with interest. “Marky, we prefer to be called Lifers instead of Strays. Just because we’re orphans doesn’t mean we don’t have a home. The Academy is our home.” Alex’s heart clenched away from the term, but he forced himself to continue, “If you want to make friends here, don’t use the term Stray again, okay?”

Marky nodded, his eyes even wider. “I’m s-sorry, Alex.”

“It’s alright,” Alex reassured him. “This is your first year. You’re still learning the ropes.”

“Me, too, apparently,” Jericho said quiet
ly when everyone else had returned to eating and talking. “For a second there, I thought you might actually attack him.”

Alex hesitated, then nodded. “I almost did.” He
met the Alpha’s gaze. “It’s a touchy subject.”

Jericho nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Alex felt eyes on him. He glanced over his shoulder to meet Boris’ gaze. The leader of the Termers glared at him. Alex stifled a sigh and turned back to the table. Apparently, he had made more than a few enemies at the Choosing.

“You did a good job,” Cassie whispered.

Alex smiled at her as she piled turkey between two rolls, smashed it down, and took a huge bite. Though Cassie was small, she put even more food away than Alex. She had a tendency to eat when nervous, so dining in the Great Hall actually helped to calm her fear of being around crowds.

“Thanks,” Alex whispered back.

Alex loved the soft shush of the grass beneath his feet as he made his way to the statue. It looked even bigger under the midnight sky, a huge Alpha wolf ready to protect the Academy should it come under threat.

“No one would mess with you,” Alex said aloud. He took a deep breath of the cool night air; his senses flooded with the crisp scent of the pines that circled the Academy walls, the tangle of mois
ture that hinted at rain, and the bare wisp of a small herd of deer that bounded away from the walls, probably being pursued by Rafe’s pack.

“I wish you could smell this,” Alex said with a touch of sorrow in his voice. “I know you’d love it.”

He shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned against the statue’s right foreleg. It was his favorite place at night. The lights were out in the Academy windows, stars winked down from their deep velvet blanket, and the wind, always the wind, circling, toying with his black hair that was getting a bit longer than he usually let it grow, and promising that a run beyond the walls would be amazing.

Alex was about to give into the
urge to run when the front door to the Academy opened.

The form paused on the top step, then made its way to the statue.

The familiar scent made Alex’s tight muscles loosen.

“I thought I’d find you here,” Dean Jaze said amiably
when he reached the statue.

Alex smiled. “Maybe I’m getting too predictable.”

The dean chuckled. “You proved that wrong today.”

Alex nodded. “That was a bit above the norm.”

“A bit,” Jaze conceded, smiling at the sarcasm. “I suppose the Lifers and Termers are getting along?”

“As good as can be expected. Someone tied our door shut,” Alex said. At Jaze’s raised eyebrows, Alex shrugged. “I untied it. No harm done.”

Jaze’s gaze said he guessed more than what Alex let on. “Be careful, Alex. Don’t push yourself too hard. I know how much you want to be an Alpha.”

Alex shook
his head. He lowered his gaze and said quietly, “I don’t want to be an Alpha. I want to be like my brother.”

Jaze’s eyes traveled from the young Gray to the statue of the black wolf behind him.

Heartbreak filled Alex’s voice when he asked the question that had circled in his mind hundreds of times but he had never dared to ask. He made himself do so now. “Could you have saved him?”

Jaze let out a slow breath. He turned and leaned against the base of the statue next to Alex. He glanced at the
young werewolf. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked myself that same question,” he said. “How many times I’ve ran the scenario over and over again in my head.” The dean closed his eyes. “If I had known he was going to sacrifice himself for me, I would have demanded to go up there beside him, and he knew that.”

“And you would have died, too,” Alex
answered in a whisper.

Jaze nodded. “I would have fought side by side with my best friend and died beside him.” He stifled a smile when he said, “And he would have been so angry at me for sacrificing myself, even if I pointed out that was exactly what he had done.”

Alex fought to keep the pain at bay, forcing the memories away of the day his parents were killed. Jet had found them and taken them to a werewolf safe house called Two. It was there he and Cassie had been told about Jet’s death. He hadn’t broken down then; he had been strong for Cassie, holding her as she cried, lost inside herself at the thought of all of their loved ones gone.

At the Academy, he had to be strong for different reasons. While Cassie found consolation in the woods and in the peace that reigned when the terms were no longer in session, Alex was constantly on guard,
fighting for his spot among the packs, hoping someday to prove Jet proud, to be a brother worthy of the one who had died to make the Academy happen.

“I think he deserves to be here instead of me,” Alex said quietly.

Jaze looked at him. He was quiet for several minutes. Alex appreciated the way the dean never talked down to him or acted like his opinion didn’t matter. Jaze and Nikki were all Alex and Cassie had when they were brought to the Academy. Jaze had become a father figure to the twins, helping them through the heartache as he survived it himself.

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought that myself,” Jaze admitted into the silence. “He had gone through so much in his life. To see what he had become in the time I knew him made me realize what it truly meant to love and to sacrifice, to trust and to be loyal.”

Jaze looked at Alex as if debating how much he should tell the boy. He turned his gaze to the stars twinkling above, watching their world with impassive eyes, dwarfed by the moon that hung low as if caught in the trees. “He told me to kill him once,” Jaze said softly.

Alex turned in surprise and looked at the dean. Jaze’s dark brown eyes were filled with tears. “He did?” Alex asked.

Jaze nodded. “It was the day my mom died. I had been taken prisoner by someone who was supposed to be my ally. He had Jet and other werewolves tied up. My mother was to be killed if I didn’t murder the werewolves in front of national television to prove that werewolves were a threat to the world. Jet looked me in the eyes and told me to kill him so I could save my mom and Nikki.”

Jaze swallowed and fell silent.

“What did you do?” Alex asked in a voice just above a whisper.

Jaze let out a shuddering breath. “There wasn’t really a choice. I realized that, looking at your brother who was chained
. It was something I had promised him he would never go through again. I loved your brother with all my heart. He was my brother, too. We had fought and bled beside each other.” He let out a slow breath. “They weren’t going to let my mom go, and she never would have chosen her life above the five werewolves chained against the wall. I freed them, and Jet helped me get them home. One of the werewolves married Mouse.”

“Lyra,” Alex breathed. The realization struck him hard. He rubbed a hand across his face to chase away the tears. “
You had to sacrifice your mom to save Jet?”

Jaze nodded, his gaze on the trees that swayed with the gentle night breeze. “There really wasn’t a choice, but Jet had been willing to lay down his life just the same, even if it was in vain. He loved my mom and he would have gladly died if it meant her freedom.”

“But it wouldn’t have,” Alex said. A knot tightened in his stomach. “It was a catch twenty-two.”

“It was,” Jaze agreed quietly.
“Most of what we were living through before the Academy was created turned out to be. We thought we had friends, but they turned against us, attempting to wipe us out because they feared we were stronger.”

“Shouldn’t the weak unite with the strong?” Alex asked, thinking of the way the strongest wolves in a pack protected those who were weaker.

A light appeared in Jaze’s eyes. “Yes. That’s why we built this place, to teach werewolves how to fit in and how to help the world instead of being a threat to it.”

“Even though the world is a threat to werewolves?” Alex
asked.

A small smile touched Jaze’s lips. “Yes.”

Alex was quiet for several minutes, then said, “I think Jet would be proud of what you’ve done.”

Jaze studied the younger werewolf. “You think so?”

Alex nodded. “I know it.”

Jaze smiled and looked up at the stars again. “I sure hope so.” He glanced at Alex. “There’s something I want to tell you.”

Curiosity glittered in Alex’s dark blue gaze. “What?”

“Nikki’s pregnant.”

Alex’s eyes widened.

“I don’t want you or Cassie to be worried about being forgotten when the baby’s born,” Jaze hurried to say. “You’ll always be a part of our family and we’ll always be there for you. So don’t worry—”

Alex surprised Jaze by giving him a tight hug. “I’m happy for you,” Alex said. “You guys are going to be great parents.”

Jaze smiled down at him and ruffled the young werewolf’s black hair. “Thanks for the vote of confidence. We have a lot to learn.”

Alex stepped back and tipped his head toward the Academy. “I know a great place to learn it.”

Jaze laughed. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s try to catch some sleep before chaos breaks out in the morning.”

“Good idea,” Alex agreed.

He walked beside Jaze back to the Academy. The statue watched over them, its black wolf form chasing away the fears of the night.

Dean Jaze stood as breakfast wound down. “Today is your first day of classes,” he began, addressing the werewolves who had gathered at their pack tables in the Great Hall. “Due to the great increase in students, we have set up this year different than the terms before. Instead of one pack per classroom, we will have two packs at a time. You will be rotated so that you don’t share all classes with the same packs. First Termers, follow your Alphas.” He smiled at Jericho. “Alphas, if you don’t know where to go, follow the Sixth Years.”

At Jaze’s invitation, Professor
Nikki stood. She held up a piece of paper. Happiness flooded Alex when her hand strayed subconsciously to her stomach. She seemed to catch herself and took it away again, but she and Jaze exchanged a warm smile.

Alex leaned over to Cassie. “Nikki’s pregnant,” he whispered.

Cassie’s eyes widened. She looked from Nikki back to Alex. “Really?” At Alex’s nod, she let out a gasp of excitement. Everyone looked at her. A blush ran across Cassie’s face and she sank down in her chair. When the students looked away again, she whispered, “That makes me so happy!”

“I know,” Alex replied, grinning at his sister. He followed
her gaze back to Nikki.

The professor read from the page. “Packs Torin and Drake will meet in room twelve. Packs Raynen and Shannon will begin with
Rafe and Colleen outside the wall.”

Raynen gave a loud groan.