Werewolf Academy Book 4: Taken (16 page)

A shoulder touched his softly. He looked into Siale’s soft gray eyes. She didn’t have to smile for the joy in the depths of her gaze to fill him with happiness. She tipped her head, her eyes questioning. He let his tongue hang out in a dopey wolfish grin.

Siale snorted a laugh and trotted back into the trees. Alex followed, pausing one last time to look back at the quiet meadow before he left it behind.

“Scold all you want, Alex. If you can leave the walls, we can, too,” Cassie said hours later as she and Tennison followed Alex and Siale back to where they had left the motorcycle. His sister was taking full advantage of the fact that Alex was still in wolf form and couldn’t reply to her arguments. “I know you don’t approve, but sometimes it’s nice to remember that there’s a world outside the gate. I’m sure Jaze and Nikki wouldn’t be thrilled with us, either, but wolves weren’t meant for cages.”

“I don’t think Alex minds too much,” Tennison told her as they walked side by side behind Alex and Siale. “He was out here, too.”

“Yes, but Alex seems to think he can do whatever he wants as long as everyone else is safe.” Alex glanced back in time to see her spear him with a look. “But he can’t expect us to go crazy like I would if I didn’t get out from time to time.” Her eyes narrowed. “Now don’t give me that look, Alex. This isn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last.”

Alex glanced at Siale. The light gray wolf looked like she was going to burst out laughing at any moment. He rolled his eyes and she gave a snort of laughter as though she couldn’t it keep inside any longer.

“And furthermore...”

“You’re going with ‘furthermore’?” Tennison asked.

“Yes,” Cassie replied shortly. “This requires a furthermore. Furthermore, I have my own life to live and you can’t expect me to be sheltered behind your brotherly protectiveness any longer. I can defend myself.”

“She can,” Tennison verified.

By the time they reached the motorcycle, Siale looked as though she was holding in the laughter only by sheer willpower while Alex was convinced that if he had to listen to his sister scold him any longer, he was going to explode. He quickly changed into his clothes and stepped out ready with a barrage of answers for her one-sided arguments.

“Don’t do it,” Tennison said before he opened his mouth.

“But I—”

Tennison shook his head with a quick glance in Cassie’s direction. Alex’s sister was busy looking the motorcycle over with an obvious expression of disapproval. Siale was in her human form again and watched Cassie with the same laughter in her eyes.

“It’s easier if you just let it go.”

“I can’t let it go,” Alex replied. “Otherwise Cass’ll think she can do anything she wants. She shouldn’t be out here.”

Tennison’s eyebrows lifted. “Now you’re saying exactly what she said you would.”

Alex sputtered for a moment, searching for words. “Well, uh, she really needs to be safe. The General’s looking for Drogan and if he knew Cassie was my sister, and his daughter, he would kill her for sure.”

“But he doesn’t know,” Tennison replied.

Alex paused with his mouth open. He closed it again, then gave in. “No, he doesn’t know.”

“And he won’t.”

“Not if I have anything to do with it,” Alex replied quietly.

Tennison nodded. “That’s settled then. You know your sister won’t stay within the Academy walls, so you might as well save your breath and not argue with her. She’ll be safe from the General as long as he doesn’t know she’s his daughter, and you’re not going to tell him. So that’s that.”

Alex wanted to argue. He began several arguments in his head, but they quickly tapered off. He finally sighed. “Sounds like she’s got you trained.”

“I’m glad you wear a helmet,” Cassie called from the side of the motorcycle. “At least that’s one smart thing you’re doing.”

Tennison gave a quiet chuckle. “I think she has both of us trained.”

Alex grinned ruefully and followed the werewolf back to the motorcycle.

Chapter Nineteen

“It’s one thing to lose with style. It’s another to let them know we are going to be a team to reckon with,” Coach Vance said in yet another high school locker room.

“You mean we get to win this time?” Trent asked tentatively.

Vance nodded. “We’ve lost enough to keep us out of the finals. Let’s win our last game and give them the heads up that next year we’ll be a team to contend with.”

“Let’s do it!” Amos said, jumping up. The huge werewolf almost hit his head on the ceiling. “Me pound humans.”

“No, not like that,” Vance contradicted.

Amos was a stand-in for Raynen who had failed enough tests that Nikki had removed him from the team until he could improve his grades.

The hulking werewolf grinned down at Alex. “I protect you.”

“Yes,” Alex told him. “But don’t hurt the humans.”

“How ‘bout a little knock?” Amos asked. The werewolf clenched his hand into a fist and brought it down on top of one of the lockers with enough force to dent it and make the door fly open. “Uh, oops.”

“Oops is bad,” Alex told him. “If we hurt the humans, we can’t play anymore.” He was nervous about taking the huge werewolf out there. Though the behemoth had done well in practice, that had been against werewolves who could stand his brute strength. Alex knew the humans wouldn’t be able to last against those fists.

“No hurt humans?” Amos’ voice carried a comical hint of confusion.

Alex fought back the urge to laugh. The entire team, as well as Coach Vance, was watching, and if he couldn’t get Amos to understand, they would all be running back to the Academy with Extremists on their trail.

“Humans are our friends,” Alex began.

“Human lover,” Torin muttered.

Several other members of the team broke out in laughter. They quieted at Alex’s look.

He tried to speak in terms Amos would understand. “Humans break easily. You have to be careful with them. Don’t push or hit too hard.”

Amos was silent for a few minutes. He finally nodded. “Okay. Me be nice to humans.”

Alex plastered a smile on his face. “Okay. Good. Let’s go play.”

He watched the others file out to the field. The cheering and talking from the other team competed with the sound of the pep band warming up and the calls of the cheerleaders from the home school as they got the crowd ready for the game.

“You think this is going to work?” Vance asked quietly.

Alex took a breath and let it out slowly. “I sure hope so. I mean, what else can we do at this point?”

Vance shrugged. “Say the team came down with Parvo?”

Alex grinned. “Telling Ridgeline High School that our students caught a dog virus would probably raise a few questions.”

“Probably answer a few, too,” Vance said with a small chuckle. He led the way outside and Alex followed.

The sun pierced his eyes, bathing the small field regardless of the chill that bit through even Alex’s jersey with merciless teeth. The fans in the stands wore coats, scarves, hats, gloves, and anything else they could use to keep the cold at bay. Many held cups of hot cocoa and coffee in an attempt to warm themselves from the inside out.

The cheerleaders from Ridgeline High waved yellow and green pom poms and shouted cheers; their breath left little clouds of fog in the air with each phrase. The few members of the crowd that could be persuaded to stomp and clap appeared to do so as a means of getting warm more than to follow the school spirit infused girls and boys.

“We seriously need to get us some of those,” Boris said, nodding his head toward the cheerleaders as Alex and Vance reached the huddle.

“No way,” Torin replied. “They hurt my ears.”

Boris grinned. “Wimp.”

“Come on, ladies, let’s show them what we’ve got,” Coach Vance said loudly. He then lowered his voice so only those in the football huddle could hear, “But let’s do it in a way that doesn’t kill the humans and expose our school. Got it?”

“Got it!” the werewolves replied.

Alex could see the excitement in their eyes beneath their face masks. They were being given a chance to actually win. He knew they couldn’t blow the Ridgeline muskrats out of the water completely, but just winning at all would feel great.

“Let’s take it nice and easy,” he said quietly as they made their way across the field.

“I think we should just plow them all over,” Torin responded dryly.

Alex didn’t reply. He crouched and looked around. Silence filled the small stadium. The few members of Vicki Carso’s Preparatory Academy who had been allowed to attend the last few games based on their ability to stay calm and keep up the professional appearance of the school watched their team with abated breaths. Cassie clutched Siale’s hand. Kalia sat near them, her eyes wide. Alex grinned. It was time to give them something worth watching.

“Hike,” he yelled.

The ball was in his hands. He backpedaled a few steps and scanned the field for an open receiver. Torin darted left while Boris ran past the player who was covering him with just enough speed to make it look natural. Alex’s senses told him a sack was closing in. He threw the ball, then went down with the impact from two members of the opposing team. A glance through the bodies around him showed Boris jumping up to catch the ball. The werewolf brought it to the crook of his arm and ran to the end zone.

Alex let out a whoop. So what if Boris ran just a bit faster than the humans. It didn’t matter if one of the Alphas who made Alex’s school life miserable had just scored. His team was jumping up and down. Finally, they were going to feel what it meant to win.

After shutting down the other team’s attempt to score, Alex was back on the line. Coach Vance had changed the lineup and Amos was on his right. He studied the opposing team. They were fueled up, ready to stop the drive. Alex smiled.

“Hike.”

Alex scanned the field. Boris and Torin were doing a good job of acting like their opposition could keep up. Tennison cut around Torin, using the hulking werewolf to shave off the student who kept pace with him. Alex let the ball fly. As soon as he let go, a member of the other team slammed into him and he hit the ground.

“No hurt Alex.”

Alex’s heart skipped a beat at the sound of rage in Amos’ voice. He looked up in time to see the huge werewolf shove players aside as though they were made of paper. There was no doubt in his mind that Amos was about to slam the Centerville player who had just tackled him. If that happened, the student would be hurt or worse. At the sight of Amos’ flaring nostrils and small flashing eyes, Alex knew it would be much worse.

He shoved the student away from him and charged across the field. Blue touched the edges of his vision. He hit Amos with the force of a battering ram, pummeling the werewolf to the ground. Time slowed around them. Alex’s heart thundered in his chest. He willed his breathing to steady. The realization of what he had just done filled him.

He had tackled a member of his own team who outweighed him by more than a hundred pounds. His momentum had stopped the charging werewolf in his tracks and thrown him onto his back. What did that look like to the Ridgeline fans? How could he play it off?

Amos looked up at him with wide eyes.

“Alex tackle Amos.”

Alex nodded. “You were going to hurt that boy.”

“He hurt Alex.” Confusion was bright in the werewolf’s eyes.

Alex said quietly, “I’m a werewolf, remember? They can’t hurt me.”

“Alex no hurt?”

When Alex shook his head, relief was clear on the hulking werewolf’s face.

“I need you to do something for me,” Alex said, making sure Amos heard the urgency in his tone.

“Anything for Alex.”

Alex smiled. “Good. I want you to get up and start laughing.”

“Uh, okay.”

Amos clambered to his feet and started laughing. Alex slapped him on the shoulder and laughed with him as though they were friends who had just been fooling around. A few members of their team caught on and joined in the laughter. Chuckles rose from the crowd.

Torin grabbed Alex’s shoulder. “Good job,” the Alpha said quietly.

Alex glanced around. No one appeared concerned about the quarterback tackling the huge werewolf. The other team was lining up again after Tennison’s touchdown. It was time to get off the field.

“Good move,” Coach Vance told Alex quietly. “I thought Amos was going to kill him for sure.”

“I did, too,” Alex replied. He smiled at the sight of Amos talking to Cassie near the fence that separated the stands from the field. Alex jogged over to them. “I hope I didn’t hurt you.”

Amos gave a deep chuckle. “Alex hurt Amos. No way. Amos tough.”

Alex grinned. “That’s right. You’re tough. Too tough for the other team, if you know what I mean.”

Amos nodded his big head. “Cassie tell me they break easy. I play careful.”

“Good.” Alex replied. He threw his sister a grateful look. “Thanks.”

Cassie shrugged. “What are sisters for if not to keep her brother’s teammates from smashing the other team into a pulp to protect him?”

Alex laughed. “I didn’t think I needed a bodyguard.”

That made another smile grow on Amos’ face. “I bodyguard.” He gave a deep laugh and ambled over to Coach Vance. Alex could hear him telling the coach the same thing.

“Better be careful,” Kalia warned, leaning over from Cassie’s far side. “Amos might start following you around wherever you go.”

Alex shrugged. “He’s good company.” At the girls’ looks, he said, “Not much of a conversationalist, but he has a great sense of humor.”

Siale gave him a warm smile from her seat beside Cassie. “You’re a good guy.”

Alex winked at her. “Don’t spread that around. I don’t want to ruin my reputation.”

“It’s already ruined,” Kalia said dryly.

“Alex,” Coach Vance barked.

Alex looked over his shoulder. “I’ve got to go.”

“Don’t get killed out there,” Siale told him.

Alex gave her a smile, grateful for her support.

“I’ll try not,” he said. “But I can’t promise anything.”

Siale and Cassie laughed as he hurried back to Vance’s side.

The ride home after their win felt completely different from the losses they had been forced to take. Alex sat in the back of the bus with Siale. Cassie and Tennison had the seat on their left with Trent and Jordan one seat ahead of them. Kalia had surprised him by taking the seat in front of him and Siale; Torin insisted on sitting with her.

“That was an awesome game,” Siale said. “You guys won, but didn’t make it look easy.”

“Who would have thought football meant acting,” Trent put in. “I think I could do well on a stage.”

“Maybe we should ask Nikki about setting up a drama class,” Cassie suggested.

“Don’t you dare.”

Everyone fell quiet at Torin’s irate words. “The last thing I want to do is get out on a stage rehearsing some girly play.”

“I think it might be nice,” Kalia said. “You might be good at it.”

She glanced at Alex. Her eyes tightened slightly at the corners, but her expression remained carefully even. He realized she was toying with the Alpha.

“Well, uh, maybe,” Torin said with doubt in his voice. He hesitated, then nodded. “I suppose so. If I tried it, I would definitely be good at it.”

Cassie lifted her eyebrows at Alex. He smothered a laugh.

Coach Vance’s voice crackled on the intercom, cutting through their conversation. “I know it’s been hard on you to give up so many games, but I’m proud of you guys.”

The players exchanged surprised looks, amazed to hear such positive words.

Vance waved a hand as if he knew what they were thinking. “You can all just wipe the confusion off your faces. I know I’m hard to deal with, but life isn’t always easy.” A hint of sadness showed in his eyes before he shook his head. “But it’s worth living. Make sure you do your best in everything, even losing.” He held up a football. “This is the game ball. I’m giving it to the werewolf who deserves it the most.”

He walked down the aisle between the seats. The bus swayed and he caught his balance with a hand on the ceiling.

“Seriously, Kaynan? Are you trying to kill me?” he called over his shoulder.

“If I knew it was that easy,” the red-eyed werewolf replied, grinning into the mirror above the driver seat.

Coach Vance shook his head. Alex though he heard the coach mutter the word, “Clones.”

“This ball goes to Alex,” Vance said, handing over the football. He gave Alex a smile. It looked rusty on his face as if it had been a long time since his lips had been forced to do such a thing. “You took us through a frustrating losing season, and helped us win the last game with style. And,” he held up a hand to stifle the applause. “You took Amos down before he could kill that player.”

Everyone looked at the huge werewolf who took up an entire seat by himself. “Alex smash Amos,” he said with a deep laugh.

The bus erupted into answering laughter. Werewolves leaned over and patted Alex’s shoulders. He sat back with a feeling of accomplishment. Siale kissed him on the cheek. He offered her the football.