Werewolf Academy Book 2: Hunted (31 page)

“I like our way better,” Kalia replied, punching Boris in the arm.

“Me, too,” he said with a good-natured grin. “Should I flush your favorite shirt down the toilet?”

“If you do, your brush will follow,” Kalia retorted.

Alex and Cassie stared at Boris. The big Alpha shrugged. “So I have a good brush.” He ran a hand through his white-blond hair. “Got to keep this looking good.”

Kalia rolled her eyes.

Alex laughed. “Let’s get inside. I’m starving.”

He and Cassie were about to hurry in when he noticed Kalia struggling with her suitcase.

He took it from her and hefted it easily with his werewolf strength. “After you, ladies.”

Kalia and Cassie exchanged a look. Cassie laughed. “Apparently going home with you has been good for him.”

Kalia smiled back. “We’ll see how long it lasts. They’re all animals out here.” Both girls burst into laughter.

“Alright, alright,” Alex told them. “Get inside.”

They ran ahead of him as he and Boris carried the luggage.

“Girls,” Boris said with a shake of his head.

Pack Jericho met them in the common room.

“Good to see you survived the holiday,” Jericho told him, slapping Alex on the back.

“You, too,” Alex replied. “Any excitement while I was gone?”

“Trent managed to blow up a wall in Professor Mouse’s
chemistry lab,” Terith told him.

“Terith!” Trent rebuked her. “You promised you’d keep that a secret!”

“The whole school felt it,” Jericho replied to save Terith from her brother’s wrath. “It took them two days to clean all the walls.”

“What were you doing?” Alex asked.
“We don’t even have chemistry this term.”

Trent gave an embarrassed shrug. “
I was trying to perfect a formula for a high-nitrogen chemical fertilizer to use in Professor Dray’s greenhouses. He said he would give me extra credit.” Trent blushed. “But I had a little accident involving tipping over the Bunsen burner.”

“He was flirting with Cherish,” Terith put in.

“Raynen’s Second, really?” Jericho replied interestedly.

Trent waved his hand. “That’s beside the point! Anyway, the flame
accidentally ignited the ammonium nitrate mixture and the rest is still being scrubbed off the walls.”

“It stinks in there,” little Caitlyn said with a giggle.

Alex grinned. “Sounds exciting. So Cherish, huh?”

“That’s not the point!” Trent argued. Everyone laughed.

“Amos and Parker got into a fight,” Jericho said. “Apparently Pack Boris had a hard time not fighting the entire holiday with their Alpha gone. Parker told Amos he couldn’t have any of the cookies they were serving with Christmas dinner because he wanted Amos to clean the toilets in Pack Boris’ quarters.”

Alex tried to picture the huge werewolf fighting Parker. “I can guess who won.”

Jericho nodded. “Amos broke Parker’s other arm, then ate his own cookies and Parker’s. I’m glad I don’t have to sort that one out.”

Alex shrugged. “Maybe Boris will let Amos be in our pack again next year.”

“We can hope,” Jericho replied.

Alex put his things back in his room. He stood there for a moment breathing in the familiar scents. It felt so good to be home.

Alex began to unpack his suitcase.

“Have you seen Jaze?” Alex asked when Cassie’s familiar footsteps paused in the doorway along with another set he recognized.

“We haven’t,” Tennison replied.

Cassie smiled. “I’m sure he’s enjoying some family time with Nikki and baby William during the holidays.”

Alex nodded. “I can’t blame him.” He picked up something from his bag. “Want to go with me to give this to Meredith?”

Cassie’s eyes widened
when she took the object from Alex. It was a snow globe with a family of wolves inside. They lounged in a snow-laden forest. One of the pups was tackling another while the parents relaxed beneath the trees.

“It’s beautiful,” Cassie exclaimed.

“Think she’ll like it?”

“She’ll love it,” his sister gushed. “Let’s go give it to her.”

“I’ll catch you afterwards,” Tennison said.

To Alex’s surprise, Cassie stood on her tiptoes and kissed the skinny werewolf on the cheek. “Okay, see you soon.”

She skipped out of the room ahead of Alex.

He looked at Tennison. The werewolf had the presence of mind to look somewhat abashed. “Uh, sorry about that. She’s a bit free with her affection.”

Alex tried not to let it bother him. “That’s okay. I’m glad you two are happy.”

Tennison nod
ded. “I’m not going to hurt her; don’t worry.”

Alex gave him a level look. “I’m trusting you.”

Tennison nodded again. “You saved my life. I’m not going to stab you in the back.”

“Thanks,”
Alex said, though worry for his sister still lingered around the edges of his mind.

“You coming, Alex?” Cassie called from the common room.

“I’d better go,” Alex said. He hurried from Tennison, sure it would do him good to put some space between himself and his sister’s chosen boyfriend for the moment.

He followed Cassie down the stairs to the medical wing. They found Meredith in the back mending a rip in a hospital gown. Meredith’s smile lit the room when she saw the twins enter.

“No matter how careful you tell werewolves to be with these things, they just don’t know their own strength,” Meredith said, putting her sewing aside to embrace the siblings. “It’s so good to have you back, Alex.”

“Good to be back,” Alex replied.

When Meredith let them go, Cassie cleared her throat pointedly.

“Oh, uh,
we brought you a Christmas present,” Alex said quickly.

Cassie put it in her aunt’s hands.

Meredith stared down at the tiny scene. “It’s beautiful!” she exclaimed.

The smile that glowed on her face warmed Alex’s heart.

Meredith shook the snow globe, causing tiny flakes to dance through the water and swirl around the wolf family.

“It’s perfect,” Meredith said. Alex was surprised to see tears in her eyes. She pulled them both close again and gave them an even tighter hug.

“I made you this!” she exclaimed, letting them go as if suddenly remembering. She hurried to a cloth bag by the table and pulled out something long. She walked back to Alex and wrapped the scarf around his neck. “I know it’s silly to make scarves for werewolves, since you don’t get that cold and all, but I liked the colors and figured it was something. I’m not exactly sure what else you would like, so I guess you’ll have to settle for this even though it’s only a scarf and I’m sure there are many more things you would have liked. I just don’t know enough about—”

“I like it,” Alex said with a warm laugh.

“You do?” Meredith asked with a hopeful smile.

Alex nodded. “Very much.” He wrapped the scarf made of black and silver thick, soft yarn closer around his neck. “It fits perfectly.”

Aunt Meredith and Cassie laughed.

“That’s the nice thing about scarves,” Meredith said with a pleased smile.

Cassie grinned. “She made me one, too. I’ll show it to you when we go back upstairs.”

“Thank you, Aunt Meredith,” Alex told her, giving his aunt another hug.

“You’re welcome, Alex. I’m glad you’re back,” she replied.

Alex made his way to Nikki and Jaze’s rooms. He found Nikki in
the living room playing with baby William. Nikki gave him a big hug.

“It’s great to have you back,” she exclaimed.

“Thank you,” Alex replied, ruffling baby William’s hair. “Have you seen Jaze?”

Nikki shook her head. “They left a while ago on a mission. You could check with Brock.”

Alex thanked her and slipped through the hidden entrance to the tunnel from Jaze’s main living quarters. He worked quickly along the passage without the need of light. He was anxious to find out if Mouse had figured out a way to block Drogan’s heat signature recognition technology so that the other students would be safe while he was at the school. If not, he was determined to leave again and return only when his presence wasn’t a danger. His time out with Boris had let him know that there were indeed werewolves living successfully in hiding. If he had to, he would join them.

“Brock?” Alex called when he reached the small monitoring room.

The human was nowhere to be found. Alex left through the side tunnel to the huge security cavern.

“Brock!” he yelled.

There was no answer. A seed of foreboding began to sprout in Alex’s chest. Whenever Jaze’s pack was on a mission, Brock’s job was to be their eyes and ears. He was always glued to the screens, yet he was nowhere to be found.

“Brock, come in Brock.” Jaze’s voice demanded.

Alex grabbed the small headset near the computer.

“Jaze, it’s me, Alex.”

“Alex, what are you doing there? You’ve got to find Brock,” Jaze said.

Alex scanned the monitors. They showed scenes from security cameras around a large facility he didn’t recognize. None of the footage from the team’s cameras came through.

“What’s going on?” Alex asked.

“We’re trapped, and there are other lives on the line. If you can’t find Brock, I need you to call the GPA. You’ve got to send them to our location. I’ll upload it to you now.” Coordinates appeared on the screen.

“Got it,” Alex answered.

“And Alex,” Jaze began. The voice muffled. Several shots were fired. Static filled the air.

Alex’s heart began to race. “Jaze?” he called. There was no answer.

Alex raced up the stairs. He burst into Pack Jericho’s quarters. Cassie and Tennison were playing a
card game on the floor while Jericho, Terith, and Trent were discussing night games diagrams at the table.

“Alex, what’s wrong?” Cassie asked
, alarmed at the look on his face.

“I need all of you to come with me and not ask any questions,” Alex replied
as he fought to catch his breath from the mad dash.

“Let’s go,” Jericho commanded.

Von appeared at the doorway to the hall. “What’s going on?”

“Von, can you cover for us for a bit?” Alex asked. “We’ve got to go do something, and we might be a while.”

“No problem,” Von replied.

Kalia walked in from the girls’ hallway. She paused
when everyone looked at her.

“Uh, is everything okay?” she asked uncertainly.

“Kalia, come with us,” Alex said.

At his tone of command, she fell in line behind the others. Alex raced back down the stairs. The sound of the six other set of footsteps filled him with certainty that he was making the right decision.

Alex led the way into Jaze’s office and shoved open the door to the tunnel. The members of Pack Jericho stared at him with astonishment.

“
I don’t have time to explain,” Alex said. He motioned them inside. Kalia, at least, had been there before. She helped lead the others down to the main cavern.

“Welcome to the Wolf Den
,” Alex said, shoving past his pack mates. He hurried to the surveillance wall, then turned to face them. “Jaze and the others are trapped on a mission. We need to get them out.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Trent asked.

Alex pointed to the helicopter. “Can you fly that?”

Trent swallowed noisily, then nodded. “I’ve been working with Professor Mouse on a smaller style, but the basic controls should be the same.”

Alex nodded. “Then this is a good idea. Everyone to the chopper.”

He grabbed Kalia’s arm
before she could join them. “Not you. I need you here.”

“You going into danger,” Kalia argued. “I’m not staying behind.”

Alex pointed at the screens. “I need you to be our eyes and ears.” He picked up the headset. “Someone has to let us know if we’re walking into danger. Can you do that?”

Kalia hesitated. Her eyes roamed from the helicopter to the
weapons desk on the other side of the room. “You’re going armed?”

“Definitely,” Alex told her.

“Be careful,” Kalia said. To his surprise, she kissed him lightly on the lips.

Alex stared at her in shock.

“Come back here, okay?” Kalia asked quietly.

Alex nodded numbly.

Kalia smiled. “Go then.” She pushed him gently toward the weapons table.

“Come on, Romeo,” Jericho called, already sorting through the guns, knives, grenades, and other equipment Alex didn’t even know the name of.

Alex shook himself and jogged to the table. He picked up a Glock. “These guns are loaded with sleeping agents.” He glanced at the others grouped uncertainly behind him. “Don’t shoot anyone in the head.”