Relentless (14 page)

Brynna turned to walk away then stopped and looked back. “I suggest you wait at the boat. There are some others there already, so you won’t be by yourself. I’m getting something to drink, then it will be time to go. Maybe you can think of a reason why you should get to stay or figure out what’s more important, that guy you can’t seem to stay away from or our entire way of life.”

I fell into a seat on the boat, where a few other students milled around. No one paid me much attention. No one here knew what had happened. But they would soon. Maybe I should go back to Chicago. Wasn’t this whole thing hopeless anyway? I’d come to the school to train and improve my skills in hopes of eventually joining the Fenryrians so I could be with Eric.  Apparently, there’d be no opportunity for me to join the other pack. My father, whoever he was, made that impossible. But what would I do if I went home? My life had changed so much. There was the training and the schoolwork and the lab. I liked all those things, and back home, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to continue them or compete in Bodinwa. Here, I was becoming someone else. I wasn’t the same person I’d been before I’d found out about being a werewolf. Or maybe I was seeing who I really was and who I could be. I didn’t want to go home. I wanted…no, I
needed
, to stay here.

“She has to understand she can’t continue to interact with the boy.”

“We could send her back home. She doesn’t have to continue to be part of The Project.”

I sat quietly as the discussion bounced back and forth among the board members of the school. Louise had yet to speak, as the five other people discussed the dangers of my involvement with Eric.

“She can’t go back. That is not an option.” Vincent Unger’s voice filled the room, and the discussion stopped.

I had expected to be dragged off to this meeting as soon as Louise and the other instructors heard what had happened in Key West. Instead, I’d been sequestered in the dormitory for twenty-four hours. Once I’d walked into this room and seen Vincent, I realized they’d been waiting on him to arrive. Vincent was the head of the entire Lycernian council as well as a physician. I’d met him this past summer, and we’d gotten along well. He was insanely handsome even if he was Louise’s age. I flashed him a half smile, but he only frowned at me.

“What do you suggest we do, Vincent?” Ms. Bowen, the head of the English department, didn’t attempt to hide the irritation in her voice.

“I’ll talk to her.”

No one spoke immediately, but the outrage in the room was tangible and seemed to swell and grow.

This time, Ms. Bowen’s words came out accusingly. “I thought she’d already been spoken to about the dangers of this.”

Everyone at the table turned to look at Louise. My aunt’s face was tense, and I knew I’d put her in a bad position. I hadn’t meant to, yet I couldn’t say I hadn’t been warned.

“I’ll move to the island and stay in a cottage.” Louise sat straight and tall, facing the group with no sign of fear. “Alexis will move out of the dorm and in with me.”

I knew better than to argue with Louise’s suggestion. What was there to say? The last thing Eric had said was that we couldn’t be together. Twice before, when we tried, someone ended up trying to kill me, first Channing, then her parents. In my mind, I knew the dangers of being with Eric, but the thought of never seeing him again made my chest ache.

The others at the table seemed to take this in. They must have had a silent agreement because several nodded, then everyone except Louise and Vincent stood and left the room. I pushed my body hard against the back of my chair. Waiting. The room remained quiet, and the two adults at the table didn’t look at me or each other. They both stared at the gleaming wood of the table for what seemed like forever.

“They’ll kill her or possibly take her if it doesn’t stop.” Vincent’s words were low as he studied the pattern his finger was tracing on the slick, wooden tabletop.

Louise only nodded in response.

“I want to stay here and keep learning,” I said.

Vincent got up and walked to the door before slowly turning to look at me. “I hope you’ll grow up and stop putting yourself and everyone around you in danger.”

“I am grown-up,” I blurted.

“Then start acting like it, and think about somebody other than yourself for once.” His chest rose and fell as he worked to control his anger. After a moment, he spun around and slammed the door behind him as he left.

Louise still sat, staring at the table.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

She nodded without looking up.

“I didn’t even go to Key West with plans to meet Eric this time. I didn’t think they’d be watching, that they’d try to stop us. I really didn’t think they’d come after me.”

“This time.”

“What?”

“You said you didn’t go with plans to meet him this time. Which means there have been other times when you went and did plan to meet him.” Louise stood. “I don’t know how to make you understand how dangerous this is or make you see what you’re facing. None of us thought they’d come after you like that. I’m not sure why they did, but you have to be careful now. And don’t think because they capture you and take you to one of their holding facilities that you’ll eventually get to be with Eric. It won’t happen that way.”

“That’s what Eric said. That his father would never allow us to be together even though they might want me to be part of their pack.”

“Well, I’m glad at least one of you can face the facts.” She started toward the door.

I chewed my lower lip for a moment as she walked away. “They know who my father is.”

Louise stopped in mid-stride.

“How do you know?” Her words were barely above a whisper, and her back was still to me.

“Eric told me.”

“He told you who your father is?” She turned then, her skin pale under the fluorescent lights.

I sat up straighter in my chair. “No, Eric didn’t know who he was, but he said someone in his pack did, and that’s why he and I could never be together and I’d never be accepted as a Fenryrian, because of who my father is.” I couldn’t look at her for a moment, then I forced myself to meet her dark gaze. “Do you know?”

“No, and I don’t know why they think they do. Your mother doesn’t even know. I imagine that’s a lie they’ve made up to tell Eric. I’m sure they’ve picked a new mate for him and want him to forget about you. He’s destined to lead their pack. He’ll never hold that position if he’s involved with you.”

Neither one of us spoke for a few moments. Louise went back to the door again and waved for me to follow.

“You’ll have to move out of the dorm and into one of the cottages with me.”

I shrugged and got up.

“You don’t mind?”

“No, not really.”

She arched a brow at me. “Not finding dorm life a lot of fun?”

“I’m not finding any of this fun right now.”

“I never promised coming here would be all fun.”

I tightened the elastic band on my ponytail and sighed. “I know. But it was the right thing to do.”

“You believe that now?” She pushed open the door, and we stepped out into the humid evening.

I nodded.

Louise put a hand on my shoulder. “I want to tell you to forget about the boy, but I know that’s not going to happen.”

I gave a half smile. “I may not be able to be with him, but forgetting him is a different thing completely.”

“Think about yourself for a while. Maybe if you find out what’s important about you, what makes you strong, the rest of this will fall into place.”

I pushed aside a large green leaf hanging over the trail. “You make it sound simple.”

Louise laughed. “I doubt it will be, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth doing.”

At the fork in the path, Louise turned toward the docks. “I’ll take a boat over and get my stuff, if you’ll go get your things from the dorm and meet me at cottage number five.”

“All right.” I started toward the dorm then stopped. “Do you mind if I get Myles to let me bring Beowulf?”

“Sure, no problem. Think Beowulf is getting tired of the dorm, too?”

“He’s good company.”

“And I’m not?”

I hurried toward the dorm. “You know what I mean,” I called back over my shoulder. But she had already disappeared down the trail.

It didn’t take long to get my things, considering I didn’t really have much anyway. How much stuff could go in a tiny room like this? After I snapped the lid on the last plastic box, I headed toward Myles’ room to ask about Beowulf.

He opened the door quickly to my knock and grabbed my arm, jerking me into the room.

I stumbled and would have fallen if he hadn’t held me up. “What are you doing? Let me go.”

“What happened today?” he hissed at me.

I worked my arm free of his grasp and rubbed it. “I met with a bunch of people who basically told me I was in a lot of trouble.”

“I imagine the guy trying to kill you helped you realize that you were in trouble. Did you say anything?”

“They weren’t really interested in me or what I had to say.”

He grasped my upper arm and leaned toward me. “You know what I’m talking about.”

I started to tell him I had no idea what he was talking about, then it hit me. “You’re wondering if I told them I saw you in town with that woman?”

His hand dropped back to his side. “That’s right. Now did you?”

“No, I didn’t say anything. It was your mother, wasn’t it?”

He walked across the room to stare out the window. I thought for a moment he wouldn’t answer. His fingertips moved across the glass pane, slowly making an indistinct pattern.

“Yes,” he said finally and dropped into a chair next to the window. “It was my mother. I met with her for the first time the day I took everyone to Key West.”

I crossed the room and sat on his bed. “I know. I saw you together.”

His eyes widened. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

I shrugged. “I figured you’d mention it when you were ready. I’m glad she finally came to see you.”

He shook his head and patted his leg. Beowulf, who had been sitting at his feet, jumped into his lap. He scratched the dog’s head as it curled up on his legs. “It wasn’t like that. I mean, when she first contacted me, I thought it would be a reunion between us. I imagined she really wanted to know who I was and what I was like. I wanted to know that about her, wanted to hear her say why she’d left, what she’d found on the other side that had pulled her away from my dad and me.”

“What did she really want, if not that?”

“She wanted to convince me to join her, to come to the Fenryrians.”

“
What
?” I hadn’t meant to sound so shocked, but I’d nearly shouted the word.

He nodded. “I know. It surprised me, too. I’ve tried to give her the benefit of the doubt. I guess she thought that maybe I was like her, that I wasn’t committed to my pack. She waited until this last visit to try to convince me, but I made it clear to her I wasn’t coming.”

I picked up the pillow from his bed and put it on my lap then rested my elbows on it. “Will you see her again?”

He rubbed his palms on his shorts, and Beowulf whined. “She left when I wouldn’t do what she wanted. So no, I don’t think she’ll be back for a visit. It wasn’t me she wanted. She wanted my skills, my abilities for her pack.”

“I’m sorry, Myles.”

“Even if I didn’t care about the pack, I couldn’t do that to my father. All this time, he’s been here with me. Where was she?” He shook his head. “I’m sorry for you. I heard what happened, and it’s the same as with me. To be with Eric, you’d have to betray everything you are, just like I would if I did what my mother wanted. I knew I couldn’t do it.”

I leaned toward him. “But I haven’t been this way my whole life like you have. I haven’t known about my past.”

“Yes, you have, inside, you’ve known, and you’ve been who you are now forever. You just have to make a choice.”

“Eric says there’s no choice, that I’ll never be accepted because of my father, but no one seems to be able to tell me who he is.”

Myles stared at me. “You still have to decide. You can’t run around hiding and trying to see Eric. This is a battle you need to be committed to. You may not have to decide today to make that commitment, but one day you will. You don’t need to know who your father is to make the choice. It’s what you want to be.”

I nodded even though it wasn’t nearly as easy as he made it sound. “I was going to ask if I could take Beowulf to stay with me. I have to leave the dorm and move into a cottage with Louise so she can keep an eye on me, but I think maybe you need his company more than I do.”

The corner of his mouth turned up slightly. “I’ll keep him tonight, and you can have him tomorrow night.”

“Okay, thanks.” I got up and went to the chair to put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry about what happened with your mom.”

“And I’m sorry about what happened with you and Eric.”

“You don’t sound like the person who was so angry with me before we went to Key West the last time.”

He shrugged. “Maybe that day I was talking to myself a little. I guess I was caught in the middle at that point. Except I knew I’d never cross over, never leave the pack I was born to, but now I can see how it might be tempting. There was a part of me that wanted her to want me, and I can see how you could be torn between somebody you love and your duty.”

“I don’t have a duty. Why do I owe the Lycernians anything?”

Myles shook his head. “You owe it to yourself to do the right thing.”

I groaned. “And the Fenryrians are the wrong thing.”

“You don’t see us chasing down my mother and whoever she went there to be with because she left us. You don’t see us killing innocent humans or trying to turn them into what we are.”

“Maybe all Fenryrians aren’t like that. Eric’s not like that. He helped me get away the other day.”

“I never said he didn’t care about you, but when it comes down to it, you don’t know what he’ll do. He can’t join our pack. His would kill him for sure.”

“And now it appears they’ll kill me if I’m with Eric.”

“Hard choices,” Myles said softly.

“Unfair choices, No choice, really.” My voice cracked, and suddenly I felt close to tears. My hand was still on Myles’ shoulder, and he pressed his on top of it.