Relentless (4 page)

“Hello.”

I couldn’t speak. All the things I’d imagined I’d say when I spoke to Eric again hung in my chest.

“Eric.” I whispered his name as though someone might overhear me, even though I was nearly surrounded by a jungle.

“Alexis, is that you?”

“Yes.”

He expelled a breath that was audible over the phone. “I’m glad you decided to call.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t?”

“I wasn’t sure how you felt after I left that night. I know you didn’t understand why I couldn’t take you with me.”

“I understand now.”

“It’s my father, both parents, really. I’m not allowed to do some things that others in my pack might be able to, simply because of who my father is and what he expects of me.”

I nodded as if he could see me. “Louise told me your father is Brodin, the leader of the Fenryrian pack. But Eric, I’m at school now, and I’m going to learn to be a strong werewolf, a fighter, a warrior.”

“For the Lycernians.”

I took a deep breath before answering then let the words out in rush. “Not necessarily.”

For a few beats, neither of us spoke.

“What are you saying?” Eric asked, breaking the silence.

“I’m saying if I can convince the Fenryrians that I’m valuable, they might want me as a member of their pack.” There. I’d said the words out loud. The main reason I’d joined Louise at the project was to get to Eric, but I’d never told anyone.

“Alexis, I have no doubt my father would want you to leave the Lycernians and join the Fenryrian pack, even with no training. Why do you think Channing was so determined to have you run with her friends and be like them, join them?  It was because my father had told her to.”

The summer before, I’d made friends with Channing, who had been promised to be mated to Eric in the future. But Eric had refused the match. When he and I had fallen in love, Channing had come after me and was killed by the head of the Lycernian council when she attacked and tried to kill me. I’d once overheard her say she’d been told to get me to join “their” side.  I hadn’t realized Eric’s dad had made the request.

“Why would he do that?”

“I’m not sure.”

I almost smiled with relief. “Then we should be able to be together. Maybe he thinks I’m the perfect choice.”

“You’re not Fenryrian,” Eric said flatly.

I realized I’d been pacing back and forth along the sand and stopped abruptly. “I could be.”

On the other end, I could hear Eric’s frustrated sigh. “I mean you weren’t born Fenryrian.”

“Is that important? You just said he’d take me into the Fenryrian pack without training.”

“You have natural ability. Of course he’d want you in our pack. But when you’re talking about the mate for his son, the son who is expected to be the next leader of the Fenryrian pack, it’s more than important that mate be born Fenryrian. It’s mandatory.”

My fingers tightened on the phone, and I dropped to my knees in the sand. “Then why are we even having this conversation?”

“I don’t know. I wanted…needed to hear your voice, see you again.”

I braced my free hand on my leg as his words rushed over me. My heart thudded in my chest. He wanted…he needed.

“Can we change his mind?” I whispered.

“I don’t think so.”

“But there’s a chance?”

“Maybe.”

I sprang to my feet, pacing again. “Then I have to try.”

On the other end, Eric was quiet for a moment before he spoke again.
       “When can you get to Key West?”

“I don’t know. I’m not even sure where it is, but I’ll work on it.”

“Okay, you’ll be able to reach me at this number, so let me know. Don’t tell anyone you’re talking to me.”

“I won’t.”

“I’ll see you soon. I miss you.”

My throat closed over the words as I choked them out. “I miss you, too.”

When I made it back to the dorm, it was time for the evening meal. I went to the dining room and got a tray of food then headed toward the table where Myles, Lana, Brynna, and Jared sat with several other people I hadn’t met.

Myles studied me as I settled in my chair and started to eat. “Where have you been, Alexis?  Lana and I stopped by your room on our way down, but you didn’t answer the door.”

I shook my head and quickly swallowed the piece of roll in my mouth. “I was walking around to get a better look at everything on my own.”

Myles seemed satisfied with that answer and went back to his own food. While we ate, I tried to keep up my end of the conversations going on around me. All the while, my mind was desperately trying to think of a way to find out where Key West was and come up with a good excuse to go there. In the end, I didn’t have to do anything. Myles did it for me.

“I’m going to Key West on Saturday.”

I sat up straighter in my chair when he said it. He didn’t notice because he was looking at Lana.

“Is it very far from here?” I asked.

Lana shook her head. “It’s not far at all. We ride Jet Skis there sometimes if we’re sure the water will be calm, but most of the time we take a boat.”

I tried to stay composed, though my insides were shaking.“I’d like to see it. Would you mind if I went with you guys?”

Lana stirred at the food on her plate and frowned. “I’m not going. I have to work all weekend.”

Myles caught her hand in his. “Don’t worry, we’ll go another time.”

She smiled at him and nodded.

“So can I go?”

“Me, too,” Brynna added from down the table.

“And me,” Jared spoke up.

Myles didn’t answer immediately, which I thought was a bit strange. For a brief second, I thought he might say no, something not at all like Myles.

“I don’t care if any of you go, but don’t expect me to babysit you the whole time.”

Lana stared at him, her eyes slightly wide, as he got up and left to dispose of his tray. She didn’t say anything but picked up her own tray and followed him.

We all split up after our meal. I went to the television room I’d seen near the front entrance on the day I’d arrived, and Jared came with me. In a few minutes, Brynna showed up, and we watched a show someone else had already chosen.  I curled up in the soft cushions of the sofa and half-paid attention while I counted the hours until we’d go to Key West. I hoped it wouldn’t be hard to ditch the others. Myles obviously had no intention of keeping any of us company, but I wasn’t sure I could lose Jared. He’d attached himself to me that first day and seemed to be everywhere I went. I didn’t really mind because I liked Jared, and he and I were kind of in the same predicament here at the school. But I couldn’t have an audience when I went to meet Eric.

Suddenly, I felt a bump on the arm of the sofa where my head was resting. I jerked up to see Brynna staring at me from her chair only inches away. She nodded her head to the room behind us, and I glanced back in time to see Myles going out the front door. Alone.

“Wonder what he’s up to?” Brynna asked.

I shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“Wonder if it has anything to do with this whole Key West trip.”

“Is it unusual for him to suggest going?”

“No, we go all the time, but he usually doesn’t go when Lana’s not here. Of course, when school’s in, she’s pretty much always here.”

I looked to the other end of the couch where Jared sat watching the television, though I was sure he was listening to every word we said.

“Well, I’m just glad he’s going. I’ve never been to Key West, but I’ve heard about it, and I can’t wait to see it.”

We both turned our attention back to the television, but I did notice when Myles came back nearly an hour later. What was he up to in the middle of the night?

Beneath me, the Jet Ski idled in the calm water of the small inlet where the boats were docked. It was also the area where they set up the Bodinwa course. I’d learned to play Bodinwa on the Jet Ski this past summer at Louise’s house. It was an odd name for a game, a sport, really, that had even more odd names for all its pieces and parts. It was based on an ancient game that had been played by our werewolf ancestors centuries ago. Back then they’d played on foot or on horseback. While it was still sometimes played that way, this school and others played on the water using Jet Skis. It was a fun game, challenging, and I was good at it. Really good. Had been from the very first day I ran the obstacle course swinging the stick they called a lupin, knocking the round balls, or fints as they were called, off the cones or solas. There were also floating posts with arms sticking off one side. These were called minwas. The arms had hanging metal rings known as jawas, and you had to stick the lupin through the ring and yank it loose then carry it along with you.

I was vaguely aware that a small audience had gathered on the beach to watch. I hadn’t known we would have an entire class where we learned the skills to compete in this game. There was a bigger picture; in this school there always was. Bodinwa, in its ancient form, was training, fighter training. We had to learn to battle our opponents on land and water. I’d yet to do this on land with a four-wheeler or on foot or horseback, but the instructor had assured us that we would get to each version in a few weeks, except for horseback. They didn’t keep horses on the island. When we moved to a new campus, we would have the opportunity to learn on horses.

After an entire afternoon of training and practice, the real fun began. Our teacher was Tom Elkes, the cleaner I’d met the other night. He’d started the class by having us practice swinging the lupin. When I’d learned Bodinwa, we’d used a piece of plastic pipe, but here they used a wooden stick that was perfectly round and about three feet long. A space had been carved for your hand, and a piece of leather was strung through a hole near the end of the stick. The leather looped around your wrist to keep you from losing the lupin if you had to release your grip on it. There were wolves carved into it and symbols that resembled those that appeared on the wrists of werewolves when they changed from their human form to wolf form. It was kind of like a tattoo, only you couldn’t see it all the time, just during the change. The lupin was definitely a more elaborate piece of equipment than the piece of plastic pipe. We’d each been assigned our own lupin. They’d been signed out to us, our names printed in a log in Tom’s neat hand by the number and name of each stick. The lupins had distinctive markings and names, and yes, I thought it was strange. The name of mine was Etin. I liked it. I’m sure there was some history behind the name that I could look up or possibly learn in class, but there was no time for history now. Tom had us lined up on Jet Skis practicing moves with the lupin. A slow swing forward then backward, then we made a quick slicing move to the side. He demonstrated another series of maneuvers. We repeated these with him watching us then followed him through several more sets. It made me think of ballet—smooth even movements then quick staccato ones.

In front of us, Tom dropped to the seat of his Jet Ski as we finished the movements. “Okay, guys, now we’ll put all this into action and have a little competition.”

Around me, people smiled at each other. Competition consisted of seeing who could knock the most round things, or fints, off the sola and collect the most jawas in the least amount of time. The fints and jawas were assigned a point value, and the fint and jawa with the highest value lay atop a ramp, known as the ganza. We’d played several rounds, each kid in the eight-person class taking a turn. Thus far, I’d been one of only a few females who’d even attempted the ramp.  At the moment, my time and points were better than anyone I competed against. The girl running the course right now was—as Brynna had pointed out only minutes ago—the best female Bodinwa player at this school and usually beat most of the girls they competed against from other schools. The girl finished, and I smiled slowly as they reset the course.

Closing my eyes, I saw myself racing through the course. My body relaxed and when I opened my eyes again I was ready. Water sprayed behind the ski and at the end of the course I roared up the ramp and landed with a splash on the other side, easily besting the other girl’s score. There was a small amount of scattered applause from the beach.

Then Tom rode out, smiling.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting that from a newcomer.”

I shrugged. “Myles and his dad taught me to play back in the summer. Mr. Branton was a good teacher.”

Tom arched a brow. “Maybe, but you’ve got talent. No doubt about that. I’d like for you to be on our competition team, if you’re interested.”

“What would I do?”

He snorted. “Compete.”

I shifted on the seat, readjusting the towel I’d placed on the vinyl. “Against who?”

“Other schools like this one. We only compete a few times a year. Sometimes we travel to other schools, and sometimes they come to us.”

I tilted my head to one side. “Travel where?”

“Atlanta, L.A., Seattle. If we do well, maybe to Europe to compete internationally.”

That made me sit up straighter. “You think I’m really good enough to be on the team?”

“I know you are. Just think about it and—”

“I’ll do it,” I interrupted him.

“You sure?”

“Completely sure.” I nodded emphatically.

“Okay, then. We practice after classes are over every Monday and Wednesday.”

Tom pushed the start button on his Jet Ski and sped off to a small group that was stopped near the mouth of the inlet we’d been using as our practice area. I drove to the boathouse to put my machine away. There was a competition team, and I was on it. Considering I hadn’t been here very long, I wasn’t sure if that was normal or not. Either way, I was glad. Being able to stand out in Bodinwa could only help me later on when I wanted to show Eric’s pack that I was strong and fearless even though I didn’t want to kill humans. I slid off the Jet Ski and pushed the button on the boathouse wall so it slid out of the water on its lift. If I could prove that to them, then I could be with Eric. There had to be a way. Eric’s father was important. Therefore, Eric was important in the Fenryrian pack. He could never defect to our pack. His father wouldn’t allow it. But there was nothing to stop me from joining him. I just couldn’t do the things their pack did, killing humans or turning them into werewolves. Being a werewolf had its advantages, but it wasn’t something I’d force someone to do. Turning on the hose for fresh water, I began rinsing the corrosive salt water off the Jet Ski.

“Nice ride.”

I glanced up to see Louise had joined me on the wooden decking. I let go of the handle on the nozzle, ending the stream of water I’d been spraying on the ski.

“Thanks.”

“How are things going so far?” She leaned against one of the posts.

I turned to her. “Good, I guess. The werewolf history teacher is kind of mean, but his stories are interesting.”

She laughed. “That’s not the first time I’ve heard that.”

“I’ll bet. Tom asked me to be on the Bodinwa team.” I watched her closely to try to gauge her reaction.

“I’m not surprised. You have a natural talent for it. Did you say yes?”

“They go places. Of course I said yes.” She didn’t respond, and I continued. “So where have you been all week?”

Louise didn’t answer immediately. Her face hadn’t changed when I told her I was joining the Bodinwa team, but now her features stiffened.

“If you aren’t supposed to tell me, it’s fine,” I said quickly.

She seemed to make up her mind, and her face relaxed. “The Fenryrians have infected a local senator here. We’re watching the situation. I’m not sure if he has a mutated virus or not; we’re trying to be cautious. The Fenryrians don’t want him to have the antivirus, naturally.  He’s kind of important.”

“Like Channing’s dad was.”

“No, more important than that. Channing’s dad was a senator in the state government, but this man is a senator in Washington. There’s been some speculation he might have a bid at the presidency in the future. So you can see why we’re very concerned.”

I nodded, though I wasn’t certain why having a werewolf in the government was such a bad thing. So far, most of the people I’d met here were nice and smart, too.

“You know the Fenryrians have no real self-control. They’d destroy everything to satisfy themselves.” Louise’s voice was hard and interrupted my thoughts.

“They’re not all like that,” I argued.

She caught my arm and turned me around. “Yes, they are. If Fenryrians came to power, they’d annihilate the human race first, then us. And finally themselves.”

“You make it sound like they’re all killers.” I gritted my teeth. This again, always this. Louise was so against the Fenryrians, and she was always trying to make me hate them, too. Probably because she knew I couldn’t hate them, not all of them.

“They’re all killers to some degree.” She pressed her point.

“Like you’ve never killed.”

Her face tightened. “You’re right, I have killed, but not out of blood lust, not because I got pleasure from it. I did what had to be done, just like you did when you had to.”

I jerked away from her, putting down the water hose. I didn’t like to be reminded that I’d been part of killing two Fenryrian werewolves. Not alone but with Myles’ and Eric’s help. That had been self-defense. The two wolves had been Channing’s parents. After Eric had refused to be mated to her, she’d tried to kill me, and after she’d died, her parents had come to finish the job. The three of us had barely escaped with our lives. It was something I hoped I could avoid in the future, although everything I was learning here was pointing me in the direction of fighting other werewolves, which might lead to having to kill. But it wasn’t something I’d do willingly.

I started toward the door of the boathouse, and Louise followed me.

“Alexis, don’t think you can come here and learn to be strong and develop your skills so that the Fenryrians will welcome you with open arms.”

I stumbled but kept walking. What the hell! Was she reading my mind? I knew she could do it in wolf form but not human form.

She took an extra stride and got in front of me, stopping me in my tracks.

“Alexis, if you want to be part of the Fenryrian pack, you could go there right now and they’d take you. They’d love to have you and will probably try to convince you to join them. But don’t ever think you’ll be good enough for them to mate you with Eric. They’ll want to keep his bloodline pure Fenryrian. It’s the right thing to do. And don’t think you’ll be able to join them without killing. They’ll make you do it. They’ll want to watch to see if you can, if you will. No matter how great a warrior you’ve been trained to be, they won’t let you be part of them unless you can kill humans.”

It was like a replay of mine and Eric’s conversation last night. I felt a little sick. I sidestepped to get around her and kept walking. “I have no idea why you’re telling me all this. Eric left me, if you remember. I haven’t said a word about the Fenryrians or joining them.” The lie slid past my lips so naturally it surprised me.

“Whatever you say, Alexis. But don’t think I don’t know what’s going on here.” She was behind me now, and I walked faster until I couldn’t hear her anymore. Sometimes, I didn’t like Louise very much.

***

A knock sounded on my door, and I shoved aside the Nordic Werewolf History book I’d been reading. Brynna stood waiting in the hall, her hand half raised to knock again.  I stepped back to let her in.

“What are you doing?”

I motioned toward the bed where I’d strewn books and notebooks. “Trying to get some homework done.”

“Mmm, werewolf history. You need that one, for sure.”

“I have to agree with you. It’s interesting, much better than your run-of-the-mill history lesson.”

Brynna leaned against the wall. “I’m glad you like it. I wasn’t expecting that.”

“I’m not a total slacker.”

The other girl crossed her arms in front of her and frowned. “I never said you were a slacker.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Not really. I think you’re not dedicated to the pack and that maybe you don’t care about it like you should. I don’t think you’re a slacker. You work hard for what you want. Unfortunately, what you want is a Fenryrian guy who could get you killed.”

With a groan, I flung myself across the bed on top of the books. “Let’s not even start that conversation, okay?”

“That’s fine. I didn’t come here to argue with you. I came to take you over to the seamstress so you can get your savalin started.”

I sat up on the edge of the bed, swinging my feet. “Someone’s going to make that?”

Brynna rolled her eyes. “Of course. You don’t think we can order it online, do you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, we can’t. You’ll have to pick out your fabric, buttons, and buckles. She’ll measure you, get it partially sewn, fit you, then do the final sewing.”

“I’ve never had anything sewn just for me.”

“Let’s go.” She moved to the door, opening it and waving for me to follow her.