Werewolf Academy Book 2: Hunted (5 page)

Tr
ent’s eyes widened. “I thought-I thought you were mad at him,” the small werewolf stammered. He ran a hand across his buzzed head. “I didn’t mean any offense.”

“He’s still my brother,” Kalia replied.

“Are you sure?” Boris asked, glaring at her. “I think you forgot that during the Choosing Ceremony.”

Kalia met his glare with one of her own. “I remembered it quite well, thank you.”

Alex bit back a smile. Kalia had fire. At least with her on Pack Jericho, Boris’ attentions were focused on her.

As if he had overheard Alex’s thoughts, the Alpha’s gaze shifted to the fifteen-year-ol
ds. “I blame you,” he mouthed.

A knot twisted in Alex’s stomach.

“Alright, ladies and girls,” Vance said, addressing the group as a whole. The girls snickered at the boys.

“You still have to play football,” Trent reminded his sister.

“This stinks,” Terith replied with a scowl.

Vance ignored them. “Get dressed and meet me out here in two minutes.”

Everyone knew that the physical education teacher truly meant two minutes. They scrambled toward the locker rooms to change.

“Football is just another excuse to hit people and not get in trouble for it,” Trent whined.

“It’s not that bad,” Marky replied. “I always watch football with my dad.”

Trent gave the eight-year-old a pointed look. “I have a feeling this is going to be a bit different.”

“I hope we get to pit packs against each other,” Boris said loudly from the next row of lockers. “Pack Jericho’s made of a bunch of scrawny wimps.”

“Hey!” Steven and Marky said at the same time.

“He’s right,” Trent told them, his tone weak.

Alex fought back a wave of frustration. His pack might not have been made of the strongest members. Besides Don, Jericho, Tennison, and himself,
their strengths were centered on more practical subjects like math and history. They were going to get killed.

Pack Boris laughed on their way past. “See you at the slaughter,” Parker, Boris’ Second, said.

“Listen up,” Jericho told his pack as soon as the others were out of the locker room. “This isn’t going to be easy, but we can learn from it. Alex, I want you to be the quarterback.”

Alex stared at him. “I don’t remember the last tim
e I threw a football,” he said.

It wasn’t true. Alex remembered standing in the backyard with his dad when he was seven, throwing the football back and forth between them. His dad was proud of how tight Alex’s spiral was getting, and Alex didn’t drop nearly as many
catches as he used to.

“It’s alright,” Jericho told him. “We’ll probably have to hand it off a lot in the beginning anyway, but you need me and
Don to protect you. I have a feeling Boris is going to send everything he can your way.”

“What gave you that feeling?” Trent asked a bit snidely. “The target painted on his back?”

Jericho ignored him and looked at the other boys. “Who can run?”

“Tennison,” Alex said into the silence.

Jericho glanced at the new Lifer and nodded. “Good. Let’s make this happen.”

“Two minutes has passed, ladies,” Vance called. “Pack Jericho owes me ten laps at the end of practice.”

“He’s already calling it practice,” Trent muttered. “Isn’t it gym class?”

“
Not anymore,” Jericho replied over his shoulder.

Vance lined them up in packs.

“The girls are playing with us?” Boris asked skeptically.

Vance raised his eyebrows. The effect made the huge, hulking werewolf look even more like a bear. “Do you have a problem with that? Maybe we should
pit boys against girls. They’re already faster than you, and I’ve never seen an angry she-wolf I’d want to mess with.”

Boris glanced at Pack Jericho. Alex realized the Alpha was worried about his sister. Since she hadn’t shown any other traits of a werewolf other than her eyes changing colors, she didn’t have the same strength and speed as the rest of the students.

“Uh, Kalia,” Alex said. “Why don’t you fall back? The front line looks ready to kill anyone in their path.”

It was completely true. Pack Boris chomped at the bit; their monster-sized defensive line made Pack Jericho’s look like preschoolers. Alex thought it was a good call, but Kalia gave him a look
that threatened death as she fell back behind Talia and Trent. The siblings looked from Kalia to Alex.

“Do you want her to suffocate you in your sleep?” Cassie asked, her tone only half-joking.

“I’m trying to keep her from getting hurt,” Alex argued. “I thought she would appreciate it.”

Cassie shook her head. “You have a lot to learn about girls.”

Alex met Boris’ gaze. The Alpha gave a little chuckle. Alex was glad that Kalia’s brother found the situation humorous. He only wished Kalia felt the same.

“Ready,” Vance called.

Alex blew out a breath of frustration and hunched over behind Marky.

“Hike,” Alex shouted. He caught the ball and backpedaled a few steps. Pack Boris’ offensive line shoved aside Alex’s defense like they weren’
t even trying. Within seconds, Alex was flat on his back with the ball clutched tightly to his chest and four of Boris’ werewolves laughing down at him.

“Sorry, Alex,” Amos said. The huge werewolf did indeed look sorry for smashing Alex into the ground.

Amos grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted him back to his feet as if he weighed less than a kitten. “No harm done,” Alex said, though his ribs and bruised chest argued otherwise.

“Alright, alright,” Vance said with what could almost be taken
for a smile. “Let’s try not to kill Alex. He may be a bit short for a quarterback, but I’m sure Jericho has his reasons for choosing him."

“So we can kill him,” Parker called out. Everyone on Pack Boris laughed.

Alex set the ball back in the middle.

“Don’t let them through this time,” Jericho told his pack. “Protect Alex so he can throw the ball.”

“Right,” Don agreed.

He and Jericho looked formidable, but Steven and
Max stood on either side of them like little twigs waiting to be broken. Alex heaved a sigh and called out, “Hike!”

In two-seconds flat, he was on his back again. Boris leered down at him.

“Might as well stay down there, Stray,” the Alpha growled.

Jericho pulled
Boris off and helped Alex up.

“Flick it to me,” Tennison said quietly enough that only Alex could hear.

“What?” Alex asked.

“Flick it to me the second you have it. They won’t be expecting it.”

Alex nodded. It was worth a shot. He stepped up to the line again.

“Ready to meet the floor again
?” Parker asked with a grin that revealed his yellow teeth.

“
You really should use a toothbrush,” Alex replied.

“Huh?”

Alex took advantage of Parker’s distraction and called out, “Hike!”

Jericho tossed him the ball. As soon as it touched his hands, Alex flicked it to Tennison. The throw was off. He knew as soon as it left his hands that the ball would be short. It spun end over end toward the grass.

Suddenly, Tennison was there. He caught the ball against his chest and darted through Boris’ shocked pack.

“Touchdown,” Vance said with a hint of surprise.

Alex grinned at the huge professor. “You didn’t think we could do it?” he asked.

Vance shook his massive head like a confused bear. “I didn’t think you had a chance.”

Alex shrugged. “We know we’re the underdogs. We just don’t know when to give up.”

A true hint of a smile showed in the professor’s brown eyes when he replied, “Those are the teams that win.”

Alex smiled back and returned to the center of the line.

Now that Tennison had eyes on him, it gave Alex a chance to move. He called for the ball, sidestepped left, and tossed it before Boris and Amos could tackle him.

The throw wasn’t pretty, but it landed in Trent’s surprised arms.

Trent stared at the onrush of werewolves in terror.

“Run!” Jericho called.

Trent didn’t need further encouragement. The only problem was that he was so scared of Pack Boris that he took off in the opposite direction.

“Other way!” Alex yelled.

“Turn around!” Jericho shouted.

Tennison reached Trent. “Throw me the ball,” he commanded.

Trent was more than happy to give up the object that had made him Pack Boris’ target. He tossed the ball and Tennison caught it. Spinning around, Tennison darted
past Tomas and Brace. Parker and Boris were catching up. Alex and Jericho ran at an angle across the field toward their pack mate. They would only have one chance to stop the duo. Alex leaped.

He hit Parker and Boris so hard it felt like he
slammed into a tree. Alex fell the ground and looked back in time to see Tennison run by with Jericho in front of him blocking others from the opposing team.

“Touchdown,” Vance said.

Alex let his head fall against the grass.

“You realize this is just a game.”

Alex glanced to the right. Boris was lying on his back. The Alpha drew in a breath and winced. He met Alex’s gaze. “It’s just a game. You don’t have to try so hard.”

Alex knew moving was going to hurt. He gritted his teeth and rolled over to his hands and knees. “I don’t know any other way to try,” he told the Termer. He pushed up to his feet and limped back toward the line.

“Need a breather?” Vance asked. The football looked like a toy in the huge professor’s hands.

Alex shook his head. “I’m good,” he forced out.

Vance shrugged and tossed Jericho the ball.

“Last time I said it was your funeral, I got bawled out by the other professors.”

Alex remembered the moment very well. He had been bleeding from knife wounds that wouldn’t heal because of silver shards that had broken off of the blade. The walk through the forest had felt like the longest in his life, especially when Drogan’s men attacked. Only the professors’ fighting skills and the arrival of the werewolf packs had saved his life.

“I thought it was funny, in an ironic sort of way,” Alex replied.

The comment brought a true smile to the professor’s face. It looked out of place, as if uncomfortable there, and faded almost as quickly as it had appeared. “Huh,” Vance said before turning away. “Play ball.”

“Hike,” Alex called.

Alex shifted in his seat. He felt nervous, and felt silly because of it. Healing bruises from football the previous hour made his chest and arms ache, but above it all, an expectant chill ran across his skin.

“Think she’s going to make it?” Cassie asked, her expression worried.

Alex nodded. “Definitely. And she’s going to do great.”

Cassie sat back in her chair, her gaze on the door.

The door opened and their aunt Meredith walked in.

“Good morning, class,” she said with only a hint of nervousness in her voice.

“Good morning, Professor Meredith,” the students replied.

Pack Jessilyn already looked bored, but most of the members of Pack Jericho sat up and smiled at the new professor. They knew about her relationship to the twins, and when Alex found out she was teaching their next class, he had asked his pack to be supportive and help her out.

Alex was amazed at the different person his aunt had become during her stay at the Academy. She was far different than the beaten, scared woman Jaze had rescued from Drogan’s base. As much as she reminded him of her twin sister who had been his mother, the differences were now more pronounced.

Meredith’s shoulder-length black hair was pulled back on one side by a light blue flower clip that matched her eye-color perfectly. His mother had always worn her waist-length black hair in a ponytail because she said it got in the way otherwise. When Meredith smiled, there was a dimple on one of her cheeks, while his mother had had two. She also had freckles across her nose while his mother’s fair skin had been clear of them.

Above all, the biggest difference was scent. To Alex, his mother had smelled like strawberries and the good things she cooked every day for them. She had loved to bake, and could make practically anything with flour and an egg. Her sister Meredith, on the other hand, smelled of pine and mint. She had confided to Alex and Cassie that Mindi had taken all of the cooking and artistic genes, and she was left with only a love of the outdoors and a good book.

Alex repeated these subtle differences over and over in his mind as he watched the woman who looked so much like his mother stand at the front of the class. She smiled at Alex and Cassie before opening her teaching manual.

“Welcome to Algebra,” she said.

Groans answered.