Werewolf Academy Book 3: Instinct (8 page)

The other girls giggled.

Alex looked up to find all four of the girls watching him. They ducked their heads and burst into laughter again.

Alex hoped his cheeks weren’t red as he made his way to the table. Jen patted the empty chair next to her.

“I saved you a seat,” she said, peering up at him through lowered eyelashes.

“Jen, cut it out,” Cherish scolded her.

Chapter Ten

ALEX TOOK A SEAT and pretended to be interested in his burrito. It felt surreal to be surrounded by so many humans, yet to feel like he wasn’t such an outcast. He shared his tater tots with Jen and Sarah who said they hadn’t gotten any themselves because they were watching what they ate.

“Why do you need to watch what you eat?” Alex asked. “Are you allergic to something?”

All three of the girls burst into laughter. Talking slowed at the other end of the table. Alex glanced over to find the boys watching him and the girls with serious expressions on their faces. He searched quickly for a topic that would dissolve the tension he felt from them.

“I’ll be heading out after this. I’ve got to get home pretty soon,” he said.

“Oh, really?” Tanner asked in a tone that let Alex know the boy was very interested in him leaving. “And where’s that? Pretty far?”

Alex nodded. “Over by Haroldsburg. It’s a little place.”

He knew he didn’t image the disappointment that crossed the girls’ faces or the relief on the boys’. Since he was no longer a threat, they didn’t seem so bothered by him.

“How long have you been riding your motorcycle?” Josh asked.

“Not long,” Alex replied. “A friend gave it to me.”

“That’s some friend!” Steve said.

Ren nodded. “I’ve never seen a bike like that.”

“It’s custom,” Alex told them. “A Trent Rushton special.”

“Now I know what I want for my birthday,” Josh said.

Everyone laughed. “You’d have to save up your money for like fifty years,” Cherish said. “Good luck with that.” At Josh’s chagrined expression, Cherish explained, “He has an obsession with spending money.”

“So I like clothes,” Josh told them. “I look good. Feel free to hate.” He plucked at the material of his shirt. “Dress the best.”

His friends burst into laughter, teasing him. Alex couldn’t help feeling like he had been given something priceless, a glimpse into a normal life with a normal group of friends. At the Academy, it was easy to forget that life continued outside of the walls and forest.

If the genocide hadn’t happened, perhaps he would be just another student out playing soccer in the middle of the city before school started. His parents, or who he had grown up thinking were his parents, would be there waiting for him and Cassie when they got home. Life would be extremely different. Alex forced down the wave of regret and sat back, smiling when Josh kissed Jen on the forehead and Cherish threw ketchup at Steve.

“Thanks again,” Alex told Cherish at they made their way outside.

“Don’t mention it,” Cherish replied. “Just be sure to catch another game whenever you’re this way. It’ll be—” She stopped talking.

Alex followed her gaze to the three men standing around his motorcycle; the rest of the soccer group crowded behind Alex and Cherish. The men looked young, like they were just out of college, except Alex doubted by their appearances that they had ever actually made it to college.

“Does this bike belong to one of you?” a man with torn jeans and a red bandana tied around his head asked. The man’s hair was buzzed with a star shaved into both sides of his head.

“It belongs to me,” Alex said. He heard breaths of fear from the students behind him.

“We like it,” another man with a red bandana tied around his arm said. “Don’t we, Ruse?”

The first man nodded. “Yeah. We like it a lot.”

“Thanks,” Alex said carefully.

“It’s pretty awesome,” Steve said from behind Alex. Alex heard the student’s outlet of air when Ren elbowed him in the side.

“How fast does a bike like this go?” Ruse asked.

Alex took a step closer, careful to keep himself between the three men and the students.

“I pushed it over a hundred on the way here,” Alex answered.

Ruse whistled and eyed his companions. “It’d be fun to ride a motorcycle that fast. I think I should give it a go. What do you say?”

Alex shook his head, but kept his smile. “I can’t let you do that.”

“Come on,” Ruse replied, closing the distance between him and Alex. “I think you should.”

Alex heard whispers as the kids behind him debated whether to call the police.

“Nobody rides this motorcycle but me,” Alex said, his tone still friendly.

Ruse’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t think you understand. We want your bike.” A click caught Alex’s attention and knife appeared in Ruse’s hand.

The other thugs opened similar knives. The blades were longer than a hand and glinted in the morning light. Alex glanced around. They were alone on the street in the early morning. A few cars breezed past on the road, but nobody even so much as glanced into the small café parking lot. The way the building was angled, there weren’t any windows in view. They were completely alone.

“Give us the key,” the man with the bandana around his head said, holding out a thick-fingered hand.

“I think you should listen to him,” Josh whispered behind Alex.

“It’s not worth it, man,” Ren said.

Alex pulled the key from his pocket. He looked behind him at the terrified faces of the seven boys and girls who had so willingly invited him to join their game. If he wasn’t careful, some of them could get hurt. Cherish met his gaze. Her own was pleading.

“Give him the key,” she said, her voice shaking.

Alex nodded. “You can have it,” he said. He threw the key at Ruse.

It hit the man square in the chest and fell to the ground. The man bent down, and Alex was there.

He elbowed Ruse in the back, and slammed his fist sideways across the second man’s jaw. The third tried to swipe at his face. Alex leaned back just far enough to miss the blade, then dropped to one knee, spinning to knock the man’s feet out from under him. Alex rolled backwards in time to miss Ruse’s attempt to cut his throat. He kicked hard as he rolled, connecting with the blade Ruse held. The knife shot out of his hand and clattered to the ground near Cherish’s foot.

Alex reached his feet and kicked high, catching the second man in the jaw again. When he stumbled back, Alex followed with a punch to the face, then one to the stomach. The man doubled over just as Ruse was getting back to his feet. Alex ran and jumped, rolling with his back over the thug’s and connecting with a two-footed kick to Ruse’s chest.

The whisper of metal through the air warned him and he ducked and spun, knocking the third man’s legs out from under him. The man’s hand hit the ground, sending the knife from his grasp. Alex slammed a fist into the man’s jaw. His eyes rolled back and he stopped struggling.

Ruse and the man with the bandana on his arm struggled to their feet. Alex placed himself between the two thugs and the kids who waited with wide eyes. There were tears on Sarah’s cheeks, and she and Cherish held hands, their faces white with fear.

It was clear when Alex met Ruse’s eyes that the man hadn’t been prepared for a fight like that. Alex bent down and picked up one of the knives. Ruse took a step back. Alex closed the knife and tossed it at the thugs. It hit Ruse in the chest. The man caught it before it hit the ground.

“Leave while you can,” Alex said.

Tension hung in the air between them. After a moment, Ruse nodded. He and the other man picked up their friend. The three of them disappeared around the corner.

Alex’s senses strained as his listened to their unsteady footsteps fade away. He hoped they wouldn’t be back bothering students for a long time.

Alex turned around. It wasn’t until he saw the expressions on his friends’ faces that he realized what he had done. The adrenaline pounded through his veins. Though he hadn’t phased to wolf form, he had beaten three grown men while barely raising his heartbeat. The thugs who wanted to steal his motorcycle had turned tail and run from a sixteen year old boy. He had really messed up. All he needed was for one of them to call him a werewolf and he was done.

Cherish and Sarah still held hands while Jen gripped Josh’s arm, her fingers white and eyes large as she looked at Alex.

“That may have been the most impressive thing I’ve seen in my entire life,” Josh said.

“Seriously,” Tanner seconded. “That was incredible.”

Alex dared to take a breath. He forced a shrug past his tight muscles. “I like my bike,” he said.

Steve and Ren burst out laughing as though he had said the funniest thing in the world.

“You must,” Steve said, walking over to pat Alex on the shoulder. “I’ve never seen anyone do that to save their motorcycle.”

Ren shook his head. “It’s like you were a ninja or something.”

“Where’d you learn that?” Tanner asked.

The question hung in the air until Sarah said, “Maybe we should all go to your boarding school.”

The others nodded.

“I’d never be afraid to walk the streets at night,” Jen said.

“And Dad wouldn’t have to worry about someone robbing the store again,” Cherish told them with a grin. “I’d be Ninja Cherish.”

“Then I’d be even more afraid of you,” Ren said.

Cherish laughed and hit his shoulder. Ren winced dramatically.

Tanner checked his watch. “We’d better get going.”

“Yeah,” Josh said reluctantly. “Mrs. Bowley doesn’t like it when we’re late. I’d don’t think she’d even take an attempted motorcycle robbery as an excuse.”

“I’ll catch you guys some other time,” Alex said.

“Soon?” Jen asked, batting her eyelashes at him.

“Jen,” Josh replied in an exasperated voice.

“I’m not sure,” Alex told them. “But keep a spot open for me.”

“We will,” Sarah promised.

Alex climbed onto the motorcycle and started it. He glanced at the buildings around them and hesitated.

“Anyone know which way is north?” he asked.

Sarah and Cherish pointed in opposite directions. Jen didn’t even try.

Tanner laughed. “It’s that way,” he said, indicating the road to their left. “Don’t trust these guys. They get lost in the mall.”

“On purpose,” Sarah replied.

Alex laughed. “Catch you guys later.” He drove slowly out of the parking lot and waved back at the seven friends who watched him go.

It was with a heady feeling that he headed back toward Haroldsburg. The trip on the motorcycle had been far different than anything he could have hoped for. He had no doubt Trent was breathing a sigh of relief at the tracking device headed for the Academy.

Though he didn’t know how much of his encounter with the humans he should relate to his friend, he owed the werewolf a great deal of thanks. Seeing the world through the eyes of normal humans had changed the way he thought about things. Alex smiled and shut his visor, letting the hum of the tires on the road fill his thoughts with peace.

Chapter Eleven

“YOU PLAYED SOCCER?” MEREDITH repeated.

Alex had gone through the normal motions of school at the Academy while thoughts of the encounter raced over and over in his mind. He had finally tracked down his mother in the small nurses’ lounge at the end of the medical wing.

Alex nodded. “It was amazing. I had to remember not to use my werewolf strength.” He smiled at the thought of the ball hitting the slide. “But they treated me like just another student.”

“You are just another student,” Meredith said with a fond smile that told Alex she thought completely the opposite of what she said.

“For a while there, I thought I was,” Alex admitted.

A shadow crossed his mother’s face. She sat back, watching him. “Alex, I don’t know if it’s safe for you out there.”

“I was careful,” Alex reassured her. “Nobody followed me.”

“What if you did something that clued them in on what you were?” The worry in her voice ate at him.

Alex thought of the fight with the thugs, then pushed it away. “I didn’t. They think I’m just some kid on a motorcycle. I’ll never see them again.” A slight hint of regret twisted his voice.

Meredith let out a little sigh. “I know you get tired of everyone worrying about you. I think it’s great that you made some human friends and everything went well.” Her brow creased. “What I worry about is if you get too comfortable with them and let down your guard. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

Experience gave depth to his mother’s words. The sadness and remembered fear that filled her blue eyes reminded Alex that she had been captured on the streets and taken to the General who tortured and abused her. Alex took her hand. “Mom, I promise I’ll be careful. I’ll always come back.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “When the General’s involved, promises get destroyed. I just don’t want to lose you.”

Alex could feel the scars on her palm where she had been cut with a silver knife. He bore similar scars around his wrists and ankles from his confinement with manacles when Drogan captured him. “I’ll always be here,” he promised quietly.

Meredith gave him a tight hug. Alex held his mother, wondering not for the first time at how frail she felt even with her time at the Academy. Protectiveness welled up inside of him. She was his mother and he would make sure that the General never laid his hands on her again.