Chapter 118: Breached the Perimeter - Callista's POV

The alarm wasn't like anything I had heard before. Instead of the normal two-tone drill sound the academy used to test on the first Thursday of every month, this one was different. It pulsed urgently and made my teeth vibrate. Every wolf in the room snapped to attention before their minds even caught up with their bodies.

Around me, chairs scraped. Someone knocked a book off a desk and didn't stop to pick it up. The professor was already moving toward the door with her hand raised for quiet, but no one was listening to her because every instinct in the room had overridden the part of us that followed instructions.

I was on my feet before I had decided to stand. Riven was already beside me.

He hadn’t grabbed my hand yet or pulled me anywhere. He had simply moved. I felt him get closer. His eyes were scanning the room’s two exits quickly.

"That's a breach alarm," he said, low enough that only I heard it.

"I know," I said, though it hadn’t clicked until he said it.

Someone was on the grounds. We rarely used this alarm. I think the last time we had a breach was when I was twelve years old. Something had crossed the fence in the middle of my first class. That was almost six years ago and there had been nothing since.

“Students!” The professor’s voice finally cut through the noise. “We’re not leaving the room. There’s been a change in plans. Get in your lockdown positions now.”

Half of the class moved toward the back wall, where there were no windows or doors. The other half stood frozen near the the exit into the main part of the school with confused expressions.

“We normally leave,” one girl said near the front.

“Not this time. It’s too dangerous.”

Riven's hand found the small of my back.. "There," he said quietly, nodding toward the interior wall. “Get over there and I'll block you.”

"I'm not going to the back wall," I snapped. “We’re probably the strongest ones here.”

He looked at me.

"Something came through the perimeter," I said, keeping my voice even. "I need to know what it is."

"Callista—"

“I’m a seer, Riven. If something breached the academy, then it might have something to do with you.” I held his gaze firmly, refusing to back down. “You know I’m right, especially since you just got wind of something.”

A muscle in his jaw worked. He did know. I could feel it through the bond, the conflict of every protective instinct he had running directly into the part of him that understood I wasn't wrong.

"Stay next to me," he said finally.

“Like I would go anywhere else,” I murmured.

He moved toward the door and I stayed exactly one step behind his shoulder, close enough that our arms brushed with every stride.

The professor stepped into our path. "Mr. Blackwood, the protocol is—"

"I'm aware of the protocol," Riven said, his voice carrying the same authority as an Alpha. “I’m also the Alpha King’s son, so I need to know what crossed the perimeter and is putting us in danger. With utmost respect, move aside.”

She hesitated for exactly two seconds, then ‌stepped aside.

The hallway outside was in chaos.

Professors were ushering students in both directions, trying to get them into rooms. I noticed some were pushed toward the main hall where I could hear Principal Wolffe’s voice rising above everyone else’s.

Why were there so many students out there?

“They must have thought we were evacuating,” Riven whispered.

Men in dark jackets were moving fast along the stairs and near them. Their radios were crackling, but I had no idea what was being said.

Riven opened our door and stopped the first one who came close enough. “What breached the perimeter?”

The man looked at him, then did a quick check. “Why are you out of your designated spot?”

“Riven Blackwood, heir to the Alpha King. Now tell me what is going on. What breached the perimeter?” His voice was barely controlled.

There was a pause. “It was on the east side. Something came through that is large and moving fast. We don’t know what it is.”

"How long ago?"

"Seven minutes and counting. We can’t get it to stop long enough to get a good look at what we’re dealing with.”

Riven released him and the man moved on. I watched Riven's expression darken as he processed what he had been told.

“Something large and fast-moving,” he whispered, his eyes distant.

“Riven, what do you think it is?” I asked, my voice hesitant.

“I need to see it for myself,” he said before he opened the door fully and went into the hallway.

“Wait!” I yelled just as the professor did the same.

But I didn’t stop at the door. I followed him, keeping up with his strides.

“Where do you think you’re going? We should stay in the room.”

He said nothing as we moved down the hallway. It was mostly deserted now, with professors looking out the windows in their doors to see what was going on. Most were wide-eyed when they saw Riven, but said nothing.

I kept my eyes forward and my wolf steady. She was alert but not panicked, which I took as a reasonable sign that whatever had come through the perimeter wasn't immediately beside us.

Not yet.

Riven's phone buzzed. He pulled it out without breaking stride, read whatever was on the screen, and something shifted in his expression that I couldn't immediately name.

“It’s my father. Raze got out,” he whispered.

“What do you mean your brother got out?” I glanced behind us making sure no one heard me. “What’s going on?”

“The curse is acting up, and he’s not himself,” he said and shoved his phone back into his pocket.

We reached the hallway’s main window that overlooked the east side. Sure enough, there was something darting below. It was large, solid black, and I couldn’t even make out its shape.

"That's Raze," Riven said, his voice barely audible.

I pressed closer to the window. Whatever was down there wasn’t fully wolf, but it wasn’t fully anything else either. It moved wrongly and was far too fast, fluid, and changing directions in a way an animal wouldn’t. The black shape cut across the east courtyard and disappeared behind the training annex. A moment later, he reappeared on the other side before the men chasing it had even figured out where it had gone.

"He's not shifted," I drawled. "That's not a wolf form."

"No," Riven said. "It's the demon. It's pushing through him."

My stomach dropped. Below us, two of the men responsible for security got close enough to try to corner Raze against the outer wall of the annex. Whatever Raze was in that moment turned on them with a speed that made my breath catch, and both wolves stumbled back without being touched, as if something had pushed the air itself outward.

"They can't contain him like that," I murmured. "They don't know what they're dealing with."

"None of them do." Riven's hand was flat against the glass, and I could feel through the bond what it was costing him to stand here and watch. "He doesn't know where he is when it takes over like this. He won't know what he's doing. But he’s never broken out before. He’s always been confined to his room, what few times it's happened.”

"Then we have to get down there.”

He looked at me sharply, his gaze roaming over my face.

"Not to fight him," I blurted. "Riven, he needs to hear your voice. You're his brother. The bond between you is older than this curse. If anything can reach him right now, it's you."

He shook his head. “It’s never worked before, but someone is going to get killed if I don’t do something.”

Below us, Raze slammed into the annex wall hard enough that I felt the vibration through the floor, then recoiled and went still for one suspended second, his chest heaving.

In that stillness, for just a moment, the shape of him looked almost human again, but it was gone as quickly as it came.

“Riven,” I whispered.

But just as I touched his arm, a low growl rattled his chest.