Chapter 30: Chapter Thirty

Axel

Axel walked across the hallway and shut his door. The bruises on his ribs had healed, and the only evidence of a busted lip was the dried blood he hadn't washed away yet.

He'd been blindsided when he realized Cash had been a decoy for the other lycan. The lycan that turned him. He wasn't any closer to figuring out who he was, and it burned him up on the inside.

Almost as much as knowing Claire was lying in his bed across the hallway.

Go to her. Screw your mom, his wolf said.

"She's still our Luna," Axel said. "Don't be an ass. Plus, she's right. It's tradition not to sleep with your luna until you mark her. It's a sign of respect. You know that."

His wolf huffed and mumbled something, but Axel shoved it away. He didn't need any commentary on how bad his wolf wanted to see Claire. Axel was aware of both of their need to be near her.

He stripped out of his clothes and took a quick shower. They had a long day with classes, and then going to see Claire's Aunt. He hoped to get information out of her about Claire's ancestry. Axel didn't even know if Claire had anything in her past that would draw a lycan's attention or not. He knew it was grasping at straws, but he had nothing to go on.

Cash had been turned into a lycan, one student was still missing, and the other was dead. The only one to survive was Tasha Primm who wasn't speaking to anyone about the incident.

Axel slid underneath his covers and listened to the sound of Claire's breathing even out across the hallway. He knew she was protected at the pack house, but he wished he could sleep closer to her.

Closing his eyes, he felt the heaviness of the day weigh down on him, and sleep overtook his body.

***

The siren startled him awake. The darkness of the room swirled around his vision, casting edges and shadows that played with his imagination. He shoved the covers from his legs, and stormed out into the hallway, seeing Claire standing in the doorway with a shocked look on her face.

"What's going on?" she asked, her blonde hair a golden halo on top of her head.

"It's the siren," he said, clearing his throat. "It means one of the guard wolves saw something, or something doesn't look right."

Claire glanced down the dark stairs. "Is it a lycan?" she whispered the word as if it would conjure one up.

Axel shrugged and pushed his fingers into his hair. "Hold tight. I'm going to go see what's going on," he said. "Shut the door and lock it."

Claire reached forward and grasped his wrist. "Don't leave me—"

"I promise you I will be back. I'll send my mother up here until then."

She swallowed but did as he asked. Axel waited until he heard the door lock before he patted down the stairs. There were wolves scurrying around, some warriors, and others ushering sleepy and crying pups back to their rooms.

He noticed his father booming toward the backdoor. "What did they find?" Axel shouted, halting him.

"A lycan in the woods."

A chill raced down Axel's spine. He couldn't remember a time in the last decade where a rogue lycan had happened onto their land. It wasn't a coincidence, and he knew it.

Axel's mother walked down the hallway toward the staircase. "Can you stay with Claire until I'm back? She's scared to death."

She patted his cheek. "That's where I was heading," she said, clasping her palm over his shoulder. "You didn’t go back to her room, did you—"

"Mom," Axel hissed. "No."

She gave him a look before walking up the stairs. Axel followed his dad and some of the other wolves out into the backyard. They all began to run, shifting as they neared the tree line.

The guard wolves immediately reached out and gave them directions to their position. Axel followed his dad through the many trails of the property, weaving in and out of trees and overgrown brush.

The moonlight warmed his fur the further they ran from their property, and the trees became scarce. A semi-circle formed as the forest opened into a bare field.

The wolves were in the middle. One of the guards had shifted into his human form, holding a person by the back of his neck while he knelt on the ground.

They got him to transition, which meant he was somewhat submissive—maybe a new lycan, or not someone of high ranks.

Axel shifted at the same time as his dad.

"Who is it?" his dad said.

The guard shrugged. "I've never seen him before, Alpha. Looks like a kid—"

The guy looked up, and Axel's blood went cold. Cash' dark gaze met his, and realization hit him. "I know him," Axel said. "This is the boy that was turned at my school. The quarterback, Cash. He's also the one that led me away from Claire tonight, so the other lycan could attack."

His dad watched their intense stare down.

"Do you trust him?" his dad asked.

Axel glared at him. "Since when do we trust lycans?"

"Since this one was turned against his will."

"No, he was an ass before he was turned," Axel said.

Cash chuckled, humorlessly. "He's just mad I tried to get with his girl," he said.

Axel gestured toward Cash's kneeled body. "I see you haven't lost your personality. Now tell us who turned you into a lycan."

He tried shamelessly to jerk away from the guard, who only held him tighter. "I don't know."

Axel snorted. "You don't know who turned you into a lycan? You had to be with him before tonight. Where were you?"

"Let me go and I'll tell you."

His dad snorted. "Take him to the cell. We'll get it out of him there. I don't like being in the open here. We're easy targets. Are the rest of the guards surveying the property?"

"Yes, Alpha. They should be finished within the house."

He gave them a crisp nod. "Okay. Have them come back to the pack house once they're finished."

His dad walked toward the woods, while Axel stayed close to Cash as they tugged him along.

Axel didn’t understand why they would send Cash to the property so soon after what happened earlier that night? Was it to test their security? Was it to test Cash's trust? Either way, Axel didn’t like it. They were too close to Claire, and it hurt his gut to think about it.

The only difference this time was if Cash was used as a diversion, the pack house was full of wolves that could protect Claire. They lugged Cash back to the pack house and down to the cell in the basement of the infirmary.

Axel assumed the last time they used it was before he was born, but it looked taken care of and clean, considering. Denver, one of the guard wolves, shoved Cash into the cell and tossed him a pair of shorts. Cash took them quickly and slid into them, looking around the small cell with a tiny window in the top corner of the wall.

The small twin bed and a toilet in the corner reminded Axel of a jail cell.

Cash chuckled. "So this is why you think you're better than everyone else, huh? The Alpha is your daddy? Are you in line to rule over your little pack of mutts next?"

Axel leaned against the outside of the cell and smirked. Even changed into a supernatural, the guy was an ass. "Looks like your new home is here with the mutts, so you should get comfortable."

Cash's dark gaze swept over the other wolves and back to Axel. "I don't know what you want from me. I don't know who turned me."

"Humor me," Axel said as he heard his dad descend the stairs. "What happened the night of the party? Better yet, why were you on our land? Who is telling you what to do? How does he tell you what to do?"

Cash sat down on the bed and rubbed his eyes with the heel of his palms. "I was looking for Claire, and I got to the second floor when it attacked me. It jumped from the balcony and took me into the woods. When I woke up … he was there in his wolf form. Every time I see him, he's in his wolf form. When he tells me what to do, I hear him in my head. He says he'll heal me if I do what he says."

Axel frowned.

His dad cleared his throat. "Well, I'm sorry to tell you this, but there is no healing from becoming a lycan. This is who you are now. He's telling you that to manipulate you into doing his bidding."

The shock on Cash's face told Axel he was telling the truth.

He imagined Cash thought about football and school, his normality of getting a job after graduation or getting married. He could still do those things, but it would be difficult.

It would suck.

"You're lying," he hissed.

His dad shook his head and wrapped his fingers around the bars of the cell. "No, son, I'm not. You can continue to have a somewhat normal life, but not if you're doing this man's bidding. Is there anything you can tell us about him?

Tears dwelled in the corners of his eyes. "I don't know who it is, but I do know he wants to turn others. He wants to start an army to take over the town. He wants to take down the surrounding packs, make everyone a lycan."

Axel figured as much.

Cash braced his elbows against his knees and interlaced his fingers. "He also wants Claire."

Axel's wolf growled deeply, causing Axel's chest to vibrate.

"What does he want with Claire?" his dad asked.

Cash swallowed, and for the first time since he'd met him, he believed him. "He wants to make her his queen."