Chapter 41

The wolf had landed on all four paws, looking up. It had realised that it got tricked by the other wolf. Looking around for what to launch itself back up with, it spotted an extension from the wall and immediately leaped towards it, and up into the building.

Before getting up, the dark wolf knew that that strange black wolf was gone. He knew it would be, the damn thing had been fast. Too fast.

It’s muscles ached, and the side still throbbing from where the brown wolf had rammed into him. It had barely been able to land a solid hit before that wolf had used that cheap trick to escape.

Coward!

The wolf shook its fur aggressively. There was no point in standing there and glaring out at nothing. The battle was over, and now he had to deal with what was left behind.

It turned back to take a good look at the classroom. The place was a disaster. Broken furniture, glass shards, claw marks streaking across the walls and floors, and the bodies of the dead security men. Blood coated nearly everything, the heavy metallic smell thick in the air.

The dark wolf knew. This wasn’t just some random attack. That wolf had come here with a purpose, and whether it had achieved the purpose or not was not known. So much destruction, and for what?

The sound of approaching footsteps made him turn.

Raymond entered the room, his usual relaxed posture replaced with a more serious expression. He held a bag in one hand, holding the strap tightly.

“The injured security men are being taken to the hospital.” Raymond reported. “The dead will be handled soon.”

His voice was calm, but there was an edge to it. Plus, Raymond wasn’t meeting his eyes.

Frustration? Or maybe he felt guilty? The wolf wasn’t sure, and he didn’t have the patience to figure it out. He knew his Beta could handle these things on his own.

Instead, it gave a short nod and eyed the bag in Raymond’s hand.

Raymond sighed, then tossed the bag towards him.

“No one’s coming this way. I made sure of it.”

The wolf caught the bag easily and dropped the bag next to his fore paws, before it started to shift. Bones cracked, muscles twisted, and fur just disappeared, leaving him standing tall in his human form.

Sean grabbed the clothes from the bag and quickly pulled them on.

“Thanks.” He muttered, fastening his shirt.

Raymond folded his arms, watching him.

“You alright?”

Sean grunted in response. He didn’t feel like talking about the fact that he had nearly lost that fight. That other wolf had been very strong, but he could not place the scent. Who was that?

Instead, he asked another question.

“The students from this class, are they alright?”

Raymond nodded.

“They are all fine. Shaken, but unharmed. It’s a pity we can’t say that about these guys.” Raymond gestured at the dead men on the floor.

Sean sighed. He got it, Raymond felt guilty about the death of the men. But then again, Sean also felt relieved. At least that was something.

But they weren’t out of trouble yet.

*************** **************** *************** **************** ***************** ***************

Down below, Caleb stood near the school building, eyes still locked on the direction the brown wolf had disappeared to. They all went to see when they saw it jump on the fence. His fists clenched.

“It’s gone.” He said, turning to Sophia.

She nodded, then looked back toward the building.

“We should check what’s happening inside the class now.”

Paige and Allison exchanged a look before they all headed back toward the ruined classroom.

When they entered, they found Sean and Raymond deep in discussion. Sean’s back was turned to them, and he seemed tense. Didn’t help that there were some scratches on his body.

The second he saw Caleb, his expression darkened.

“You!” Sean snapped, striding toward him. “Is this not your class?”

Caleb hesitated, then nodded.

Sean didn’t even give him a second before he slammed him against the wall, pulling against his collar tightly.

“Where the hell were you?” Sean growled, his voice dangerously low.

Caleb’s eyes widened.

“What?”

“You heard me!” Sean said. “Where. Were. You? And why didn’t you help?”

Caleb clenched his jaw.

“I did help.”

Sean’s pulled Caleb closer to him angrily.

“Oh yeah? You call running away ‘helping’?”

“Hey!” Sophia stepped forward, her eyes blazing. “That’s enough!”

Sean ignored her, his focus locked on Caleb.

“We had casualties, Caleb! Look at the ground and see them! They’re dead!” Sean snarled. “That could’ve been avoided if you’d done your damn job.”

Caleb scoffed.

“Do you think so? You really think I could’ve stopped that thing?”

He pushed Sean off of him roughly.

“I saw it leave. I saw you fight it, and you expect me to believe that if you couldn’t take it down, I somehow could?”

Sean’s jaw clenched. “That doesn’t matter.”

Caleb let out a sharp laugh, shaking his head.

“Of course, it doesn’t. Because to you, it’s all about who can fight and who can’t, right? You’re just projecting on me because you can’t believe that you lost!”

Sean’s patience snapped.

He shoved Caleb hard, sending him stumbling backwards.

“If you were doing what you were supposed to, none of this would’ve happened! There would be less causalities, at least!”

And then, suddenly…

SMACK!

The room went silent and all eyes turned to Sophia, standing right in front of Sean.

Sophia stood between them, her hand still raised from where she had slapped Sean across the face. Sean barely flinched, but his head had turned slightly from the impact. Everyone watched in stunned silence.

“Are you done?” Sophia asked angrily. “Because you’re acting like a big idiot.”

Sean glared at her, about to say something, but Sophia didn’t let him.

“You’re blaming him like he could’ve done something about this!” Sophia continued, her eyes flashing. “That thing tore through fully trained security like they were paper. You think Caleb could’ve changed that?”

Sean said nothing.

Sophia moved much closer towards him, her finger pointing at his face.

“You’re pissed that it got away, and you’re taking it out on the wrong person. Don’t try that.”

Sean looked around, as if just realising that he had been acting mad all the whole. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. He hated that she was right. Still, he turned back to her.

“You don’t even know anything...” He started to say, but she cut in.

“And I don’t care. You’ve always been a jerk for the little time that I’ve known you, but I was also told that you were sensible. Prove it now and stop playing the blame game! And that’s not even any of your jobs, it’s the school’s fault to help us.”

Raymond, who had been watching quietly, finally spoke.

“She’s right. We have bigger problems than pointing fingers.” He said. “And it’s not like we can do anything about it, like she said.”

Sean turned to glare at Sophia and Caleb before he walked out. Raymond sighed and turned to Paige.

“Are you okay? Do you want anything?”

Paige nodded.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me. Worry about your friend who just harassed my friend and seems to be losing his mind. I’ll worry about my friends.” Paige said, smiling.

Raymond nodded, looking at them, looking confused at Allison.

“I thought you didn’t like Allison.”

“I still don’t, she’s not my friend. Sophia and Caleb came in to get us out, that’s why she’s here.”

Allison rolled her eyes. Raymond then nodded, muttering a quick “sorry, on Sean’s behalf” to them before hurrying out after his friend.