Werewolf Academy 07 Chosen (21 page)

“
Thanks,” Alex replied.

Trent’s tone became serious. “Now for why I called. The GPA has been sifting through the rubble that was once D Block; they found pieces of four Demons.” He paused, then said, “As well as Drogan’s hand.”

Alex’s stomach tightened. “Are they sure it’s his?”

“
We just received DNA confirmation,” Trent replied. “They’re saying he’s dead. You did it, Alex.”

Alex shook his head. “You and Mouse did it,” he said numbly. “And I’m glad. Good job.”

“
Same to you.” Alex could hear the sadness in the little werewolf’s voice when Trent concluded, “Please tell Cherish I’m sorry about Jericho. Kaynan and Grace are with Mrs. Hunt making preparations. The funeral will be in two days.”

“
I’ll let her know,” Alex answered his friend. “Thanks for everything, Trent.”

“
Have a safe trip, you two.”

“
We will,” Siale said.

After a few minutes of silence, Siale was the one who broke it. “I don’t believe the GPA.”

Alex stared at the back of her helmet in surprise. “You think they’re lying?”

She shook her head. “I think they found his hand, but I don’t think he’s dead.”

Relief filled Alex. It was the same way he had felt when Trent told him the news. “I know; I agree. So what do we do?”

“
There’s a homicidal werewolf-killing Extremist whose goal is to wipe you and anyone you love from this earth. We need to stop him.”

“
You sound like you have a plan,” Alex hedged.

“
We draw him out.” She sounded surer of herself by the second.

“
Alright, I’ll bite. How?”

“
Our wedding.”

Alex couldn’t be more shocked. “Let me get this straight. You want to use our wedding to draw Drogan out into the open so we can take him down?”

“
We’ll throw a fake wedding,” she replied. She slowed the motorcycle around a turn. “It has to look real. That’s the only way he’ll fall for it. We can’t tell anyone except your team.”

“
Our team,” Alex said, still trying to get his mind around what she was suggesting.

“
Our team,” she replied with the sound of a smile in her voice. She tipped her head back. “Let’s focus on Cherish; we’ll plan our fake wedding on the way home.”

Chapter Twenty-one

Alex knocked on the door.

“
I usually climb up the fire escape,” he said in an effort to push down the sadness that filled his chest.

Siale slipped her hand into his. They listened to footsteps cross to the door.

“
Alex?” Cherish said when she pulled it open. Her hair was mussed and she looked as though they had woken her up. She glanced to his right and her eyes widened. “Siale?” Her voice cracked. She shook her head. “No. This can’t be right. You aren’t supposed to be here.”

Siale set a hand on Cherish’s arm. “I’m so sorry.”

Tears spilled down Cherish’s cheeks. “It can’t be. I talked to Jericho yesterday. He said he was leaving on a mission to stop the Demons.”

Alex nodded. “The Demons overpowered us.” He blinked back tears of his own. “Jericho saved mine and Trent’s lives.”

Cherish began to sob. Siale wrapped her in a hug. Alex cried with them, his eyes shut tight and his hand squeezing them in an attempt to slow the tears that refused to obey.

“
I’m so sorry, Cherish,” he said. “I tried to save him. I really did.”

Cherish took a shuddering breath and looked around as though she had just realized they were still standing in the hallway.

“
Please come in,” she said, wiping her tears. New tears took their place. She led the way to the small living room and motioned for them to sit on the couch. “You must be exhausted. Let me get you some water.”

She was gone far longer than filling cups would normally take. Alex and Siale sat on the couch and held hands.

Siale took the ring from her pocket. “I feel like you should give this to her,” she said, her eyes bright with tears.

Alex took it without a word and then held her close. Her shaking shoulders brought sobs to his chest, but he forced them down. The girls needed him to be strong. He would be there for them the way Jericho had always been there for him.

When Cherish came back, her eyes were red and puffy and she carried a picture frame instead of cups.

“
I forgot the water,” she apologized.

“
We’re fine,” Siale replied. “You don’t need to get us anything. We’re so sorry we had to come here under these circumstances.”

Alex opened his hand. The ring glittered on his palm. “The last thing Jericho said was to give you this,” his voice caught, but he forced himself to say, “And to tell you how much he loved you.”

Cherish picked up the ring with shaking fingers. She gave a watery smile. “It’s beautiful.”

Siale nodded and smiled through her tears. “It’s gorgeous.”

Cherish slipped it on her finger, and though fresh tears trailed down her cheeks, the smile stayed. “He was the one who broke me down. I said I’d never marry. But I would have said yes to him.”

“
I think he knew that,” Alex told her. “He knew how much you loved him.”

She gave him a grateful smile. “And I know how much he loved me. He said it whenever we spoke on the phone. It was the first thing he always said when we got together, and the last thing he said before he left.” She blinked quickly. “It was the last thing he said to me when he hung up the phone before your mission.”

Alex bowed his head. “Cherish, if I could have done anything to save him…”

“
I know,” she said. “That’s why I brought this.” She held out the picture frame.

Alex took it. When he saw who was in the photo, his breath caught.

“
Is that Jet?” Siale asked.

Alex nodded.

Cherish leaned closer. “That’s Jericho in the middle. I think he said he was nine when the picture was taken.” She pointed to the woman on Jericho’s left. Alex recognized Mrs. Hunt. “That’s his mother, and those two little boys,” she gave a fond smile, “Those are Jericho’s twin brothers, Zach and Zeb. They’re three years old in that picture.”

“
They look like little angels with their blond hair and blue eyes,” Siale said. “They’re so adorable.”

“
In real life, they’re much more mischievous than they look,” Cherish said.

Alex stared at the picture. “I didn’t know Jericho had brothers.” His gaze kept straying to Jet standing behind the twins. His brother didn’t smile, he had seldom ever smiled, but he had the satisfied look on his face that said he had just finished a job that ended well. Alex knew the expression by heart.

“
They’re not werewolves, they’re human,” Cherish explained. “They’re eleven now, and they never phased. Zach and Zeb go to public school.”

“
They look so happy,” Siale noted with a smile.

Cherish nodded. “They were just reunited. Extremists killed Jericho’s father and captured Jericho’s mom and brothers when he was out with his friends. He thought he would never see them again. He said Jet saved their lives.” She set a hand on Alex’s knee, bringing his gaze up to hers. “That’s why I brought this out. Jericho told me it was one of his most prized possessions. He gave it to me in case anything happened to him.”

That caught Alex’s attention. “What do you mean?”

Cherish looked at the picture. “He said if there was ever a chance to repay Jet for saving his mom and brothers, he would take it.” She met Alex’s gaze again, her green eyes filled with emotion. “He said he would gladly give his life for yours if the opportunity ever called for it. He asked me to understand if it happened.”

Alex shook his head, refusing to comprehend her words. “He knew this might happen?” he asked incredulously. He stared at the picture. “He was willing to give his life away just to save mine?”

“
No, Alex,” Cherish replied.

Alex stared at her, wanting his heart not to ache the way it did at her words, hoping for something that would make him feel less responsible for his friend’s death.

“
It wasn’t
just
to save your life. It was to save you because saving you meant repaying your brother. Jet gave Jericho his family back, and do you know what Jericho did?” Cherish paused, then said, “He saved the life of the werewolf who has almost single-handedly given his werewolf mother and his younger brothers the chance at a normal life. Jericho loved you like a brother.”

Alex let his head hang. “He was a brother to me, too.”

The warmth in Cherish’s voice cut through his sorrow when she said, “Then remember him as a brother who was happy to have been your Alpha. He felt like he learned as much from you as you did from him.”

Alex took in a shuddering breath. “That’s why he choose me as his Second.”

“
When?” Siale asked.

Alex realized neither girl had been there. “In Jericho’s first term at the Academy, he choose me as his Second. It was the first time a Termer Alpha had ever chosen a Lifer to be his Second.” He shook his head with amazement. “That’s why he gave me a chance. He was repaying Jet.”

The thought brought a smile to Alex’s face. The fast bond he and Jericho had created was in part because of Jet. It was another way his big brother had looked out for him long after his death.

“
Jericho was amazing,” Alex concluded.

“
Yes, he was,” Cherish said. Her voice broke.

Alex could see the tears she had yet to cry etched in the sorrow of her eyes. He gave her a hug. Cherish started to cry again. Siale hugged her as well and the three cried together in sorrow and in joy at the memories of the werewolf who had meant so much to all of them.

“
I need to talk to my mom,” Cherish said. She sniffed and wiped her cheeks with her sleeve.

“
We’ll walk with you there,” Alex replied.

He and Siale walked beside Cherish through the streets of Greyton. Evening had fallen. Cars drove by and pedestrians filled the streets on their way home from work. Alex looked for gang symbols, but they had been washed from the sides of buildings and street signs. Children played on the steps they passed and mothers chatted as they watched their children. The appearance of a city held siege by the gangs that filled it were gone.

“
Jericho always helped me appreciate the little things,” Cherish said after they had walked several blocks. She gave a sad smile and nodded to a little vine that clung to the side of a building and grew toward the sunlight. “He always pointed this plant out. He said it was beautiful the way it persevered in the middle of concrete and bricks.”

“
It is beautiful,” Siale agreed. She touched a leaf from the vine.

“
Jericho always talked about how pretty the sky was, and how much he loved being a werewolf because of how the animal senses worked with his human ones.” She blinked quickly. “He used to try to describe it to me so I would understand. He didn’t want me to feel left out.”

Alex noticed that she fidgeted with the ring on her finger. He caught her hand and looked at it. “The ring looks beautiful on you.”

“
It’s a perfect fit,” Cherish said.

“
Jericho would have been so happy to see it on you,” Siale told her. She gave Cherish another hug.

They walked together in front of Alex. Siale threw him a grateful smile that Alex returned.

Alex and Siale waited near the door of Frenchie’s Food. The sound of Mrs. Summer’s surprised gasp and both women crying made Alex’s heart ache. He glanced at Siale. The answering tears trailing silently down her cheeks was almost too much. Alex lifted his arm; she ducked under it and buried her face against his chest. Alex felt Siale’s tears soak his shirt. He closed his eyes and held her, each of them supporting the other and sharing their strength along with the heartache.

Alex opened his eyes when footsteps drew near. He wiped the tears that had escaped and met Mrs. Summers’ teary gaze.

“
Thank you so much for coming,” Cherish’s mother said. She gave them both a hug. “It’s so much better than finding out such things over the phone.”

Cherish nodded behind her. “You two have been such great friends. Thank you very much for all you did for Jericho.”

“
He did so much more for me,” Alex replied. “I’ll always be grateful to have had him in my life.”

“
Us, too,” Mrs. Summers said. She tipped her head toward the dining room. “Why don’t you two come have a bite to eat? You must be hungry.”

Alex shook his head. “I’m not sure either of us could eat right now.”

Siale nodded in agreement. “We should probably be on our way back to the Academy.”

“
Thank you for coming by,” Mrs. Summers said. She gave them each another motherly hug.

Alex and Siale walked slowly down the street. The lamplights had come on, lighting golden pools within the gray hush of nightfall. Siale’s hand felt warm in Alex’s. He felt her ring against his fingers. With losing Jericho and seeing how hard it was on Cherish, so many emotions battled in Alex’s thoughts. There had been many times he had almost not come home to Siale and his family. He couldn’t imagine causing Siale such pain. The thought almost made him regret proposing to her, except for the fact that he couldn’t imagine living a life without her at his side.

Chapter Twenty-two

“
Alex, look!”

Torn out of his thoughts, Alex looked to where Siale pointed. In the window of the restaurant across the street, Alex made out the forms of Brock and a blonde woman at a table. Alex smiled when he realized it was Jennifer Stauffer, the woman Brock had helped track down and reunite with Mrs. Summers. They had been best friends when they were children, then Jennifer disappeared. After their reunion, Brock and Jennifer had hit it off. Whenever Brock was found missing from the Wolf Den, it was inevitable where he would be.