Werewolf Academy

Chapter VII

Recap:

Too unfocused with memories to comprehend the story, I set the book aside, taking hold of the file. I open the file, mentally rolling my eyes. "Twelve years and I still grieve them. I must be..."

I look down to the photograph and name beside it. My heart stops.

Thought #1: They're alive.

Thought #2: That's impossible.

Thought #3: I can't do this job. 

I pace my room. I needed to stay on his good side, but I wasnt about to kill my only living family. If I turn down the job he might demote me. What if I could get them out of town. What if I told them to start searching for a pack. Ask nearby Alphas to stay in their territories for even just a few weeks at a time. Keep them safe somehow. Then it dawned on me. I only saw Violet's photo. Jack could truly be—

"No," I try to convince myself. "She was a selfless woman. She would have saved Jack if it meant getting herself killed. They are both alive. Both alive and healthy and will stay that way for as long as possible. Jack will find a nice mate if he hasn't already and they will be happy. Even raise pups in a few years. Yes. Jack is fine. They both are."

I stay up for hours longer, trying to figure out how I could expose the fact I had become what I was. I curl up on my bed, looking to the ceiling. I feel a tear fall. They were going to hate me. They would never understand why I changed into something like this. Why I had to be molded into such a person. I didn't want to show them who I was. I couldn't do it.

-----

I slam my car door shut. I parked a couple blocks from the address I was given. Pulling right up into the driveway didn't seem very polite. 

7634B Walter St.

I stand on the porch, hesitating. I had to tell them who I am. What I've become. Gathering every bit of courage I had, I wrap on the door a few times. "Jack, honey, could you get that?" I here from inside.

I let out a sigh of relief. Jack is alive. He opens the door. I freeze. The same carmel skin, blonde hair, amber eyes. He had become seriously attractive. "Hey. How can...Adalynn?" I give him a small smile. He suddenly crushes me to his chest. Why are all of the high school guys taller than me? 

"Jack. Why didn't you tell me you were with a girl?"

"Ewww," we both reply.

"Adalynn?" She smiles broadly. "Get in this house and give me a hug!" Violet was in her early forties, though she still looked years younger. Jack had inherited all his features from her, and she was just as stunning. Even more so perhaps. "Look at you. Taller than me."

Jack shuts the door. "Mom, you are 5'4. That's not exactly hard to beat."

"Don't tease your mother. Now, why don't we all sit down and chat. It's been so long since we've seen you and I want to know everything that has happened."

We all find seats in the kitchen. It was tastefully decorated in a red, white, and gray theme, the backsplash tiles a vibrant ruby hue. Gray curtains hung over the two small windows. The cabinets were all made of dark wood and the counters and island were white marble. 

"Anything to drink, Addy?" Jack asks.

I scrunch my nose at the nick name. I had always hated it. "I'm good. Hey, I  just thought about it. They were able to track me. Why aren't you in the academy?"

"I got my letter this morning actually. I'll be one of the new kids in the winter wave."

"Really?" I ask happily. 

He chuckles. "Yeah. What's the first rumor I'm gonna here when I start attending?"

"Wait. Adalynn Asher and Brian Vennera getting along? Are they possessed? What if they're mates? Oh that would be so weird. Blah, blah, blah." I roll my eyes. "Of course I just don't feel like having an enemy in school and he suggested we try to work things out. We can tolerate each other now."

"Vennera?" They both ask.

Violet sits beside me. "As in James Vennera? The man who attacked the pack?"

"I'm try to not hold that against his son. That is why I hated him in the beginning. I'm sure he hated me because I knocked his ego down a few levels on the first day in a fight."

"You got in a fight on your first day?"

"So, you kicked his ass, right?"

The two very different replies I expected to get came at once. "Yes and yes." That wasn't the worst information they would be getting today. "Hard to believe you have been living just miles away from me all these years and I've never once seen you."

"We were in LA before here. Only a few years," Jack explains. "How old was I? Ten? Yeah, just after my birthday we started packing up."

"How have you been honey? Do you have a nice foster family? You said you haven't found your mate yet, but you're only seventeen."

"Look, I haven't been completely honest with my visit. I'm working for someone. I took a new name for a while to let things with the pack clear up." I bit my lip. "You two need to leave town. As soon as possible. If you don't..."

"What is it?" How do I explain this? This was gonna kill them. "Adalynn, is everything alright?" She asks. "What did you mean a fake name?"

"When I was nine, someone found me. They helped me. Trained me. I only took my birth name again after my letter came at the end of summer. My name to him and the others is Selina Carver. And you are my next assignment."