Chapter 1
Sara’s POV
I’m crazy. I’ve totally lost it.
I almost mated with Christian!
After making such a big show of rejecting his advances this afternoon, I threw myself into his arms without a second thought.
Was I fully conscious of what was going on? Yes. But that doesn’t necessarily mean I wasn’t out of my mind. I don’t know what came over me.
One minute, all I wanted was to get warmer. The next, I wanted his hands all over me. And, unlike in the afternoon, none of my red flags flashed.
At no moment did I think to stop it, not a second did I question his intentions. I didn’t even remember that when Kai and I left earlier, he had some girl in his arms. If I hadn’t felt Kai’s distress a few minutes ago, I wouldn’t have stopped it.
When I get outside the dorm, my feet carry me towards the back of the nearby buildings.
There is a huge yard behind the buildings, and then about two hundred yards away, the edge of the forest. The party from earlier was located about a quarter a mile into the forest in that direction. And that’s where the mate bond is drawing me towards.
I’ve started off in a run when Christian’s voice rings behind me. “Wait!”
I halt and turn, my heart pounding even faster. His face is stony as he approaches, his hair dishevelled. I did that to him.
I’m suddenly aware of the sticky dampness between my legs. The need to get to Kai was so overwhelming, it didn’t occur to me to clean up first.
“Where is he?” he asks when he gets to me. His eyes avoid me and go straight to scanning the forest.
“Where the party was,” I say, and then add, “You don’t have to come.”
He snickers and starts across the yard. “What do you think you can do on your own when you find him?”
He is prickly. He has every right to be.
And he is right. If Kai has been attacked, there is not much I can do for him.
Christian leads the way as if he too can sense what I’m sensing. But then again, he must have been to one of the parties and knows where the clearing is.
We are a few metres into the dark forest when the scent of blood assaults us. He looks back at me, and for the first time since he followed me out of the dorm, we lock gazes.
“We should shift,” he says. “Stay close.”
I nod and start stripping. In my wolf form, the stench of blood is even stronger. Even stronger than it was yesterday when we found the rogues Christian killed.
As we get closer to the clearing, it’s quiet. Did the party end? Where is the stench coming from?
Christian’s huge grey wolf comes to a stop, and one word resonates between our minds.
Fuck.
That’s when I see what he is seeing. Bodies. Bodies of werewolves, some in their wolf forms and others in their human forms. My stomach churns as I recognise some of them. It’s the kids from the Academy.
I shoot forward, running towards where I’m sensing Kai. I break into the clearing, where I come across more bodies. I’ve never been sick in my wolf form, but I’m about to be.
I call to him with my mind, but there’s no response.
“They were ambushed,” Christian says as he keeps pace with me, “some didn’t even get the chance to shift.”
“Rogues?” I ask, even when I know that’s the only answer. Kai said there has never been an attack at one of the parties. Why tonight?
“Has to be,” he replies.
Just then, my gaze zeroes in on Kai. He is lying face-down on the forest floor, but I recognise the clothes he was wearing earlier.
Christian gets to him before I do. He shifts back to his human form and reaches for his shoulder. I shift and fall to my knees as Christian turns him around.
His clothes are soaked with blood, and there are several gashes down his throat. A werewolf tried to slash his throat open.
“Kai?” I call out, and my voice comes out broken. My hands hang in the air between us helplessly. I have no idea what to do. How to help him. My eyes blur with tears.
His lips part. “Run.”
“What happened?” Christian asks. “Are there other students out there?”
“Yes.”
“We’ll take you back to the school, and then I’ll get the others. I don’t think the school knows yet.”
Christian carries Kai in his arms and hurries out of the forest. I pick up our clothes where we left them and manage to slip mine back on as we go, but he doesn’t bother with his.
The moment we emerge from the forest, we run into a guard. He marches towards us menacingly. “What are you doing out of bounds?”
Christian approaches him fearlessly. “There was a party in the forest, and students got attacked. There are bodies. Others are being hunted down by rogues.”
The guard’s tough face pales, and his eyes lower to Kai. “Get him to the infirmary,” he shouts as he starts in a run towards the school, “and stay in your goddamn dorms.”
He blows a whistle as he goes, and by the time we get back into campus, there are guards rushing all over the place.
This late at night, the infirmary is closed and the healer is in his residence. Fortunately, he lives a stone’s throw away from the infirmary. I rouse him and he appears at the door in less than a minute. One look at Kai and he hurries back inside before reappearing with a bunch of keys.
We follow him to the infirmary, and after he unlocks the door, Christian carries Kai inside and lays him on one of the beds. As the healer bustles around to get his stuff, Christian turns to me.
“Stay here. Don’t go anywhere.”
“Where are you going?”
“I have to help with the rescue.”
“But you are just a student.”
“I’m an Alpha,” he says. “Stay put.”
I don’t get to say another word as he turns and runs out of the infirmary.
The healer appears with a pair of scissors and starts cutting off Kai’s clothes. Kai is fully unconscious now.
“Is he going to be okay?” I ask the healer.
“I need to assess the damage first,” he says, pulling two halves of Kai’s t-shirt apart.
I go faint when a deep bite mark on his side is revealed. The healer looks up at me. “Go take a seat in the waiting area, it won’t help his case if you faint on me. Also, you can’t be in the treatment room while I see to him.”
I nod, give Kai one last look, and leave the room.
A look at a clock hanging on the wall of the waiting area reveals it’s half past two in the morning.
It’s going to be a long night.
