Chapter 39: Chapter 39

EVERLEE

Brett picked up his cellphone and called someone. I was too shocked to listen to his conversation. I sat on his unmade bed, and watched as he walked around the room, turning on lights, with his cell phone pressed against his shoulder and ear.

I listened to the unhinged sound of my heart beating.

I felt like I was losing myself.

My wolf was on edge.

Rage was going out onto campus, and Harlan could be coming after him. After me. After the university. I wasn’t even sure why he was doing what he was doing anymore. I’d chosen Rage. Was it revenge for not choosing him? Was it something his wolf was telling him to do?

Fight all werewolves?

None of it made sense. Harlan hadn’t been himself in ages. My mind wandered to the storybook that he had in his apartment. It was twisted and dark, much like what was happening.

No matter who the hybrid chose chaos ensued.

If I had chosen Harlan, would Rage have turned on me? I didn’t think so. I was sure Rage had more strength to overcome his thoughts.

But this was different, wasn’t it?

Harlan wasn’t in control anymore. His wolf, the evil voice his father had, took over him. This wasn’t who he was, or who my parents raised him to be. Was blood thicker than water?

It was looking like it to me.

“Dammit, Everlee,” Brett hissed.

I blinked, realizing he was bent down in front of me, snapping his fingers. I slapped his hand out of my face. “Stop that. I’m not a dog.”

“Then get up,” he said. “We’re moving to the gym. I need to tell all of the house about what’s going on.”

A loud siren broke loose over the campus, and shivers raced down my spine. Brett tugged his T-shirt over his body, his face turned upward toward the ceiling as he grabbed for my arm.

He dragged me out of his room into a hallway full of alphas waking from sleep. “Get into the gym. Meeting now!”

The alphas scurried around me, pushing and shoving until I was pinned in the doorjamb with two other alphas. Irritation flooded me, I shoved free, shocking a couple of the alphas I fell into.

Brett let go of me and jumped onto one of the weight benches. The fluorescent lighting flickered overhead, while the alphas became still and quiet. “Rage just informed me that Harlan, the lycan, escaped from the kingdom. We don’t know where he’s going, but”—he looked down at me—“Everlee made her choice, and we think he’s coming after Rage or her. Alpha Allaire thinks he may be after the university. There are other lycans involved.”

“He’s after the university because Everlee didn’t give it up?” someone asked.

My fingers began to ache from tightening them into fists. I glared at the alpha as he looked down upon me. They thought this was all my fault. It wasn’t, was it?

“Knock it off,” Brett said, pointing his finger at him. “It doesn’t matter what caused this. We are here to protect the university and our own. Rage is going to meet with the university guards. I need three alphas in the room with Everlee. I need alphas surrounding the house and I need alphas out in the woods. Any sign of a lycan and you howl.”

He began to call out people’s names and point them in different directions. I felt my head begin to swirl with dizziness. I walked over toward the mat and sat down cross-legged. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and stared.

Rage’s mark was beautiful.

It was definitely geared toward the wolf in me, not the lycan. A half-moon with reddish stars and a howling alpha, still red from the newness of it. I traced my fingertips over the mark.

This was not going to happen. Harlan was not going to ruin this for me. For Rage. I loved him. I did. He was not only an option for a destiny, but my brother-ish. He deserved more than his father’s demons.

I stood up with the help of the mirror and wrapped my arms around my stomach. Alphas began to run out of the room, and then the alpha house. My wolf howled at the distant sound of sirens.

Brett turned to me with two more alphas and smiled. “Everything is going to be okay, Ever. We won’t let Harlan or any other lycan get inside.”

His confidence was reassuring. Though remembering the tales of Harlan’s father made me doubtful. Would it happen again? The big war like my parents endured. I wasn’t a warrior by any means, but I could hold my own.

Harlan didn’t have an army like his father did. Not that I knew of, but if Erick was behind this, maybe he did.

My cell phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and answered my mother’s call. “Baby,” she said. “Are you okay? I can’t get in touch with your father. I wanted to make sure you were all right.”

“I’m at the alpha house. Dad left. Rage went out to meet with the guards of the university. I’m scared Mom. What is Harlan thinking?”

She sighed. “He isn’t, Everlee. He’s being controlled by the curse. If we can just capture him, we can extract his wolf.”

“How is he going to fit in with the kingdom being human? Harlan is going to feel lost.”

Mother’s silence told me she knew everything I was saying. “It’s either that or death, Baby Girl. I don’t want to lose our boy because of his father’s sins.”

I imagined a tear falling down her face. Mother loved Harlan like a son. It was the same as me being put through this. “I understand. Do you think I made the wrong choice?”

“What does your heart tell you?”

I smiled. “It’s telling me that I made the right choice.”

“Then you made the right choice. Listen, your dad is calling. I’ll call back soon to check in. Text me or mind link if anything changes or you come in contact with Harlan.”

“Yes ma’am. I love you.”

“Love you,” she said.

The phone went silent, and I slid it back into my pocket. I began to pace the floor, listening to the sound of the alphas speaking to one another.

“Rage said they are patrolling the woods and haven’t found anything,” Brett said. “Some of the kingdom’s warriors are here to track his scent. They lost it somewhere between the kingdom and the university.”

I nibbled on the corner of my thumbnail when someone began to bang on the front door. My spine stiffened, and I stared at the closed gym door. Brett focused, as if listening to a mind link, and looked conflicted. “Some lycan named Kellan is trying to get inside.”

“Let him in,” I said, stepping forward.

Brett looked at me. “Seriously? You want to let a lycan into the alpha house?”

“He’s Harlan’s friend. I’ve known him all my life. He was raised with us at the kingdom.”

One of the alphas snorted. “Yeah, so was Harlan.”

Anger shot through me. I leaped around them, slipping from their grasps and ran toward the front doors. Kellan stood on the other side, two alphas holding him underneath the arms, while he fought them. “Let him go!” I shouted.

Kellan was released and he dusted off his shoulders playfully. “You better be glad I’m sick today or I would have handed you both—”

I grabbed him and pulled him inside. He bent down and hugged me tight. I felt tears pooling at my eyes. “What is going on?” he asked.

I wiped my tears away and stepped backward. His gaze lowered to the mark on my neck, and he stalled. “You chose?”

I nodded.

“That’s not the reason he’s doing this,” Kellan said. “That prick Erick is whispering into his ear. I know it.”

The blond alpha stepped forward and pressed his finger into Kellan’s shoulder. “How do we know you aren’t going to let him inside?”

“I haven’t spoken to him in days. Ever since they took him to the kingdom. What did the witch doctor tell him?”

I swallowed my nerves. “They want to extract his wolf.”

Kellan’s eyes rounded. “Turn him human?”

“Yes,” I whispered.

“Poor Harlan,” Kellan whispered, running his fingers into his hair. “No wonder he’s conflicted. What are they going to do to him if they catch him?”

“Rage promised Dad he would try not to kill him. They want to extract his wolf and save his life. It’s a curse that runs in his family’s bloodline. It’s why his father was so crazy.”

“This isn’t going to end well,” he said. “I pray it does, but it doesn’t look that way.”

I felt the same pit of dread in my stomach. Kellan reached over and interlaced his fingers with mine. “I saw Bryiar on my way over. She was worried about you.”

“I haven’t even thought to tell her. I’ll call her really quick.” I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed her number. She answered on the first ring. “Oh my God, Everlee. I’ve been worried sick about you. Why haven’t you answered my calls?”

“I didn’t realize you called. I’ve been…out of it. Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I’m in the dorm room. The RA has everyone in their rooms right now other than the alpha house. Are you there? Where is Rage? Where is Harlan?”

Wasn’t that the million-dollar question. Where was Harlan?

“I don’t know,” I said. “He’s coming. I made my choice and he’s coming.”

Bryiar’s silence told me she understood what that meant. “Please stay safe, Ever. I know your mother was a badass, and took on the lycan king, but don’t be the hero today, okay? Let the boys be the heroes.”

I chuckled and wiped a tear from my face. “I don’t think I’m that brave, Bryiar. I love you. I’ll call you soon.”

I slid my phone into my pocket and followed the alphas back into the gym. When Brett shut the door behind us, another siren rang out around me.

“This is not a drill. A breech has been made. Stay inside, Werewolf University. Stay inside.”