In the intermediate Major Magical Control class, everyone had been a decent opponent, and a few had been a real challenge. This year Dylan was in the advanced class, and most of the other students were seniors. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was struggling.
The girl facing him was a yuki-onna, like Riko from his freshman class, except this girl had confidence and excellent control of her powers.
She flung balls of ice at him. Dylan intercepted them with streams of fire, but one got through and clipped him on the arm. It hurt. Growling in frustration, he threw a fireball at her. With hardly a blink, she created a wall.
The fireball hissed as it slammed into the ice, cutting more than halfway through it. Then it slowed until it fizzled away to nothing.
Dylan sent more streams of fire, angling them to get over the wall. She stopped those too. They went back and forth, fire against ice. Sweat dripped off Dylan, and he panted as he ducked another attack.
By the time he noticed the shadow, it was too late.
Glancing up, he saw a huge snowball. In the next second it came crashing down on top of him. The world was suddenly dark, cold, and wet.
It only took him a moment to burn his way through the giant mass of snow, but the match was already over. Ms. Yang held her hands up, telling him to stop. The yuki-onna stood with a slight grin while their classmates laughed.
Every year his opponents got tougher, but Dylan was still used to winning. Or at least ending the match in a draw. In this class, he was getting beaten over and over. It was frustrating.
One of the seniors had even teased him about it: “This is the kid who killed a dark fae? Must’ve been luck.”
Nobody had dared to tease him for years. The urge to prove him wrong had boiled inside Dylan, but he didn’t need another suspension. He’d earned some leniency with the principal and the PTA, but he’d be an idiot to push it too far. Not to mention Warden Bully.
A few more comments like that though, and he was going to snap.
Dylan glumly shook the girl’s hand and went back to the bench.
“You did good,” Aiden said.
“I lost.” And his clothes were soaked from melted snow.
“But you like a challenge, don’t you?”
He did, but this was too much. Until he’d been kidnapped and hunted like an animal, he’d never felt… vulnerable. Weak. And the dark fae attacking him at the pit had made it worse.
Now every match was a reminder that he wasn’t as strong as he’d thought. There were things out there that could kill him. Now he was being whooped by kids only a year older than him.
If Aiden hadn’t trapped that dark fae, if Dylan hadn’t gotten hold of his knife…
“Next up,” Ms. Yang said. “Aiden and Jabu.”
Aiden gave Dylan a nervous glance.
“You’ll do fine,” Dylan said.
His friend still panicked sometimes, but he’d gotten a lot better. Which was great for a lot of reasons, including a selfish one. Every time Aiden panicked about magic, guilt twisted inside Dylan. He’d been the one to cause it in the first place.
Dylan still had nightmares about turning and throwing fire at Aiden, the shocked look on his friend’s face. Aiden had never been mad at him for it, and that somehow made the guilt worse.
Aiden stepped over the wards surrounding the center of the gym and walked to one of the blue circles outlined in the dirt. Jabu stood in the other circle several yards away. Jabu was an impundulu, a lightning bird, and one of the toughest opponents in class.
This year they were in annex three, the biggest of the three gym rooms. It had a dirt floor to accommodate nature-based powers like Aiden’s. Also unlike the other gym, it didn’t have any stands. The practice area took up almost the whole room, with enough space along one side for the rest of the class to watch.
Ms. Yang called for the match to start. Aiden looked almost calm as Jabu gathered lightning in his hand. Then vines shot from the floor under Jabu’s feet. He jumped away from one, but the other caught him. A third vine appeared, catching the light in an odd way. It looked shiny.
It caught Jabu around the wrist, and his lightning fizzled out. “What the heck?” He reached out with his other hand, but nothing happened. “What did you do?” The guy looked slightly panicked.
Ms. Yang must have had an idea, because she was smiling as she declared the match over. “Oh, very good, Aiden.”
“I had the vine carry a wire with it. When it touched him, it grounded his electricity.” Aiden grinned. “Magic and science.”
The vines unwound, and Jabu shook his head, smiling. “Well, that’s a new one.”
Aiden cast a guilty look at Ms. Yang. “I uh, might have broken something under the building.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll get it fixed.”
Aiden wasn’t just doing okay, he was doing great. Better than Dylan.
Dylan high-fived his friend as he returned to the bench. “Awesome.”
“Thanks.” The smile was back.
A nasty feeling of jealousy sat like a weight on Dylan’s chest. He wanted to be happy for Aiden, but all Dylan could think about was how Aiden was getting better while he seemed to be getting worse.
* * *
The ground was cold, but Marisa had thought to bring a big blanket for them all to sit on. “I’m gonna miss our picnics,” Brooke said, “when we’re trapped in that smelly lunchroom all winter.”
“Yeah, this is nice.” Carter tilted his head back and took a deep breath.
Hanna looked around at them all with a smile. Being with her pack filled a hole inside her and made her content in a way she’d never felt before.
Marisa scooted a little closer. “So we’ve been talking.”
We? As in the other pack members? A little sting went through her chest at being left out.
Marisa must have seen something on her face because she put a soothing hand on Hanna’s arm. “We want you to be our alpha.”
“What?” Her heart jumped, and she stared at Marisa before glancing around at the others. “Why?”
“Because you protect us,” Carter said. “You take care of us.”
“But Marisa is alpha.” Hanna looked at her friend.
“I was alpha last year because there wasn’t anyone better. I needed to hold us together.” She squeezed Hanna’s arm. “But you’re the real deal.”
Hanna shook her head. “I’m not an alpha. I’m a wimp. I had to ask Dylan to keep Conner from bothering you because I’m not strong enough to do it myself.” She was a disappointment just like her parents said. A submissive wolf.
“We don’t need someone that uses their fists to watch out for us,” Gavin said. “Or to keep us in line.” A dark look crossed his face. He and his family had always been on the outskirts of the Shadow Valley pack.
Brooke set her pop down. “I still don’t get all this werewolf stuff, but I know you’re the kind of person I want to follow.”
Hanna’s eyes burned as her chest swelled with emotion. They didn’t think she was a disappointment or weak. They wanted her to lead them. An alpha usually took over by force or intimidation, but did it have to be that way? “You really want me to be your alpha?”
They all nodded.
“You don’t have to,” Marisa said, “but we all think you’re the best choice.”
Could she do this? Hanna had left Dylan so she could find herself. Would leading the pack distract her from that, or was it part of it?
“Please.” Carter looked at her with big eyes.
Hanna wanted to be what they saw in her. Although it made her stomach tight with nervousness, she said, “Okay, I’ll do it.”
“Yes!” Carter threw his arms around her, knocking over her pop.
Marisa grabbed it before much could spill.
“But you have to be my beta,” Hanna told Marisa.
The girl smiled. “Of course.”
I’m leading the mutt pack with a vampire as my beta. My parents are going to kill me.