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“Jazz,” I scream. “Go and get help!”

She pauses momentarily to take in the scene, before nodding and rushing back toward the building entrance. Just as Jazz is about to reach the door, a woman appears out of nowhere and punches her in the face, knocking her unconscious. Where are all these people coming from? Who are they!?

I scream, “No!”

*MARIUS*

I’m heading through the town, regretting taking Ella up on her offer to swap for the day. Seriously, nothing is more tiring than playing delivery boy. However, Dante was right: At least my body can relax for a while.

My last stop is school, the one place I loathe most. I don’t have the best memories of my school days. It’s a mixed school… there are plenty of humans here too, so we always had to hide our wolf side. As an alpha’s kid, no one bothered me, but I also didn’t make many friends. Besides, I was always in trouble for talking back to the teachers or for defying them. I think at one point in time, they called my parents every week.

Now, I have to step into this rat hole once again to grab a few things for Annie. A few Red Claw members are graduating this year and Annie wants to hold a party for them, which is why I’m supposed to contact the secretary to grab the graduation details and gather some of their documents. Annie wants to make sure she gets all the names and dates right.

Walking the corridors is like a trip down memory lane. Oh, here… here I got into a fistfight. And here I kissed that cute cheerleader. Oh, I had sex in one of those toilets. Here… detention. And here is where a whole group of kids ganged up on me, and Liam had to intervene.

Wow, I feel like I’m sixteen again. I can definitely do without this feeling.

Time to hurry up and get done with everything as fast as possible.

Heading toward the staircase, my ears catch some faint noises. I frown. Cyrus might be weakened, but my senses are still enhanced. Is someone screaming? I could swear I just heard someone yell and scream for help…

Frowning, I concentrate all my energy on the direction I think the sounds are coming from. I follow them downstairs, taken aback when I see the witch girl, Jazz, running through the corridor and past me. I notice her instantly, because Ari has talked about her nonstop and showed me a cute selfie they made together. Jazz doesn’t notice me though as she’s running full speed toward a door leading outside.

The noises are getting louder. I drop everything in my hands at once and follow Jazz outside, arriving just in time to see Jazz being knocked out by a female rogue. I instantly recognize her as one of the rogues from the other night, because Aryanna showed me like fifty pictures of her, taken by the security camera during the birthday party attack. And on further inspection, Valerie is being held captive by some other rogue punk. She’s struggling to escape his grip, but she stands no chance against him thanks to his superior size and strength over her. Next to him, is an old grandpa who’s casually watching the scene unfold.

“Hey!” I yell at them. “Let her go.”

Valerie tries to reach for him, grasping at something around his neck and tugging at it. But the old geezer just pushes her hand away, smiling calmly. “It’s okay, child, you’re safe.”

My stomach churns at the way he’s looking at her. In what kind of fantasy world is he living? Sugar daddy dream world?

I’m about to shift when a small arrow hits me. A growl leaves my lips as I feel the venom spreading through my body. Wolfsbane. Scumbags! I try to work out the direction the arrow came from… but there is nothing, no one is standing there. I narrow my eyes and glare toward the two men. “You will die for this, assholes. What sort of pathetic scumbags attack a bunch of teenagers?!”

The old geezer looks taken aback at my words. But he shakes it off. “Let’s go,” he mutters. “Make sure he doesn’t follow.”

The rogue who knocked out Jazz lunges at me now, but even with the wolfsbane in my blood, I easily knock her aside. Then more rogues magically appear, there are now five of them circling me. Their putrid scent is getting to me, and with the wolfsbane slowly taking over my body, I don’t stand a chance against this many. Where the heck did they appear from?

Shit, there must be a witch involved in this attack, just like the attack at Valerie’s birthday party? Maybe if I can find and take out the witch, the rogues will lose some of their strength.

As if on cue, a hooded creature steps out of the shadows near where the arrow was fired from. Has she been there all this time? She must have used magic to cloak herself from being seen. She’s wearing a long cloak, like one of those Halloween costumes. Her eyes are gleaming. “Get us out of here,” the sugar daddy wannabe commands.

She nods, snapping her fingers.

The older guy teleports away as the second one grabs Val tighter and grins dirtily at me. “Bye, wolfie,” he smirks.

“Val!” I yell. They must have drugged her because her body seems to be limp. My body may be struggling, but my mind still works surprisingly fast. They are taking Val with them. She is valuable to them, and the old fucker made sure she didn’t get hurt. They need her! “Val!” She forces her eyes open to look at me. “Nobody hurt me,” I say, hoping she will understand. I’ve heard she read a lot growing up. I hope she has read the Odyssey. “Nobody is killing me. It’s nobody.”

If only I could mind-link her.

She looks at me, confused at first, before there is understanding in her eyes. Good. At least she got it.

The witch stares at me like I’ve lost my mind, then she smiles before snapping her fingers again.

I try to fight my way through the rogues surrounding me, but the group easily pushes me back. I can only watch as the guy holding Val and the witch teleport away with her.

I punch one of the guys and kick another, trying to focus and gather my strength. There is still one girl here, who needs me to be strong. If I give up now, it could mean the end for Jazz too, and it might further mean the end of her mate Aryanna, my only real friend. I can see Jazz stirring out of the corner of my eye, her eyes opening slowly. I maneuver it so that one of the guys punches and sends me flying to the ground right next to her.

“Stay down,” I whisper to her. “Pretend to be unconscious.”