Page 3 of Dead Wolf Falling (Bad Moon Academy 2)

Chapter 1

DRACO

Raven races out of the room before any of us can stop her. By the time the three of us make it to the hallway, she’s already jumping over the rope blocking off this wing. Everett shouts her name, but she doesn’t slow down. We stop at the top of the stairs, watching as she dashes through the front door. I don’t even know if she got Joan back. She fled before answering Everett’s question.

“Fuck, who was that?” Carter asks, running his hands through his hair.

“I don’t know.” My wolf growls, and Everett shoots me a look which readscontrol yourself. How can I control myself when she left us behind to race toward two men? Two men means one of us is out.

As much as these guys annoy me sometimes, I can’t imagine myself getting along with anyone else. It only works if Raven is with us.

“Let’s go; she’ll have a few moments before we catch up.” Everett rushes down the stairs, but the door snaps shut and the lights switch off.

“Where are you going?” a pouting feminine voice asks.

I grind my jaw. Should have fucking known she’d show up. Jinx walks out of the west wing of the first floor. Her black hair is piled high on her head in some ridiculous hairdo and she’s wearing a corset-bodice gown. When her glowing white eyes lift to take us in, my wolf snarls in my head. He doesn’t like her, and I can’t blame him. Jinx is bad news.

The three of us pause on the stairs. Carter glances at Everett who shakes his head. I roll my eyes. Why must I always be the one to engage the fucking demon?

“Jinx, I didn’t expect to see you for another week.”

The grin splitting her lips is vicious and half-cocked, like she’s waiting for a reason to lose her shit. She’s always dangerous, but this version of Jinx is the deadly one. She’s like a mass of clouds swirling above the landscape, waiting for the perfect dip in pressure to drop to the ground in a cyclone of destruction.

“Shall we go get our friend?” she asks, moving toward the door.

“Jinx, don’t.” Everett’s voice cracks through the air, filled with alpha power which sucker punches me in the gut. He’d do anything to protect Raven, including enraging this bitch.

I slam my elbow into his stomach, and he growls. The idiot is going to make things worse.

“Why don’t we leave Raven? Maybe we can get some tea?” Carter asks, trying to sound friendly. The vein on his forehead tells another story though, and he shoves his hands into his pants to keep her from seeing his fingers have curled into fists.

Jinx pauses with her hand on the door, tilting her head to gaze at us with those milky eyes.

“You think you can protect her from me? You know your power can’t touch me.” Jinx tsks. “What did I tell you about trying to keep my presents from me?”

Carter takes a step down. “Jinx—”

The demon spirit gasps and clutches her chest, sneering at the door. “Fae.” She hisses the word like a snake about to strike.

A rush of air slams into the academy, rocking the walls. I stumble slightly but grab the railing to steady myself. Everything creaks, like the foundation is suddenly unstable.

“What was that?” Carter asks, eyes swinging to me like he thinks I’ll know what happened. Or like I’m the one who caused it.

Narrowing my gaze, I scoff. Why do I always get blamed? Sure, sometimes I do bad things, but I’m not all bad. Sometimes I do good things.

Everett lets out a whoop of joy. “Can you feel it? The ward is gone! Let’s fucking leave.” He sprints down the stairs, but Jinx shoves her hand into the air, catching him in a wave of magic and holding him suspended above the ground.

“Silly fool. You aremine.” Then she swings her arm toward the floor and Everett crashes into the marble hard enough to break it.

He groans and curls into a ball, clutching the back of his head which is turning red, the buzz cut doing nothing to hide the blood from the cut. Judging by the way he’s taking shallow breaths, he may have cracked a few ribs.

“What’s happening?” Morris, one of the newer wolves asks from the third floor. He rubs his eyes and yawns. “Did you guys feel the earthquake?”

Stretching my senses, I search for the familiar darkness that is our cage. Invisible magic which holds us prisoner. Nothing is there. The wards fell. Jinx can’t keep us here any longer.

Carter and I share a look then rush down the stairs. Jinx opens her mouth and screams, the sound reverberates through my skull, and I trip, losing my focus due to the vicious sound slicing through my mind.

“Jinx.” Carter wheezes her name. He’s a step ahead of me, and he crashes to his knees, clutching his throat and gasping for air. She can hurt us, but thanks to the bracelets she gave us, she can’t feast on our souls or wolves. Remembering this, she stops screaming and snarls. Carter collapses, forearms slamming onto the marble as he sucks in a ragged breath.

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