Page 5 of Dead Wolf Rising (Bad Moon Academy 3)

“Thank you,” I whisper, patting his chest on the way out of the room.

I press my lips together and move toward the east wing. She has to be here somewhere. Perhaps it’s foolish to wish that Jinx were still here. Even if it means seeing Bea again and confirming that she is indeed part of Jinx. But I need to know. I... I can’t let her go so easily. In the short time I’ve known Bea, I’ve come to feel protective of her. She’s so young, only fourteen. If that’s even to be believed. Maybe she’s not part of Jinx.

Maybe Jinx just took her to try to get inside of my head to make me feel like I have no allies, or at least to take someone from me like she did when she took Morg. Someone that would hurt me. Why wouldn’t she take the men if that were her goal though? Nothing makes sense, and I’m starting to get mad. I tap my fingers against my thigh as we walk down the hall, stopping to check inside of bedrooms as we go.

The deep wrinkle creasing my forehead almost hurts. I’m questioning everything. The only thing that feels real is the bond between me and the guys. I know that’s real. I can feel it. There’s nothing but the bond to keep me grounded, everything else could be fake. Even the shifters we left outside. I don’t know if they’re real. If Morg was fake... How do I know all of those people are real?

I don’t have a supernatural connection with them. I can’t feel their souls.

Paranoia trickles through my body.

I’ve been fooled too many times by Jinx.

I move to the left side of the hall and open the door in front of me, glancing around the room.

There’s no one here. We’ve almost reached the end of this side of the second floor and there’s no sign of Jinx or Bea anywhere. My stomach is churning with unease, and a cool sweat breaks out on the small of my back. What does it mean if we can’t find them?

What does it mean if they’re gone?

Are we stuck here?

Why are there so many goddamn questions?

“Raven, you have to stop. The bond is making me jittery; whatever you’re thinking isn’t going to happen. There’s no use in worrying about things that haven’t come to pass.”

I scowl at Carter. “You say that like it’s so easy. Like I shouldn’t be worried about what’s going to become of all of us. If we’re stuck here, there’s not enough food. The alpha will come back regardless if Jinx is here or not. And then what? We’ll be no better off than Howard.”

His eyes pinch. “It could happen. You’re right. But you’re going to make yourself sick if you keep worrying about it.”

His intentions are good, but trying to tell someone who’s panicking to relax doesn’t help.

Adler grabs my hand and leads me away from the rest of them.

Once we’re far enough away from them, he stops and turns to face me. “Take a few deep breaths.”

I squint at him, but he gives me a stern look. “Three.”

With a heavy sigh. I do as he says.

He takes three deep breaths of his own. Then he says “again.” So I do three more, then three more, then three more. By the time I’ve taken twenty-four, I feel the churning and fluttering in my stomach subside and the frantic pitter patter of my heart begin to slow.

My brain stops whirling with theories and concerns.

“I wish I could say I understand what it’s like, but I can’t. I’ve never been in this situation before. Aside from when I was taken from Faerie, I’ve never lost anyone. You’ve gone through so much more than I ever have, and you’ve been brave through all of it, but sometimes even the brave need to break down to get past their trials. It’s not wrong to feel that claustrophobic anxiety, but you have to be able to pull yourself out of it or you’ll end up spiraling. And you can’t bite Carter’s head off for trying to help.”

I look into his amber eyes. “I know.” I blow out a breath. “I know, you’re right. I know this is what they taught us in rehab. I need. I need to just focus on one thing.”

“What’s the most important thing to you right now?” He tips his head to the side.

“Finding Bea,” I say almost automatically.

He grins. “Well, then let’s go find the little shifter.”

* * *

We searchthe entire second floor before heading to the third. With every empty room we find I can’t help but feel this is a fool’s errand. When we come to Morg’s dorm, my chest squeezes. The story that Carter told about the changed shifter whose bloodline was polluted with a little bit of demon blood mentioned that the demon and wolf snuffed out the human side. If Jinx is the demon side does that mean Morg is the shifter side? Or is Bea the shifter side?

I take a slow breath, remembering what Adler and Carter said. I won’t know the truth until I find Bea and I can ask her, so I try to focus on memorizing every detail in front of me instead of all the questions I want answers to.

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