Page 1 of Dead Wolf Rising (Bad Moon Academy 3)

Chapter 1

RAVEN

“What have I done?” No one answers me. No matter how many times I repeat the question, no one knows. I run my fingers over the green grass where she’d been; soft blades tickle my palms. There is no trace. Not even an errant strand of her brown hair. Almost like she was never real to begin with. Like someone took a Whiteout brush and painted over her entire existence, simply erasing her.

No. Notsomeone.

Me.

Bea is gone.

She disappeared when I forced Jinx away.

She’s gone?

What happened to her?Joan whines, upset that our little friend is missing.

I don’t know.

More than anything, the simple fact that I don’t know and can’t puzzle it together tears me apart. Did I really hurt her? Did she somehow get in the way when I was using my power? Surely if I can raise the dead, I can kill the living.

Sadness stabs in my gut like a knife, twisting and ripping me open. With trembling fingers, I cover my mouth and glance at Layla, whose eyes are round with fear. A strong breeze kicks up from behind me, blowing strands of my hair in front of my face, but there’s no hiding the absolute horror etched in her features.

“Raven?” she whispers. The way she says my name alone tells me the question she wants to ask.What did you do?

“I don’t know.” I shake my head. “She was here.” Pointing to the ground, I furrow my brow and shove my hand to the earth, digging my fingers into the roots of the grass. Clumps of dirt jam under my nails. “You saw her, right? You all saw her?”

Hallucinating her entire existence is something a crazy person would do. I don’t think I’m crazy, but what other explanation is there? A tickle of a thought runs through me, but I shove it aside. Denying it. It isn’t possible. Is it?

Oh, God.

What if itistrue? What if Bea is Jinx?

Every day with her was a lie.

I don’t know about that,Joan says.Bea tried to help you at every turn. She even tried to warn you. She can’t be part of Jinx…She trails off, and I know she suspects the same as I do.

How else do you explain this, Joan?I sob out loud, slamming my palm into the ground over and over to try and stop the ache in my chest. To try and stop the shattered pieces of my heart from turning to dust. To try and stopfeeling.The yawning void of sorrow rushes up from where I buried it deep within me like magma racing toward the surface, bringing with it reminders of everything I’ve already lost. And Iexplode.

Strong arms wrap around me when I scream. Pine and fresh rain. The scents of home ease the pain a little, but Adler’s hug won’t bring back Bea. He can’t erase every moment I shared with her over the last few weeks.

The other guys join our hug, cocooning me in the safety of the pack. They smother me as though they think they can shield me from the truth. The funny thing about grief is the only way to get over it is to process it, to let it tear through you like sharp talons and take pieces of you with it when the sadness begins to fade.

“We’ll figure it out,” Carter says, his voice muffled by the group hug. “She can’t be gone.”

“She’s not here,” I murmur.

“But the grass is.”

Scrunching my nose, I shake my head. “What does that have to do with— Oh.” I climb out of the group hug, crawling over the soft, vibrant green, and very much alive grass. “Oh!”

Can you please explain what’s happening to me like I’m five because right now I’m worried about you and your sudden obsession with landscaping.

Laughing, I rip out a few blades and bring them to my nose, inhaling deeply.It’s alive.

Okay, Frankenstein. Are you going to tell me what you mean or are you going insane?

I turn and look at the academy. The lights are still on. Everything is in place. The building doesn’t look abandoned like it had when the wards broke.

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