The Recovery

Chapter 16

Salvatore Boarding School for the Young & Gifted
Alaric's Office
Alaric's POV

"He probably didn't want to appear weak on first impression and around strangers," Dorian added.

"That's likely," Miss Tig concurred. "But I think he's alright now."

"Why?" I asked.

"As I said, Scott came back weak to the point that he couldn't heal or shapeshift," She replied. "You see, when werewolves are evolving, they lose their abilities completely, die and then come back reborn as true wolves.

As far as I know, only Alpha werewolves evolve into wolves but only a few do, and they follow that pattern: loss of abilities, death and then rebirth.

Scott's mentor said that Scott has died before and shortly after his resurrection, he became a True Alpha."

"You said that you would explain what a True Alpha is," I interjected.

"There's a lot of mystery surrounding True Alphas because of how rare they are, so not much is known about them except that they are initially Beta or Omega werewolves who don't have to steal Alpha status from Alphas, they generate their own Alpha spark through willpower and ascend to Alpha-hood," Miss Tig held true to her word.

"Wow," Dorian looked impressed. "By Alpha spark you mean the red eyes, don't you?"

"The red eyes and the power that comes with them."

"So Scott didn't kill anyone to become an Alpha."

"No," Miss Tig confirmed and then continued before I could ask my own questions. "Scott's mentor suspected that Scott was evolving when he lost his abilities and couldn't heal after his second death.

He thought that it would be best if Scott completed the process far away from his enemies, who think that he's dead, and recover from the betrayal he suffered and his pack's demise away from Beacon Hills.

We didn't expect Scott to complete his evolution so soon. I was supposed to help him get there while he recovered emotionally and psychologically."

"What does this have to do with our werewolves?" I asked.

"Scott isn't just any Alpha, Mr Saltzman, he's a True Alpha and from what I've been told, all members of his pack heard his howls and responded to his Alpha roar, even the were-coyote and the kitsune."

"Wait, wait, wait! There are were-coyotes and kitsunes?" I was shocked.

"Legends and myths are based on true events and people," Dorian said, although he appeared as shocked as I was.

"There is some truth to every legend and myth," Miss Tig agreed and then continued. "Cursed werewolves are different from lycanthrope werewolves, but they're still werewolves, so I was going to cast silencing spells around the gymnasium to protect the students from Scott's Alpha roar when he was ready to complete his evolution."

"He appeared ready when he came to me," Dorian responded.

"I didn't expect him to be ready so soon, especially not in the short time he's been here, and before we have even a single session," Miss Tig replied. "We failed to put up the spells before Scott Alpha roared, and the werewolves were affected."

"How?" I asked.

"They're wolves right now and running towards the southwest woods."

It took a few moments for that to register but not for Dorian.

"Scott made them transform without the full moon?" He inquired stunned.

"Yes. True Alpha Alpha roars are much more powerful than I thought. I'm a witch and I felt Scott's Alpha roar speak to me and so did the other witches."

OK, that blew my mind and terrified me so much that I upgraded Scott's threat level to Hope's pending tribrid status threat level on the spot.

"He can't stay here," I declared. "He's a danger to everyone and because of him, we have every werewolf on campus transformed into wolves and running around freely. How many witches did they hurt just to get out?"

"Zero," Miss Tig answered with a surprising number.

"What?"

"Hope opened the doors and led the way out," She replied with another surprising answer. "All we had to do was stay out of their way, and they ran out without leaving a path of destruction in their wake.

Wolves howl to signal their location and Scott's Alpha roar didn't just make them transform, it called them to him, and he's in the woods, the same woods he made sure to ask if they're safe to go to before he left.

There's no doubt that Scott is dangerous, Mr Saltzman, but so is everyone here, including you.

His powers are part of him and who he is and if they terrify you so much that you want to kick him out of the school before he even settles in, I wonder how many students you've denied enrollment to the school on your recruitment trips because of how powerful they are.

Actually, I'm beginning to question some school bylaws and restrictions. Are they all for the students or are some against them?"

"What are you implying, Miss Tig?" I questioned not liking what I was hearing and being accused of.

"At the moment, I'm not implying anything, Mr Saltzman, I'm wondering," Miss Tig responded standing up. "Excuse me, I have to check on the young ones. I made sure that the lower classes don't hear the Alpha roar before I went to the gymnasium, but they might have felt it."

Her piece said, she left the office.

I felt before I saw Dorian's questioning gaze.

"What, Dorian?" I asked.

"Is there some truth to what she said?"

I stayed quiet for a few moments.

"How safe do you feel after everything you saw when Scott went to you and what you heard and what Miss Tig said about him?" I inquired.

"As safe as I feel every night I go to sleep and every morning I wake up knowing that I'm surrounded by more vampires than humans, and remembering that a vampire killed my family and that vampire has a room here honoring his memory and the vampire's widow is the Headmistress of the school, and she's a vampire," Dorian said.

I was taken aback by the response, I didn't expect it.

"I understand where you're coming from, Ric," Dorian continued. "But how can we cater 'for the Young and Gifted' if we limit their potential?"

The words hit me hard, especially because of how Dorian used the school's slogan.

"I'll leave you to think about the answer," He said and proceeded to leave me to my thoughts.