APEX

Ch. 13: Eligius College

"You know how I feel, Liam. I'm as proud as anyone to be a werewolf. I'm an Alpha, after all. Our rights as a species and as a society are paramount. I just don't think we should be in the business of isolating ourselves from the larger world or of framing others who aren't like us as enemies."

Liam snorted. "They do a good job of that all on their own, though. Look what's occurring in the city right now? Think about what happened to you and Calla when you went to Neutral Isle. A human mob almost blew you up! And despite that, you want to take their side?"

I let out a long sigh. This topic always led to an argument between us. Aamon couldn't have cared less either way as long as both werewolves and humans idolized him. But Liam was of a different, more politically calculated mindset. I'd seen him look down his nose at a few of our human employees and I didn't like it. We might be stronger and faster and sharper than them, but we were still a tiny chunk of the overall population. Suddenly, the weight of what Calla was trying to do to restore our reputation hit home.

"I'd rather there weren't sides to take. Wouldn't you?" I asked him. "Wouldn't you prefer we all got along and treated each other with common decency?"

He shrugged. "You're an idealist. I live in the real world. And in the real world, there's a reason our pack is named Apex."

I looked around, realizing that our conversation was no longer private. Several approving faces—both from students and their parents—nodded their agreement with my little brother.

"What are you getting at?"

"It's biology," the girl who had waved at Liam walked over and stood by his side. "We're part of the food chain—the top part."

"Exactly," Liam said, smiling again at the girl. "And what does that make humans?"

"Mice," she replied, joining in when everyone else around her, sans me, laughed.

My head began to throb. These shifters only gave the anti-werewolf activists fodder for their cannons.

"If you ask me," said Liam's friend, "I think the wolf who attacked that man wasn't so wrong."

"Excuse me?" I said, squaring my shoulders. I expected her to back away, but she stood her ground, and in an even bolder move, took Liam's hand and squeezed it.

"A random attack every now and then serves to remind humans what we're capable of. They'll in turn remember their place in the pecking order. Is that so bad?" She ran her free hand up and down Liam's arm. "I mean, the man's not even dead."

"Trina's right," Liam said. "It might seem like a bad move now, but maybe in the long run..."

"Definitely in the long run." Trina cozied up next to him.

Before I could embark on a lecture containing the words "the arrogance of youth," Liam's dorm supervisor called us over, and Trina, who I now realized must be a girlfriend Liam had failed to tell me about, kissed him and sped over to be with her own dormmates.

"She's...something," I said, again weighing my words carefully.

"She's everything," he replied.

Stars in his eyes. There was no sense trying to argue my side of this debate now. It would only come off as an attack on the girl he was smitten with. I bit my tongue and tagged along as we toured the dorm where Liam would be living for the next year.

Once the orientation ended, we took a path through a wooded part of campus on the route back to my car. I snapped my fingers in front of Liam, who had been texting while walking for the past five minutes.

"You don't really believe it, do you?"

"Believe what?" he asked as his fingers flew across his screen.

"That random attacks on humans are beneficial. How could you, after listening to our own father describe the fallout, just from that one incident."

Liam slowed to a halt and lowered his phone. "I sort of...wanted to talk to you about that, actually."

"Okay then, what is it?" A jolt of fear hit me. "Do you know something about what happened?"

"What?" His face turned red. "No, of course not. It's just...look, I do agree with some of what Trina said in a theoretical sense. But..."

I turned to him and placed my hands on his shoulders. Big brother, father figure, Alpha leader. I needed to be all three of these things to pry out of him anything of substance. "Tell me, Liam. Whatever it is, it's okay."

"What if it's not?" He stared at me, then looked away. "I told you Aamon and I were together that night—the last full moon."

"Yes, I know." They spent almost every full moon in each other's company, and often I was with them as well. It had been no surprise, therefore, to hear that they'd run together. They'd had a planned hunt that night—a human trafficker who'd broken parole and gotten placed on our approved kill list a week prior. "You got the guy, didn't you?"

"I did," he said. "As in, just me. Aamon wasn't with me until hours later."

"What?" I fought the inclination to punch a tree trunk. My already busted knuckles ached at the thought. "Are you saying you lied to me...and to Father?"

"I didn't think it was a big deal. You know Aamon. If he'd rather spend time with a female than his kid brother, that's what he's going to do."

Spend time with a female. I swallowed hard. Fuck.

"Anyways, I just thought you should know." He stared at his feet. "Don't tell Aamon I told you, okay?"

"I won't." My heart raced and I made myself take a moment before saying anything. "Thank you for telling me." I resumed walking up the trail, as though what he'd just revealed to me didn't cast doubt on my perceptions of Aamon's innocence.

Aamon...who was with Calla. Calla, who was investigating not one but two crimes for which Aamon now had no known alibi. I picked up my pace and we soon exited the woods into the concrete jungle of the campus's largest parking lot. "I've gotta make a quick phone call."

Liam shifted uncomfortably. "About what I just told you?"

"Not at all."

Trina and two of her friends stood by one of their cars at the far end of the lot. I tipped my head in their direction. "Go talk to your girl. I'll come get you when I'm done."

Waiting until he was several rows of cars away and then, I called Calla.

No answer.

I tried Aamon next, but it went straight to voicemail.

Fuck.

I circled around my car a few times, walked several feet back into the forest, calling both of their phones again, and then ended up back at my car.

As I leaned against my hood, my phone dinged.

Shaking again, I looked for a message from Calla to come up, but it was a text from Aamon instead.

Opening it, I slumped against my car, my breath becoming shallow. He'd sent me a selfie, complete with his wide, obnoxious smile framed by blood splattered cheeks.

"Not my blood, don't worry brother," he'd captioned the photo.

I could barely breathe. Images of blood didn't hit as hard as the real in person encounter with it did, but given my state of mind, I felt like I might puke or pass out or possibly engage in some sort of nasty combination of the two.

Where was Calla when this photo was taken? Aamon hadn't bothered to say. If the blood wasn't his, was it hers? The thought made my head spin. I clasped onto it with both hands, envisioning it falling off and rolling under the neighboring car if I didn't keep hold of it.

"What's going on?" Liam asked. "Are you sick?"

He picked up my phone where I'd placed it atop the roof of my car and studied the picture of our blood-soaked brother.

"No way!" he said as he forwarded the photo to himself. "How come Aamon gets to have all the fun?"