Werewolf Academy Year Three - Jayme Morse Page 0,29

werewolf families.”

“I didn’t even know Iris was an Alpha. How is that possible when she’s always here?” I asked him.

“Easy. Every Alpha has a Beta,” he explained. “Her Beta fills in for her most of the time, but before she does anything, she has to have Iris approve everything first. So, basically, she’s still Alpha, just from a distance. And I doubt she likes being an Alpha from afar, but they’ve been making it work just so that she can come to the Academy. The thing about Iris is that she’s extremely loyal when it comes to Milos. She would never do anything to let him down, and in case you haven’t already figured it out, Milos is the one who sent her here to keep an eye on you.”

“But Iris started this school at the same time as I did,” I replied with a frown.

“And that wasn’t by coincidence. Milos has werewolf friends who work at the Academy. When he found out that you were enrolled, he came up with a plan: have Iris enroll as a student, which they were able to accomplish last minute thanks to compulsion. From there, the plan was simple. All she had to do was befriend you, and keep an eye on you. She would report everything she learned about you back to Milos, and, ultimately, would help bring him closer to you.”

“But that wasn’t necessary when Milos is able to tap into my mind,” I pointed out.

“He just felt better about having someone here who could watch you every day—someone who could ask all the right questions to learn about you who you didn’t even suspect wasn’t on your side. It was genius, really. It was all with one goal in mind—to lead you one step closer to him.”

“Well, they made that happen. They kidnapped me over the summer,” I informed him.

“I know. I would have tried to stop it from happening, but I couldn’t. And for that, I am deeply sorry.”

“What do you mean you ‘tried to stop it’?” I just stared back at him, sort of confused. “Iris told you it was happening?”

“No, she didn’t tell me it was happening, but I always try to keep an eye on you. The entire reason I enrolled at Werewolf Academy was to try to keep an eye on you, Raven. I’ve followed you pretty much everywhere you go.”

My eyebrows shot up. “How is that even possible? I never see you any place I go.”

“Sometimes I use invisibility spells to remain hidden. My sister is a monster, Raven. I figured you would need some protection from both her and Milos, and I was right. I’ve tried to watch out for you ever since your first day at Werewolf Academy, and the day Milos lured you to those woods to kidnap you was no exception. But there was something that happened that prevented me from rescuing you from being kidnapped,” Eric explained. “Iris has long known that one of the main reasons I’m a student here is to protect you. So, to get me away that day, she told me our aunt died and convinced me that both of us needed to go back to Savannah.”

“Wait, there’s actually an aunt in Savannah?” I asked with raised eyebrows.

He nodded. “Yeah, our Aunt Geraldine. She was an aunt who lived in the human world at the time of the virus, so she was able to survive even when most of the ancients didn’t,” he explained. “The thing is, she’s still very much alive. That was all just a ploy for Iris to get me out of here so that Milos could kidnap you without me trying to stop it from happening. Of course, I didn’t realize that at the time. Not until it was already too late.”

“Wow,” I murmured. “That’s okay. Don’t worry about it. I appreciate you even coming here to look out for me.”

“I’m not sure if he told you this, but you were rescued because of me,” Eric told me then. He glanced around, as if he was nervous that that someone was listening. “I’m the one who let him know you needed rescuing.”

My eyes widened. “Really? He never mentioned that.”

In fact, the truth was that I had never even really considered how my rescuer had known that I needed rescuing.

“Yeah,” he replied with a nod. He hesitated for a moment. “There’s something else, too.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“You might not know this, but Milos didn’t kill your parents.”

“What?” At first, I stared