Alpha Nox

Chapter 4

It wasn't nearly as difficult getting Harriet to let Hakeem come with us to the Midnight Falls Pack as I'd initially thought.

She must've really had a lot on her plate because she barely put up a fight. All it took was a short glance at the muscle compacted onto his lean frame, and my promise that he moved almost as quickly as I did, and she was sold.

There were six charter busses primed and ready to take the four-hour long journey to the nearest airport. The airport was small with a whopping two lanes, which meant more planes had to be flown in to carry us all. The others from the Lycan's second and third divisions would be making the trip from Russia and Africa sometime this week.

Nox had no clue the chaos that was headed his way.

It took some serious effort not to squeal when I stepped onto the charter bus. Two plush, padded seats sat next to one another on either side, separated by a long aisle that led to the bathroom in the back. Television screens were mounted every other row, playing some overly cheery advertisement for Alaskan hot springs.

"I'd take this over the shit beds they gave us any day." Hakeem muttered, his dark eyes scanning the heads that filled the other seats.

I snorted, fiddling with the controls that allowed the seat to recline. I slowly went from a sitting position to practically lying flat on my back. The entire time Hakeem watched with one of his eyebrows raised, clearly finding some semblance of amusement in my actions.

"Four years, Hakeem. Four years of that pathetic piece of fabric and cotton they called a bed. Four years of being jabbed in the ass by rusty springs. If you get tired of me, I'm sure one of the trainee's wouldn't mind you sitting with them." I lowered my voice and leaned into him, my eyes flickering towards the front of the bus. "They can't take their eyes off of you."

His lips were round, larger on the top than they were on the bottom. It made his sneer positively threatening. "They see me as their whore."

Disgust oozed from his voice, which he hadn't bothered to lower. It made me wonder who his disgust was towards, the trainee's or himself.

"You did what you had to do to survive." I said sharply, careening my eyes towards the massive bus window, watching as puffs of exhaust filled the air, listening to the hiss of the driver letting off the breaks.

With a slight groan, the bus began to move.

I still wasn't looking his way when I said, "...if anyone's disgusting, it's them."

Before we could really take off and leave this cursed camp, the charter bus squealed to a stop. With another hiss, this one quieter than the breaks, the doors slid open. A pleasant pang of surprise smacked me square in the chest when Delphine's head of kinky hair came into view.

Before we piled onto the bus, she promised the favor I asked of her was tucked away in the carry-on compartments above our heads. It was risky considering anyone could stumble upon it, but I trusted her.

She walked down the length of the aisle, all the way to the back of the bus where Hakeem and I sat.

"Your aura lit up like a damn firework the second you spotted me." She whispered, leaning across the aisle. "And here I thought you only enjoyed my company because you had to."

I glanced up the aisles to make sure none of the trainees were listening. Thankfully, most of them had headphones in or were messing around with the televisions.

"You know you're the only person I'll spare once I burn this place to the ground." I winked.

Hakeem tilted his head but said nothing.