Wunderhein Academy: Book 1- Awakening
Chapter 17

Aleksei had been expecting many things when he woke up. The feel of his bed. The smell of Dmitri having his first cigarette of the day. The sound of Ivan binging on cookies. Boris smelling like he had been awake for hours and just come into the dorm from a morning run with fresh earth sticking to him.

The last thing Aleksei had been expecting was opening his eyes to replace a pair of green ones looking right at him. Or cool hands on his forehead.

“What the …” He jumped up, taking in his surroundings as Kitten jumped back. “Kitten?”

“Lexie?” His name was a whisper, catching his attention too late to stop her from pouncing on him. “LEXIE!”

“Don’t yell.” He winced, making a useless attempt to unlatch her fingers from him.

“Lexie, you’re ok!” She cried.

“Of course I’m alright. What in the world is wrong with you?” He growled at her, managing to push her away before standing up. “Why am I in your room?”

“You passed out outside.” She explained, making herself comfortable on the bed. “I wasn’t sure which dorm was yours so I brought you here.”

“Did you think to maybe ask someone?”

She opened her mouth then shut it again.

“Oh for…” Aleksei rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Do you have any idea of the consequences of what you did?”

“Hey, you’re the one that passed out and scared me.” She growled, jumping up and punching his arm so light he hardly felt it. “You jerk.”

“Everyone would have passed out, since it’s a side effect of the shot.” He replied dryly. “We would have explained that to you if you had stayed long enough to listen.”

“If you were going to tell me, you mean.” She threw back. “You didn’t tell me about the check-up.”

“That was different.”

“No, it wasn’t.” She stuck out her tongue. “It’s still keeping secrets.”

“Very mature.”

“So is peeking into a window.”

“I wasn’t peeking into anything.” He frowned, crossing his arms. “I was making sure you got to your room safely. The shot just hits you.”

“Hit you?” Her eyes widened. “You were in a coma!”

Aleksei studied her for a moment. He didn’t like the sound of this. “Why where you awake?”

Kitten opened her mouth then shut it again, shrugging the question off as she looked away. “I dunno. Maybe because I’m a girl?”

“That’s the dumbest reason I ever heard.” Aleksei’s eyes narrowed.

“Well, what else could it be?”

“Did you think it could be that they gave you the wrong dosage?” He thought aloud. “They would have given you a shot for the age on your sheet, not a fourteen-year-old.”

“But I’m not Eleven!” She protested.

“Don’t worry, I’ll go sort out the mix-up. In the meanwhile,” Aleksei leaned forward and took her chin between his thumb and finger. “Don’t ever let that the fact you’re a girl be an excuse. Once you let it become one then it’ll start becoming a weakness and destroy you. Do you understand?”

She nodded slowly. He smiled and patted her head. “Good. Now let’s go eat. I’m starving.”

He didn’t wait for her response. Instead he headed for the door, noting the small room. He had never been in a one bed-room before although there were some at ‘The Nest.’

The room was pathetically bare. It was almost peaceful to be in. He grabbed the handle of the door and discovered it wouldn’t open.

“Hold on, it’s locked.” She slid between him and the door and quickly fiddled with the handle. When she was done, she looked up at him with a smile.

“At least you remember to do that.” Aleksei shook his head slightly before following her out.

He didn’t miss the dirty look she gave him but chose to ignore it, instead focusing his attention on the almost empty passage. If he estimated right, most of the kids were in class.

“Lexie?”

“Don’t call me Lexie.” He mumbled, stretching. “What is it?”

“Do you think the others are ok?”

He stopped walking before turning back a few steps and opening a door almost across from hers. He poked his head in, noting the giant figure passed out on the bed in the corner. He placed two fingers against the base of the bear’s throat, checking his vitals. For a moment, Ivan nuzzled Aleksei’s fingers.

“Sleep well comrade.” Aleksei whispered, pulling the blanket higher up on his friend.

He turned around and found Kitten peeping at the door.

“You can come in you want.” Aleksei straightened. “No-one here will bite you.”

“This is your room?” She walked in slowly, looking around in shock like a child discovering a secret cave. It almost made Aleksei smile.

“Mine and the other Alpha’s.” He glanced down at Ivan. He noted her walking towards them and cringed slightly. They would have to work on her stealth. “So remember it for next time.”

“Is he ok?” She whispered with a worried look on her face.

“His fine.” Aleksei replied, hoping it was the truth. There had been that incident last winter when Ivan hadn’t woken up for nearly a week.

“He looks like a prince from a story.” Kitten whispered, slipping next to Ivan’s bed. Before Aleksei could stop her, she bent down to kiss Ivan’s forehead. Aleksei felt a strange feeling in his gut as he watched her. “Wake up soon, Ivan.”

Aleksei felt himself begin to snarl and turned around abruptly. He found himself battling to breathe. He took a step back, bumping into Kitten.

“Lexie?” She looked at him with big grey eyes. A darker grey birthmark sat on her face. He blinked in surprise and the missing colour returned. For a moment he nearly reached out to touch her face, to confirm that it was really there. Instead he turned around.

“We should go.” Aleksei told her gruffly. He was most likely really starving if he’s eyes were playing tricks on him.

That was all, he told himself firmly. Just tricks.