Wunderhein Academy: Book 1- Awakening

“Train ourselves?” Kitten exclaimed with wide eyes. “What do you mean train ourselves?”

Aleksei silently cursed using every word he knew, almost amazed that his vocabulary was so extensive for someone that tried to keep his language clean. That was probably thanks to Dmitri.

He was almost tempted to glance over at his friend, knowing Dmitri would be standing with a bored look.

“I mean I have things to do.” Aleksei grunted, keeping his eyes at the trio in front of him instead. “It’ll take a few hours to get through.”

“And I ain’t babysitting ya asses.” Dmitri added next to him.

“Isn’t it your job to look after us when Lexie isn’t around?” Kittens’ eyes narrowed at Dmitri as she pressed on.

“There’s other stuff I’d rather be doing that ya could help with.” He grinned back, leaning forward to flick her forehead. “And stop calling him Lexie.”

“I’m not buying this.” Kitten’s eyes dropped into a small frown as she rubbed the top of her head. Aleksei had to admit he couldn’t blame her. Breaking the news last minute on the training floor, didn’t feel like his finest hour.

“You’re not supposed to buy it.” Aleksei answered. He slipped his hand into his pocket and ran his fingers over the rough edges of the compass he had been carrying for the last few days. “Anyway, I’m your captain. You’re supposed to listen regardless of what my orders are.”

“Even if you order us to jump off a cliff.” She continued protesting under her breath.

“Kitten.” A shocked squeak came from Boris. Aleksei began counting under his breath, his hands itching to strangle her. Usually Dmitri was the only one that could work under his skin so much.

“Ivan is in charge while we’re gone.” He forced through clenched teeth.

“Ivan?” Both Kitten and Boris looked turned to look at the giant.

Ivan had been standing with folded arms, seemed to be happy with the situation. The Giant nodded before turning around and continued on with foot-work practice on his own. A silent order that the others should start practice.

Boris looked trapped between Kitten and the sparring floor.

“Come on Kitten.” He coaxed her with hidden pleading in his voice as the Rat tugged on her arm. “Let’s go practice.”

For a moment Kitten looked away towards the youngster who was smiling at her.

Aleksei could tell from the way her body movement had altered, that she had given in to Boris.

It annoyed him that the youngster seemed to have so much power over her.

He wrapped his hand around the object in his pocket, feeling slight pricks from all sides of his palm in protest.

He was her Captain. She was meant to listen to him.

“Come on Lexie.” Dmitri pulled him from his thoughts. “Gonna be late.”

Aleksei shook his head and watched the three on the practice mat. Ivan kept practicing on his own while keeping an eye on the youngsters that were stuck between chatting and beginning their stretches.

Satisfied, Aleksei turned away and fell in step with Dmitri walking off the field.

“Could have told them what we were doing.” Dmitri began once they were out of ear-shot. “Would have been less hassle.”

Aleksei shook his head and began mentally preparing himself for the task ahead.

“You know what Boris is like.” Aleksei replied. “He would have wanted to come watch the fight. Kitten would just fuss about it.”

“Maybe even kiss ya better.” Dmitri suggested with a slight leer before changing the pitch in his voice. “Oh Lexie, ya hurt ya arm, let me make it all better for ya.”

“Please don’t impersonate her. It sounds creepy.” Aleksei began rubbing his wrists trying to loosen the joints. “Besides it’s not like she volunteered to nurse me after the first five fights.”

“Cause we never told her.” Dmitri turned serious. “And she don’t know about the ones I was in. I’m telling ya if she did she would be a sympathy gold-mine. The nurses lap up this chivalry rubbish.” The Shark added with a grin. “When I end up there to be patched up after a fight, they all wanna help me.”

“I’ll take your word for it. It’s still not Kitten’s problem. She doesn’t need to know about the fights. We agreed.” Aleksei cricked his neck as he continued walking. “When did you learn the word ‘chivalry’ by the way? It’s not something that normally comes up in that stuff you read.”

It hardly even came up in the things Aleksei read. The only place he had ever come across that word was in the dictionary he found two weeks ago in the library. The school didn’t issue you with one to work with so it had been strange coming across a book about words only. Aleksei had been busy going through it bit by bit each day, fascinated with the new words in there. Dmitri probably spotted the word over his shoulder while they were doing homework.

“Meh, think I heard it in a movie or something.” Dmitri shrugged. “Still works.”

“Apparently it does.” Aleksei halted and took a deep breath before surveying the spot around him. It was the usual type of spot for a quick fight. Secluded, empty and small.

Aleksei checked the time on his watch before handing the item over to Dmitri.

“My favourite part, watching you undress.” Dmitri sniggered as Aleksei began to unbutton his shirt.

“Only your favorite because you can hear your bets rolling in.” Aleksei replied. “What do you have anyway?”

“Ya win this, we got drinking money.”

“We always have drinking money.” Aleksei snorted.

“Fine.” Dmitri sighed, scratching his chest before starting. “Money, a couple of weapons, offer to swap out on a room on the third floor, a free night at ‘The Nest’, tickets to a midnight hunt, a pair of Pretty Boys that I refused, a spare uniform for Ivan, chocolate for the kids, a bottle vodka ...”

“You managed to get tickets to a midnight hunt?” Aleksei halted part-way to un-doing his shirt and looked at Dmitri in confusion. “We can’t get those even with my next rank. Only Ivan can get those and that’s if he’s with another team. We drag his rank down.”

“I know a guy.” Dmitri touched the side of his nose. “He was happy to throw them in the betting pool just to see ya beaten up. They all were.”

“No pressure huh.” Aleksei’s eyes narrowed. “To think I was just worried about keeping Kitten with us.

“Nope.” Dmitri shook his head. “No pressure at all.”

“What did we throw in?”

“Bottle Vodka, two pens and a bar of soap.”

Aleksei winced. “I wished you wouldn’t use the stationary and toiletries.”

“Had to. One of the guys was desperate for the stuff.” Dmitri grinned. “He had the uniform I wanted.”

A bell rang in the distance, catching Aleksei’s attention.

“My fight should be starting.” Aleksei frowned, his hand falling from his shirt. “Where is my opponent?”

“Did we get the wrong time?” Dmitri’s free hand flew into his pocket and pulled out the paper with the challenge on it. He looked up at Aleksei. “This is the place. They’re meant to be here.”

Aleksei looked away from Dmitri, trying to scan the horizon for the student that had challenged him for Kitten.

By default, he could leave and call the other a loser for being late. Then this fight wouldn’t even need to happen. Only he wasn’t one of those nit-picky guys that would take that advantage when the person they were fighting was still on their way.

“Another five minutes?” Dmitri asked, sounding more confident than Aleksei felt. Higher ranks usually were keen to be on time and put him in his place.

Either his opponent had learnt very poor fight etiquette or really didn’t care about being on time, even if they had been the one to issue the fight.

Maybe this was a prank. It wouldn’t be the first time. Then again the stakes were too high for anyone to make challenges just to make Aleksei look stupid.

Aleksei felt his jaw tense up. A dark, uneasy feeling began washing over him.

“Dmitri listen,” He began, still watching the area. “If I don’t make it this time, keep an eye on the team.”

“Ya better make it.” Dmitri snorted. “I ain’t covering ya paperwork.”

“I’m being serious.” Aleksei snapped, turning to Dmitri. “If I end up burned, you’re in charge.”

“Not today I ain’t.” Dmitri shot back when a flock of birds hit the sky, startling them both. Aleksei listened to their wings flapping and their squawking as they vanished.

A huffing sound pulled Aleksei’s focus to the figure running towards them.

“Sorry I’m late.” The youth stopped in front of Aleksei, trying to catch his breath.

Aleksei nodded, trying to sum the kid up. He didn’t recognize him at all and he smelt funny. More like chemicals then dirt. It was possible he was the second and had just been at the nurses. All arranged fights needed a second.

The youth finally managed to force himself up. The first thing Aleksei noted was that, despite his ‘Cuts’ style, the kid was scar and mark free.

“Medic.” Dmitri hissed behind Aleksei.

The Alpha wolf frowned. “You challenged me to a fight?”

“No.” The medic quickly shook his head. “No, no, no.”

“Medics don’t fight. The spineless wimps.” Aleksei felt his watch being pushed into his hand as Dmitri stepped forward. A dark look on his friends face as the shark licked his lips. “Haven’t tried Medic yet.”

The medic took a step back, almost falling over his feet as Aleksei tugged Dmitri’s shirt. “Stop it. You’re scaring him.”

Dmitri snapped the air close to the kid's face before allowing Aleksei to squat close to the boy.

“Seriously what are you doing here?” He frowned watching the quivering creature’s eyes keep darting between him and Dmitri. “Meds don’t come out to the fighting fields.”

“I...I was asked to bring a message.” The kid gulped.

“Liar.” Dmitri sneered.

Aleksei held a hand up to silence Dmitri. “What message?”

“That your opponent can’t make it.” The Medic seemed to straighten a bit at the words. “And you won.”

“How do ya know who our opponent is?” Dmitri breathed on the kid's neck, his teeth were inches away from biting it in two like a toothpick. Aleksei shook his head to warn off his friend. He could already smell the kid wetting himself. “He's lying. Meds stinking lie.”

“I’m not.” Came a frantic wail. “Mr. Wunderhein asked me to tell you.”

“Wunderhein?” Aleksei repeated the name.

“His having it announced right now that you won.” The kid was babbling now. Aleksei frowned before looking at Dmitri who looked livid. Aleksei knew what the Shark was thinking. A default battle was a reject battle, even if they had won. He stood up and held out his hand to the Med, noting the kid was a little older than Boris.

“Thanks for the message.” Aleksei nodded.

“Move it.” Dmitri added, booting the kid’s bottom as they were running. “Scram.”

“This doesn’t make sense. I wasn’t fighting him.” Aleksei tried to think as Dmitri began howling behind him. “Why would Wunderhein want us to win? He’s never fixed our fights before.”

“Yeah, but we got the Princess now.”

“That’s stupid Dmitri.” Aleksei snorted. “If she was with another team, they would gladly trade with him.”

“But like ya said,” Dmitri’s eyes narrowed. “She won’t be clean.”

Aleksei sighed deeply before rubbing the bridge of his nose in an attempt to help him think.

“Ya know I’m right Lexie.” Dmitri hissed. “He's using us to get to her.”

“Just how far is he going to push for her?” Aleksei frowned. “That’s what I’m worried about.”

He smelt the rich scent of copper and turned around in time to find Dmitri with his arm pulled back about to punch a tree again.

“Hey wait!” Aleksei tried grabbing his friend by the arm to stop him, grazing himself on Dmitri’s skin. “You idiot. Don’t do that. Do you want people to ask questions?”

“Like why this isn’t his face?” Dmitri sneered.

“Like why you decided to start chopping down trees.” Aleksei pointed out. “Fighting is one thing; destroying school property is a different story.”

“Whatever.” Dmitri turned away from the tree towards Aleksei. He lifted Aleksei’s hands up to examine them before sticking his tongue out and licking the broken skin.

Aleksei winced at the action, his wound stinging for a sharp moment as Dmitri’s tongue touched it. “I hate when you do that.”

“Why? Cause I didn’t let ya do it?” Dmitri grinned evilly before licking his fingers again. “I ain’t wasting how good ya taste.”

“Because it makes me hungry.” Aleksei admitted, flexing his fingers as Dmitri let them go. “Now I feel like catching squirrels. Lucky it’s nearly supper time.”

“I could do with some more blood myself. Pity it ain’t Wunderheins.” Dmitri stretched before licking his own knuckles again. “Bah. Ya taste better.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Aleksei finished doing up the buttons on his shirt as quickly as possible. Each one he touched hurt the wounds on his fingers, reminding him again what had happened. His lip straightened into a thin line. “Kitten will have to stay under guard.”

“Babied.”

“Should we just hand her over now to Wunderhein?” Aleksei snapped at Dmitri. “I wouldn’t mind a better rank. Maybe then people with leave me alone about the Pretty Boy nonsense.”

“Ya know people will never leave ya alone about that.” Dmitri scoffed.

It struck a chord. He knew Dmitri was right. Angry, Aleksei turned around and began storming away.

He could hear Dmitri following him at a distance on the way back to the school grounds.

“Congrats on the fight.” One student slapped him on the back.

“Cheat.” Another was whispering under their breaths.

All of them were watching him as if he were either a traitor or a hero. It made him want to claw his face off.

“CAPTAIN!”

Aleksei spun around, and nearly ended up on the floor as Boris tackled him.

“Boris. What’s wrong with you?” He frowned at the distraught youngster. “Stop crying. I wasn’t even hurt.”

Boris looked up at Aleksei with big tear filled eyes, making a weird nose like he was trying to suck in air.

“Hey,” Dmitri grabbed Boris by the arm away from Aleksei. “Man up Rat.”

Boris shivered and looked as if he was about to break down in fresh tears again.

“Did someone hurt ya?” Aleksei noticed the way Dmitri’s face darkened at the words.

Boris shook his head. “It’s....its Kitten.”

“Kitten?” Aleksei exclaimed along with Dmitri.

“She’s gone.” Boris raised his arm and whipped his eyes with the back of his hand. Aleksei didn’t think to rebuke him for it. Instead, the dark, uneasy feeling from earlier returned making its way to his stomach like a huge stone.

“What do you mean gone?” Aleksei barely whispered before repeating himself louder. “Boris, where is she?”

“She’s gone. We had a free period and were playing Hide-and-seek with some Meat-Bag kids and when we tried to find her...” Boris gulped and burst into fresh tears. “It’s my fault. I was meant to stay with her. Now something bad happened.”

“Quit your crying.” Dmitri flicked Boris’s forehead. “Rat’s don’t cry.”

“Owie.” Boris wailed, sniffing up a stomach-turning green blob of snot as his hands flew to rub his forehead. “That hurt.”

“Does Ivan know about this?” Aleksei queried. Maybe she was still busy hiding and they had to find her.

“Yes.” Boris nodded. “He was with us. When we couldn’t find her, he let the Big Five know. They’re still out looking for her. I had to wait to tell you...”

“Big Five.” Dmitri swore, earning him a glare from Aleksei. “Ivan’s old team. Bunch of ....”

“Good work.” Aleksei turned back to Boris, deliberately ignoring Dmitri’s rants. He patted the youths head. “Take us to where you were playing. This wasn’t your fault Boris. She most likely fell asleep under a tree or something. She falls asleep a lot these days. I’ll have to talk to her about it. It’s not fair that she upsets you like this.”

Boris looked unsure for a moment before swallowing and wiping his face once more with his hand. Aleksei forced himself to ignore it.

“Cassonov.”

Aleksei felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

“Oh great.” Dmitri muttered. “More things to make the day sparkly.”

Aleksei rolled his eyes before turning around to face Wunderhein. The Hawk was dressed flawlessly in his uniform. The side of his mouth lifted into a smile that made Aleksei itch to ditch formalities and just punch his face.

“Did you get my gift?”

“You mean the fight thing?” Aleksei frowned. “That was uncalled for.”

“You should be thankful. Your opponent killed the last three people he fought with.” Wunderhein lifted his hands and looked at them as if he were checking his nails. “I believe this gave you a good little income.”

“I don’t do fixed fights.” Aleksei snarled.

“Who said anything about fixed?” Wunderhein looked shocked. “Such a dirty word. However, I hope the recent events leave some good will between us. Enough that you will consider an exchange of your Meat-Bag perhaps?”

“Right now Wunderhein, I just want to find my Meat-Bag.”

Wunderhein dropped his hand. “What do you mean? You lost her?”

“Welcome to the lower levels.” Aleksei saluted. “We have other stuff to do than keep track of everyone else. Now if you’ll excuse me.”

Without a further word, Aleksei ran off after Dmitri and Boris, hoping Kitten really was safe and he hadn’t lied to the boy.