Wunderhein Academy: Book 1- Awakening

“Didja hear?”

“Animals.”

“Really?”

“It’s noisy today.” Dmitri growled mid-way to drinking his coffee.

Aleksei had to agree the noise was different from the usual banter in the mess hall. He couldn’t quite make out anything specific from the loud buzz. It was annoying him like crazy.

“Something must have happened.” Aleksei frowned, glancing at the gossiping crowd as he clutched the tin cup in his hand. He was good at all-nighters, great if he was honest. He loved the peace after everyone had gone to bed and he could catch up studying. The problem was it caught up eventually. He was sure they needed to keep an eye on Kitten again tonight. He might need to tag Dmitri in at some stage. Otherwise, Aleksei was bound to be stuck on Medic time.

It was the last thing he wanted, he thought, his grip tightening on his coffee.

“But you would have known, right?” Kitten turned to him, a frown on her face. Thanks to the extra pain-killers Aleksei made her take this morning she was practically bouncing around again. Silently, Aleksei tried to plan out a schedule that wouldn’t be too strenuous for her during their training session. They could run the mud fields. Maybe do a small hunt in the forest. Then again there was the option of doing a clean out of the kitchen with no breaks. That was good for building character. “Don’t you Lexie?”

“Captains only get told things by Level Five if it’s really necessary for them to know about it.” Aleksei took a swig of his coffee, savoring the bitter taste of the liquid.

A forest hunt, he decided. It had been a while since they had done that and Meat-Bags were allowed in the woods. The break would do them all good.

“Hold on. I see Hawk.” Boris squeaked, getting up from his seat and raising a hand into the air and waving. “He should know something. They hear everything at ‘The Nest’.”

“Who?” Kitten looked up at Boris but her question went unanswered as he placed he slipped back to the ground just as quick as he had climbed his seat.

“I’m back in a sec.” He gave the team a toothy grin before scampering off without waiting for permission to leave.

“Eh.” Dmitri looked disgusted at the direction Boris had vanished to. “Once he thought we knew everything.”

The comment made Aleksei smile briefly before an image of Dmitri snapping the youngster’s neck flashed through his mind, making the young captain moody again. He turned back to his coffee in irritation.

“Who’s Hawk?” Kitten began again, standing up to try and spot Boris and his mysterious friend. “Why don’t we ever go to ‘The Nest’? It sounds like fun.”

“Kitten, stop staring at Boris like a love-struck teenager and finish your meal.” Aleksei ordered. “Now.”

“That’s not fair.” She slipped back into her seat with a heated face. “I’ve eaten more then you have.”

“Just eat.” Aleksei repeated, glaring at her. She glared back before turning to her food. A strange noise erupting from her direction. For a slight second, Aleksei was impressed. The growl would have been noteworthy if it hadn’t sounded so strangled.

Even Ivan and Dmitri were looking at her with interested.

“What?” She asked with a mouth full of bacon, spitting chewed up bits in their direction.

Ivan reached out to slip a finger under her jaw and force her mouth closed, shaking his head before returning to his own food. Dmitri lost interest in the whole display as something whispered from the crowd caught his attention. For a moment, Aleksei wondered if he was listening for news about Balco.

Feeling morbid at the thought, Aleksei returned to his coffee before glancing at Kitten mauling the meat on her plate. She was eating more of the stuff now. He wondered if it was because she enjoyed it or she was copying them. Either way, it seemed to be good for her. She had grown a good few inches since joining them. Aleksei needed to double check but if his calculations were right, he could apply for new gear for her. Boris too. The rat had also gained some height in the last few months.

He could skip class after breakfast and go fill in the forms to apply for the new uniforms. In fact, while he was on Level Five, he could check with the admin when the paperwork for Kitten’s age change would go through. He was still getting reports listing he had an eleven-year-old on his team. It was getting frustrating now.

“That ain’t good.”

Aleksei looked up at Dmitri and found him still staring in the direction Boris had gone in. Aleksei turned and shifted slightly in his seat until he could see the youngster standing at the end of the hall. Boris was barely noticeable as long as nobody stood up in their line of vision.

Aleksei noticed the horrified expression on the youngster’s face. Whatever the news was, it was really bad. The Rat turned and scurried back to them almost panic-stricken.

“Just a fight?” Aleksei whispered to Dmitri, keeping his voice low so the others wouldn’t hear him.

“This ain’t a fight.” Dmitri replied, his eyes searching around them. “This is something else.”

Aleksei looked around him. Dmitri was right. Fights were loud. The atmosphere made worse if people took sides and disagreements broke out. Fights smelt harsh, like a drug you couldn’t get enough of and wanted to try yourself. This was too silent. The room smelted too unsure.

“Captain,” Boris began battling to catch his breath once he returned to their table.

“Calm down Boris.” Aleksei’s eyes narrowed. “What is it? What did you hear?”

“Tom’s dead.” Boris threw up the words in a panic.

“What?” Kittens’ question was barely audible but it was enough to freeze the table.

“Oh Blyad, I shouldn’t have said that.” Boris quickly covered his mouth. His face looked as if he was about to burst into tears.

Aleksei glanced at Kitten’s pale face and cursed himself for being so stupid that he hadn’t taken Boris aside.

“Boris, don’t swear.” He warned. “Kitten-“

“I want to hear this.” She swallowed. She straightened and pushed her plate away. “What happened?”

Boris looked at Aleksei who nodded.

“He was found in the Advanced Camp.” Boris moved around nervously. His face was still on the verge of tears. “His body was half eaten and…”

“That’s enough Boris.” Aleksei held up a hand as he glanced around. As he expected, many were nudging closer to them, eating this news up.

“It’s my fault.” A whimper caught his attention.

“Kitten, are you alright?”

“No.” She was shaking. She flung her arm out as Ivan tried to rest a hand on her shoulder to console her. “No!”

“Outside. Now.” Aleksei ordered, standing up and walking over to her. “Don’t let anyone even smell your upset.”

“I shouldn’t have told.” A grief-stricken voice came from behind Aleksei.

“Shut up and sit down Rat.”

Out of the corner, Aleksei noted Dmitri grabbing Boris and pulling him down onto the seat. Boris didn’t protest.

Kitten, on the other hand, had obeyed without a quarrel for once. She stood up and began walking to the exit, keeping her posture straight head up. Aleksei followed behind, keeping a face that would make everyone think he was about to discipline his team-mate.

Relief rushed over him once they were out the door.

“This way.” He grabbed her arm, leading her to the dorms, secretly proud of her.

He had expected her to break down and cry along the way. Instead, she had obeyed the rules he had taught her. Keep your head up. Don’t show weakness.

Once they were in the dorms and he closed the door, her façade faded away.

“That idiot.” She began picking up the pillow in Dmitri’s bed and hitting the base with it. “Stupid, pathetic ...”

“Hey, wait a minute,” Aleksei grabbed the item from her, making a note they now had another item they needed to replace. “What’s with you?”

“That dumbass Med.” Kitten hissed, before brushing her eyes furiously. “It’s my fault he’s dead.”

“It’s your fault this pillow’s busted.” Aleksei tossed the pillow back at her. She caught it easily and for a moment he thought she was going to hit him with it. Instead, she hugged it. “What you’re feeling is survivor’s guilt. We spoke about it before remember?”

“No. It’s my fault he’s dead.” Her face darkened slightly. “I told him I wasn’t his mate.”

“I’m not following?” Aleksei frowned.

“He kept calling me his mate just because we had the same gifts.” Kitten explained walking over to Aleksei’s bed. He watched her kick her shoes off and slip onto the bed cross-legged. He took a deep breath to calm himself down, hating that she was invading his personal territory like that. “But I told him I didn’t belong to him. I kept telling him I am an Alpha girl. Only, if I was his mate he would have stayed with me right? He wouldn’t have been doing something dangerous and been killed.”

“That’s illogical.” Aleksei crossed his arms. She shot him a glare and he continued. “Tom was the Mad Docs errand boy. He still would have gone and he still would have died. End of story. You’re not responsible for this. Not many people here liked him. Even less like his brother. It would have happened eventually.”

“Brother.” She straightened. “What brother?”

“Tom didn’t come to the school alone. He came here with his brother. Its general knowledge that the two couldn’t stand each other.”

“He never told me he had a brother.” She laughed bitterly. “Then again he wouldn’t even tell me his real name either.”

“He hardly went by his real name. It was Anthony Wunderhein. His brother is Grigori Wunderhein, also known as the Falcon.” Aleksei explained, his eyes narrowing slightly. “The one joined the Meds and the other joined us Brawn.”

“You mean that guy that keeps trying to bribe me into his team?” She gasped.

“He tried again?” Aleksei asked harsher then he meant to.

“Yeah, a few days ago.” Kitten replied. “How can he afford all the stuff his offering anyway?”

“Falcon is good with business. He’s monopolized most of the school. The Wunderhein family is also rich, to begin with.” Aleksei snorted. “It’s possible the brothers were sent here to toughen up. It happens sometimes. In any case, their feud affected the whole school on some level.”

“You mean they’re the reason we hate Meds?”

“Not totally. We hated Meds before they arrived but it did add fuel to the flames.” Aleksei sat down next to Kitten, resting his arms on his knees. “I’ll bet anything this hunting accident has something to do with the Falcon.”

“No way.” Kitten gasped. “He wouldn’t do that to his own brother would he?”

“If Tom was stealing you then I don’t see why Wunderhein wouldn’t.” Aleksei thought aloud. “They both wanted you. Wiping out the competition is a good strategy. Make no mistake; Tom would have done the same thing.”

“That’s so dumb. I’m not some prize.” Kitten hissed. “I’m not a weak girl.”

“There’s nothing weak about being a girl.” Aleksei grinned despite himself.

“Sure there isn’t.” Kitten pouted before stuffing her chin on the pillow. “Tom didn’t listen to me either.”

“What are you talking about? I’m listening.”

“No,” She furiously wiped her eyes. “you’re not.”

“Yes I am and I don’t think your weak at all.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “In fact I’m very proud of you. I noticed that you haven’t been skipping your classes. “

“You know?” She looked up, her face so pale she might have just seen a ghost. “How? When?”

“The permission slips were filled in for you when I had to go up one day to Level Five.” Aleksei recalled. “It wasn’t my handwriting.”

“I didn’t want to get my ’Cut’s by cheating. I want to earn them myself.” Kitten squeezed the pillow towards her. “Tom just wanted me to skip class and spend time with him or say stuff like he’d take care of me. He never understood how I felt. I’m not going back to being some useless girl.”

Aleksei rubbed his nose for a moment.

“You do know,” He finally began, “That being a girl makes you one of the strongest people here politically.”

“Huh?” She looked at him in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“You have a choice of guys to be with. We only have a choice between you or the nurses.” He pointed out. “Basically the odds are in your favour and whichever guy you decide to be with is going to end up being the most envied and hated person here.”

“That’s still not getting ‘Cuts’.”

“No, but it does put you in a powerful position like Wunderhein. So stop thinking your weak. It’s annoying.” Aleksei began to make movements, ticking off on his fingers. “Because of you, I ended up in hospital after Ivan hit me. Dmitri is more insane then usual whenever he smells your blood, Boris just wants to be around you and Ivan is showering you in so many treats I’m surprised you don’t have cavities. You also convinced a group of Meat-Bags to let me go when I was unconscious and had someone give up his place in the lunch line so you could be with your team. That seems like power to me.”

Kitten giggled. “You make it sound silly.”

“Trust me it’s more serious than you realise.”

“So whose side are you on?” She leaned forward conspiriously. “You know, in this power battle that you say is happening.”

“I’m on no-one’s side. I’m not interested in politics.” Aleksei shrugged. “I plan on finishing up here then getting back to the mainland’s to find a good job.”

“I see.”

“If you were hoping for something more heroic, you should have asked someone else.”

“Nah, I like it. It sounds like there is something for us after here.”

“Did you think there wasn’t?”

“No.” Kitten replied in a hard voice. “I thought we just died here. That this was our home now.”

“Fine, so if you leave, what do you want to do?”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

Kitten went silent for a moment. She dropped the pillow on her lap and began needing it. “Before I came here, I wanted a house with kids. Lots of kids that I could hug all the time.”

“A house is good.” Aleksei nodded in approval. “That’s stability.”

“I hadn’t really thought about it. I guess I wanted a family.” Kitten admitted. “But I got that with you guys.”

“Well don’t worry. We’re not going anywhere soon. Although just some advice, you really shouldn’t throw the word ‘Family’ around when Dmitri is nearby.” Aleksei reached out to muzzle her hair however Kitten tilted her head up to look at him, her mouth opening up as if she was about to ask something. Aleksei’s fingers ended up sliding down the side of her face. Without thinking, he let the tips of his fingers wander over her birthmark, surprised at how smooth the skin there felt.

“He hates it.” Aleksei added weakly as he tried tracing the stain. It was big. From the looks of it, it would fit perfectly in his hand.

Proof of her fight to live before she was even born. A true mark to be proud of.

“Ok.” Her words were more of a whisper when she responded this time. He noticed that she began purring as she nuzzled his hand. He felt vibrations from the sound and was almost tempted to start stroking her.

“If you’re done?” He pulled his hand away instead,torn between wanting to kick himself and wondering what the heck just happened? Had he really been pawing her, again? She blinked, looking up at him in confusion. When it registered what she had been doing her face went red.

“How-come I ended up as a stupid cat?” She grumbled, moving back from him quickly. He didn’t miss the mix of fear and irritation in her voice.

“Do you know anything about cats?” He asked.

“They catch mice and leave muddy paw-prints over everything.” She complained. “And they steal the milk.”

“You’re thinking like a house keeper’s child again.” Aleksei pulled out one of his sticks from his pocket and began chewing on it. “Don’t settle cats short. A cat can jump about seven times its height.

It has more than 100 vocal sounds and their purr improves your healing rate. It’s a weird thing, but it’s why most of the guys at the medic wards are usually guys that can purr.”

“Really?” She turned back to him. “They do all that?”

“You can go to the Medic center and find out yourself if you don’t believe me. I’ll hand you the permission slip.” Aleksei pointed to the ceiling. “Or go check in the library. I think there might be a book on the topic.”

“I thought all Medics were bad.” Kitten frowned. “I mean, why else do we hate them?”

“We hate them because they are traitors. They gave up trying to make the ranks.” Aleksei shrugged. “All Medics start off as Brawn since they need basic fighting skills. However, in the end, all they care about is getting enough moves so they can leave us and stick to their textbooks. It’s what makes them weak.”

“Dumb ass Meds.” Kitten’s eyes narrowed.

“Don’t settle them short.” Aleksei began pointing out. “If it’s a choice between a Med and an Adult, then you better make sure you know which will have your back.”

“You mean because the Meds trained with us we can sort of trust them?”

“Barely trained with us.” Aleksei corrected. “However that’s pretty much the gist of it. In fact, it might actually help you if you did speak to one. Javan might be the best to talk to about the changes you are going through.”

“Javan? Who’s Javan”

“A Med that’s stitched me up a few times.” Aleksei tied to smile encouragingly. “His more Tiger than cat like you but its similar enough. His really friendly to talk to.”

“I don’t want to talk to a Med.” Kitten replied stubbornly. “I’d rather talk to you. I mean you’re my Captain, right? And you’re smart. I trust you over a dumb Med.”

“Fine. When you’re ready then.” He was about to get up when she reached out and pulled the sleeve of his shirt, making him lose balance and fall back onto the bed.

“My teeth feel funny.” The words came out as an embarrassed whisper. “I mean, are they supposed to?”

“You’re getting Canines. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. We all have them. See.” He pulled up the side of his mouth, showing off the sharp teeth that were sticking out.

He felt her leaning forward to touch them.

“They’re so sharp.” Kitten whispered in awe. “Mine doesn’t look like that.”

“Yours should be smaller since you’re a cat.” He replied thoughtfully after letting his mouth go. “I think the fact you’re a girl will also stop them from getting big like mine.”

“Why should things be different because I’m a girl?” Kitten growled. “It’s not fair.”

“Life isn’t fair.” Aleksei reminded her. “That’s why you ended up here, remember?”

She threw him a scathing look and he sighed.

“Come on, let’s go.” He attempted to stand up again. This time she didn’t stop him. “I bet everyone’s worried about you. Especially Boris. Think you can handle the rest of your meal?”

“I’m not very hungry right now.”

“You just have to show face. It’s either that or I will need to ship you off to the medics for food poisoning. It’s the only way you don’t have to see anyone for a while.”

She shivered. “I’d rather die than go there.”

“I can’t leave you crying in misery in your room for days without a good reason.” Aleksei replied softly. “You know that.”

“I know. I can’t be weak.” Her eyes narrowed. “I won’t be weak.”

“Good girl.” He ruffled her hair, feeling the soft strands easily slip through his fingers.

“Hey Lexie,” Kitten bit her lip, stopping him. “Am I a bad person?”

“I don’t think so. Why?”

“Because I’d rather have Tom die than any of you.” Her shoulders hunched over as she hugged the pillow once more. “If it had been you guys, I think it would have killed me.”

“You’re still innocent with your emotions. You and Boris can afford to be since Ivan, Dimi and I are watching over you two.” He held out his hand to help her out. “I’d prefer it if you two didn’t change.”

“Really?”

“I like the fact there’s something not ruined in our team. It’s…refreshing.”

“You struggled for a word.” She looked at him in surprise, making him uncomfortable that she had noticed. “You never struggle for a word.”

“I’m going back to eat.” He turned around and began to leave. “If you’re not coming there’s a dictionary by the window-sill. Try and practice your letters.”

“Meanie!” He heard her yell out behind him following the sound of the pillow flying. He caught it with ease and threw it back at her, hitting her.

Kitten looked at him with big eyes as the pillow fell from her face. A second later she grabbed it and ran towards him with it, attacking him with it.

“Stop it.” He ordered, backing up to Ivan’s bed and grabbing the pillow there, hitting her back.

She didn’t obey. Instead, she continued to attack him; a laugh erupted from her throat as she tried to gain ground.

The dorm door burst open a few minutes later.

“Is this a private party or can anyone join?” Dmitri asked casually as he and Ivan stood at the entrance.

Boris bounced in without waiting for a response, already grabbing a pillow and joining the fight. His squeaky laughter mixed with Kittens.

The sound was oddly comforting to Aleksei.

“Hey Lexie,” Dmitri Laughed. “Pay attention.”

Aleksei looked at his friends’ direction and found himself promptly by a pillow.