Chapter 4

<<Mora>>

I just know they’re all filled with future Alphas, Betas and enforcers. It's where the best of the best train, rumours have it, even the Alpha King runs one of them but I have no idea if that's true. 

“Think he knows that she’s being sent to Irkwood?” One of the enforcers asks as the van rolls to a stop; I hear the creaking and squeaking of a window a second before cold air washes over my sweaty body. 

“Please, do you really think the old-fashioned Alpha Dean would let his only daughter come and be trained here? I bet he assumed she would be sent to Ashford where the killers and rogues end up.” The tattooed one growls right back; I hear the sound of static and then a nasally male voice over a speaker. 

“Reason for visit?” I take an instant dislike to the male without ever seeing him; something about his voice sets every hair on my body on end. 

“We have the new student; she’s on the books.” The tattooed one sounds exhausted; I get the strangest feeling that he isn’t a fan of the nasal-voiced male either. 

“Ah yes, her.” The voice hisses over the speaker. I listen to the sound of static and then the creaking of metal gates being opened before the van starts moving again. 

"Are you awake yet?” The tattooed enforcer's gruff voice washes over me. I start to bite my tongue so I don’t answer him but I have a gut feeling that he wouldn’t ask the question if he didn’t already know the answer. I try to open my eyes again but it's like they’ve been glued shut. I feel them flutter but I can’t fully open them yet. 

“Fuck you.” I snap at the enforcer; he lets out a gruff, barking laugh as the van turns around a sharp corner. 

“Listen to me carefully.” The enforcer hisses. “Irkwood is where the best of the best are trained; you weren’t supposed to come here, someone pulled strings and now you're being placed with Alphas and Betas who have trained for years. They’re stronger than you but you have grit; keep your head down and focus on surviving.” I can’t believe this tattooed enforcer is actually giving me advice and good advice at that. Part of me wanted to come out of the van swinging and kicking just to let every male know that I’m not going to be some little pushover female they can kick around. I suppose keeping my head down could have its advantage. Cole used to say that there was a beauty in standing back and watching. He would tell me that when we stop and watch, that's when you see things others don’t want you to see. 

“Why would someone do that for me?” I ask as I try once again to open my eyes; this time they open but my vision is so blurry that I can barely see the side of the panel van, let alone anything else. 

“I have no idea; I just know the order came to me from my Alpha and now you’re here.” I look up and see the back of the tattooed Alpha’s head; I can just about make out the large wolf paw tattooed on the back of his neck. 

“You drugged me.” My words slur slightly but my vision is clearing up just enough to see the artificial light shining through the windows of the van. I can’t smell anything but the enforcers but I know the second the doors open, I will smell every male that has trampled through this place and given that it's a War Academy, I’m about to be overwhelmed with scents. 

“I had to; if you killed your father, I would have had to take you to Ashford and I'm not driving that far from my Pack in the middle of winter.” He makes it sound like it would be an inconvenience but I actually get the impression that he was trying to do me a favour by drugging me up with wolfsbane. He’s right about one thing though: if my wolf hadn’t been trampled down, it's highly possible I would have killed my father. My anger was up, my wolf was pissed and I was one good kick away from getting free and attacking my father. 

“Here we go.” The other enforcer growls under his breath as the van jerks to a stop, I rock to the side and a small groan leaves my lips as both enforcers chuckle at my discomfort. 

I blink my eyes over and over again as I listen to the doors of the van opening and closing. I rock from side to side again as their weight leaves the van; I can hear their booted feet crunching along the gravel as they walk on either side of the can. 

“Is she secure? Her father said she’s feral.” I don’t recognise the voice but I’m not surprised to hear it's a male; I doubt I will be hearing another female for quite some time. 

“She was pissed about being brought here against her will but she isn't feral.” The tattooed enforcer hisses; he’s defending me, which is a complete contradiction to how he treated me back at the Blackthorn Pack. 

“Whatever, just get the bitch out here so you enforcers can go back to work.” I crinkle my nose as the nasal male voice barks out orders. I don’t need to smell him to know he’s a weak Beta; only someone who doesn’t have real power can speak to someone stronger like that. I might not be a fan of the tattooed enforcer but I could sense his strength the second I saw him; he doesn’t ask for control, he takes it. 

“Are we pretending you give the orders around here, Frankie?” The tattooed enforcer laughs and I feel the van shake once more; this time it doesn’t rock back, which makes me think the enforcer has planted himself against the side of the vehicle and thanks to his impressive muscles, it can’t push back against him. I get the impression that the tattooed enforcer is buying me time; whether true or not, I don’t waste the precious minutes he’s giving me. I start pulling on my wrists and working on pulling my wolf forward; it's harder than it should be because of the wolfsbane still in my system, it's kind of like trying to grab my wolf while she’s wriggling in quick-drying cement. 

‘Just the claw, come on, you can do it.’ I try to encourage my wolf while straining my body; I can feel my nonexistent abs trying to pulse from the strain, my body is definitely not designed to be rocking back and forth like a damn ship.