He Will Be Mine (New Horizon Book 1)

The Trials Part III: Tyler

I instinctively reach to wind my fingers in Aly’s hair when I feel her climb on top of me, laying on my chest. This is my favorite way to wake up, and it certainly makes up for the fact that it feels like I just closed my eyes and went to sleep five minutes ago.

“Wake up, sleepyhead,” she says cheerfully. “The sun is almost up, and you need to get showered and changed still.”

I smile up at her, amused that she is in such a hurry when it is still dark outside.

“What happened to the girl who hates getting up in the morning?” I tease her, thinking of all the times she rolls out of bed just before her morning class and shows up in whatever she slept in.

“I hate getting up for class. Today I’m going to training, though. That I actually enjoy.”

“Am I going to do that at some point, too? I was promised training with werewolves. It’s pretty much the whole reason I came,” I jest, though it’s only partially an exaggeration.

“Stop, you lie. You came because you can’t bear to be away from me,” she says as she dramatically flips her hair over her shoulder and fans herself. She’s not wrong. “Plus, if you wanted to train so badly, you shouldn’t have volunteered to sacrifice yourself to the trials the minute we got here.”

“They’re not so bad. I feel fine,” I argue. Other than being a little tired when I finished yesterday, it really didn’t seem to be what everyone feared.

“That’s because you don’t remember a thing. There has to be a reason for that.”

She has a point there. I do wonder what it is they don’t want me to remember, but I shake it off and drag myself out of bed. After a warm shower and some clean clothes, plus a couple stolen kisses from Aly before she heads outside, I feel ready to face whatever Elder Gerard has in store for me today.

Henny has my breakfast all ready for me when I make it down to the kitchen. By that, I mean she has made some sort of a granola bar thing that is wrapped up and ready for me to eat on the go.

“So you won’t be late,” she explains, ushering me out the door. These werewolves are surprisingly serious about punctuality considering that I wasn’t even given an exact time to be there.

Elder Gerard and another woman are waiting for me when I enter the private room of the infirmary. Elder Gerard still has the borderline glowering expression I remember from yesterday, but the woman smiles warmly at me.

“This is Elder Norissa,” Elder Gerard introduces her simply.

“And you are Tyler,” she says pleasantly as she rises to shake my hand.

If their intent is to play good cop, bad cop, it’s working. Her I like; him I’m not so sure about. He didn’t seem to hurt me yesterday, though.

“I’m here to confer with Elder Gerard and assist with the process,” she explains. “I would have been here yesterday, but it was such late notice. You understand, I’m sure.”

I nod, still not sure of the proper etiquette for interacting with Elders. Are they above Alphas or below? I know with the Alpha I get the impression that you’re supposed to speak only when spoken to, though he’s a little more relaxed when he’s with his family. These Elders are here on business, though, so I figure my best bet is to pretend they’re Alphas and keep quiet as much as I can.

“Good. Well then, did you have any questions before we get started?” she asks.

Interesting. I didn’t know I could ask questions. I find myself unable to resist the urge to ask about the memory wipe bit Aly and I were just talking about.

“Just one, I suppose. I’m curious why I don’t remember anything after we finish. I kind of wish I did so that I would at least have some idea how I did during the test.”

“Well, honestly, it comes down to a simple matter of methodology,” she begins to explain. “It works better if you don’t know that you’re being tested and can’t try to predict how we would want you to respond, so we have certain tactics of getting your brain into that state of mind. If we let you keep the memories of that, then it wouldn’t work as well the next time.”

“And then there’s the fact that certain parts of the trials might not be the sort of things you wish to remember,” Elder Gerard comments. “But this will be the last day of trials such as this. If you genuinely wish to keep your memories of it, we can arrange that. Unfortunately, you would have to decide now before you know what it is you will experience. You can’t change your mind after the fact, no matter how much you would like to.”

“I want to remember,” I say with conviction.

I don’t need to think about it. No matter how horrible it is, I want to know what they thought would be a good test of my suitability as a mate.

It almost seems like there is a hint of a smile at the corners of Elder Gerard’s mouth when I say that, and I feel sort of proud of that. Maybe he’s impressed. But then I realize he also could just find me to be an amusing, silly human.

He has me hop up on the exam table again and I sit there waiting while they confer with each other. After what seems to be a silent conversation over his notes, he clears his throat and looks up at me apologetically.

“Actually, Tyler, if you could excuse us for a bit. I need to look over this a bit more, considering that I wasn’t here to see it in person yesterday,” Elder Norissa explains. “I would feel more comfortable knowing the particulars of what occurred before proceeding.”

“Oh, uh, okay. Yeah, that’s fine,” I agree compliantly, only slightly annoyed that I was here on time and ready to proceed when they weren’t. “What should I do in the meantime?”

“Perhaps you could track down Luna Andrea and assist her with whatever she is working on,” Elder Norissa suggests. “We’ll send someone for you when we’re ready.”

Once I leave the infirmary, I do just that. I stop to ask one of the workers in the kitchen if they have seen Luna Andrea and she tells me I can find her outside with some of the younger pups. That’s so cute how they call their kids pups. I suppose it makes sense, too, considering that they’re basically part wolf.

Then I start daydreaming about what it would be like to have kids with Aly. I realize I have more questions to ask somebody about how that works when a human and werewolf are mated. Would we have pups or kids? I’m kind of hoping for pups. I’m also getting way ahead of myself, I realize, and snap myself back to reality.

I spot Aly’s mom with a couple other adults supervising some children at a playground structure, and notice right away that werewolf pups have a lot of energy. Or maybe that’s just because of how young they are. Admittedly, I don’t have a ton of experience with kids and don’t have a clear concept of how these little ones differ from humans of the same age.

It strikes me as odd for a moment that though it was just barely past sunrise when I went in to see the Elders, it seems a bit later in the morning now. I also am not terribly knowledgeable about how being in the woods affects daylight, though, so it could just seem off because it’s different than I am used to.

I head over to the women and children, waving as I approach. Aly’s mom sees me and waves back, a welcoming smile on her face.

“Hi, Tyler,” she greets me. I think she would hug me, too, but a little boy crashes into her and she scoops him up instead.

“Did you finish with Elder Gerard already?” she asks without even missing a beat. It’s impressive what a natural she seems to be with all these kids.

“No, but they asked me to find a way to kill some time while I wait for them to be ready for the next part. I decided to come see what you were up to,” I tell her.

“We’re having these pups let some of their energy out so we can take them inside and sit them down for some calmer activities. Preschool-level learning, basically,” she explains, putting the boy back on the ground and giving his back a couple gentle pats to send him off to play.

“Oh, I see. Is that a normal part of your duties here?” I wonder, still trying to get a picture of the sort of things I might be expected to do someday.

I still haven’t asked, but I assume that if Aly will be Alpha, then I’d take the role her mother currently has. It doesn’t hurt to learn, either way.

“Nurturing and supporting the pack in any and every way I can is, yes. I don’t do this every day, mind you, but I find it important to get to know everyone and make personal connections with them, no matter how young. Plus, the young mothers of the pack certainly appreciate a break every now and then, which I’m happy to provide.”

I find that admirable, to say the least, and it feels like a good goal to aspire to, assuming Aly chooses me.

The women don’t seem to have any issue with letting me hang out with the kids, so I waste no time joining right in. I would say I’m surprised at how much I enjoy playing with them, chasing them around the playground and listening to them squeal in delight, but I’m honestly not. I don’t have a lot of experience with kids, but it’s not like I have anything against them. Plus, I have a lot of energy myself and I like to goof around as much as they do, it seems.

I’m not sure how much time goes by before Mrs. Bentley and the others are herding the kids into the house and getting them all settled in a room that looks to be part nursery, part classroom. I’m still amazed at how much seems to be contained within the packhouse and around this one large property. It’s pretty much everything anyone could ever need during normal daily life.

Instead of staying with the kids, Mrs. Bentley leaves them with the other women and takes me out to where she keeps her herb garden. This is something I have been curious about since I first met Aly and found out that she doesn’t use any conventional store-bought products for basic hygiene. I would have thought that tending an herb garden and making all that stuff would be a full-time job in itself, but apparently it is just one of the many things she does around here.

We’re just getting settled in and she’s showing me some of the different plants and explaining what she uses them for when she seems to freeze for a moment. Her eyes glaze over, which is something I’ve seen quite a few of the werewolves do. I get the sense that they talk to other werewolves that way somehow, although this is the first time that I’ve seen it happen when there is no one else around for her to talk to.

Once her eyes clear she focuses them on me. She looks panicked and is moving and talking quickly now which freaks me out a bit. I get up and follow her, wondering what is going on.

“I’m so sorry, Tyler, but you are going to need to learn a bit on the fly here now,” she tells me hurriedly as we rush back to the house. “Please, just come with me and help me get all those kids to a safe location. I need you to do as I say, okay?”

“Okay, Mrs. B,” I agree, knowing now is not the time for questions but still wondering what is going on.

I’m worried about Aly, too. I know that of all people, her mom would be right there with me on that, so I try to just trust that she knows best. I can't seem to let it rest, though. I have to know.

“Where is Aly? Is she okay?” I ask her.

She side-glances me briefly and sighs, explaining, “She’s with her dad and Ryan, but you have to understand something, Tyler. She’s a warrior. She’s trained for situations like this. I don’t like it any better than you do, but you need to come with me and let her and the others do what they need to do. Have faith that her training and smarts will keep her safe, not to mention all the other warriors with her. Okay?”

We’re almost to where we left the kids, and I can hear some commotion in the room. It sounds like those other women already know what is going on and are getting them ready to move.

“What is happening, Mrs. B?” My nerves won’t let me not ask that question. I need to know what Aly is up against and why we’re moving so quickly.

“It’s a rogue attack. I don’t have time to explain what that means right now.”

Maybe not, but I can guess. It doesn’t sound good. She means Aly is in physical danger, and that makes me feel sick. I’m torn about what to do, though. I don’t even know where the attack is happening. For now, I do as she asked and help her with the kids.

We pick up some of the smaller ones and carry them, the others holding onto a rope that keeps them in a neat line behind us. The other two women bring up the rear of our little procession, which seems to be heading into the basement.

I haven’t been down here yet, but it makes me nervous. I’ve seen a lot of horror movies. You never want to be trapped either upstairs with no way of getting down or in a basement with no way of getting out, but Mrs. Bentley seems to have a plan, so I try not to let that get to me.

She brings us to a locked room, handing me the little girl in her arms so that now I have one in each arm and she can unlock the door. This room just looks like a storage room, which doesn’t help me feel better. A room underground with just a simple lock as protection? This is not good. But then she surprises me by shoving aside a big bookshelf, revealing a safe room. Not only is it impressive that she moved that shelf all by herself, but I am feeling much better about the look of this thing.

She enters in a combination on the number pad and the door unseals and swings open, revealing a large room with comfortable seating and some activities for the kids. We quickly usher them all inside and get them settled. The two in my arms are asleep now, so I lay them down gently on one of the cots, and the other kids seem to nervously huddle around their teachers, some whimpering and crying.

An idea occurs to me that might help settle these kids some. I grab a pad of drawing paper and some crayons and ask one of the little boys, “What’s your favorite animal? I could draw it for you.”

He looks at me uncertainly, but I think his curiosity gets the best of him.

“I like rabbits,” he says, plopping down next to me on the floor.

I start making a quick sketch of a rabbit, and soon the other kids gather around to watch me. I finish his rabbit and hand it off to him, telling him to color it in to look like his favorite kind of rabbit.

I don’t even have to ask anyone else. A little girl tells me, “I want a horse,” and I start drawing it for her. Another boy asks for a bird. The kids seem to like watching me draw, and though it’s silly, their tiny little voices exclaiming over my work and telling me what a good drawer I am thrills me.

What they don’t know is I need this distraction as much as they do. I’m worried about Aly, and I hate that I don’t even know what is going on outside. I even start to worry about Elder Gerard and Elder Norissa.

Mrs. Bentley stays close to the door and ushers in quite a few other groups of people, mostly elderly people and children. I notice that other than the small children who come with their mothers, there aren’t a lot of young women here and no men under a certain age. My guess is that everybody who is able is expected to fight when the pack is under attack.

Mrs. Bentley catches my eye and nods her head to beckon me over to her. I go and stand as close as I can to her because I can tell she wants to tell me something but doesn’t want the others to overhear.

“According to the women who just came in, we’re waiting on two more groups of stragglers, and they don’t have anyone among them who knows the code to the door. I can’t receive mind-links from in here, so I’m going to step outside and wait for them so I can let them in. I’m telling you because I need you not to worry even when I’m out there, and just keep doing what you’re doing. You’re doing great, Tyler, and these people will need you to keep them calm once I go.”

“No, Mrs. Bentley, I can’t let you do that. It would be too dangerous,” I protest.

“Which is why I need to be the one out there. I’m a werewolf, and you’re not. I’m also the strongest one here. If things go sideways, I have the best chance out there.”

“Not if you get overtaken by a group of them,” I argue, “and I can’t let that happen. Aly would be devastated if anything happened to you. She still needs you. Please, just tell me the code and let me go out there.”

“I can go with him,” one of the young mothers standing near us volunteers. “You’re not the strongest, Luna, I am. No disrespect intended,” the woman says, bowing her head respectfully. “I will be happy to do it, as is my duty. Just keep my son safe.”

I see that Mrs. Bentley feels torn now. I know she doesn’t want me out there, exposed, but she must also know I’m right.

Finally, she says, “Alright, go. Stay together. Do not try to leave here on some suicide mission, Tyler. Aly needs you, too, believe it or not, and you have to trust that she can handle herself.”

She leans in closer and tells me the code to the number pad and the password to ask for so that I will know whether the people who come are from her pack, and then opens the door for us.

I learn that the woman with me is named Rachel and she is one of the pack warriors, but since her son is still only an infant, the pack protocols demand that she bring him to safety above all else. It makes sense why she would insist that she is stronger, and also why she would be willing to stay here with me. I feel a bit better knowing that I’m out here, exposed, cornered in a basement, but with a werewolf warrior by my side at least.

She stands mostly still and on alert while we wait. I can tell she is carefully observing everything around us by how her eyes dart around and she seems to be sniffing the air and listening. I try to stay as still and quiet as I can so that I don’t interfere. We wait for what feels like hours for those others to show, and each second that passes leaves me feeling a little more nervous.

She seems to tense up suddenly, sucking in a breath and taking a defensive stance.

“They’re here,” she whispers, and I can tell by the way she does it that she doesn’t mean anyone friendly.

“Should we go back in?” I ask, “or is it too late?” The process of opening and resealing the door takes a few moments, so I know if whatever she senses is too close to us, then we can’t risk endangering everyone else.

“Too late,” she confirms my fear and begins to stealthily make her way back into the main area of the basement.

I’m not sure what would be best for me to do. She didn’t indicate that she wants me to follow, and I can’t see in the dim light as well as she seems to be able to. I fear that if I go with her, I’ll alert the intruders and they’ll know there are people down here.

I don’t have long to consider the best course of action because before I know it, the door from the main floor crashes open, which does allow more light into the area so that I can see a little better but otherwise doesn’t seem like a good thing. Three large snarling brown wolves charge down the stairs and I realize that as unprepared as I may be for this, I’m going to have to help Rachel fight them. She’s outnumbered.

I scan the area for anything I can use as a weapon, my eyes landing on a large monkey wrench leaning against an old washing machine. As I make my way to it, I hear a sickening ripping and crunching sound and look to see that Rachel is shifting, literally tearing through her clothes to let her wolf out. I wish I could take a moment to appreciate how awesome that is, but since my impending death is approaching in the form of three huge brown wolves, I don’t have that luxury.

I pick up the wrench and try to evade their notice for as long as I can, watching as Rachel puts up an impressive fight against two of them at once, the third circling them and sniffing the area. I assume he smells me nearby so I know I need to act while I can maybe still get the drop on him. He’s turned away from me and I think I can make it to him before he can get into position to attack me head-on.

I tell myself I just need to take out this one wolf to give Rachel better odds. Just one. One-on-one, Tyler. You’ve got this.

I lunge at the side of him, lifting the wrench so that I can hopefully smash it over his skull and at least knock him senseless. Before I can bring it down on him, though, he turns and dodges out of the way with incredible speed and agility that I was not prepared for. I recover my footing and prepare to hit him wherever I can manage to land a hit but am caught off-guard by a jaw clamping around my ankle and dragging me face-first into the ground. I realize I’ve lost hold of the wrench and just pray that it went flying and hit one of those jerks someplace it might count, right before the front of my skull smacks against the concrete floor and I lose consciousness.

I gulp in a breath as though my lungs are just learning to breathe again, bolting upright in the bed I’m in. Wait, not bed. Exam table. I blink a few times in confusion, trying to let my eyes and mind make sense of it. I raise my hand to my head, realizing it doesn’t even hurt and there is no wound there.

“You did say you wanted to remember,” Elder Norissa comments from her seat nearby. “I’m sure this is disorienting to wake up to, but just know that you are here in the pack infirmary. You never left. That was so you would think you were not being tested. A trick. Nothing you remember after getting up on this table actually happened. Understand?”

I blink a few more times in her direction and focus on breathing. Breathing feels good. The lights are really bright. Elder Norissa’s hair is really red. I wonder if that’s natural, because how? She’s an Elder, right?

“That’s some trick,” I say finally, my mouth feeling a bit dry. “So, none of that … was real? There’s no rogues, no panic room?”

“Oh, well those things are very real. You just didn’t have any real experience with them today.”

“Oh,” is all I say for a moment.

She gives me some time to process, waiting quietly and patiently while Elder Gerard scribbles dutifully in his notebook.

“I need to train for real with actual werewolves,” I say finally.

Elder Norissa chuckles, smiling at me warmly. “Yes, you do. But don’t worry. Your fighting skills were not what was being evaluated. Not today, anyway,” she says slyly with a wink.

“For the rest of today’s trials, we’re going to have the doctor come in and give you a physical,” Elder Gerard announces. “Then tomorrow you’ll be working with someone else. No more of this.”

Thank goodness for small miracles.