“How is that cheating? I told you guys to form teams.” Aaron crossed his arms. “Teams are supposed to work together.”
Lily and the three boys exchanged frustrated looks.
“Power isn’t everything.” Aaron’s electric blue eyes swept across the class. “Intelligence, perseverance, teamwork, ingenuity—those can accomplish far more than brute strength.”
The “weak” mages beamed with pride. The other groups nodded along, and I saw shoulders going back and chins rising with new confidence.
“Every one of you is here because you’re above average. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have passed the entrance exam. You all have power—now check your egos, because power alone will only get you so far.” His gaze turned to the foursome of strong mages who’d failed. “You want to be the best? Then learn how to rely on the strength of others. Your team makes you stronger. Listen to your peers. Support them. Together, you’re unstoppable.”
As the kids hung on his every word, I looked down to hide my smile. It wasn’t what Aaron wanted, but I got where his parents were coming from. He was a complete natural at this. He was exactly the kind of teacher these kids needed to ground them so they didn’t grow up into arrogant snots like the alumni who’d insulted Aaron yesterday.
I nudged the toe of my shoe into a dip in the ground, and my smile faded. I turned my head, studying the damp, disturbed earth. Gooseflesh rose on my arms. I slid my foot aside as the shape in the earth clicked.
A paw print. A huge paw print.
The magical wind had swept away the leaf litter, revealing a mosaic of tracks. They were everywhere, overlapping the damp earth, crisscrossing the clearing, imprinted deep.
Apprehension rushed through my gut. We needed to get back to the academy. Right now. I pushed into the cluster of students, hastening to Aaron’s side. He trailed off from his pep talk, scanning my face.
I grabbed his arm and tugged him down to speak in his ear. “Aaron, we need …”
A shiver of warning ran along my spine. Drifting snowflakes muffled all sound in the still air. The woods were dim, the clouds hanging low in the sky. My sharp breath puffed white.
A twig snapped behind us.
Aaron and I whirled around as a beast leaped from the trees.
Chapter Ten
Fur and fangs flying toward us—that’s all I saw before Aaron unleashed an inferno.
Red-hot flames burst from his outstretched hand and the beast careened away. Landing heavily, it spun on huge paws to face Aaron again, lips pulled back, muzzle ridged, and teeth bared as it snarled.
The massive wolf wasn’t merely large. It was a wolf on steroids, its legs thick with muscle, its huge head dwarfed by a barrel chest. The bulging hump of its shoulders flexed as it shifted. Its gray fur was matted, and dark wounds sliced its flesh as though its skin had split, but the gashes weren’t bleeding. A reddish miasma leaked from its body like mist and the stench of burnt fur clung to it.
Milky eyes stared at us, then the wolf leaped again. I dodged away as Aaron hurled another blast of fire, but the airborne wolf sailed right through it and slammed into Aaron, driving him into the dirt.
A bloodcurdling shriek of terror snapped my head around.
A second beastly wolf launched out of the trees from the opposite end of the clearing. It bowled over three kids and bit down on a girl’s ankle. Yanking her off her feet, it started dragging her into the trees.
Oh shit.
Aaron would have to handle Wolfy McSuperWolf on his own. I charged into the mass of petrified students, ramming them aside. I had no weapons except my Queen of Spades card, which only worked against magical attacks, so I’d have to improvise.
Without slowing, I punched the wolf in the eye. It jerked away, the girl’s ankle slipping from its fangs. Snagging the scruff of its neck, I wrenched it backward.
“Grab her!” I yelled at the nearest students. “Everyone, get into a group! Now!”
The beast twisted, almost wrenching me off my feet. Its teeth chomped down on my thigh, tearing deep, and I choked on a scream. My hands loosened. The wolf body slammed me to the ground.
I landed on my back and muscle memory took over. How many times had Aaron and Kai thrown me down on the sparring mats in the last six weeks? Every time, I rolled, twisted, and sprang up.
So I rolled, twisted, and sprang up. My left leg tried to buckle, hot and wet and numb. The wolf appraised me with milky eyes, growling like an outboard motor in need of an oil change.
“Tori!” Sin threw a thick tree branch at me.
I caught it and swung as the wolf hit me again. The branch smacked its snout away from my face as I went down a second time.
Wind erupted, fire exploded, and a geyser of earth smashed into the wolf, throwing it off me. I scrambled up, my frenzied stare sweeping across the clearing.
Aaron was on his feet, flames surging over his arms and shoulders, his small switchblade in his hand. Two super-wolves circled him, one with blackened fur and charred wounds, the other fresh and unharmed. The students were crammed in a tight pack with Sin shouting commands. Lily and two boys stood at the edge of the group, hands raised as they defended me.
The third wolf charged.
I swung my stick but it darted aside, impossibly fast. Pink vapor seeped from its split skin in thickening waves as it shot into the group of students, trampling them into the ground.
“Lily!” Sin shrieked.
The wolf backpedaled, its jaws locked around Lily’s forearm. Sin and I threw ourselves on the beast as it hauled the girl toward the trees. I grabbed its ruff and dug my feet in, desperate to stop its progress, while Sin hammered her fists into its head.
Unfazed, the wolf surged backward, dragging me, Sin, and Lily with it.
Two boys seized Lily’s ankles. She screamed as she was pulled in two directions. The wolf’s jaw flexed—and bone crunched. Lily went limp.
“Lily!” Sin cried.
She jammed her thumbs into the wolf’s eye sockets. It reared, dropping Lily and throwing me off. I landed in a stagger, caught my balance, braced my feet—
Weight slammed into my back.
Two huge paws drove into my shoulders. My face hit the hard earth, and pain ruptured through my nose. I shoved onto my hands and knees.
Everything was screams and cries and blurred vision. Boys were heaving Lily’s limp form into the group, and other students were wailing or fainting, too young and scared to fight.
A yard away, where it had landed after knocking me down, the biggest wolf yet stood on four massive paws. Its jet black coat gleamed, perfect and unblemished, its body free of miasma-oozing wounds. Milky eyes swept across the chaos, then it threw its head back and howled.
Instantly, the other wolves surged to its side. They were regrouping, snarling muzzles directed at the helpless students. As the black wolf watched like a commander overseeing his soldiers, the mutant wolves stalked closer, choosing their victims.
Fire exploded.
A wall of flame raced around the pack of kids, forming an impenetrable barrier. Aaron stood in the middle, his face rigid with concentration, sweat running down his face as he held the flaming circle. The wolves skittered backward, darting in and out, searching for a weak spot.
The black wolf didn’t move, its stare locked on Aaron.
I wobbled to my feet, outside the safety of the fire ring. I needed to get inside that circle, otherwise—