Chapter Forty-Four

There’s a long moment of silence where Serene seems to be figuring out what to say to that. “Yeah, that’s pretty shitty,” She says, at last, sounding conflicted. “You have to be brimming with questions about it then. Should I come over so I can tell you more about magic? I only have one class left for today.”
I turn to look at Adrian over my shoulder, raising an eyebrow to gauge his feelings on the matter. He locks eyes with me from the kitchen where he’s brewing some tea for me and preparing some kind of snack, offering a noncommital shrug to the question. “Okay,” I say, turning back to the window. “If you can manage to get up the mountain, but you should be really careful. There’s a lot of snow up here.”

“Okay, don’t worry about that,” She says with determination. “I drive a Jeep so a little snow is no problem. I’ll be there around 5,” It sounds like she’s ready to hang up, so I stop her by asking,

“Should I send you the addy?”

She pulls the phone back to her ear, confirming my suspicion that she’s about to hang up. “Oh, no need. I know where you live. It’s the Werewolf community on top of the mountain. I’ll see you soon.”

The line drops, leaving me staring out the window in confusion. Adrian comes back to the couch with a plate of sliced apples and various dips on the side, offering me a steaming mug of tea. I take the cup and turn to look at him, not bothering to hide my confusion. “What did she mean by that?”

Adrian lowers himself onto the cushion beside me with a wince, offering a sheepish smile. “Oh, I meant to mention that. Everyone in this community is a wolf.”

My jaw drops open and I run my tongue along with my teeth in consideration. “So you built these townhouses for your pack to live in? Does that mean Jasper lives here too and you never told me?” My tone is more accusing than I intend it to be, so I try to soften the blow with a weak smile.

Adrian cringes anyway, hesitating to drape his arm across the back of the couch as he usually would, not sure if I want him to touch me right now or not. “Yes, I did, but not, Jasper doesn’t. He stays on campus like most of the students because they don’t have to hide what they are there thanks to the magical barrier that protects the school from the humans. Only certain members stay in the community with me. They have to prove themselves responsible enough to control themselves and live with the humans in town.”

I take a sip of my tea, hoping that it’s enough to show Adrian I’ve disarmed myself of accusations. “Oh, that makes sense. So does that mean Jasper can’t control himself very well yet?”

Adrian settles gingerly into the seat beside me to make himself more comfortable, hesitating to touch me still. His throat bobs as he considers my question. “He still has some trouble with temptation.”

My brow furrows as I frown down at my tea. “What do you mean? What temptations do wolves have?” It’s a no-brainer that Vampires struggle against the impulse to drink blood, but I’d never considered something that Werewolves would have to worry about. Adrian seems fine enough, aside from an impulse to act on his desire for me; but that goes both ways.

Adrian’s brow furrows as he speaks, voice taking on a somber tone. “Some of us face a certain type of madness that our wolves bring us. You could compare it to rabies, but it isn’t something that can be avoided. It’s hereditary in most cases, and we haven’t found a cure for it. If it gets out of hand, they can end up killing someone.”

My blood runs cold at the thought. Jasper is fighting against something like that? And I never knew? A sudden flair of anger that no one told me sparks in my belly, making me glower at Adrian over my cup of tea. “Wy wouldn’t you tell me my best friend is dealing with something like that?” My words are tainted with accusation again, just when I’d thought I had it under control. “And what do you mean he could kill someone? Jasper would never do that.”

Adrian’s face is shaded with emotion, something resembling guilt swirling in his dark orbs. “I didn’t want you to get upset, like this,” He gives me a pointed look, a muscle in his jaw jumping at whatever he finds on my face. “The whole point of me being here is so he doesn’t lose control. He might be annoying but he’s a part of my pack. I care about what happens to him too, and I won’t let him lose the struggle against the Madness.”

My stomach twists into a knot at his words and what they imply. “So you’re going to this academy to keep an eye on him? And what are you saying?”

Adrian bites the inside of his cheek as if refraining from expressing a certain emotion that makes him uncomfortable. “I’m his Alpha. If he does succumb to it, it’s my duty to stop him from harming any civilians.”

The ceramic mug burns my skin, but I can hardly feel it. “So you’d have to kill him,” I say flatly, my eyes losing focus on the mountains outside. The thought of Adrian having to do that is incomprehensible. So the whole reason that my father asked me to attend this school was for Adrian’s convenience? I guess that would explain why he didn’t tell me anything about it. He was relying on Adrian’s ability to keep the true nature of the students a secret from me so I could continue being blind to their world. What a foolish thing to wish for. I deserve to know what’s happening to my friend and I deserve to know the truth of things going on around me.

Adrian nods solemnly, swallowing hard. His voice sounds surprisingly thick with emotion as he says, “Yes. I plan on saving him if I can,” I don’t want to lose him. I wonder if that’s why he doesn’t offer the position of Beta to Jasper; because he wants to make sure that he won’t succumb to this Madness before assuming that position. I can imagine the ceremony for that sort of position is a big deal and something Adrian would only like to do once if he can help it. I think suddenly about Jasper’s father and the kind smile that he always gave me as we would run past him in the yard while playing tag. If it’s a hereditary condition…
“Did his father have it?” I ask quietly, unsure if I want to know the answer. “This Madness that Jasper has?”

Adrian releases a mighty sigh that causes the flames of the fireplace to flicker. He leans his chin against his fist on the arm of the couch as if a mighty weight has settled on his shoulders. I suppose there would be a lot of pressure on him after all, considering that his father, the true Alpha, is always missing in action. Heavy is the head that wears the crown.

“No. His mother was the carrier,” Adrian says, reminding me of the lack of mention of his mother throughout our childhood. I never asked him about his and he never asked me about mine, and we were content with that. I’d never thought that she was suffering from this disease that made her slowly lose her mind. “His father, Justin, had to handle her. She eventually lost her fight against the Madness,” His voice is heavy with the knowledge of what happened and the same weight sits in my gut like a stone.

“Did Jasper see anything?” My voice is hardly above a whisper. He had always been such a happy, carefree kid that was always looking out for me that I never considered he was fighting his own demons, drowning in his own sadness. Jasper was there for me after the accident with my mother, and he was the only person who could console me enough to smile. Maybe we were the only things keeping each other afloat for all those years, without even knowing it.

Adrian shakes his head, not in response, but as if trying to fight away from a scene that plays in his mind. He sounds strained as he speaks, “She attacked him in the middle of the night. I don’t know if he remembers, but I came with my Father’s Beta to clean up the aftermath. Justin peeled her off of Jasper and killed her right in front of him.”

My hand flies up to my mouth in horror, imagining the scene. All of this happened when Jasper must have been only a child, shortly before we met. I can’t imagine someone as kind as Justin having to kill his own wife in order to keep her from killing their only son. Jasper never let on to his trauma, always greeting me with his goofy smile. “I want to help save him.”