Free Werewolf Academy Book 3: Instinct by Cheree Alsop Page B

had gotten himself lost. It was his first time out. He would figure out how to get back.
    Alex found a small park of grass and trees nestled among the buildings. He parked the motorcycle near the end of a row of cars and shoved the key in his pocket. Even if he was green to city life, he knew better than to tempt thieves with such a machine.
    Eight or nine boys and girls close to his age played soccer in the middle of the grass. Laughter from younger children who hung and climbed on the playground nearby filled the air. After the chaos of the city, the park felt like a sanctuary. Alex sank down onto the grass and watched the kids play. The feeling of the early morning cool green blades beneath his fingers calmed the whirlwind in his mind so that his thoughts were clear again.
    The ball rolled close to his knee.
    “Kick it back,” someone yelled.
    Alex looked up to find all of the kids his age watching him. He feared in that moment that they knew his secret, that they had realized he was a werewolf in their city, an enemy to be dealt with.
    “Kick us the ball,” a boy wearing a red shirt called. The boy jogged closer. There was nothing intimidating about him. He merely watched Alex curiously as though his lack of response was puzzling.
    Alex shoved down the feelings of attack and willed his muscles to relax. He stood slowly, glancing from the ball to the group of boys and girls who watched him. At the red-shirted boy’s gesture, Alex kicked the ball back.
    “Thanks,” the boy called before returning to the group.
    Alex sat back down with his heart pounding in his chest as though he had just survived something death defying. He allowed his guard to relax enough that he leaned back on his elbows. The sound of the wind through the trees vied with the hum of traffic. It felt so strange that such a place survived within the city. To his senses, it felt like the city crowded everything else out, that the buildings, traffic, and the overall hustle of life didn’t have room for such serenity as trees and grass.
    Hope. The word brushed through his mind. It had been Jet’s description for the scent of grass. Alex smiled as he smelled it. Perhaps the city and park weren’t at war. Perhaps somehow in this chaotic state, they had found a happy medium, some semblance of peace. Maybe Jet was right about there being hope.
    Alex heard the footsteps, but after his last hasty conclusion, he decided to let them approach without wondering if they meant his imminent death.
    “Want to play?”
    Alex looked up to see the boy in the red shirt along with a girl with blonde hair tied back in a bunch of braids.
    The girl smiled down at him. “Paul had to go home. We’re one person short.”
    Alex’s instincts screamed for him to refuse. It could be a trap. He wasn’t a human. He might give himself away. “Uh, okay,” he said. His instincts replied that he was an idiot. Alex ignored the feeling and followed the boy and girl.
    “I, uh, don’t know how to play,” Alex admitted before they reached the group.
    Both of them shot him incredulous looks. “You don’t know how to play soccer?” the boy asked.
    When Alex shook his head, the girl asked, “Where have you been that you don’t know how to play soccer?”
    Alex thought quickly. “Boarding school.”
    The boy nodded as if it made sense. “My cousin went to boarding school,” he told the girl. “He didn’t even know how to play video games.”
    “Crazy,” she replied with a shake of her head. They reached the rest of the kids. She smiled at Alex. “Don’t worry. We’ll teach you. It’s easy.” She gestured at the other kids who looked between fifteen to seventeen years old. “These three are on your team.” She pointed to two boys with bright red hair and freckles across their noses who looked similar enough to have to be brothers, and a girl with straight black hair tied back in a bandana.
    “Hi,” the girl said.
    The boys looked like they couldn’t care less who