“Huh?” The Nexian said, his voice rising in volume once more. The person he’d been accosting took the chance while he was distracted and scampered off at once. The Nexian didn’t seem to notice, as he was busy threatening Will. Fire leaped into his hands, and he knocked Will’s hand off of his shoulder. “Watch who you’re talking to, gussak. I’ll do whatever the fuck I want.”

Faced with a man who could burn him alive just by touching him, Will stepped back again, until his back came up against the outside wall of the store. He put his hands up in a gesture of innocence and surrender. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to offend, I just thought-”

“You thought wrong, boy!” The Nexian shouted though he was possibly the same age as Will, maybe a year older. “I’ll teach you what happens when you cross the Fire Nexus!”

And without another word of warning or bluster, he reached out with one hand for Will’s arm. Will knew at once that he was going to try burning him. It was a popular lesson that the Fire Nexus handed out to those who pissed them off. His instincts took over, and he slapped the man’s wrist, knocking his hand away. Immediately, he stepped to the other side, putting his hands up once more.

“I’m so sorry!” he said, a whine of fear entering his voice. “I meant no disrespect! Please forgive me!”

The Nexian appeared to be stunned for a second, looking at the hand that had been knocked away. For some reason, a cruel smile was crossing his face. This was honestly more terrifying to Will than the shouting. The Nexian turned to face Will again, and the fire around his hand glowed more brightly still. The flames licked up his forearms, singing the fur there and setting it to smoldering.

“You just hit me, boy,” he said, putting extra emphasis on the last word. “That’ll be the last thing you ever do.”

He threw a ball of fire at Will, who dove forward, just barely missing it. He felt the heat of it searing the back of his neck but knew better than to stay still after that and stay a target. His only option now was to get away. Not into the store, he thought wildly. That would risk other people being hurt, or could even burn the store down. So, thinking fast, he vaulted over a nearby picnic table, heading for the parking lot and the road just past it. A loud crack sound made him sure that the table had been broken the instant his hand had left it. He didn’t look back but continued running away.

He ran in a zig-zag pattern, using parked cars as cover. Killing normal people might not be forbidden for a Nexian, but they had to pay for any damage they caused, so Will knew that using the cars was safe. This thought was confirmed when he didn’t hear any explosions. All he was aware of was the Nexian screaming in rage, yelling for him to come back and face him like a man. Fuck that, Will thought. I’m not dying today!

He hit University Avenue quick, flashing past the Taco Bell that shared a parking lot with Fred Meyer’s and dove into the street. A car screeched at his suicidal action, swerving to avoid him. Will ignored it, darting across the rest of the road. A streak of fire flashed over his head just as he jumped the road barrier, nearly catching his hair on fire. But then another hit the ground to his right, and the splash of fire caught the sleeve of his jacket. He tore it off as he ran, wincing as the flames burned his arm. He threw it into a nearby snow berm, where it wouldn’t spread, and continued running.

He weaved his way between more cars in the next parking lot. He was lucky to choose Safeway’s parking lot, as it was just as busy as Fred Meyer’s. He sprinted past the Papa Murphy’s, and turned sharply, ducking around the shopping mall. It had been a few seconds since he’d seen fire or heard the Nexian shout, so he figured he was losing the man. Still, just to be safe, he ran past the dentist’s office and onto Washington Drive, where he knew he could disappear into a neighborhood.

After ducking behind a few bushes in front of a house, he threw himself flat onto the snow, his chest heaving, listening hard to see if the Nexian was still following. After a few minutes of silence except for the sound of passing cars, he figured it was safe enough, and pushed himself to his feet. Definitely not what he’d expected on his first day back in Fairbanks, he thought, dusting the snow off of his tee-shirt. The air was even colder without his jacket on, but he accepted it as a stupidity tax for pissing off a Nexian.

“Well, fuck,” he said quietly to himself. “Now what am I going to do?”

He was glad his phone had been in his jeans pocket and not the jacket. He called the cab company and arranged for the cabbie to come to pick him up. The driver was there in minutes, face pale and looking shaky. No sooner had he come to a stop than he rolled down his window. “Are you stupid or something? That Nexian could’ve killed you, kid!”

Will didn’t say anything and got into the back seat again. “Just take me home.”

“Sure, sure,” the driver said. “Might as well, before ya try and kill yourself again.”

Will glared at the driver in the rearview mirror, but he didn’t think it was noticed. He was halfway through dialing his dad’s office phone again to tell him what had just happened but thought better of it. He knew his father, and telling him would be dumb. His father would drive to Nexus Hill and complain to the Alpha. Which would probably put him in danger too. No, Will thought, better to just forget it ever happened. So instead, he opened the Spotify App, dug his headphones out of his backpack, and put on some music to calm himself down.

——————————

His father got home around seven, by which time Will had finished calming down, and made dinner. His father tried to hide his excitement as he smelled the food, but it was a doomed attempt. He strode over andgaveg his son a firm hug. Will returned the gesture enthusiastically, not the least bit because he was relieved to still be alive and uninjured. He’d decided to hide his burned arm under another light sweater, and his dad didn’t comment on the clothing.

“I thought you were going to go to the store?” Cameron asked. “Oh, but I forgot to wire you some money.”

“It’s okay,” Will said, sitting down at the table. “We had some extra bacon and hamburger, so it works.”

His dad accepted the answer, his eyes sparkling at the thought of good food. Will was a decent cook even at 18, a fact that his dad constantly praised. Sure enough, two bites in, his dad sighed in relief. “I don’t know how you got so good at cooking, with both me and your mother being so bad at it.”

Will could only offer a shrug, as he was practically inhaling his food. “I guess it's just a natural talent.”

His dad lifted the beer he was drinking in a mock toast. Will let out a laugh and matched the toast with his glass of tea. His father said loudly, “To William Andrews, a great chef in the making!”

“To Cameron Andrews, who used his head and let his son take over the kitchen!” Will said in reply. They both roared with laughter, making the actual drinking part difficult. There were many laughs that night, as they enjoyed their company after so many months apart. Will could see the lines on his father’s face, more evident than when he’d left for Japan. Without his mother around, Dad would always worry about him, wherever he went. He thought again of the Nexian, reaffirming his decision to not share news of his near-death experience.

“I’ll take care of the dishes tonight,” his dad said. “You’re probably exhausted after the jet lag. How long was the flight from Tokyo?”

“15 hours,” Will answered with a slight grimace. “I slept through some of it, but yeah, I’m still tired. Got school tomorrow, too.”

“Good. I’ll be there for the graduation. The boss has given me the day off.”

“Really?” Will asked, his eyebrows shooting up. When his father nodded, he grinned. “That’ll be a treat. You’ll get to see me act a fool during the club demonstrations.”

“I’ll get to see you kick ass up and down the pads, you mean.”

Will chortled at that as he got up from the table, depositing his dirty plate in the sink. He paused to refill his tea, then made his way to bed. His room was exactly as he’d left it; obviously, his father hadn’t dusted or anything. Will ignored this problem, for the time being, resolving to take care of it the next day. He flicked his bedside lamp on, then flopped down onto his bed. He was looking forward to seeing his classmates again tomorrow. He tried to imagine what it would be like, after being gone for months and winning a tournament, but he fell asleep too quickly to consider it.

——————————

Will’s first day back at school was just as chaotic as he’d expected. His classmates and close friends roared with delight when they saw him enter, rushing over to punch him on the shoulder and pick him up, carrying him several feet like a mock champion. He broke free of that, and wrestled his friend James to the ground pretty quickly, at least until Mr. Gustkey turned up and gave them all a stern look. They broke apart with sheepish apologies and hurried off to their classes.

“There’s nothing else to do this week, as you all know,” Mr. Gustkey said when he closed the classroom door behind him. “You’ve already taken your final examinations, and passed. All that’s left is the graduation ceremony. For that, you’ll need these robes.”

He walked up and down the rows of desks, passing out packages to each student. Some of the students opened their robes right away, pulling them on and showing them off. There was quite a hubbub as Lisa Martin, one of those cheerleader types who always wore short shorts, put hers on, and posed in front of everyone. Quite a few wolf whistles broke out, and the class was set to laughing. Will merely tucked his into his bag, and looked around the excited class, smiling at their energy. Then his smile faded slightly as he turned, and saw that someone was staring at him.

Charlisa Ambrose, who sat in the very front row, had turned sideways in her seat to stare at him. Now, Charlisa wasn’t just any girl. She was the most beautiful girl in the entire school, in Will’s opinion. He’d nourished a secret crush on her for years. But more so, she was from a very prominent family. The most prominent family. She was the only child of Edward Ambrose, the Alpha of the Fire Nexus. Every time Will saw her he felt his heart dive into his stomach, but he was terrified to approach her. Once, they’d been assigned to work together in a group, and he’d been terrified to even accidentally touch her.

His nervous thoughts were shattered apart as she smiled at him, and his heart took the usual plunge. There was something different about the way she looked at him today, he thought. It was almost as if she’d been waiting all morning to look at him. Would she walk over and talk to him today? That would be a first, not to mention a scary thought. He wasn’t a good liar, and he was certain she’d figure out that he liked her. He looked away after several seconds, taking a deep breath to steady his nerves. That was scarier than meeting the Nexian yesterday, he thought.

When he finally looked back, she had turned to face the front once more, and Mr. Gustkey had called order. Everyone got back in their seats, and Will felt it was safe to look at her once more. He got lost in the intricate braids of her hair for several seconds before he realized that, even though she was turned away so that he could only see the side of her face, her lips were still curved in a smile.