Alpha (20 page)

“
I want all the details,” said a voice behind me. I turned to see Keri giving me a knowing smile.

I smiled back.

“
Yeah,” I said back. My brain was already sorting through my existing thoughts, trying to come up with plausible lies that I could tell her because there was no way I could tell her the truth—that we were werewolves and mates.

“
Spill,” she instructed as I opened up my locker and got some of my books out.

“
He likes me and I like him,” I explained vaguely as I closed my locker and spun the combination

“
Those are definitely not enough details. He is the player of the school and then a couple of days after you arrive he is suddenly holding your hand and looking all loved-up,” she said, watching me for a response.

“
You do realize I’ve never seen him hold hands with a girl ever,” she added.

“
It just kind of happened. He isn’t the shy type and he told me that he liked me and I’m attracted to him—any girl would be—so we are dating,” I lied with a shrug. We were way more than dating; we were forever.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Scarlett

Keri tried to pump me for as many details as she could but I tried to keep things vague. I wasn’t used to keeping the whole ‘I’m a werewolf’ secret so I thought it was best to keep my lies simple so I’d remember them.

“
I bet you his kisses are hot,” she said as we’d walked to my first class of the morning.

I remained quiet but the smile on my face confirmed what she suspected and she shook her head at me.

Keeping my thoughts to myself was exhausting. I knew with time it would probably get easier but, because it was a new thing, half the time I forgot and I would get a knowing smile from a couple of the students who passed me in the hallway.

It didn’t help that the thoughts that I kept forgetting to keep to myself were the ones of Cade. It was disconcerting that other people had access to those thoughts of him.

I didn’t see much of him in the morning because he wasn’t in any of my classes.

I was glad he didn’t feel the need to crowd me. I didn’t want to become one of those couples that were joined at the hip and couldn’t do anything without the other.

For me, being with someone was about balance. It was nice to spend time with them and to do things with them, but I also wanted to be able to do things without him.

When the lunchtime bell went off, I made my way to the cafeteria.

When I walked into the cafeteria, he wasn’t sitting at the table with his pack. Blake was sitting at his usual table with his pack when he spotted me. He gave me a smile and I smiled back at him.

Although I belonged to Cade’s pack, I didn’t feel comfortable sitting with them without him and besides, I spotted Keri sitting at our usual table and I refused to leave her sitting on her own so I walked over to her.

I got a few looks from my pack as I sat down across from Keri, but I ignored them.

“
You’re not going to sit with lover-boy?” said Keri as she glanced to Cade’s usual table.

“
No. I’m going to sit with my friend,” I stated as I opened my soda and took a tentative sip.

A few minutes later I looked up to see Cade strolling into the cafeteria. He stopped for a moment when our eyes met and he noticed I wasn’t sitting at his table.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure if he was going to get angry or not, but I was determined to sit with Keri whether he liked it or not. It would just make things easier if he wasn’t upset.

I couldn’t pull my eyes away from him as he walked toward me. I studied his expression, but it was blank.

When he got closer, he gave Jake a nod as he passed his usual table and came to stop by mine. Nervousness stirred in the pit of my stomach as I looked up at him.

He took me totally by surprise when he smiled as he sat down next to me. He pressed a gentle kiss to my lips and then he put his arm around me.

It took me a few minutes to recover from the slight shock. I introduced Cade and Keri.

“
Nice to meet you,” he said to Keri and flashed her a smile. I appreciated the fact that he was making an effort to be friendly to my only friend in the school.

“
You, too,” Keri said.

“
Can I join, too?”

I looked up to see Blake standing beside the empty seat next to Keri.

“
Sure,” I said, taken by surprise.

He sat down next to her.

It should have been awkward, but somehow it wasn’t. The conversation flowed easily and a comfortable atmosphere settled over us.

I caught a few looks from Blake’s usual table. They looked as confused as I was, but I wasn’t going to question why Blake had suddenly felt the need to join our table.

By the end of lunch, I walked out of the cafeteria with Cade holding my hand. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach as he stopped and turned to face me. He kissed me and I felt my knees weaken.

“
I’ll see you later,” he said softly as he turned to leave me standing in front of my next class.

I was still trying to stand on my slightly weakened knees when I saw him turn and smile at me before he disappeared into the crowd of students.

Thoughts of him kept occupying my mind as I tried to concentrate on the rest of my classes. By the end of school, I was looking forward to seeing him again. I walked to my locker and put some books away.

Cade was leaning against his car, talking to Jake and Blake when I walked out of the school. When Cade noticed me, he stepped away from his friends and walked to meet me.

“
Hey,” he said, dropping a quick kiss on my lips. It wasn’t a passionate kiss, but it still sent a tingle right through me.

“
Hi,” I replied as I handed him my school bag to his outstretched hand. He walked me back to his car.

Suddenly a smell hit me and I stopped. It was so strong and overwhelming—liked burned wood. It was another werewolf.

Cade tensed beside me and then I felt him put his arms around me protectively. Blake and Jake looked alert as they all began to scan the forest beside the school.

Something was wrong.

“
Get her back to my house,” Cade instructed Jake as he released me and threw his car keys at him.

“
Cade?” I questioned. I felt fear grip me as I held onto his arm.

“
You need to go with Jake, now,” he instructed firmly.

“
But—” I tried to argue back.

“
Don’t argue. Go with Jake, I need you to be safe,” he demanded as he opened the passenger door and put me inside his car.

I didn’t want to leave him. Jake got into the driver’s seat and started up the car.

“
Keep her safe,” Cade instructed to Jake as he closed the passenger door.

Jake pulled out of the parking lot and I turned to see members from both packs begin to pour out of the school as they followed Cade and Blake into the forest.

By the time we made it to Cade’s house, I was a nervous wreck. Jake had driven as fast as he could and I’d been too worked up to say anything. As soon as we stopped in front of the house, Jake switched off the car and jogged around to open the door for me.

He steered me firmly into the house.

Safe inside Cade’s house, I began to pace back and forth in front of the window in the formal lounge.

I’d asked Jake what was happening, but all he’d said was that rogues had crossed over into our territory. Cade and the other werewolves were tracking them.

Jake was quiet and tense as he watched me from the doorway of the lounge.

I was so worried about Cade and Blake. A few times I’d tried to close my eyes and hear thoughts from Cade or any of the other members of my pack so that I would know what was going on, but I heard nothing.

“
You won’t hear anything,” Jake informed me.

“
Why?” I asked.

“
Because when they are tracking, they keep their thoughts from us. It allows them to concentrate,” he explained.

Even though Cade was experienced, I couldn’t help the worry that kept me pacing back and forth. I didn’t know what I would do if anything happened to him.

Images of two massive wolves tearing into each other made me sit down on the sofa as my legs trembled with fear. I closed my eyes and dropped my head into my hands.

“
He’ll be okay, he knows what he’s doing,” Jake said, trying to soothe me, but I wouldn’t believe he was safe until I saw it with my own eyes.

Fear grew inside of me. I couldn’t contemplate the thought that something could happen to him while I was sitting safe and sound in his house, oblivious.

Half an hour later, I heard the sound of a car engine and rushed to the window to peer outside.

Any hope that I had that it was Cade vanished when I saw Hank and a few other guys, along with Gary, get out of the car.

I rushed to the front door with Jake following behind me.

“
Have you heard anything?” I asked anxiously as Hank entered first.

“
No,” he answered as he shook his head.

“
How are you doing?” Gary said as he entered the house behind Hank. I gave him a look that revealed the panic that was rising up inside of me. He walked over to me and pulled me into a hug.

Still being tightly hugged by Gary, I noticed Jake stiffen for a moment and then he dashed through the formal lounge. I pulled myself out of the hug as I saw Jake disappear out the patio doors toward the compound.

My heart began to hammer inside my chest as fear began to overflow inside of me. I watched Hank hurry to try and catch up with Jake. Something was up.

I followed them to the compound, where there was flurry of activity. The air was filled with a nervous energy.

Just as the gates at the bottom of the property came into view, I saw a couple of injured guys lying on the ground. Curtis leaned over one of the injured people. It was only seconds, but time seemed to slow down as I looked down to the faces of the people who had been injured, my feet leading me to them.

Blake. He grimaced in pain as Curtis put his hand on a wound bleeding on his stomach. Horror filled me when I saw a deep gash through a tear in his shirt. There was so much blood.

Oh. Dear. God.

My head began to spin as I came to a stop a couple of feet away from him. I couldn’t pass out; I needed to know where Cade was. I took a deep and struggled breath to stop the dizziness. My mind fought with my body to stay upright and in control.

In the back of my mind, I couldn’t stop the thoughts that something bad had happened to Cade. He and Blake were inseparable and Blake looked seriously injured. Had Cade been injured as well?

I don’t know how, but when I opened my eyes again, the sight of blood didn’t make me feel sick.

Cade.

I needed to know that he was okay, because if he wasn’t… it wasn’t something I could think about without feeling like someone ripped my heart from my chest.

I wanted to help Blake. I knew I’d just get in the way, though, so I stood nearby, just a couple of feet away as I watched them load him onto a stretcher and carry him to the medical center.

Where was Cade?

Frantically, I scanned the area for Jake. He would know, but I couldn’t find him in the crowd of people that had built up around the gate. I spotted Hank standing guard at the gates with a few others watching into the forest. Were they waiting for Cade?

Panic gripped me, but I pushed forward in Hank’s direction. Even though I was petrified of the answer, I needed to know where Cade was.

As I reached Hank, he glanced at me.

“
He’s on his way back,” Hank informed me with a soft expression when he saw the state I was in. I clutched his arm. Relief flooded through me and I felt my knees weaken. The array of emotions that had gripped me from the time this had all started had exhausted me. It felt like I’d been stuck on a roller coaster for the last hour.

“
He’s okay,” Hank reassured me as he studied me for a moment. “They got ambushed.”

I stood beside Hank, waiting for Cade and holding my breath. Even though I knew he was okay, I wasn’t going to relax until I could see him for myself.

I heard the sounds coming from the forest before I spotted the massive black wolf that I knew was Cade being followed by a dozen other werewolves, none of them as big as Cade.

The crowd parted as the wolves ran onto the property. As I turned to see Cade and the rest of the werewolves shift back into human form, I heard the large gates behind me close with the sound of metal against metal. I recognized one of the werewolves as Jake. He’d left the compound to join Cade.