Becoming Alpha (12 page)

“What the hell is that?” My breath came in hollow gasps.

“Good work, Mr. Matthews. I think she’s fully terrified now.” The wolf lay down and rolled over, exposing the length of his stomach. “Go back to the dorms,” Mr. Dawson said.

The wolf gave one more whimper before he jumped up and took off running.

Mr. Dawson squatted in front of me. “Don’t be scared. I won’t hurt you.”

“Bullshit. Tell that to Dr. Needle-Happy over there.”

The doctor took a single step closer, and held out her blessedly empty hands. “I did what I had to do to keep you safe and ease your pain. I know it’s hard for you to understand, but you’ve been very sick for the past week. A hurt and confused wolf is a dangerous thing.”

Did she just say what I think she said? “I’m a human of the female variety, not a wolf.”

“No, you’re not a wolf, but you’re not just a girl anymore either,” she said.

“If you ever were
just
a girl,” Mr. Dawson said.

I didn’t like where this was going.

“You’re a werewolf,” Mr. Dawson said.

That’s what I was forgetting. He was out of his mind. Certifiable. I stepped toward him. “There are no such things as werewolves.”

“Then there are no such things as
brujas
.”

I laughed. “With you on that one. My cousins are a bunch of crazy hippies. Thinking they can talk to spirits and cast spells and do magic. Whatever their little religion is, it’s fake.”

“Fake? So you don’t get visions when you touch things? Because that’s so very, very normal.”

He had a point, but I didn’t have to like it.

“I won’t lie to you. St. Ailbe’s is a school for werewolves. Dastien is a werewolf. When he bit you and scratched your shoulder, he turned you.” Mr. Dawson put his hand on my knee as I tried to get up. “No more running, Teresa Elizabeth McCaide.” The way he said my name, like it held some sort of power, made me pause. “You have to face what’s happened.”

This was a nightmare. My parents had left me with some lunatic. “I’d be happy to face something, if you were speaking the language of a sane person.”

“What do you think you just saw?”

I thought I saw a guy turn into a wolf. But that was impossible.

“Christopher Matthews changed into a wolf in front of you.” Mr. Dawson spelled it out for me like it was totally possible. “A man who can also be a wolf. Human, but more. A werewolf.”

I flinched as the needle-loving doctor squatted down next to Mr. Dawson. “I’m Dr. Gonzales. I apologize if I scared you, but I only want to help.”

They were completely batshit. What were they trying to pull? Annoyance became anger, and my skin started to crawl.

“Take a look at your hands,” Mr. Dawson said.

As I watched, my fingers lengthened, ripping my gloves along the seams again. Memories from the hospital came rushing back to me. “This is
not
happening. This is so
not happening
.” I was yelling, but I didn’t really care.

“I can stop it for now. But you’ll need to face it soon. You don’t want the wolf to gain control again.”

Pain rippled down my body. My knees cracked. “Why does it hurt so much?”

“It only hurts when you fight it,” Dr. Gonzales said.

I couldn’t help but fight it. I would not be a wolf. Ever. “What about my parents? They let you take me?”

“They had no choice,” Mr. Dawson said.

I groaned as the pain spread to my stomach. My organs moved and mushed inside of me. I didn’t need this. I didn’t want it. “Stop it. Help me. Please. I’ll do any—”

Mr. Dawson’s eyes started glowing as he leaned in close. “Shhhh,” he said. Power rolled through my body, taking my pain with it.

I stayed on the ground, panting. My muscles ached but everything was back where it was supposed to be. I was too grateful to question how he’d done it. “Thank you.”

“I’ve settled the wolf within you for now, but you must learn to walk your new path soon.” Mr. Dawson stood and reached a hand down to me. “I’d take it back if I could, but I can’t change what Dastien did. So we’re going to have to go from here.”

I blinked back tears, unwilling to let them fall in front of either of them. “How do you know it was him?”

“You smell like him.” He crossed his arms. “And he told me. Now that you’re better, Dastien’s got some answering to do.”

He gave me a distraction and I snatched it up. “What do you mean?”

“He broke our Law.”

“Law?”

“We don’t bite. Not ever.”

I almost laughed at that. “If you don’t bite, then how come I’m here?”

“I have an idea, but…” He shrugged.

Admitting they didn’t have all the answers made me trust him a little more. No one was perfect. And he seemed reasonably upset that this whole thing had gone down like it had. I took the hand he offered, and let him pull me up. “So, what now?”

Dr. Gonzales stood with me. “You’ll take classes here, and learn to be one of us. It’s going to take time, Tessa. You have to be patient.”

I snorted. “Patience isn’t one of my virtues.”

“You’ll learn it,” she said. “You’ll control your emotions, and hopefully one day, you can go to college, grow up, and take a place in our world.”

Our world. Not
the
world.

Fantastic. Was there any way I could get back to
my
world?

Dr. Gonzales put an arm around my shoulder and I suppressed the urge to shrug it off. It wasn’t her fault she had to stick me with needles. I’d forgive her. Maybe. But how was I going to forgive Dastien?

“Come on,” she said. “Let’s go back to campus. I’ll show you to your new room. I’m sure Michael can find your suite-mate. Meredith’s been looking forward to finally meeting you.”

My new room? Suite-mate? I was going to have to actually live here. That totally blew. “I’m not sure I’m good company right now. Plus, I tend to have a hard time with making friends.”

“I think it’ll be much easier here,” Mr. Dawson said. “We’re all different.”

He had that right. Visions were weird. But werewolves? Total freaks of nature. I laughed at the thought. If I hadn’t just seen my hands changing, felt the pain of it, I’d have thought they were nuts.

It wasn’t until we were walking through the courtyard that I realized that Dr. Gonzales had touched me skin-to-skin, and I hadn’t gotten a thing from her. Not even a hint of a vision. I tugged on my gloves, making sure they were still there.

It was a fluke. No need to panic.

Okay, maybe a little bit of panicking.

Dr. Gonzales led me through the courtyard to a three story red-brick building. The unobtrusive sign on it read “Girl’s Dormitory” in plain font. The walls inside were a pale mint. It was decorated in Pottery Barn-esque stuff. A large navy sectional and love seat surrounded a flat screen hanging against the far wall. To the right was a little kitchenette with top of the line appliances, and dual Subzero fridges. A girl was poking around in one of them. It was fully stocked with food, each item in a plastic container and labeled.

Looked like whoever organized the fridge could be my new BFF.

Three other girls were chatting on the couches as some lame reality show played on the TV. It—this building, the way it was decorated, and the girls hanging out—all seemed so normal. I don’t know why that surprised me, but it did.

Dr. Gonzales cleared her throat. The girls paused the TV and swiveled on the couch to stare at me.

“Ladies, this is Tessa.”

They gave a chorus of “hi’s” as they gawked at me. I almost reached for my face to check for dirt when a tall, thin girl stood up. She flicked her perfectly silky straight light brown hair over one shoulder and smirked at me.

“You look familiar. Oh, right.” She laughed and tapped one of her friends. “That’s the girl who jumped out the window.”

I raised an eyebrow at Dr. Gonzales. “It sure will be easier here, huh?”

Dr. Gonzales had the grace to look a bit embarrassed. “I know you’ll do your best to welcome Tessa to her new home.”

La Bitch grinned. “We’ll welcome her.”

I wondered what her idea of “welcoming” would involve.

Dr. Gonzales led me to a stairwell. “We’re lucky we have the space to give everyone their own rooms, but you share a bath with the room to the right of you. I think you’ll find you have a lot in common with your suitemate, Meredith.” She stopped in front of a door, number 27, and handed me a key. “There is no need to lock it. We’re completely safe here, but I wasn’t sure if you’d feel more comfortable this way.”

Hell yes I’d feel more comfortable that way. The looks those girls were giving me downstairs were not exactly friendly. I didn’t trust anyone here.

Inside was a small room with a desk, full sized bed, end table, and chest of drawers. They were all Ikea white lacquered. A bright purple poster in a gaudy black frame brushed with hints of gold hung above my bed. It was an outline of the Cheshire Cat’s big grin. Underneath the grin was big bold font that read, “Keep Calm. We’re all Mad Here.”

I rolled my eyes. “My brother?”

“Yes.” She scrunched her nose. “I can take it down—”

“No way.” I ran my hand down the edge of the frame. She didn’t know my brother or me well enough to get the joke. But it was like having a piece of him here. If she wanted it gone, she’d have to pry it from my cold, dead hands. “It’s perfect.”

“Your father insisted on new furniture for the room. He told me to tell you so.”

I nodded. To the side of the bed, metal shelves had been attached to the wall. Each of my books was in the identical spot I had placed them in my room.

I was fully set up here, which probably meant I wasn’t going home anytime soon.

“My parents…” I stopped. My voice sounded pathetic even to me, and I couldn’t have that.

“They don’t want this anymore than you do. But after seeing what happened to you at the hospital, they didn’t have any other choice.”

“So when can I go home?”

“Let’s not worry about that right now, but maybe they can come visit.”

That didn’t sound vague at all. “But my dad works for the school. Can I see him at least?”

“He works off-site.”

I nodded as I clenched my jaw shut to keep from saying something awful.

“You’re going to get through this. Just remember to take it one day at a time.”

I tuned her out as she rambled on. Her assumptions were a bit more than I could bear at that moment.

I tuned back in as she tapped the stack of books on my desk. “Your books are all here, as well as your schedule and a map of campus. Our curriculum is a bit different from your usual high school, so don’t let that throw you.”

“I’m sure it won’t be a problem.” Because I was getting out of here as soon as possible.

She picked up a small, brown leather bound book. “
The Werewolf’s Bible
. It’s basically a guide to everything about being a Were. It explains most of what you’ll be going through.” She paused, waving it at me. “Please read it. If you have any questions or just want to talk, I hope you’ll come find me. You don’t have to go through this alone.”

Maybe she didn’t think so, but I didn’t know a soul here. I sighed. That wasn’t exactly true. I kind of knew Dastien. Not that I wanted to see him again.

No, I was lying to myself again. I totally wanted to see him, but I wasn’t going to let my hormones win. Not this time anyhow.

As soon as Dr. Gonzales left the room, I collapsed onto the bed. I wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. Instead, I got up and searched for my cell. Axel would have a plan to get me out of here.

My suite-mate’s door slammed.

“Hello,” a voice called out. There was a knock from the adjoining bathroom door. “Can I come in?”

I wanted to say no. I hadn’t even had time to find my cell, let alone catch my breath.

“Tessa?”

I pulled off my ripped gloves and tossed them in the trashcan next to my desk. Clearing my throat, I tried to sound confident. “You can come on in.”

A girl with long black hair flowing down her back came into my room. Two thick chunks of bright blue hair framed her face. She had ice blue eyes and rosy cheeks. She was nearly six feet and thin. My first thought was that she should be in a magazine or on the runway, not sharing a bathroom with me.

She started to walk toward me, but then stopped. “Are you okay?”

I laughed, but it didn’t have any humor. “I’m so not even in the realm of okay.”

She sat down on my bed, resting against the footboard. “Well, I’m Meredith—if you hadn’t guessed that already—and I’m here if you want to talk about it. Dr. Gonzales said you might have some questions.”

The good doctor had already sent a spy? “I wouldn’t know where to start. But thanks anyways.”

She reached over to pat my hand. I flinched.

There it was. My skin touching her bare skin, but nothing happened. What was wrong with my visions? I always hoped that by some miracle they would go away. Now that they might be gone, I wanted them back. Pronto.

“Being a Were is amazing. Promise.”

Not sure she could make that kind of a promise. “I’m sure it is.”

“It’s dinner time. I’ll introduce you to all the good people and fill you in on the gossip.” She gave me a megawatt smile. “You’ve got questions. I’ve got answers,” she said with a wink.

A surprised laugh escaped as I realized she’d quoted the RadioShack slogan.

She leaned close to me and sniffed and then crinkled her nose. “They must not have washed the stuff they put in the infirmary with you. Reeks of dryer sheets. Norms.” She rolled her eyes.

Norms?

She dragged me into the bathroom. “Freshen up and I’ll get you some clothes.”

The bathroom vanity had two sinks. White subway tiles covered the bottom half of the walls and lined the shower. The white granite counter had plenty of room for two girls to spread out. The mirror opened in panels with enough shelves to make my inner organizer happy.

I splashed some cold water on my face, and stared into the mirror. Something was different. My hair shined. The highlights and lowlights gave the brown more depth than I’d ever had before. It looked shampoo commercial good. But the thing that stuck out the most to me was my 100% zit-free face. I always had some sort of blemish lurking here or there. Not even the tiniest red splotch marked my skin now.