Becoming Alpha (17 page)

I looked up at him, unable to keep a tear from escaping. I crumpled to the ground. “No. I can’t. I—” I panted as pain swept through my body, my muscles moving and shifting.

“If you don’t want to shift, then let me help.” Dastien leaned close to me. He brushed a gentle kiss over my forehead. “Shhhh.”

The sound was balm to my soul. The pain drained away as my hands shrunk back to normal.

A branch cracked beside me. “Everything okay here?” Mr. Dawson said.

“Yes, Michael,” Dastien said. He brushed the hair away from my face. “I think we’ve got it under control.”

Yeah, maybe he thought so, but I was clearly far from being under control. Dastien helped me up, and I brushed off my jeans with shaking hands.

“Sebastian and Donovan should be here soon. We’ll need to set a meeting to discuss the implications of what’s happened between you two.”

That didn’t sound good. I didn’t want to be punished for something that wasn’t my fault, but I didn’t want Dastien to get punished for it either. Did I?

“Understood,” Dastien said like a good little soldier.

“When you say implications, what do you mean exactly?” I said.

“Don’t worry about that.” Mr. Dawson raised an eyebrow. “I think you’ve got a class to get to.” He walked back to the school building.

I hated that. I was going to worry now for sure now.

Dastien ran his fingertips along my jawline. “
Je suis desole, mon amour
.”

I didn’t know what
desole
meant, but I was sure
amour
was love.

Before I could catch my breath, Dastien sprinted into the woods. I kicked the tree as he ran. I wanted to call him back, have him tell me what the hell was going on, but restrained myself. The guy was pure brain-poison.

I leaned my back against the tree, and slid down until I was squatting. There was no way I could face my next class. Who were Sebastian and Donovan? And the “implications” Mr. Dawson was talking about couldn’t possibly be the same ones Meredith told me about. Could they?

Leaves crunched as someone walked toward me.

“I never thought Dastien would run from anything,” Meredith said.

I laughed unhappily. “Except me, apparently.”

“I mean—it’s Dastien. He’s the strongest alpha we’ve seen in generations. He’s amazing. Why is he always running from you?”

She gave me an expectant look, hands on her hips.

“I don’t have some easy answer for you. It wasn’t my bad breath that sent him packing.”

Meredith stared into the forest for a moment. “I know Dastien. This isn’t something that he’d do. Bite someone and then run. Hide.”

I sighed. I didn’t want to argue with her, but she wouldn’t leave it alone. “Obviously you don’t know him that well if Mr. Perfection would break the Law and bite someone. He ruined my life.” I wanted to hit something, but there was nothing to hit. “And now I apparently have to face the consequences for his screw up.”

Meredith flinched like I’d slapped her. “I just think that you should—”

“I’m really fucking tired of people telling me how I should feel about this or about how amazing Dastien is. I’m allowed to feel the way that I feel. And it seems to me, that I’m the one that got bit. I’m the one dealing with the change. And since there isn’t anyone else here was has been bit, I don’t think that anyone is qualified to give me any more fucking advice.”

“Well, you clearly don’t want my opinion.”

“No. Right now I really don’t.”

Meredith shifted her weight from foot to foot trying to figure out what to say, but finally gave up and stomped back to the school building. Chris was waiting for her in the courtyard. She stopped to drag him along with her, as she gestured wildly.

I thunked my head against the tree. Shit. Why did I have to lose my temper? I’d probably lost the only friend I had at St. Ailbe’s.

A group of girls had gathered in the courtyard to watch the scene. The whispers and giggles annoyed me.

“Show’s over, ladies,” I said.

They laughed again. If I concentrated, I could hear what they were whispering, but that wouldn’t do me any good. Humming to myself I trudged back to the school building.

I grabbed my backpack and the books I needed from my locker and slammed it shut. This was turning into a disaster of epic proportions. There was no way it was going to work. I pulled
my schedule from my pocket, and looked down at what I had left. As I scanned the sheet, I realized another awful gem. Didn’t Meredith say that Dastien taught martial arts?

The bell rang, echoing through the now-empty hallway.

Great. I was late for the class taught by Mr. Dawson. That would really make him want to go easy on the “implications.”

I dropped my head back against the locker, its metal cool against my skin. I had to stay strong. I’d been through bad times before. Nothing this bad, but still, I’d get past this. I had no other choice.

Everyone was already in their seats when I finally walked into Were history, but Mr. Dawson had yet to arrive. The people in the room looked so much younger than the seniors, but that made it that much more apparent that I didn’t belong. Having another incident was not an option. Ever. I made myself take a deep breath and then searched the room for an empty seat.

Guilt weighed heavy on my shoulders. Meredith really had made facing class easier, and I paid her back by being a raging bitch. I promised myself I’d apologize as soon as I saw her.

For now, I had to sit down. I spotted a space behind a guy with scraggly brown hair.

He twisted in his chair as I walked by. “What was it like being bitten?”

I paused for the punch line. He had to be kidding with this. “Are you seriously asking me?”

He nodded. “Did it hurt a ton?”

I dropped my backpack on the desk. “If you really want to know, you could always go find a rabid dog to bite you.” I sat down and grabbed a notebook.

The girl next to me tapped my shoulder. “Excuse me, but I—we were wondering if you knew he was a werewolf?”

I scanned the room. All eyes were on me. Where in the hell was Mr. Dawson?

“The thing is Dastien is really, really nice,” the girl continued. “He wouldn’t have done something like that without a reason. So maybe you wanted to be a werewolf?”

Talk about an invasion of privacy. These kids had
cajones
for sure. “No, I didn’t know. And I most certainly did not want to be a werewolf.”

“But it’s the rule,” the girl said. “Before biting someone you have to make sure they’re clear on what they’re getting into. Plus you need their permission and the local alpha’s.”

“Well, if that’s the rule then maybe you should be asking Dastien why he broke it.”

She scoffed. “That would be rude.”

I narrowed my gaze at her. “And it’s not rude for you to ask me?”

At least she had the decency to blush at that.

“Imogene has been saying that—”

I growled. What was Imogene’s problem? I forced myself to take ten deep breaths before speaking. “What’s she saying?”

“Well, you know, she’s Dastien’s girlfriend and all…” The growl got louder and she shrank in her seat. “Well, maybe ex-girlfriend, I guess? I’m sure now that you’re up and about, you’ll be able to set the record straight.”

I clenched and unclenched my gloved hands a few times. I had to get my emotions under control. Why should I care if Dastien had a girlfriend anyway? It just showed how much of a creep he was. I grabbed one of the sandwiches Meredith had given me this morning, took a big bite and chewed. If these people weren’t going to stop asking me questions, then I needed to get a better handle on the whole hungry-wolf thing.

Mr. Dawson swept into the room, taking the focus away from me. A frenzy of movement rippled through the class as everyone pulled out notebooks and pens.

I noticed a weird phenomenon with the teachers. Whenever they walked into a room, there was this feeling—almost like a compulsion—to sit up and pay attention. It was worse with Mr. Dawson, and that bugged me. I kept my gaze on him as I slouched in my chair, slowly tucking into the second sandwich.

“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I trust that you are making our newest student feel welcome.” He glanced my way, smirking when he saw how low I sat in my seat.

“Continuing from last lecture—Tenet Number Five of the Were Law. Who can tell me what that is?”

A blonde in front raised her hand. “Excuse me, Mr. Dawson.”

“Yes, Nikki?”

“We were discussing Tenet Number One before class. There seems to be some issue with that right now, and the punishment for it.”

What was it with the girls in this school? Mr. Dawson scowled at Nikki. I smiled. Looked like Mr. Dawson didn’t care for her either.

He pulled some papers out of his satchel and stopped at my desk. He looked down at me and sighed before handing me a syllabus. “Let’s review what we know about biting humans.”

Son of a bitch.

I quickly scanned the syllabus. They’d covered this two weeks ago. I plopped my head down on my desk.

Could today get any worse?
Please, I double dog dare you.

I picked my head up in time to see a hand rise in the front row—a guy with spiky black hair.

“It’s dangerous, which is why you have to have permission. Only one in a hundred guys can survive the transformation. And almost no girls live through it, more like one in ten thousand. Which is why some people think that boys outnumber girls so much.” He pointed at me. “That’s why everyone’s curious about her.”

Goosebumps broke out over my skin. I could’ve died? Did Dastien even think about that?

I couldn’t let it show that he bothered me or they’d pick on me more. “Really with the pointing?”

“I’m willing to briefly discuss this, but let’s leave Miss McCaide out of it,” Mr. Dawson said.

That seemed highly doubtful.

“So, class, if it’s dangerous—why bite?”

The boy in front of me raised his hand. “Because we police the world’s big bads,” said the boy in front of me. “We try to protect the humans and all supes—a.k.a. Supernaturals—from things that would out us. Things that would make the world into an ugly place.” He shrugged. “In the past, we’ve gotten low in numbers and so—” He chomped his teeth and the class laughed.

“And what are the big bads, as you pups like to call them?” Mr. Dawson said.

“Fairies, well the bad ones, black witches, vamps, demons. You name it, we hunt it,” he said.

What in the hell were they talking about? Fairies? Demons? Vampires? Seriously?

Nikki’s hand shot up again.

“Yes, Nikki?” Mr. Dawson said.

“Sometimes people find out about us and ask to get bitten.” She glared at me.

I met her stare, and she looked away instantly.

“That’s enough, Nikki.” Another hand shot up. “Yes, Gabriel?”

“Why would someone break the Law and bite a human? We have rules for a reason.”

I started a mental list of people to avoid. That dude was on it for sure.

“I know you all have questions about what happened, but I’m not going to answer questions about a private matter of one my students. Miss McCaide’s been through a lot, and she still has a hard time ahead of her. I expect you all to treat her with respect and compassion. This ends now.”

Nikki raised her hand again. “A whore—”

“Nikki!” Mr. Dawson said. This time power sizzled behind the command. The hair on my arms stood on end as it rolled through the room. “Did you not hear me? You will go—”

“You don’t even know me. None of you know me.” As much as I wanted Mr. Dawson to fight this battle for me, I couldn’t let him. I’d had enough of this. “I’m not a whore. I didn’t know he had a girlfriend. If he even had a girlfriend. To be perfectly clear, I sure as hell didn’t ask for this. This right here is a nightmare.” I motioned around the room. “And you’ve all just made it that much more shitacular. I hope each of you is feeling really awesome about that right now. And you,” I pointed to Nikki, but she couldn’t meet my gaze. “If you say one more word I swear to God I won’t be responsible for what I do, you stupid—” The hot, woozy feeling was back with a vengeance. I was so done with this class. I grabbed my backpack and my half eaten sandwich.

“Tessa. Wait,” Mr. Dawson called after me. Power backed the command, but I shook it off and kept moving. I heard shocked murmurs from the class but I didn’t look.

I strode out the door, ran to the stairwell, and slammed into Dastien.

Why had I dared the day to get worse? I was seriously dumb sometimes.

Dastien’s scent filled me. I wanted to bathe in it.

I pushed him away. It wasn’t easy, but I had to. For my own sanity. I tried to step around him, but he blocked my way. “Move.” I shoved him, but it was like trying to push a boulder.

“Tessa. Calm down for a second.”

“Calm down? Do you know what I just went through in there?”

He tucked my hair behind my ear. “Tessa, I—”

I slapped his hand away. “No. Don’t. I can’t. Not right now.” A tear slipped free. I wiped it away with my gloved hand. There was no way I would let him see me fall apart. “Please. Let me go.”

“
Cherie
…”

“Please. Just let me be.”

“If that’s what you really want.” He frowned and stepped aside.

I raced down the stairs and out into the courtyard. A black Expedition pulled between the buildings, narrowly missing me.

I slammed my hand on the hood of the car, like any good Angelino would do. “Hey. Watch it.”

Two men stepped out of the car. Their power tingled along my skin making me stumble. I kept on walking to the dorm, but couldn’t stop myself from sneaking a peek at them again.

“Very sorry, lass. We didn’t see ya,” one shouted to me. He wasn’t very tall, but he commanded attention. The two shared a word, and then glanced at me before they walked toward the faculty building.

I tried to shake off the feeling that I should know who they were, but couldn’t quite manage it. I looked back one last time before picking up my pace.

Once I was in my room, I went straight for my cell. The tiny screen said nineteen missed calls. Oops. I flipped it open and pushed the number one button. Home. It didn’t even finish ringing before she answered.