Becoming Alpha (24 page)

He walked around the table and squatted next to my chair. “I have to,
mon coeur
. I want to stay here with you, believe me. I need to win your trust. I’m sorry I left before you woke this
morning. I’m an idiot and I didn’t know it’d hurt your feelings or else I would have stayed. But I have to go now and I hope that later you’ll give me yet another chance.” He kissed my cheek and rubbed his nose from the corner where my neck met my shoulder up to my ear. He breathed in deeply, scenting me, and I felt it all the way to my core. “
Je t’aime, ma chérie.
”

My heart skipped a beat. Did he just say what I think he said?

No. I must’ve misunderstood.

I wanted to hang on to him, but stubbornness was in my nature. I wouldn’t be forced into any relationships. But after last night, my resolve was weakening. Dastien was addicting, and I was hooked before I ever got to Texas.

I watched him until he was at the door. He glanced back and smiled, and then was gone.

Shannon scraped her chair against the floor as she got up.

Meredith broke the silence first. “Adrian, can you help me with my meta lab?”

“Hey, if you want help, babe, all you gotta do is ask. I love helpin’ the ladies.” He grinned.

“Don’t be such a dork.” She picked up a biscuit and chucked it at him.

He plucked it out of the air and took a bite. “Yum. Thanks.” He winked at her. It was really nice to see them flirting. Meredith always counted herself out of the whole mating-game. Which reminded me… “So, why haven’t you picked one?” I gestured to the tables of guys.

Everyone at the table stilled.

“I haven’t shifted yet,” Meredith said quietly. She looked down at her plate. “I had a run in with some witches a few years back. Mr. Dawson thinks they cursed me. I wouldn’t want to stick anyone with that.”

Adrian reached across the table. “Hey. I told you I was working on it.
Brujo
blood, remember.”

“
Brujo
?” I said.

“Witch. I’ve got some in my lineage a ways back. It’s a pretty diluted but strong enough that I can cast minor spells.”

“I know what
brujo
means, but isn’t it just a bunch of hippie stuff. At least, that’s what my dad always says about my cousins and they claim to be
brujos
.”

Adrian studied me. “You looked a little Latin but your name threw me.”

I nodded. “Half. Dad’s one hundred percent white-boy. Mom’s Mexican.”

“So when you say cousin, you mean as in somewhere along the line we had a relative in common kind of a thing, or cousins as in mother’s sibling’s kids.”

I laughed. Mexican families were typically really large. My mom joked that in her hometown on the Texas-Mexico border everyone was cousins somewhere down the line. “As in my mother’s nephews and my aunts and uncles and my grandmother…basically everyone on my mom’s side.”

He ran his fingers through his short black curls. “How are you just now telling me this?”

I shrugged. “I didn’t realize it was a thing.”

Chris nudged me. “It’s a really big deal, and might explain a few things.”

It explained nothing. “You guys are being extra weird, and that’s saying something given the fact that you’re already freaks of nature.”

“You’ve got a bit of a pot and kettle scenario going on with that statement. You might be even more of a freak of nature than the rest of us.” Chris leaned back to balance his chair on two legs.

I moved to knock Chris’ balance off, but he laughed and slammed his chair down.

The bell rang. I hadn’t even eaten my food. I was so screwed. The past few days had shown me that Meredith was right. Anytime I didn’t eat enough, my temper was short. I had to eat to keep the wolf at bay, and with my moods running so hot and cold, I couldn’t afford to skip a meal. “What do I do now?”

Chris grabbed my tray, and two slices of bread off his. He piled eggs, bacon, ham, and potatoes on one slice, and then topped it off with the other, making the biggest breakfast sandwich I’d ever seen.

“Adrian, toss me that biscuit,” Chris said. He caught it without looking and cut the biscuit in half. He made a smaller sandwich with it. “Eat this now.” He grabbed a napkin, wrapping the massive sandwich. “Eat this one in class. I’ll bring you a snack later.”

“That’s sweet, but you don’t have to,” I said.

“It’s no big deal. I have a study session first period. I have time to grab you something.”

I looked into Chris’ blue eyes as he got up. “Thanks. I seriously appreciate it.” Everyone was already clearing out. It was nice to have a friend to look out for me.

“My pleasure, cutie.”

Fire burned my cheeks, but guilt quickly washed the heat away. Why did I feel like I was betraying Dastien by flirting with Chris? It wasn’t like we were married or anything.

“What is it with you? One guy not enough?”

I whirled to face Imogene. “Jealous?”

Chris stepped in between us. “Ladies. Ladies. Let’s calm down. There’s enough Chris to go around.”

Imogene made circles on Chris’ chest with her finger. “You wouldn’t choose her over me? Would you?”

Even if she was a bitch, Imogene was gorgeous. Her brown eyes were large, just shy of being too big. With the make-up she wore, you couldn’t look away from them. Her lips were full and red. I wondered if that was natural or lip-plumper.

“Yes. I would pick her over you.”

She gripped Chris’ shirt. Shaking him. “What?”

I was as shocked as Imogene was. He would pick me over her? It was one thing for Dastien to pick me. He was the one who bit me. He kind of had to pick me. But Chris had options, and he still wanted me?

Wow. I grinned. Maybe today wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Chris stared down at her. “I’d let go before you embarrass yourself any more than you already have.”

She let go of his shirt and glared at me. “This isn’t over between us. You’ll regret—”

“That’s enough. Go.” Chris backed his words with so much power that the hair on my arms stood on end. Imogene growled as she stormed off.

“You’re more dominant than her?”

“A lot of people are,” Chris said. “She just likes to act tough and annoy the crap out of most everyone.” His eyes were still glowing.

“What’s with that?” I asked.

“Sorry.” He closed them, and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, they were back to normal sky-blue.

“Why do they change?”

“Wolf. Power. Magic. Take your pick.”

“Cool.” I had no idea what that meant, but from the short answer, it didn’t seem like he was up for chatting about it. I took a bite of my sandwich to keep myself from asking any more questions.

We started walking from the cafeteria to the class building. I noticed he was limping. “Hey, are you okay? Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

“Nah. I’m fine.” He tapped my bandage. “Quite a scare you gave us.”

“You’re telling me.” I shuddered. “That thing was no Brad Pitt.”

He reached toward me but hesitated. “Listen, you’re going to have to face this whole thing before too much longer.”

“You mean Imogene?”

He nodded. “She wants Dastien as her mate. They’re family friends, and their parents have been trying to get them together ever since they were kids. Everyone’s wondering what you’re going to do.”

“I honestly don’t know.” I took a giant bite to give myself time to think about what I was going to say. “I’m having enough of a time coming to terms with the possibility of going furry. Add in the whole choosing a guy for the rest of my life…that’s a lot of pressure on a girl.”

He grabbed my hand. “In the beginning it started with mated pairs. Meaning that the mates were two halves of one soul. It was easier then. You saw each other and you just knew. You were drawn together like magnets. If one died, so did the other. But that’s legend now. People fall in love and if the wolves accept each other, then you’re good to get married. But there’s still no divorce for us. So be sure.”

I knew exactly how that whole magnet thing felt, but that was crazy. I had my own full soul, thank you very much. “That sounds intense. How can I possibly figure out who I want to spend the next fifty years with?”

He laughed. “It’s a lot longer than that. Try hundreds.”

Chris had to be joking with this. The bell rang, and I was happy for it. “I gotta get to class.”

“Dastien’s my friend, but since you haven’t decided yet…”

I didn’t have time to move. He swooped down, and brushed his lips against mine.

I really want her to like me. She’s so pretty and nice. And so much stronger than she thinks. I hope she doesn’t pick Dastien. Please don’t let her pick him. I know I could make her happy. She smells good.

My mind raced by the time he pulled away.

“Just something to think about. You have options.”

He walked back down the stairs before I could remember to breathe.

I leaned against the lockers. My visions had changed for sure. Instead of seeing something that had happened to the person, I read their minds. And I heard things I didn’t want to hear.

As much as I might have wanted it, I didn’t feel for Chris what I felt for Dastien. And I couldn’t read Dastien. Even if Chris was easy and fun and sweet, I craved Dastien. Chris’ full-on kiss left me a little breathless, but Dastien’s stupid barely-there kiss on my cheek shattered me.

Christ. This had just gotten way more complicated.

I banged my head against the lockers a couple of times. Why didn’t I dodge the kiss? Or at the very least, why didn’t I push him away? I’d never felt so guilty in my life. I wanted to upchuck the sandwich, but forced myself to finish eating it instead.

I wished Dastien hadn’t left this morning. It’d be amazing if we could have an actual talk about what he wanted from me.

I needed a distraction.

Imogene walked past me with a devilish grin on her face.

I nodded at her. Distraction taken care of. I wasn’t much for skipping class—I was already behind—but from what I’d put together from the little snippets of visions I’d had, that girl nearly got me eaten by vampires. I grabbed Meredith before she went into class. “I need to talk to you.”

“Now? Because if it’s about making out with Chris, then maybe it can wait.” She waggled her eyebrows at me.

Perfect. My reputation didn’t need anymore help in the negative direction. I’d bet money that’s what put the grin on Imogene’s face. “Not about a boy. Something bigger. I need to pick your brain and no, it can’t wait. And no we can’t talk here. Too many ears.”

She tucked a chunk of her bright-blue hair behind her ear. “I know a place.”

We went down the stairs to the first floor. We walked through the gym locker room to another set of stairs. The walls were thick concrete. Doors lined the narrow hallway, and flickering fluorescent lights made the space seem even smaller. Meredith opened the second door on the left. It was a tiny closet-like room, with a concrete bench built into one wall and that was it.

“Where the hell are we?”

“It’s where we put feral wolves. Sometimes newbies flip out when they wolf-out the first time. So, they get thrown in here until they get their shit together.”

Holy crap. I wondered if I’d spent any time in one of these during my missing week. If I did, I didn’t want to remember it. “Whatever.” I took a deep breath and laid out all of the visions I’d had from Imogene. At first, I thought I sounded a little crazy. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Imogene and I would never be friends. But when I got to the vision from when we were watching the news to getting pulled out of my window by the vamp, Meredith stood from the bench and started pacing.

I didn’t have much but my suspicions and visions, but I knew something was off. “So what do I do?”

“We tell Mr. Dawson. You don’t have any evidence. No proof but your vision of her thinking about vampires taking care of someone, and that’s just…well it’ll be your word against hers.
You’re more alpha than her, so you’d win. But it’d start a world of shit you don’t need. Especially not after that kiss you had with Chris.”

Why’d she have to remind me of it? This was supposed to be a valid distraction.

She walked to the door. “Come on. He’ll be in his office.”

Apparently, Mr. Dawson’s office was on the first floor of the building where the infirmary was. A gray haired lady sat typing away at a desk. “Is he in, Mrs. Kilburn?”

“He is. Go on with you.” She didn’t look away from her monitor as she spoke.

Before Meredith could knock on his door, Mr. Dawson’s voice came through the door. “Come on in girls.”

Mr. Dawson’s office was neat and orderly. Not a paper was out of place. A stack of manila folders was beside his keyboard. He finished typing something, and then nodded at us. “What can I do for you?”

“I have to talk to you, about my visions.”

“I see,” he said. “I take it you’ve already talked to Meredith about all of this.”

Meredith nodded.

He motioned to the chairs in front of his desk. “Have a seat.”

I pulled my hair into a sloppy bun as I gathered my thoughts. I laid everything out just like I had for Meredith. When I finished, I took a deep breath. This is where he could throw me out of his office for being crazy. “I think Imogene and Mr. Hoel brought the vampires to campus last night.”

“That
is
something.” Mr. Dawson leaned back in his chair.

“I know that Imogene and Tessa have a bit of a beef over a certain guy, but I really don’t think this is about that,” Meredith said.

He sighed. “I have to agree, but then this is something Rupert has been planning for a while. That Tessa got caught up in it is just lucky timing.”

I snorted. “Awesome. I get all the luck.”

“So what do we do?” Meredith said. “You can’t let Imogene and her dad get away with this. They’ve exposed our school. Why would he—”

He stood from his chair. “Look, ladies. I appreciate you coming here and telling me this. You’ve confirmed a few of my suspicions. But this is really tricky stuff and I don’t want you getting more involved. What’s going on right now has been brewing for a while. Even if you don’t know why Rupert would do it, I have a very good idea what his motives are and what he’s planning. If you ‘see’ anything else, let me know, but don’t go looking for visions.” He came around the front of the desk and leaned against it. “Please don’t make me pull pack on you. I don’t want to have to order you to keep quiet about this.”