Becoming Alpha (8 page)

“Oookay. Well, thanks for that Carlos.” Rosalyn’s words were clipped, bringing me crashing back down to reality.

That was nice while it lasted. I shook my head as I pulled on my glove. I’d have lost with her either way I played it. I was going to have to figure out who I wanted to be actual friends with and fast. Keeping up with Rosalyn and her mood swings was enough to drive anyone mad.

Rosalyn held up two fingers. The boy closest to the keg grabbed two red plastic cups and started filling them with beer. Being totally underage, I had no idea what my limit was in terms of alcohol, but I was going to have to watch it. I wanted to blend in, not end up like Jess.

When he handed us the beers, Rosalyn grabbed my hand again. “Bye, boys. We’re going to go see who else is here.”

She pulled me into the living room, where some hip-hop was blaring. Not anything I would ever choose to listen to, but a vast improvement from the country music that Rosalyn favored. I hadn’t had my dancing fix in a while, so I’d take it.

All of the furniture in the room had been pushed against the walls. A bunch of people danced in the middle of it, grinding into each other. Others sat on the couch and chairs around the room. I couldn’t help but stare at the couple making out on the couch. Didn’t they feel weird doing that out in the open? The guy grabbed the girl’s boob, and I looked away.

There was no way I’d let any guy maul me in public. I don’t care how many shots I had. It’d never happen. I respected myself too much for that.

I took a sip of the beer and gagged. It tasted like pee, not that I’d ever actually tasted pee, but what I imagined pee might taste like.

Rosalyn chugged her beer and then dropped the cup on the floor. “Let’s dance,” Rosalyn yelled into my ear as she pulled me into the middle of room.

Not sure what to do with my drink, I held onto it. I tried not to spill as I swayed back and forth. When I went out with Axel, I usually stayed off to the side or in dance circles where there was more room, and I always wore something that covered nearly every inch of my body. But this was out of control, especially in my dress.

I should have worn long sleeves, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it in the Texas heat. Just the four inches of exposed skin between my gloves and the cap sleeves of my dress was enough to drive my second sight crazy. The press of bodies moving to the music was overwhelming. Wave after wave of visions hit me.

I hope he likes me.

I think I’m going to be sick.

That guy is totally checking me out.

I can totally see down her shirt. This drink is gross. She’s totally into me. I am totally going to get laid tonight. He’s a bad kisser I think I smell I’m totally hotter Yeah baby come to papa

The floor rocked. All the emotions that everyone was feeling built on top of each other. The visions were crazy. Usually when I got one from physical contact with another person, I saw the last thing that affected them emotionally. But since everyone was well on their way to wasted, whatever they were thinking and what they were feeling were the same thing. So I was seeing what everyone was thinking.

That might’ve sounded like a cool superpower before, but now I knew mind reading wasn’t something I enjoyed. At all. The only thing I was feeling that was all mine was the nausea. I needed air.

I crossed my arms in front of my chest, and hunched over them so no one else could touch my skin. To the side of the dance floor there was a sliding door. “I’m going to go get some air,” I yelled in Rosalyn’s ear.

“Cool,” she said and went back to her swaying.

The air outside hit me in the face with a wall of wet heat, but one by one, all the other feelings and visions faded away until I was left alone with my nausea. The backyard was so dark that I couldn’t see where it ended.

Mr. Dawson had said that there was a big creek behind the neighborhood. The dark part was probably where the drop started. I walked toward the edge of the darkness, where the ground started to slope. Yup. My house had to be somewhere down the edge here since both our houses backed up to the creek.

I sat down on the grass and contemplated walking home.

Listening to the sounds of the night, I took another sip of the beer and gagged again. Even though I was dying for a cold drink, I couldn’t choke it down. I looked around to see if anyone else was outside, and then pitched the liquid into the creek.

“Hey!” A voice shouted from the darkness.

I jumped up. “Oh my God! I’m so sorry! I totally didn’t see you.” A shape of a guy stepped into the light—tall, definitely over six feet, with dark hair. He was brushing himself off. His eyes glowed yellow in the moonlight. My breath caught.

“It’s fine.” Dastien motioned to my now empty cup. “Not to your taste?”

“No.” My face flamed. “I really am sorry. I didn’t see you.” He was wearing the same black jeans and black T-shirt he had on earlier. When he shoved his hands in his pockets, a line of his skin peeked from beneath the shirt.

I looked down at his feet to get away from the overload he caused, but even the sight of his bare feet on the grass made my heart stop.

Where were his shoes?

He put his finger under my chin, lifting my head until our eyes met. I squeezed mine closed, dreading the vision that would come.

Running through the forest. Smell of grass and trees. And a rabbit. Hunt.

He dropped his hand to his side, and the vision went away. “Don’t worry about it.”

That was it? A feeling of running, the smells of nature, and a slight urge to chase animals. What kind of guy thought about those things? And why didn’t I see the usual triple-X rated show? A guy that hot had to be a chick-magnet of extreme proportions. No way was he celibate.

I didn’t realize I had been holding my breath until I gasped for air. I seemed to do that a lot around him. The burning in my cheeks slowly spread through my whole body.

“
Vamanos
, Dastien,” a deep voice said from the dark.

Squinting, I tried to find where it was coming from.

“I’ll catch up with you later,” he said, keeping his gaze on me.

I smiled. I didn’t think I could stand it if he left so soon.

“Dude,” said a different voice. “Not a good idea. You know—”

Dastien had his back to me before I even saw him move. I stepped away from him as a growl echoed through the darkness.

The guys must have a dog out there. Some kind of really big and scary sounding dog.

“Fine. It’s your funeral if anything happens. Come on, Cody. Let’s go.”

Dastien turned back to me and sat next to my feet as if that little exchange hadn’t happened. “How was your day?” He smiled as he held out a hand.

I laughed at his so very ordinary question. “It was okay, I guess.” I couldn’t figure this guy out. There was something different about him. He didn’t act like any other guy I’d ever met.

I tried to tell myself that I took his offered hand because I was curious. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that for the first time that I was attracted to someone real. Movie stars and characters in novels didn’t count.

His hand was so warm that I could feel his heat through my glove. When I settled down next to him, I thought he’d let go, but instead he laced his fingers through mine.

I stared at our joined hands. Mine fit perfectly in his, and at once I felt completely relaxed, which never happened. Not around people. Especially not when someone was touching me.

I was losing my mind. I had gloves on. That was the only reason that I could hold his hand.

I searched for something to say. Something not stupid. “You said you went to St. Ailbe’s, but Mr. Dawson said you were taught there sometimes.”

“Yup, graduated two years ago. I’m taking a year or so more before college to help out at the school.”

“You don’t look like any teacher I’ve ever had.” I nearly slapped a hand over my mouth. I could
not
believe I’d just said that.

He smiled. “Is that a good thing?”

Whoa. Dangerous territory alert. This called for a major subject change. “You only have an accent sometimes.”

“I’ve lived in the area for most of my life, but I was born in France.” He grinned at me. “And don’t think I didn’t notice the subject change.”

It’s like he knew what I was thinking.

I’d almost forgotten he was holding my hand until he squeezed it. The fact that he’d done that twice now—held my hand like he didn’t want to give it back—made me exceedingly happy. I had no idea what I was doing with this boy. Man. There would be plenty of time to freak out later. For now, I’d enjoy it. Him.

“So you like books and Nine Inch Nails?” Dastien said.

“Yes to both.”

“And how about Texas?”

“It might be growing on me.” Did I just say that? Someone needed to shoot me before I embarrassed myself any more. Flirting was so not my bag.

He was quiet for a second. “Do you mind if I kiss you?”

I laughed. “That’s kind of abrupt.”

“I guess. Thing is I can’t concentrate on the conversation right now because all I’m thinking about is kissing you—”

“What!”

“It’s true. I could tell you things like you’re beautiful and have the most amazing eyes, but any guy could say the same thing.” He smiled. “You’re amazing—I mean judging by your T-shirts alone, I’d say we were on the same wavelength, but that doesn’t even come close to all of it. I feel this connection. It’s more than attraction, although that’s there, too. And I really, really want to get to know you, but there’s this thing hovering—this need. If we just got it out of the way, maybe it’d help. It might just make things worse, but you can’t blame me for trying.”

My heart rate skyrocketed as he talked. He felt the connection too? “You’re a no bullshit kind of a guy, huh?”

He shrugged. “I’m just honest. I don’t like to play games.” He paused. “So what do you say? Can I kiss you?”

My hormones were screaming,
Hell yes! Please, for the love of God, kiss me now!
But I made myself think about it.

A kiss could be disaster. Totally nightmare worthy. And yet, even though I didn’t know Dastien at all, I couldn’t ignore that connection either.

All of a sudden he was closer.

Had I moved?

I licked my lips and nodded, saying a silent prayer that I would see nothing.

I closed my eyes as his lips touched mine. They were warm and soft. I opened my mouth a little, and he moved in deeper, placing his hands on my shoulders drawing me close. His tongue brushed mine and desire blossomed. I was lost in a wave of sensations. Through my visions I could feel what he was feeling as well as my own too, and it made me want more. I moved closer, and we tumbled back onto the ground.

He laughed as he hovered over me. He murmured something in French, and then kissed me again.

I wrapped my leg around his hip and pulled him closer to me.

I moaned and he growled in response.

His teeth bit down on my lip. Something ripped into my shoulder.

I pushed at his chest. “What the hell!” He was up and ten steps away from me before I could blink. His eyes were glowing yellow. He took a long slow breath.

I reached for the back of my shoulder, and touched something wet. It couldn’t be blood. The black gloves showed nothing in the dark. I quickly pulled one off and touched it again. I got up and moved closer to the porch light.

A drop of blood dripped off my fingertip.

I ran my tongue along my bottom lip. It tasted faintly metallic. I was bleeding.

“You bit me?” I knew it was my first real kiss and all, but I seriously doubted bleeding was normal. Pain blossomed across my left shoulder. “What? Why?”

“I’m so sorry, Tessa,” he whispered. “It was an accident. I didn’t mean to do it. God! Please know that I—”

Music spilled out from the house as the screen door opened behind me. Rosalyn, Carlos, and the other guys that I’d taken the shot with came outside.

“Tessa. Where’d you disappear—” Carlos stopped mid-sentence as he looked back and forth between Dastien and me. “Is he bothering you?”

“I don’t know,” I said. I really had no clue what the hell was going on. My mind was stuck on one thing. It had been an amazing kiss. The best I could ever imagine a kiss being. Even
now, in pain, I’d do it again. No doubt. Something in the core of me needed him, and from the looks of him right now, the feeling was mutual.

When it came to Dastien, all I had were questions. And attraction. But mostly questions.

Carlos and his friends were closing the distance. I pulled my glove back on before any of them got closer. The last thing I needed was another vision.

I glanced back to Dastien unsure of how he wanted to play this off. Tears shimmered in his eyes. The sight took my breath away. I was hurt and pissed, rightfully so, but there was nothing to cry about here.

At least I hoped there wasn’t.

“I’m sorry. I honestly didn’t mean…I can’t…” Then he melted into the darkness.

What the hell. Why would he do that—kiss me like that—and then just run away?

“That guy is one fine piece of meat,” Rosalyn said.

Her words brought me back to reality. Suddenly I was jealous, and I didn’t like that one bit.

“Rosalyn,” Carlos said sharply. He really didn’t like the St. Ailbe’s guys.

This was a nightmare. Now I was standing there, bleeding, hurting, and any hopes I had of a good reputation were destroyed. These guys were going to think I was a slut.

Rosalyn scoffed as she walked over to me. “What? I’m not allowed to look just because he’s one of them?” She stopped short. “Oh my God. Are you bleeding?”

“It’s no big deal. It’s only a scratch.”

She took a couple of steps back.

“There’s blood on her shoulder too,” Carlos said. He turned a sickly color of green and swallowed.

This wasn’t the reaction I was expecting from them. Why were they freaking out about the blood?

“Holy shit. That was one of the guys from St. Ailbe’s,” one of the other boys said, clearly a bit slow on the uptake. He took a step away from me.

“Kind of,” I said, trying to downplay it. “Look I know the people from there are supposed to be dangerous, but he’s already graduated, so I’m sure he’s all reformed or whatever.”