Alpha (5 page)

“
Okay,” he said. He didn’t look convinced, but he let it go.

This time I wasn’t early so I had to park my baby farther away from the school. I hitched my bag over my shoulder and walked to the entrance.

Just as I got to the front, someone stepped into my path. My eyes went to the obstacle.

He stood in front of me with his arms crossed over his chest. Vibrant eyes held mine.

There was an unmistakable power in him that demanded attention, but I wasn’t your typical girl. I tilted my heard upward and held his gaze confidently, refusing to be intimidated. The truth was I felt it, but there was no way I’d show him that as my stubborn streak kicked in.

In his eyes I saw surprise at my reaction to him.

Yeah, pretty boy, I think you’ve met your match.

CHAPTER FOUR

Scarlett

I held his gaze for a few moments before he took a step closer to me. I felt an electric shiver through me as I felt my body react to him. I’d never felt that type of reaction with anybody else before.

The smell of fresh rain hit me full force. I took another deep breath but there was no mistaking that smell; it reminded me of my dream last night.

Ignoring my body’s reaction to his piercing eyes, I returned his stare without revealing the havoc he was causing me. The outside world around us disappeared into the background as we continued to glare at each other.

He might think I was one of those many girls who would be in awe of him and his devastating good looks, but he had another thing coming. It didn’t matter that he made butterflies in my stomach come alive. I was stronger than this.

I wouldn’t be one of those girls who fell at his feet and allowed him to treat me like a fleeting attraction before he moved on to another willing girl. There was that saying ‘never judge a book by its cover’ but in this case I’d bet he was exactly what I’d summed him up to be. He was arrogant and in his case the book cover had warning signs telling me to keep well away from him.

“
We need to talk,” he said as he folded his arms across his chest. Dressed in dark jeans and a black shirt with a leather jacket, he looked badass—but I wasn’t scared of him. I could see from the way the material molded to his lean chest that he worked out, possibly as hard as I did.

“
I don’t even know you, so why would we need to talk?” I asked as I took a step forward, placing me only a few inches away from him.

I was so close that I could see his dark eyelashes framing his turquoise eyes. His dark, raven hair hung across his forehead and I had an urge to run my hands through it.

Mentally, I shook myself. It felt so wrong to find him so attractive when I didn’t even like him.

Something dark flashed in his eyes, then his forehead creased as his jaw tightened. Just from his body language, I could tell he was angry. He wasn’t used to being questioned. He was the type who spoke and everyone obeyed, but I was no follower.

“
Don’t play dumb with me,” he hissed, his eyes darkening with anger. The unmistakable power rolled off of him in waves and I felt that power hit me in the chest. I took an unsure step backward.

There was something different about him.

He didn’t know me and I had no idea what he was talking about. It reminded me of my strange conversation with Blake. I couldn’t figure out why both of them kept talking to me about something I was supposed to know but didn’t.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was going to a school for crazies.

Straightening my back, I stepped closer and pushed a finger into his chest. Although he was taller than me and without a doubt physically stronger than me, I refused to back down from him.

“
Listen here, buddy, I don’t know you or what I’m supposed to know but I can guarantee you that I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said to him angrily as I continued to poke my finger into his chest. “Understand this: if you don’t back off, I’ll make you sorry you tried to mess with me. Keep to the vacant bimbos and leave me alone.”

His eyebrows shot up in surprise and then his eyes pierced mine. Then, unexpectedly, he cocked his head to the side and studied me for a moment before the one side of his mouth tilted upward in a half smirk.

His devastating smile made my knees weaken.

I was so over this. As much as he affected me on a physical level, there was no way I was going to let him get the better of me or push me around.

I stepped around him and entered the school, ignoring his eyes on my retreating figure. The butterflies were going crazy inside my stomach and I couldn’t deny the physical reaction he caused.

He was dangerous and I needed to be very careful of him.

The strangeness I’d experienced yesterday had just upped a level to downright weird. I couldn’t help my thoughts going back to my dream from last night. Cade smelled like fresh rain, like he had in my dream.

By the time I made it to my locker, I’d pushed all the crazy thoughts from my mind. I wasn’t going to allow anyone to ruin my second day at a new school.

“
Hey.”

I turned to see Keri standing beside me. Like her personality, her clothes were bold and colorful. The blood-red mini skirt teamed with black boots and green shirt on most people would look mismatched, but she pulled it off. It actually looked stylish.

“
Hi,” I greeted as I closed my locker, stuffing the books I held in my hand into my school bag.

“
What’s your first class for the day?” she asked.

“
Math,” I answered with a sigh. Math was not one of my strongest subjects but I had to work hard at it, especially when I was doing my own finances now.

“
I’ve got English but it’s next to your class,” she informed me.

“
Cool.”

I was usually a loner, but I liked Keri. There was something about her that put me completely at ease in her company. I knew I hadn’t known her for long, but I felt she was someone I could trust.

“
I saw you had a run-in with Cade this morning,” she said as we started walking down the hallway to our first classes.

My eyes darted to her curious gaze.

“
He’s like Blake; he never really talks to anyone outside of his group. What did he say to you?” she asked.

“
Honestly, he didn’t make much sense,” I revealed. “He said he wanted to talk to me and told me I knew what it was about. I’m not sure he’s playing with a full deck of cards.”

Keri laughed and I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face.

“
Only you would think the hottest guy in school was crazy.”

She hadn’t known me long, but she knew me well already.

“
He’s not the only crazy in this school,” I added, remembering Blake’s conversation with me had been just as weird.

“
Do tell,” she instructed.

“
Blake also made no sense,” I told her.

She laughed again as she shook her head.

“
Let me correct that: only you would think the two hottest guys in this school were crazy,” she restated, trying to keep a straight face.

“
Maybe it’s something in the water,” I said with a shrug.

I wasn’t going to waste any more time thinking about those two idiots.

“
Have you seen any wolves before?” I asked when I remembered the wolf I’d seen watching me last night. Even memories of the dream were still fresh in my mind.

She stopped for a moment, my question clearly taking her by surprise.

“
Yeah, I’ve seen a couple. I once saw a huge—and I mean huge—black wolf,” she said as she held her arms out to give me an idea of the size she was talking about.

“
I didn’t think that wolves could get that big,” she added as her arms fell to her sides and she started to walk again.

“
I think I saw the same wolf,” I murmured. It was nice to know that the wolf I’d seen last night hadn’t been a part of my imagination.

“
Did its eyes glow like an amber color?” she asked in a whisper, like anyone who overheard us would think we were nuts, and then we’d be joining those two crazy idiots in the white-padded room.

My eyes met hers and I nodded. A foreboding feeling settled in my stomach at the confirmation that we’d both seen something that wasn’t possible. Instinctively, I knew that there were too many strange coincidences for all of this to be nothing. There was definitely something strange going on.

In my first class of the morning, my annoyance grew when Blake breezed into the room and dropped into the seat at the desk next to me.

I glared at him and he smiled back. He was deliberately trying to annoy me and I could feel my temper spring to life. Not wanting him to get the reaction he was working for, I turned to look out of the window and ignored him as best I could.

“
Not talking to me this morning?” he asked in a teasing tone. Ignoring him wasn’t helping, so I swung my gaze back to him as I gripped my pen in my hand tightly to try and keep my temper under control.

He leaned back lazily in the seat, smiling at me when he noticed I was trying to keep my temper under control. I so wanted to wipe that smile off his face.

“
Leave me alone,” I hissed at him in a whisper, not wanting to cause a scene. The class was starting to fill up.

“
I wish I could, but I can’t,” he said cryptically as he leaned forward. His smile began to wane. I could see the joking was over and he was very serious.

“
We can’t leave you alone,” he added.

I was about to ask him who was the ‘we’ he was referring to and why they couldn’t leave me alone when the teacher walked in the classroom. Blake’s gaze held mine until I turned to face the teacher.

I wasn’t going to let him say things like that to me without explaining further, so when the class ended I made sure I grabbed his arm just as we exited the classroom.

“
You need to explain what you meant earlier,” I told him as he turned to face me. His usual light-hearted and teasing look was gone as he looked at me.

“
I can’t tell you,” he explained and then added, “Just know that Cade and I are the good guys.”

With no further explanation, he turned and walked away from me and I was tempted to throw a book at him.

If I was confused before, I was even more confused now. They kept spinning one riddle on top of another. I had no idea what they were talking about and they wouldn’t explain.

Frustrated, I stalked to my next class. Like the day before, I kept getting strange looks from most of the students.

By lunchtime, I was tired of going around in circles in my mind. On my way to the cafeteria, I made up my mind. I wanted answers and I was going to get them.

I walked into the cafeteria and spotted the person who was going to give me the answers I wanted.

Cade was sitting at the large table on the one side of the cafeteria where the strange smell of fresh rain was the strongest. I still needed to figure out why most of the students smelled so distinctive.

I walked determinedly to the table. This morning he’d wanted to talk to me and now I was ready to talk. His eyes fastened onto me as I reached the table. The conversation died down when the other students sitting with him noticed me.

I recognized that the blond guy who had stood beside Cade yesterday was sitting across from him. He looked to Cade and arched an eyebrow.

“
I want to talk to you,” I informed Cade. He glanced to the blond guy and it was like they were having a conversation without words.

“
I thought you didn’t want to talk,” Cade said as his eyes locked with mine. A shiver of awareness ran through me; I hated the way I reacted to him.

“
And now I do,” I said, feeling my temper beginning to grow. I crossed my arms over my chest to keep myself from slapping him.