Alpha Divided (Alpha Girl Book 3) (29 page)

This was why people were afraid of werewolves. Because of monsters like Mr. Hoel.

His claws dug into my neck. “You’re dead, mutt.”

“No!” Daniel shoved Mr. Hoel with all his weight, pushing the wolf away.

I gasped as the weight lifted.

Mr. Hoel snarled, swinging his claw-like paw. I watched as if in slow motion as Mr. Hoel’s razor-sharp nails went through Daniel’s neck like butter.

Hot blood rained down on my face.

Oh God. Oh God
.

Daniel gave a sickening gurgle as he slowly crumpled.

My heartbeat thundered in my ears. It was all I could hear as Daniel hit the ground.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. I was the one who was supposed to die. Not Daniel.

Mr. Hoel, still frozen in his half-shifted state, snarled at me. “You won’t fight. That’s an order.”

For a second I froze. I couldn’t move. His alpha powers had worked, and I couldn’t disobey. He stared at me, his claws dripping with Daniel’s blood.

Then something amazing happened.

My whole body burned. My vision went white, blinding me, and my back bowed up from the ground like a million needles pricked my skin. But it wasn’t a bad thing.

This was good. So very good.

Cherie! Move! Now!

My powers. They were back.

If Claudia was the one who’d just broken the jars, I owed her big time. But I didn’t have time for thanks.

Luciana’s chanting grew louder and I spun toward her. The light around her was gone. Her back was to me, but I knew from the way her chanting had grown frantic, she was pissed.

And she still hadn’t seen Daniel.

Chanting back was the best thing I could think of.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I cast you back to hell.
I had no idea if it’d work, but I kept saying it. Hoping something would change.

The third time I thought the words, the ground stopped rumbling.

Thank God.

I lay there for a second, and then I sat up.

Mr. Hoel was backing away from me. He couldn’t get away with what he’d done.

I didn’t hesitate. Rage swamped my body and I shifted fully.

“The jars!” Luciana yelled, but it was too late. “Where are you, you little bitch?”

Mr. Hoel spun around, toward Luciana’s angry tirade, and I took advantage, leaping at him. He glanced at me at the last second, but it was too late. My teeth sank into his neck.

The taste of copper filled my mouth in a hot wave.

Luciana was running toward us, screaming something unintelligible. I had seconds before Luciana closed the space. When she did, she’d see Daniel, and I didn’t want to know what she’d do for revenge.

I knew the second she’d seen him. She stumbled before changing direction. She’d glared with pure rage, but now her features twisted between rage and sadness. I wasn’t sure which was worse.

“No!” Luciana screamed as she knelt beside Daniel. Lightning crashed down around the quad as she sobbed. The ground had stopped rumbling, but the scent of sulfur still hung in the air. She might not be able to use my powers to finish calling up whatever demon she’d been summoning, but as she looked at me, hate filling her eyes, I knew it wasn’t over.

“You. This is your fault,” she yelled.

Dastien howled as he bounded across the quad. He slid to a stop between Luciana and me. Her hands glowed as she stared me down.

I spared a glance around. Fires burned throughout campus.

The vampires were all burning or already turned to ash. Their stench had begun to clear.

Wolves fought wolves.
Brujos
fought wolves. And the handful of
brujos
on our side fought their own coven.

It was bloody. Howls and screams of pain tore across the night.

“Wolves. Hear me,” Donovan’s thick Irish accent echoed, cutting through the chaos. “You will stop fighting. Now.”

At once, the wolves on both sides of the battle stopped their attacks.

When the Weres froze, the witches stopped in place. They looked to their leader for some direction, but she was still sobbing. Kneeling beside Daniel.

He’d saved my life.

Maybe all of our lives. Nothing but his death would’ve stopped Luciana.

Why had he done that? What was he thinking? I couldn’t breathe. I’d been imagining he was a traitor, but instead Daniel had traded his life for mine.

He was gone. It was my fault.

A
brujo
came to help Luciana stand. She whispered something to him, and the man bent to pick up Daniel’s body.

She held her head high as she turned to us. “I will bury my son, but I’ll be back. The covens are coming.” She pointed a long, bony finger at me. “
You
will pay for this.”

Two more coven members immediately flanked her, and the rest fell into place as their group hustled away.

No wolf dared to move as the witches left campus. Not under Donovan’s watch.

“You wolves who have fought against us are banished from the packs. Consider yourselves lone wolves who will be hunted and killed if you so much as sniff our lands again. You have thirty seconds to get beyond our boundaries before we start chasing. Run. Now.”

More wolves than I would’ve thought—at least thirty—took off running into the trees.

But one wolf stayed. His white coat was streaked with blood. As he shifted, I recognized his long, blond beard. “The old ways no longer work,” Ferdinand said. He was the one who’d pushed for the Tribunal. Who wanted me to go to the coven’s compound.

It wasn’t just Mr. Hoel who was directing the wolves.

It was Ferdinand. One of the Seven.

“I thought it was you,” Sebastian said. “You’ve grown power hungry over the last century.”

“And why shouldn’t I be? I’m the oldest of the Seven.”

“Not by much. And you’re the most full of ego. Pride. Anger. You’re not worthy to be a member of the council,” Donovan said. “We should’ve done this long ago.”

Donovan and Sebastian joined hands, and murmured something in Latin.

Ferdinand shifted with a snarl, and took off running. Donovan, Sebastian, and Mr. Dawson shifted and bounded after him.

I sat on the ground, still in wolf form. Exhausted. Dastien butted his head against mine with a whimper.

I wanted to check on my cousins and the others, but suddenly I was too exhausted to even move. I needed to change back and take a shower. I needed clothes.

After a quick look around the quad, I found the twins huddled together with the other
brujos
. They were crying, but otherwise unharmed.

Dr. Gonzales moved through the pack, checking on the injured.

Dastien bumped against me again, and then started toward his cabin.

This time I followed.

A little rest and then we’d figure out the next step.

Luciana would be back, and we needed to be ready.

Chapter Twenty-Five

After a shower and some food, I collapsed on Dastien’s bed.

A towel was wrapped around his waist, but as water dripped down his abs, I found it hard to concentrate.

“Let me get dressed.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. We’d have time for us later. Now was not the moment. He opened and shut some drawers. “Dressed,” he said, and I opened my eyes.

You okay?
He asked through the bond, and I felt his wave of concern.

The bond is back. I really like being able to do this creepy, silent-talking thing with you.

He leaned down, brushing a kiss against my forehead. “Now, tell me something.”

“What?”

“What did you know about the fight before it started? There was something—and now I feel your guilt through the bond. So, spill.”

I didn’t see what good it would do to spill, but it wasn’t like I could keep secrets anymore. “I dreamed that Mr. Hoel was going to kill me.”

Dastien jumped up, hovering over me as he shook my shoulders. His eyes flashed bright yellow. “And you still went into the fight? Without telling me? Are you insane? Do you not care about your own life?”

I jerked his leg until he sat back down next to me. “No. I’m not insane. I knew it was going to happen. I was going to do my best to avoid it, but the fight was coming. What was I supposed to do? Hide?”

“Yes. Next time something like that is even a possibility, you damn well better hide!”

“And if the situation had been reversed? Would you let me go off and fight while you hid?”

He growled. “That’s not the same thing.” His voice was gravelly. The wolf was close to the surface.

“It’s exactly the same thing.”

He squeezed me so tight I could barely breathe. “You okay?”

“No. I’m not okay.” He let up a little. “Are you okay? You’re the one who…Mr. Hoel.”

“I killed him.” I thought about it for a second. “You know, I thought I’d feel worse about it. Maybe I will later, but for now, I’m glad he’s dead. He killed Daniel. He tried to kill me. He tried to kill you before…”

Dastien ran his fingers through my hair, and I soaked up his touch for a second.

I could’ve stayed there forever, but we still had a whole host of problems to deal with. “We have to go check on the others.” I chewed on my lip as I thought back to the fight. “Luciana was summoning an actual demon.”

“Yes. I think she was.”

“How do we fight that?”

His breath was hot on my neck. “I don’t know.”

That was what I’d thought. I wasn’t sure how to kill one either, but I was Christian enough to know it wouldn’t be easy.

“Don’t worry. We’ll find a way,” Dastien said.

“Maybe Claudia knows something.” From what I knew about Claudia, it seemed like a long shot, but what could be the harm in asking?

“Doubtful. Not everyone knows about that kind of magic. And fighting it…depending on what Luciana was summoning, it could’ve been really bad.”

I squeezed my eyes tight. “We have to stop her.”

“Agreed.”

It was a good thing some of the coven members were going to be sticking around. A little witchy expertise would go a long way. “We need to go talk to Claudia and whoever else stayed on our side.”

I tried to sit up, but Dastien stopped me. He pressed a hard kiss to my lips before pulling back. “Don’t you ever put yourself in danger like that again.”

I tried to smile at him, but failed. “I wish I could promise that, but I can’t.” I swallowed. “I’m glad to be alive. Is that bad? Daniel died saving me. I should feel worse. He was a nice guy and I was busy doubting him, even when he’d been nothing but kind and helpful. I should be more upset. I’m just so grateful to be alive that it’s overshadowing everything.”

Dastien pushed a piece of hair behind my ear. “No. We will honor his sacrifice. We can’t bury his body, but we’ll have a service for him. I’ll always be grateful for what he did.”

I squeezed his hand. “Thanks.”

“Come on. Let’s go get this over with. And then lets come back. I’d like to spend the next day or ten in bed with you.”

I blushed.

“Mind out of the gutter. We’ve got time before the next full moon.”

I scoffed. “You’re so old fashioned.”

He kissed me again, and I lost myself in it. I was fully breathless when he pulled back. “I just want to be respectful. But that doesn’t mean I can’t hold you.”

“Deal.”

***

The cafeteria was always the place to meet on campus. Apparently, that hadn’t changed in the little bit that I’d been gone. Weres sat around eating, but one table stood out from the rest.

Claudia, Raphael, Shane, Cosette, and Elsa sat together, along with two other girls and one older lady.

Beth, Tiffany, and Yvonne.

There was a ring of empty tables around them, like no one wanted to get too close. I was a little disappointed in my fellow Weres, but it wasn’t all that surprising. They’d just been attacked by a bunch of witches.

I spotted Meredith, Donovan, Chris, and Adrian at another table and they waved me over. I held up a finger. “One second,” I mouthed as I moved toward the witches.

As I pulled out an empty chair, their hushed conversation stopped. “Hey.” Dastien stood behind me, letting me take the lead.

“Hi,” Claudia said. Her eyes were swollen and ringed with red.

I stared hard at the linoleum for a second. I wasn’t sure what to say. I knew I should say something, but anything I could come up with felt insubstantial. Meaningless. “I’m sorry about Daniel. If I could’ve…if I—”

Claudia reached out to me. “Don’t. He knew what he was doing. He stayed back to get the three of them. They played along with Luciana. But he knew who you were. Who you were meant to be.” Her soft, understanding words only made me feel worse.

I wasn’t worthy of that. I’d cost Daniel his life.

A tear rolled down my cheek, and I quickly brushed it away. “I didn’t ask him to do that. Why would he do that?”

“Because he believed in what we were doing. Because he knew his mother had to be stopped and you were the only one who could do that,” Raphael said.

Dastien squeezed my shoulder.
You okay?

I grabbed his hand.
I will be
. I cleared my throat. “I also wanted to thank you. You opened the jars?”

Claudia gave me a small smile. “Had to be done. Otherwise, the night would’ve gone very differently.”

I snorted. That was an understatement. “Does anyone here have any idea what Luciana was calling up?”

“A high-level demon,” the older woman, Yvonne, said. “Luciana went dark some time ago, but I swear, we here had no idea it was this bad. Daniel made his sacrifice just in time. Otherwise, we’d all be dead.”

I noticed the tables filling up around us, and fought back a smile. They’d come to like the witches. They just needed some time.

“We couldn’t have fought it?” I wanted to be extra clear.

She shook her head. “Not and lived.”

“So what do we do?”

“That’s what we’ve been talking about,” Cosette said. “The fey have magic, but anything that could counter demons was lost a long time ago.”

“We need to find ancient white magic again,” Elsa said.

“Where would we even start?” I asked.

“Peru,” said a voice behind me. I turned to see Muraco. His wrinkles were a little more defined today. Was it a result of the fight or was he aging that rapidly?