Becoming Alpha (36 page)

Thirty minutes later we pulled into the mall. I rolled through the parking lot until I found the brigade of shiny black SUVs.

I pulled even with them and then went out to open the back hatch. Meredith went to the closest SUV and coded the lock. She opened up the car and grabbed out a pile of gray sweats, pulling on a sweatshirt for herself first, and then turned to the wolves.

“Come and get ‘em boys. And girl.”

They took turns jumping back in my car to shift. Meredith and I were covered in nasty. I needed a shower something fierce, but it’d have to wait. We both changed into gray sweats in the other car as the rest were shifting.

While we waited, she handed me a pack of baby wipes, and I cleaned up as best as I could. When it came time for Dastien to shift, I nearly peeked, but stopped myself. Barely.

Once everyone was back to being human, we went in search of the pack.

We found them chowing down on the third floor food court looking completely conspicuous in their all-black getups. It was so strange seeing them among the humans. Normal people going about their day, oblivious to the fact that they were surrounded by werewolves.

A large group of kids and parents were eating burgers and fries. They’d pushed together five tables. Red and blue balloons were tied to the chairs.

Christ. They couldn’t have picked a worse day to have a party at the mall.

The wolves sat scattered among the food court tables. Some stood off to the side, pretending to look in the windows of the nearby stores. I recognized a few from my classes. Including Imogene. A bandage wrapped around her neck, proof that I’d lost control before and could do it again.

Tension stretched thick as the wolves scanned the mall, waiting for something that would never come. Thanks to us. And my cousins’ well-made potions. I was totally going to have to
thank them for their awesome packs o’ badass. Maybe if I asked nicely, they’d show me how to make those vials.

I didn’t spot Mr. Hoel until we turned the corner. In the back of the food court next to the bathrooms, a group of werewolves stood around a man. He was standing on a chair addressing the group.

It took me a second to realize that even through all the mall noise, the wolves could hear what he was saying. They might not have been looking at him, but they were listening. The way they moved and nodded with his points and pauses gave it away.

Dastien’s hand warmed the small of my back. “You okay?” He whispered against my ear.

No. I was so not okay. The man was on his soapbox preaching about how even if the vampires didn’t show up they still needed to take the place of superiority tonight.

“They are lesser. They are weak. We’ve been slaves to them for centuries as we kept them safe. Without payment. Without a thank you. Blood shed and lives lost, and they don’t even notice. We cannot hide anymore. Not with cameras everywhere—in buildings, on the streets, in everyone’s hands. We must choose when we reveal ourselves, and the time is now.”

I shoved past Mr. Dawson, Sebastian, and Donovan. Maybe it was the wrong move, but I couldn’t help it. If it made me weaker because I was part-human, then so be it.

I made my way to the center of the group gathered around Mr. Hoel. “Everyone out of my way. Now.”

They scattered at the command.

Dastien moved to stop me, but I shook my head.

Mr. Hoel looked down at me. “Ah yes, the human half-breed here to—”

I didn’t let him finish whatever insult he had. I kicked the chair out from under him, and before he could react, punched him in the face.

When he moved to attack me, Donovan stepped between us. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Dastien grasped my arm. “Come on. Let’s let them handle this.”

I nodded and stepped away. I would’ve apologized to them for going after Mr. Hoel, but I couldn’t bring myself to. I wasn’t sorry.

“Everyone go back to St. Ailbe’s.” The sound of Sebastian’s voice echoed in the mall, and everyone turned to stare at us. “Except for Rupert,” Sebastian said.

The humans looked confused, but then came to whatever conclusions they could as they witnessed the mass exodus of uniformly dressed people.

A few of the wolves had the grace to look embarrassed, but not Imogene. I tried to ignore her as she walked toward me.

Dastien turned us toward the exit and I kept pace beside him.

One second I was thinking about how quickly we could get back so that I could shower, and the next something plowed into me and I was falling two stories to the ground. This time I couldn’t right myself before I hit.

The hard tile cracked against my back. Screams echoed through the mall, but the pain blocked them mostly out. It hurt to breathe, and I was pretty sure I’d broken something.

A foot collided with my side, and I rolled, coughing as I tried to desperately get air into my lungs.

Then everything froze. I wouldn’t have noticed it, except for the sudden silence in the mall. It was mega-eerie.

Claudia’s face appeared in front of me. “Sorry. I didn’t see her move or else I would’ve frozen her before she hit you. We only just got here. Had a meeting about who is taking over in your place. It went on forever.” She seemed to notice that I wasn’t moving. “Are you alright?”

“Grand,” I wheezed. “Thanks. I’m just going to hang out here for now.”

“Glad I could help.” She smiled. “Be right back. Going to reanimate the other wolves.”

“Fantastic.” If we were gone when the humans came out of it, they wouldn’t panic so much.

I glanced around from the ground and noticed that everyone in the mall was frozen. It was like someone hit the pause button on life. Dastien was a few steps away. Imogene was above me, poised to slam her fist into my face. Donovan was hovering directly above me mid-jump between the third and second floors.

If I hadn’t been in so much pain, I’d find it equal parts freaky and rad. I wondered if I hadn’t ended up with the Weres, then maybe I would’ve learned how to do the freezing people trick.

Claudia stood in the middle of the floor. Raphael was by her side, holding her hand. She raised her arms above her head and he mimicked her move. Together they muttered something. And then the wolves could move.

“Shit,” I said as I realized almost too late what was happening.

I slid away just before Imogene could land her punch. The tile under her fist cracked.

Dastien tackled her and pinned her to the ground. “Why?”

“Because I had nothing left to lose. You’re gone. My father is in trouble. And she gets everything. It’s not fair.”

I laughed, albeit a little hysterically as I was also in pain, but still the laughter bubbled free nonetheless. “What a load. I’ve gotten nothing but shat on my entire life. I finally get a little bit of good—if you ignore the whole biting thing, the going furry thing, the nearly getting offed by
vampires that look suspiciously like zombies thing, the finding out I’m a witch thing, and the kind of losing my mind thing—but hey—at least I got a guy.” I snorted. “Because that tooootally makes everything worth it. Right? Now I can just go enjoy being barefoot in the kitchen for the rest of my crazy long-lived life.”

I sat up, and pain ricocheted through my body. It took my breath away for a second. “God that fucking hurts,” I said when I could breathe again. “Anyone know what a broken rib feels like? Because I may have several. On top of the vampire bite—which by the way—is burning something fierce. It’s gray around the edges, too. Should I be worried about flesh rot? Because getting a rocking case of necrotizing fasciitis would round out my day in really fantastic way.”

Somewhere along my rant, everyone that wasn’t already frozen turned to look at me.

“Anyone have a name of a good dermatologist? Anyone?” I paused. “Anyone?” Still got nothing. “Bueller?” I sighed. Wolves really had no sense of humor.

Dastien turned to look at me while still pinning Imogene to the ground. “Are you feeling okay?”

Meredith, Chris, Adrian and Shannon came down the stairs, taking the focus off of me.

“Holy shit,” Chris said. “She totally nailed you.”

“Shut it,” I said. “Where’s Mr. Hoel?”

“Mr. D and Sebastian have him,” Adrian said. “They’re escorting him back to campus in one of the SUVs.”

“Perfect. So, cuz, how long does the freeze last?” I said.

Claudia leaned heavily against her twin. “Thirty seconds longer at best. I wish I could do more, but it’d be best if we left. Like now.”

Raphael muttered something to his sister, and she shook her head. They took two steps, but she lost her footing. He swept her up.

“Is she okay?” I said.

“
Sí
. She’ll be fine. Doing a spell this big takes a toll.”

Interesting. They turned to go, but I shouted out to them. “Hey. Thanks for those packs. They saved our lives.”

“
De nada
,” Raphael said. “Once you’re feeling better, come visit us. There are things you should know. Things you could learn.”

“You know. I might take you up on that.” I needed to learn to fight, and if I could get some of their awesome powers to help me, then maybe I’d stand a chance.

Claudia grinned. “We’ll leave you to it.” She glanced at Mr. Dawson. “If you need help from
La Alquelarre
, let us know.”

“
Gracias. Vaya con Dios.”

“Y tú también.”

Once my cousins were out of sight, the wolves went into action.

The humans started slowly moving. It was past time to get out of here.

“Dastien,” Mr. Dawson said. “Take Tessa back with the pups. We’ll deal with Imogene and her father.”

Dastien rose from where he had Imogene pinned, pulling her up with him.

“Imogene,” Mr. Dawson said.

“Yes,” she said. Her gaze was on the ground and her shoulders hunched over.

“You will stay here with me. We need to have a long chat about your future in this pack.”

“Yes, sir.”

I kind of hoped she got kicked out.

Okay, I totally hoped she got kicked out. The girl was a menace. I didn’t want to know what else was going to happen. All I wanted was a shower.

And something for my arm. And my back. And my ribs. Just generally something for my entire body would be good.

“You guys,” I said to my new friends as we exited the mall. My vision was starting to blur and my skin was clammy. “I wasn’t joking about the whole vampire bite thing. It’s really burning. Do you have, I dunno, some kind of balm or something for that?”

Dastien stiffened next to me. “I thought you were joking about the bite.” He grabbed me. “Please tell me that vamp who had your arm didn’t sink his teeth. Please tell me I killed him in time.”

“Can’t tell you that.” I stuck out my left arm. It was swollen around two large punctures and a ring of smaller ones. “The red and puffy wouldn’t bother me so much if it wasn’t also turning a blackish-gray around the actual puncture marks. Is that a bad sign?”

Meredith said something but I couldn’t make it out. I couldn’t make anything out.

“You guys. I’m not feeling so hot.” I managed the words before my body turned to Jell-o and the world went black.

I blinked my eyes open. I threw my hand over them as the sun threatened to make my head explode. My body didn’t hurt, except for one spot.

I’d been in here for the past three days, in and out of consciousness. Today I’d been more in than out. I touched the gauze and tape that covered the bite. A shudder ran through me at the memory of that nasty vampire’s teeth ripping through my flesh.

The chair beside my bed creaked. Dastien. A smile spread across my face that warmed my whole body and I peeked through my fingers.

We were in one of the medic rooms on campus. Dastien sat scrunched in a chair beside my bed. “How’re you feeling?”

“Better.” My voice sounded particularly scratchy.

“How’s the bite?”

“Still burns.”

He grunted. “Vampire bites are nasty.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, maybe all bites are nasty.”

Meredith came through the door. “You’re up!” She threw herself on the bed next to me. She’d been by a few times but I always seemed to miss them. “Thank God. No one could take Dastien being all grumpy anymore.”

“I’m nearly better. Right?” I glanced at Dastien.

“Right,” Dastien said. “The vampire venom had time to work its way into your system before we neutralized it. Another half-hour and you’d have been dead. Although if you told me about it—”

I growled. We’d been over this a million times, but from what I could tell, he wasn’t going to let up anytime soon.

He sighed. “You’ll be out of the bed tomorrow.”

I touched the bandage again. God. Who knew there were worse things than becoming a werewolf? “I’m so glad I’m not going to turn into a vampire. I don’t think there’s enough product in the world to fix what’s wrong with their faces.”

“Gross!” Meredith laughed. “Hey, now that you’re out of the woods, let’s move you to your room. I’m sure Dr. Gonzales would okay it.”

“That would be awesome.” I let out a shaky sigh. “If you give me a sec, I’ll change out of this hospital gown.”

They grumbled about it, but left.

I reached into the bottom cabinet where my clothes were last time. Jackpot. I pulled on a pair of jeans, white T-shirt, and some flip-flops.

By the time I was changed, I was sweating, but I did it. Dastien was going to have to carry me back to my room. There was no way I’d make it.

The idea wasn’t completely terrible.

I yelled through the door to tell Dastien and Meredith to come back, but instead Imogene walked in and shut the door behind her.

She was wearing skinny jeans and a flirty tank. Her hair was pulled back and her face was make-up free. She didn’t look bad, but she didn’t look like herself either. “I’m not here to fight,” she said as she leaned back against the door.

“What do you want?”

“Don’t worry. I don’t want to be friends.”

“Good.” I crossed my arms and ignored the bit of discomfort.

She smirked. “I just thought I’d say that I’m sorry for the way I acted. I know you probably don’t give a shit, but I’ve spent my whole life trying to get my dad to notice me. I’ve always been a big disappointment. I wasn’t a boy. I wasn’t alpha enough to do him any good. As lame as it sounds, my one shot in life was tied to becoming Dastien’s mate. When you came here, things got a little out of hand. I would love to blame what I did on my wolf, but I can’t. I was pissed. My life was falling apart and it was your fault. I did what I thought—and what my father agreed—was best.” She looked away and blew out a heavy breath. “I’ve talked a lot to Mr. D and Dastien the past few days. I’m probably going to get kicked out of here, and lose my sister if I can’t convince her to go with me, but that’s what I get because of the choices I made. I’m not asking for your forgiveness either.” She scoffed. “I wouldn’t forgive me.”