Alpha Divided (Alpha Girl Book 3)

I hadn’t been expecting that kind of question. I’d thought this was going to be more of an interrogation.

I couldn’t lie—they’d smell it—so I had to be honest, but I wasn’t going to sway anyone to my side with the truth. I cleared my throat. “I didn’t want to be a wolf and I didn’t like that I’d been bitten.” I paused, waiting for something, but it was so quiet, all I could hear was the crackling of the fire. “I didn’t know that werewolves existed before I moved here. I didn’t even know that I was a bruja and that was why I could see what I see. So, it was shocking when I woke up at St. Ailbe’s.” I went into the whole running away thing, and why I’d done that. It had been an adjustment, and I hoped that they’d understand or at least sympathize with the drastic changes I’d gone through. “So, it took me a while not to be afraid of my wolf. Now, asking me how I currently feel about becoming a wolf—I love it. I love shifting. I love it here. I love my mate, my friends, and my pack. I don’t want to leave.”

Dastien got the next question—about his level of control. I got one about what my powers were exactly, and then one about my interactions with la Aquelarre.

Then, someone asked me what I thought about Luciana and my relationship with her. “If being cursed by Luciana is a sign of a good relationship, then I’d say we were on the best of terms. I don’t trust her and I certainly don’t like her. You heard what she said. She wants to control me. She made it perfectly clear that she’ll do whatever it takes to achieve that when she cursed me.” There were some murmurs, and I was sure I’d get some questions about that before I was done, but for now, most were quiet. “As much as I would like to learn about being a bruja, I can’t. Not from her.”

I hadn’t really realized that I wanted to learn until I said the words. After helping Meredith, I knew that I couldn’t avoid that part of me anymore. I had to be able to use the gifts that I’d been given. I had to do better. Be better.

A bunch of people shouted questions all at once and I blinked through the heat of the fire. It seemed like with every question I answered, there were twenty more. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to handle this.

I think Donovan’s about to call this to an end, Dastien said.

You think?

Yeah. Look at his hands.

They were fisted by his sides. His knuckles were white, and a fine sheen of fur covered over their tops.

He’s itching to. He wanted to cancel the Tribunal from the start.

I’d known that, but it didn’t change where we were today. It might be too late for us.

Yes.

“—your turn to say something,” Donovan said.

Everyone was staring at me. Shit. I had to stop tuning out when I talked to Dastien through our bond.

That’s your cue.

Right. I got out my notecards. My hands shook as I flipped through them. The words seemed to blend together, and I couldn’t make sense of them. The paper crinkled as I flipped through them again, and I realized this was dumb. I didn’t need the cards. I just had to speak from the heart.

I tossed them in the fire and watched as the cards curled, the flames licking along the edges until they were totally consumed.