Alpha Divided (Alpha Girl Book 3)

“Okay. Just give me a second. I’ll explain it to her.” Claudia headed for the door. “Be back in a sec.”


I paced around the room, getting more annoyed by the second. What if there was an emergency? A fire or someone hurt or something? The compound was way too cut off from civilization. That didn’t seem safe.

Claudia gave me a thumbs-up when she came back. “We’ve got five minutes.”

Luciana was unbelievably stingy. I ground my teeth, trying to stay calm. “Great.” I quickly dialed Mom’s cell and tapped my fingers along the wall as it rang. “Hey, Mom,” I said when she finally answered.

“What’s going on? Where are you calling from? Are you okay?”

I sighed. She said the same thing every time she answered the phone these days. I wished for once I were calling just to chat. “I’m on the coven land and—”

“Why are you there? I thought I told you—”

“It’s dangerous. I know, but the Tribunal didn’t exactly go my way. I have to stay here until the next full moon.”

Mom gasped. “No. Mija. That’s not okay. I’m on my way. I’ll talk to Luciana. She can’t—”

“Mom. Calm down. It’s fine.” I paused. That was total bullshit. “It’s not fine. It sucks, but I’ve agreed to put up with it. The bigger problem is that I can’t leave and there’s not enough food here. I’ll eat everything in a day, and I…I need it. Dastien’s not here and my wolf is on edge and…”

“I’ll go to the store,” she said, understanding what I was asking without having to ask it. “I’ll bring enough to stock the fridge and will keep coming as often as you need.”

I closed my eyes and leaned against the counter. “Thanks, Mom.”

“Don’t worry about a thing. Mama’s here. I’ll take care of it.”

The tears from earlier threatened to come back, but I blinked them away. “Thanks.” It seemed no matter how old I got, I still needed my mother sometimes. I was lucky to have her so close by. “I really appreciate it.”

“Te quiero mucho. See you soon.”

“Are you okay?” Claudia said when I put the phone back.

I raised an eyebrow at her. “Seriously? You’re asking me this question?”

“Right.” She looked at the ground. “I understand you’re mad. I’m sorry.”

“You forced my hand when you could’ve asked nicely. I understand that you’re not in a good place, but I liked you. I would’ve done everything I could to help you. Now, I want to get this done and go back to my life.”

She nodded, still staring at the ground.

Being a bitch to her felt like kicking a puppy, but I couldn’t help it. I was pissed. It didn’t have to be this way. “Let’s talk about what we’re going to do next.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you need a new leader. Let’s start there. Who do you think is a good candidate?”

She shrugged. “I’m not sure. That’s the problem. No one is even close to Luciana’s strength in magic.”

“And that’s one of the requirements?”

“No. Not exactly.”

“How about you tell me exactly while I make myself a snack?” I opened the fridge and pulled out cheese, ham, and an avocado for a grilled sammy. I made myself at home as I started cooking. Once I had everything in a pan, I looked over my shoulder at Claudia.

She hopped onto the counter. “Right. Rules. There’s always a leader and a successor, so the current leader picks someone to be third in line. Grams picked you and once Luciana stepped down, she was supposed to name your successor, but that’s all changed now. And Grams is—”

“Unreachable.” Maybe it was snippy, but I was a little tired of being manipulated. I needed real solutions. “So what happens in this kind of scenario?”

“Luciana should pick someone, but we don’t want that to happen. That’s why there’s always a break in succession. No one person’s will or agenda gets pushed on two generations. And since we’re extremely divided about some of the things Luciana’s been doing…we’re in a bit of a bind. You’re strong enough that you could pick your replacement, and I think if we position it correctly, then we could get the support of the whole coven.”

“Sounds reasonable. So I know you have to have some sort of sight like my visions in order to rule.”

“Exactly. And Luciana’s visions used to be kind of weak, but she’s been getting stronger lately. Which is weird.”

“Wait. Why is her getting stronger weird?”

“Because once you reach a certain age, your affinity or abilities start to settle or even lessen. But with Luciana, it’s the opposite. That’s another reason we’re divided. The few in our faction suspect she’s using dark magic to boost her power and most in the coven want no part in that.”

I checked my sammy. Perfectly golden. I tossed some more butter in the pan as I flipped it.

“Wow. That looks really amazing.”

“Want me to make you one?”