Alpha Divided (Alpha Girl Book 3)

Three days into being at the compound I’d proven to Daniel, Claudia, and Raphael that I was a walking disaster when it came to magic. Every spell I tried backfired. I attempted to light a candle, but it exploded, splattering me with melted wax. Thank God for my Were healing abilities. That wax was freaking hot.

I tried to levitate an object and it flew through the roof, making a nice hole in the ceiling. That had stopped practice for a while. But at least now I could say I knew some serious home repair skills.

When Daniel suggested we try an invisibility spell, I’d succeeded in turning my clothes invisible. That had been mortifying. And if Dastien knew what’d happened, and that Daniel actually got an eyeful, he’d flip. The guy would be blind or dead. As it was, I suddenly felt really exposed around Daniel. No one had gotten such an intimate look at me in…ever.

I felt like a complete moron. It wasn’t like I was failing on purpose. I was following the spells to the letter, but nothing worked for me. It seemed the harder I tried, the worse the damage got. I was seriously starting to wonder if I belonged with the coven at all.

I’d met a couple other people around the compound, but for the most part, I was a bit of a pariah. How I was supposed to befriend all these people, let alone figure out which one was supposed to be the next leader, was beyond me.

To add insult to injury, I was a hot mess when it came to missing Dastien. I hated the needy feeling that was eating me up inside. It was like I was drowning and anxious all the time. And it was all because I was missing my mate. My other half.

Pathetic.

I’d been fine being alone before I met him. Why did I suddenly feel like half a person?

During the mornings, the other coven members had meetings and classes. Any group lessons were held at the little schoolhouse down the road a ways. Daniel told me that the older brujos helped the younger ones with their studies there. Most of them did homeschooling lessons during the afternoon, but Daniel had finished his work for the semester way early, so he usually spent afternoons attempting to teach me.

While he was busy in the morning, I took to exercising. The need to change grew stronger everyday, but I’d agreed to live as a bruja, which meant no shifting. A deal was a deal. I’d stick to it even if it killed me.

As I made my fifteenth lap around the compound that morning, a car pulled through the gate. The driver was someone I recognized. I grinned, and jogged over.

“Tia Rosa.”

“Hola, mijita. Como estas?”

Completely shitty was the truth, but she didn’t need to hear that I was going slowly going mad from being cut off from my mate. “I’m getting by.”

She grumbled. “That’s what I thought.” She put on the little glasses that hung around her neck and gripped my face with her hands. As she stared into me, she tugged on the skin under my eyes.

I blinked and jerked away. What was that about?

“Hmmm. Interesting.” She pulled the glasses off.

“What?” Had someone spelled me again? Because if so, that totally meant I could leave. Didn’t it?

“Let’s talk inside.”

“Okay.” I followed her back to my cousins’ house. “Would you like something to drink?” I asked as she settled down on their floral couch.

“No, mijita. Sit next to me.” She patted the cushion.

We sat on the couch together in sudden silence. I didn’t know who was supposed to talk first, but she already knew what I wanted to hear, so I waited.

“The things that they have you doing, those are distractions.”

Not what I was expecting. How did she know what I was doing here? “What do you mean?”

“Spells and incantations and parlor tricks are not worth your time. You need to be working on growing your visions. Becoming more aware of the lines in the future.”

Was it just me, or was she being incredibly…crazy? It was like I was missing half the conversation. “Lines?”

“Up until this point, you’ve seen past and present. You’ve gotten feelings and premonitions of the future, no?”

“Yes.”

She wheezed a little as she talked. It made my lungs ache in sympathy. “You need to have more than premonitions.”

I shook my head. That was impossible. It wasn’t how my visions worked. “How?”

“By finding that place within that’s the source of your power. Then, you will be able to lead this coven.”

I couldn’t contain the shocked gasp. “No. I can’t. That’s not what I’m here for. I need to find the next leader.”

“Your Grams—my sister—found the next leader.”

“She found me, but I’m in the pack. I’m an alpha. I don’t know where I really stand yet, but I’m stronger than most. I can’t be in two places at once.”

“No, mijita. You are of two places and you will always be in two places. You think your Grams didn’t know what would happen? You think she made a mistake?”