We stepped close to the back wall of the schoolhouse, and Raphael pressed his ear against the wood. I stayed back a little ways. Hearing the voices wasn’t a problem. It wasn’t like they were talking quietly. At all.
“The pack doesn’t understand and they never will,” Luciana said. “The humans are weak. The wolves don’t think we’re as strong as they are and they hardly see us as supernatural. They think us a subset of humans. We’re not human.”
That was what she thought? That the Weres saw them as humans? It was entirely inaccurate. From everything that I’d seen and heard, the Weres really respected, and sometimes even feared the witches.
“The pack here will never accept witches as equals,” said a man.
That voice. It seemed familiar. I couldn’t quite place it, but something about the sound made me irrationally angry.
“The only way to make sure we’re positioned as leaders when supernaturals are revealed is to eliminate the pack structure. We need to show the pack that our coven is strong. We need to fight for our voice. We’ve hidden here too long—”
Shouts of agreement filled the night.
I stepped closer to the wall as I tried to distinguish the voices, and stepped on a twig. I winced, and hoped that no one inside had heard.
But I wasn’t that lucky.
“Someone’s listening.” I heard the whisper under all the yelling. I wasn’t sure how I heard it with all the commotion, but my wolf must’ve sensed the danger.
I grabbed Raphael’s arm and that dizzy feeling came back. He yanked free. “What?” he whispered.
“They know we’re here,” I mouthed.
He gave me funny look. “Impossible,” he mouthed.
I started to walk away, but suddenly the schoolhouse was quiet. The side door slammed against the wall as it opened and I froze in place.
“See. This is what I’m talking about. She’s supposed to be one of us, but she’s spying, and turning our own against us,” Luciana said, and the gathered group voiced their agreement.
I turned to look at her, and was surprised to see a familiar face standing beside her. It’d been a while since I last saw him, but I’d never forget him and his chin-length blond hair streaked with gray. Especially since he was wearing another slick three-piece suit.
Rupert Hoel.
Everyone else in his family had shown up, so it wasn’t all that surprising that he had, too. But what was shocking was that he was here, with the coven. I’d been too busy chasing my tail to realize who was behind this whole clusterfuck.
This time when I yanked Raphael’s arm, he didn’t pull free. The dizzy feeling was back. Stronger.
I closed my eyes.
“Are you okay?” Raphael said.
I opened my eyes. We stood behind the last house before the schoolhouse.
What just happened?
I turned in a circle. How did I get back here?
As I realized the only possibility, cold sweat broke out on my forehead.
I’d just had a vision of the future.
Oh no. Oh hell no. This was so not happening.
Chapter Fourteen
I spun, stomping back toward my cousins’ house, but Raphael stopped me.
“Are you okay?” He asked as he gripped my arm.
“No.” I snapped, jerking away from him.
That was rude. I needed to calm down, but this whole seeing the future thing had totally thrown me for a loop.
I took a breath and tried to calm down. “I’m sorry, but I’m so beyond not okay. We need to go back to your house.”
He looked from the lit up windows, then back to me.
“I swear. We need to go back. I just…” I started walking again.
“Okay. Okay. We’ll go.”
I was already walking. Nothing could drag me back there.
In my normal visions, I was always removed—distant from what was happening. This was like living the same moment twice. Or almost the same thing. Like déjà vu on crack.
But what was even more disturbing was seeing the ass-Hoel with Luciana. Was he the reason she wanted me here so bad? Was it revenge for ruining his attempt at a coup? Or was he really teaming up with Luciana?
If someone had asked me a few hours ago if that was even possible, I would’ve said the idea was nuts. Luciana hated the Weres. But if I trusted the vision—and I did—Mr. Hoel was standing in the schoolhouse right now. With her. At a coven meeting.
If Mr. Hoel was plotting with Luciana, I had to tread carefully. He’d almost gotten four of the top alphas killed. He’d sold our location to the vampires. His endgame had always been about power, and I’d bet my life that his plan was still the same. Everything I’d overheard during my vision backed this up. He was making another play to get more power, take down the Seven, and out supernaturals to the rest of the world.
Only this time, he was using Luciana to divide the pack. Same story, different day. So, how did I beat him this time? The stakes were higher. Fighting the witches would only result in lots of people dying on both sides.
Alpha Divided (Alpha Girl Book 3)
Aileen Erin's books
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