Alpha Divided (Alpha Girl Book 3)

I shrugged. “Yeah. I guess I did.”


“Wow,” Claudia said. “The coven always sets up matches seen in future visions. You were supposed to be with Daniel. That’s why we were so surprised when you were bitten. Why so many are eager to follow Luciana in the fight to get you back. We all thought that you’d gone off the intended path.” She sat in the blue velvet chair across the room from Daniel. “This gives me so much hope. Maybe I don’t have to be with…”

I wanted to ask Claudia who she was supposed to be with and why she didn’t want that, but Rosa grasped my hand as she lowered her glasses. “Just like you knew with Dastien. Like you knew with the tamales. The visions will come when they will. They’ll show you what you need when you’re off the path, but by the time you see them, it might be too late to change the outcome.” She relaxed back against the couch. “As the pack and the coven fight and the humans become aware of us all—you will have to play a careful balancing act. You are unique in that you’re not just human or Were or bruja, but all three. You will be the touchstone for many.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “I don’t want that much power.”

“Fighting your destiny will only cause discord for everyone.” She cupped my cheek and I met her gaze. “Mijita. This is in your hands. You can choose to remain stubborn and resist or surrender to your gifts and move forward. You decide.”

“I’m not even a very good witch. I can’t do the most basic things. Are you sure I’m the one?”

“I’m very sure. So was your Grams.” Rosa turned to Daniel. “What were you teaching her?”

“We started with knots and a basic protection spell. Every glass that she tried it on turned to dust. Not just broken or shattered, but a fine powder.”

“And what were you thinking as you were doing this?”

I shrugged. “Don’t break.”

“Aye. See. There is your mistake. You think ‘don’t break,’ and your mind focused on the breaking part. Try again, only this time, believe that the glass will be muy duro. Uno momento.” Rosa got up and went to the kitchen. A few minutes later she came back carrying a crystal goblet. “This belonged to my abuela. It’s one of the only things I have of hers. You will make it strong. And then you will see.”

I leaned away as she tried to hand it to me. “No. No way. I destroyed a whole box of glasses. No way am trying it with something so valuable to you.”

“If there is no risk involved, you won’t try your best. I won’t hate you if you break it, but I will be sad.” She held the glass out to me. “You will do this thing. You will believe in yourself. And I will be proven right.” She poked a finger at her heart. “I know it here. I feel that it’s true. So much so that there can be nothing else that happens.”

This all sounded nuts. That said, she’d been right about how to break the curse on Meredith. It’d taken me a bit to understand what Rosa meant for me to do. I hadn’t quite gotten it at first, but I figured it out eventually. I had to believe that this time would be the same.

I took the goblet. Intricate etchings ran along the outside of the cup and the stem was delicate and diamond shaped. I was afraid I was going to break it just from holding it too hard. I ran my finger along the top of the glass and it rang. I couldn’t resist it, so I gave it a gentle flick.

A beautiful ring sounded. “This is real crystal.”

“Yes. It’s old and lovely. Make it strong.”

I gingerly placed it on the table and wiped my hands on my jeans. “All right. Here goes nothing.” I reached closer and began tracing the knot.

“Stop.”

I looked up at her. “Did I do something wrong?”

“That—” Rosa motioned a finger in a knot-like way. “Is just the trappings of the coven. It can mean something if you need help, but the magic comes from what’s inside. You do what you need to do to make it feel real. It could be a knot. It could be words that rhyme. The most powerful brujas I ever met didn’t need anything at all.”

Right. Because that wasn’t intimidating at all. “Okay.” I stared down at the fragile goblet. I closed my eyes, and instead of picturing crystal, I pictured steel. It was hard. Unbreakable.

Strong. Strong like steel. Strong like diamonds. I listed everything hard I could think of as I pictured the goblet in my mind. I willed it to be unbreakable with everything I had.

“Okay,” I said. “I tried my best.”

“Do. Or do not. There is no try.” Daniel laughed at his own joke.

“Shut up,” Claudia said.

“Oh, man. This could go south so fast,” Raphael said. He’d finally left his post by the door, and came closer to see what would happen.

“Be quiet. She did fine. I know she did it,” Claudia said as she stepped beside her brother.