Alpha Divided (Alpha Girl Book 3)

“What?”


“Take care of my sister or I’ll be forced to kick your ass.”

I laughed. We all knew that the only way Axel was kicking Dastien’s ass was if Dastien let him.

When I looked back at Dastien, he wasn’t laughing this time. “I’ll protect her with my life.” I heard the resolve in his tone and felt it through the bond—he was making a serious promise.

“Good,” Axel said.

Were they for real having a macho handing off the little lady convo? Because that was just so…fifty years ago.

Dastien closed my door and walked around to the driver’s side.

“You ready?” he said before starting the car.

I took one last look at the house—my family standing on the porch. Dad had his arm around Mom. Axel leaned forward over the railing, resting on his forearms. It was weird. I was leaving one family for another, yet I was still part of both. It felt like I was being pulled in so many directions lately.

But I was being overly dramatic. I shook myself free of my thoughts and placed my hand on the window. “Yeah. I’m ready.” Mom lifted her hand in an answering wave.

“Nothing’s changing tonight.”

“That’s not true,” I said as I stared into Dastien’s amber eyes. “I really feel like I shouldn’t have told my cousins the truth. As soon as they left, I got this overwhelming feeling of dread. I don’t like it.”

He raised a brow. “Is it a vision? Is that what I’m feeling from you?”

That was impossible. “I don’t have visions of the future. Only past and present.”

“You could, though. Your powers are still growing. Don’t limit your perceptions.”

I rubbed my sweating palms on my shorts. “It can’t be. I just get the feeling like something’s about to change, and that it won’t be good. But that has nothing to do with how I feel about the Full Moon Ceremony. I want to be with you. I’m already in your head. It’s not like it’d change anything except the way the pack sees us.”

“Then it’s not the bonding you’re worried about?”

“No. I actually can’t wait for that part, but there’s this feeling. The only other time I felt like this was right before I met you.” I paused. “Do you think we should be worried about the Tribunal?” I asked for maybe the millionth time. There was a lot riding on it. Our punishments could even be death, although everyone kept saying that wouldn’t happen to us.

“No,” he said patiently. “People will make their statements. Then there will be a question and answer session—that’s going to be the hardest part. Then, we’ll get to say what we want. Biting you was a serious offense, but we’ve already passed the Seven’s test, and Sebastian and Donovan themselves pardoned us. This is just a formality. It’d be different if that hadn’t happened yet. We’d need to prepare defenses and arguments, but I can’t think of a reason why it wouldn’t go our way now. Just tell everyone what happened, and they’ll get it. It’s going to be fine. Trust me.”

“Okay.” I’d been working on my speech for the past couple of days, but it wasn’t going very well. The Tribunal wasn’t until Monday night, so I still had some time to get it done. But if Dastien wasn’t too worried, then I shouldn’t be either.

He started down the dirt road. “It’s going to be okay. Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it together.”

“Right.” I squeezed his hand, but I wasn’t sure I believed that. I’d never been lucky enough to have things go smoothly. Something told me this wasn’t going to be as easy as Dastien thought.





Chapter Three



The drive from my parents’ house didn’t take long. The baseline of Andrew Bayer’s “Bullet Catch” rattled the speakers, and I grinned. I freaking loved this track. The dirty beats made my heart race every time. When the breakdown hit, Dastien squeezed my leg.

He was smiling. I love this one, too.

It’s kind of perfect, right?

He cranked the volume as he hit the gas, and we wound through the curves of a back road, pushing his fancy-ass car to its limits.

This. This was why I was with him. He’d totally played this track for me—for us—because he knew it’d make me happy.

The greens and browns of the forest blurred past. As we neared campus, a brick fence loomed. The gates to St. Ailbe’s were just ahead. I held my breath, waiting for Dastien to slow down, but he blew straight past.

I gripped the door handle. You missed it.

Did I?

He sounded a little more than mischievous. The guy was definitely up to something. Where are we going?

I want a little time with you before tonight. Is that okay?

Alone time with Dastien? You read my mind.

He laughed, because that wasn’t far from the truth. Ever since I’d gone furry for the first time, we’d been using this form of communication more and more. It was easier than talking aloud. Or maybe I just liked it better. It felt special.