Alpha Divided (Alpha Girl Book 3)

Enemy Weres streamed in from the parking lot, led by a certain wolf I remembered from my nightmares.

Now. I needed to smash the jars. They were both here, and if Luciana was using some of my power to call up whatever that was, then I needed to cut her off. Fast.

A vampire swiped at me, and I dodged out of the way and hit the ground rolling. The vampire lunged again, and I heard Claudia shout the incantation just before the vampire’s ashes rained down on me.

Shit. This was getting bad.

Before one more thing could go wrong, I threw the jars as hard as I could on the ground. Both jars bounced and started rolling away from me.

My heart dropped into my stomach. “No. Oh shit.”

“What’s wrong?” Claudia said.

“The jars.” I pointed at them as they rolled deep into the fight.

“Is that what I think that is?” Daniel asked.

“Yes.”

“I’ll get them,” Claudia said.

“No.” I grabbed her arm before she could go. “It’s too dangerous.”

“I’ll be okay.” She ran after the jars before I could stop her.

I didn’t have time to watch her. A mass of black fur headed my way and I took off running. I dodged around a tree, but it was still on me. I could hear it panting. I looked over my shoulder and it was already leaping into the air, teeth bared in a snarl.

I dropped flat on the ground, and the wolf soared overhead.

Before I could get up, a vampire was on me. I didn’t have time to think as anger heated my blood. I wasn’t going to get bit. Not again.

My hands partially shifted and I punched through its chest, ripping out the heart. It collapsed against me and I gagged from the vile stench. I pushed the body off and climbed to my feet, but I was covered in black vampire goo. The half-decayed heart still throbbed in my hand.

Thank God Meredith had been right. I was still a Were. Just not an alpha one.

I tossed the heart on top of the now-still vampire.

Daniel gagged, quickly covering his mouth with his hand. “That’s disgusting.”

“Understatement of the year.” I wiped the vampire goo on my pants and reached into my pocket with my clean hand, grabbing a vial. “Do you mind?” I asked as I held it out to him.

He took the vial and ignited the vampire. “You got any more?”

They weren’t doing me any good, so I unloaded my stash on him. “Be safe.”

Bright bursts of magic were flaring all around me as wolves and witches fought. I tried to find Claudia but it was chaos.

Where in the hell were my fucking jars?

I spotted Dastien’s gray and white fur. The battle had taken him farther away than I’d thought. If something happened, I wanted to be closer to him. I took a breath and started across the quad.

The earth rumbled again as Luciana’s chanting grew louder. I swayed on my feet, trying to stay upright, but something slammed into my side hard enough to break ribs. I hit the ground wheezing.

I couldn’t stop. I had to get it off me. I had to get to Luciana before she finished calling up that hellspawn.

Jaws snapped at my neck, but I managed to hold the mass jet-black fur off of me.

Oh shit. It was Mr. Hoel. It was happening.

I heard Dastien’s howl, and knew what was coming next.

I struggled to stop him, kicking at the mass of fur and muscle that pinned me to the ground, but I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe.

Mr. Hoel started to shift. It was disgusting. His face half wolf, half human. Grotesque.

This was why people were afraid of werewolves. Because of monsters like Mr. Hoel.

His claws dug into my neck. “You’re dead, mutt.”

“No!” Daniel shoved Mr. Hoel with all his weight, pushing the wolf away.

I gasped as the weight lifted.

Mr. Hoel snarled, swinging his claw-like paw. I watched as if in slow motion as Mr. Hoel’s razor-sharp nails went through Daniel’s neck like butter.

Hot blood rained down on my face.

Oh God. Oh God.

Daniel gave a sickening gurgle as he slowly crumpled.

My heartbeat thundered in my ears. It was all I could hear as Daniel hit the ground.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. I was the one who was supposed to die. Not Daniel.

Mr. Hoel, still frozen in his half-shifted state, snarled at me. “You won’t fight. That’s an order.”

For a second I froze. I couldn’t move. His alpha powers had worked, and I couldn’t disobey. He stared at me, his claws dripping with Daniel’s blood.

Then something amazing happened.

My whole body burned. My vision went white, blinding me, and my back bowed up from the ground like a million needles pricked my skin. But it wasn’t a bad thing.

This was good. So very good.

Cherie! Move! Now!

My powers. They were back.

If Claudia was the one who’d just broken the jars, I owed her big time. But I didn’t have time for thanks.

Luciana’s chanting grew louder and I spun toward her. The light around her was gone. Her back was to me, but I knew from the way her chanting had grown frantic, she was pissed.