He gave it a squeeze and I knew he could feel what I was feeling. It was nice to be on the same page with someone. We still had some stuff to work out, but I didn’t doubt that it would. When we had to face the tribunal, we’d do it together. As a team.
My friends were laughing and talking in the back seat. Shannon hadn’t said anything to me, but I had hopes. She’d get over Dastien eventually. There wasn’t another option for her. Or for me. Dastien was mine.
The laughing stopped as we walked toward the mall. “Norms. Ten o’clock,” Adrian said.
Rosalyn, Carlos, and a few others whose names I couldn’t remember were walking toward us. It felt like forever since the party, but it’d only been little more than three weeks. So much had happened.
I stopped walking. Dastien looked from me to them. He gave my arm a little tug and strode straight toward them. As soon as Rosalyn saw me, she stopped talking to Carlos.
I cleared my throat. “Hi.”
“Hi,” she dropped her gaze to the ground. That was weird. She wouldn’t meet my gaze? I scanned the group. They were all staring at the pavement. One girl in the back started to stink. Like fear. It made my wolf want to play. I peeked up at Dastien.
He brought my hand to his lips, and gave a mischievous smirk. “Good to see you, Rosalyn. It’s been a while.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry I had to turn you down for that date, but I’m sure you understand.”
What a total hypocrite. She’d tried to get Dastien? A growl slipped from me. Meredith and Adrian started laughing like a pair of hyenas.
“Come on you guys. I need ice cream.” The Cedar Ridge High crowd parted as Shannon walked through them.
I waited a second until Rosalyn looked up. “See you around.” Her face lost all color. She was totally afraid of me.
Maybe this werewolf thing wasn’t so bad after all. I had a boyfriend—mate—whatever, that I was figuring things out with. A kickass girl friend, which was a first. Sure, there was the whole tribunal thing, the witch thing, the whole Imogene thing and Mr. Hoel still being on the run. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, but I’d be ready for whatever came my way.
I had a feeling that my life was going to start being a whole lot of fun, and I didn’t need a vision to tell me that I was right.
Who needed normal anyway?
The story continues in the second book of the Alpha Girl Series. Pre-Orders available December 17, 2013. For more information, check out the page here: www.inkmonster.net/alphagirl
Acknowledgements
First off, thank you so much to my Seton Hill University Writing Popular Fiction family. It was among you that I found my voice and learned to write. Thank you to my mentors: Karen Williams, Lee McClain, and Maria Snyder. You ladies are amazing. Thank you to my critique partners: Chris Von Halle, Lynn Salsi, and Jenny Gottsch.
Thank you to Lauren Stone. I’m so lucky I got you as a One. You slaved with me over this novel for years. I couldn’t have done it without your help. I’m sorry to say that you’re stuck with me forever.
Thank you to Kime Heller-Neal. I couldn’t have done the final revision. Thank you for pushing me that last little bit. You rock.
Thank you to my mother-in-law, Kristi Latcham, who saved my butt by proofreading this sucker.
Thank you to everyone else who ever critiqued me. I love getting notes, and every time I got them, my writing improved.
Thank you also to Christina Bauer, my partner in publishing crime. You kick ass.
And last but not least, thank you to my family. I’m blessed to have each and every one of you in my life. I don’t have words for how much I love you all. And to my husband, you’re amazing. Thank you for being my partner. For picking me up when I had a bad day of writing and cheering me on when it was going well.
To anyone who wants to write, my advice is this: Read a ton. Then, read some more. Write every day. Finish a draft. Allow yourself to let it be a shitty one. And then get yourself some good critique partners and listen to them. They’re worth their weight in gold.