Becoming Alpha

When I finished, she didn’t say anything for a minute. I chewed on my nails as I waited.

Finally, she leaned back on the bed and let out a huge breath. “Wow. No wonder you snapped. What Dastien did is unforgivable. Inexcusable. And completely unlike him. I mean, it’s unbelievable. After I met you I didn’t believe all the stuff about you seducing him, you just seem more real than that. But I thought it was at least consensual.” She got up and started pacing beside the bed. “Why would he do that? What was he thinking! To risk his life and yours…I can’t believe it. It doesn’t make sense.”

I opened my mouth, ready to defend myself, but she held up her hand.

“No. No. I believe you. But I’m blown away. I can’t imagine what you must be going through right now. I thought you were just having trouble adjusting, but your reactions make so much more sense now.” She collapsed on the bed.

I don’t know what I’d expected when I started telling her my story, but for some reason, I didn’t think it’d be sympathy.

“And I have a working theory about your visions.”

I laughed. “Let’s hear it.”

She held up a finger. “One, I think they’re going to come back. Some of the really powerful werewolves have special abilities. There’s a Were I heard about that could move things with his mind. But since you’re different now, they might be different.”

The sense of relief was palpable. “Really?”

“Yep.” She held up a second finger. “And tied to that is my second point—werewolves have stronger minds. We’re not like humans, open for anyone to take a peek. It’s why we’re such good hunters. I mean what if there was a bad witch around? How would we be able to sneak up on her?”

This made sense, in an insane way. “Seriously?”

“Totally. I bet once you get settled with your wolf, you’ll be able to see more and you’ll have more control than you did as a witch.”

“I wasn’t a witch.”

“You might not have known it, but that doesn’t make it untrue. And now you’re like a werewitch or something.”

Oh God. I wasn’t touching that one. I had more than enough issues to deal with.

“By the way, forget what that idiot Nikki said. In case you didn’t notice the resemblance, she’s Imogene’s little sister.”

It made so much more sense now. “What a bitch.”

“I know, right? I’ve never gotten along with those two or any of their crew. You should’ve heard what they said when I put the blue streaks in my hair.” She patted my leg. “Get up.”

“What? Where are we going?”

“Last class of the day and we’ve got it together.”

“No way in hell am I going.” I put a pillow over my face. “I’ve had enough for one day.” It came out muffled, but I didn’t care.

“You can’t hide. You can’t let them win.” She took away the pillow and stared down at me. “This will be good for you. You’ll punch and kick all that anger out, and then the yoga will center you. It’s a must. Plus, I’ll be there and so will Chris, Shannon, and Adrian. It’ll be fun.”

“Martial arts really isn’t my thing.”

“It might not have been, but it is now. Trust me.”

“But doesn’t Dastien teach—”

“Crap. I didn’t think of that.” She paced beside the bed. “I hope Mr. Dawson is smart enough to sub out Dastien from our class, but if not, we need a plan.” She stopped mid-step. An evil grin spread across her face. “Oh. I’m brilliant. I was going to pair up with you, but if Dastien is there, you have to pair up with Chris. It’ll drive Dastien crazy.”

“Wouldn’t that be using Chris?”

She waved a hand through the air. “He won’t mind.” She went through my drawers and pulled out my usual yoga attire—stretchy fold-over pants, a sports bra, and a tank. “I’m going to get changed. I’ll be back here in two and you’d better be up and ready to do some damage.”

I shed my jeans and T-shirt. The thought of doing martial arts in front of class was incredibly intimidating. Not that everyone would stop to watch me make an idiot of myself, but they could. My day so far had included more than my fair share of being stared at.

I was slipping on my kicks when she rushed back into my room. “Let’s go,” she said as she grabbed my wrist and dragged me to the door.

“I’m coming. Jeez. This can’t be that exciting.”

“If Dastien’s there, it’s going to be more than exciting.”

Oh, perfect. She just wanted to watch the drama unfold. “For you, maybe.”

“No maybe about it.”

“Glad my drama can entertain you.”

She pulled her blue and black hair in a high ponytail. “Me too. It was way more boring here before you came.”

I probably shouldn’t have liked that, but I did. Making someone else happy made me feel good.

Maybe this class wasn’t going to be so bad. I trusted Meredith. She was the first person, not counting family, that knew about my abilities, and she hadn’t freaked out.

How hard could it really be to get through one martial arts class?





Chapter Twenty-Two