Becoming Alpha

Caleb groaned as he fell to the ground.

“No one calls my sister a bitch, you—”

Dad appeared behind Axel and grabbed him before Axel could do any more damage to Caleb. “What the hell is going on out here?” He looked from my brother to me and then to Caleb, who was holding his hand against his face. It wasn’t the first time this had happened, but it was the first time it’d happened during one of my father’s parties.

I stared at the ground hard. “It was my fault.” I didn’t choke on the words, but they didn’t come out easily.

“Tessa?” Mom said. “Why don’t you go upstairs, honey?”

I nodded, doing my best to not look disappointed and failing. It hadn’t been my idea to leave my room in the first place. Mom reached out to touch me, but I dodged her.

The crowd parted as I made my way inside. I tried not to listen to any of the whispers that followed in my wake. When I was halfway up the stairs, the DJ started playing again. By now, Mom would have taken care of Caleb, and Axel would go for a drive to wherever it was he went. And I would be here. Alone.

I couldn’t wait to leave LA. The less population density this new town had the better.

Still, I wondered if Texas would be any better. I hoped so, but Axel was right. If I didn’t learn to control these visions, my life would never be any kind of normal.

***

I was in bed trying to figure out how I’d let the night get so out of control when someone knocked on my door. Instead of waiting for an answer, Mom came in. She made her way around the boxes in my room and sat on the foot of my bed.

“On a scale of one to ten, how mad is Dad?”

Mom sighed. “He’s not mad, honey.”

I finally met her gaze. “I’m not buying that. I embarrassed him in front of all those people.”

“What’s a Hollywood party without a little drama?” She patted my leg. “We’re more worried about you.”

I stared at the ceiling. “It’s fine. I’m fine.”

“No. You’re not. But we’re hoping Texas will be better. That’s the whole reason we’re moving.”

I gathered my courage and hoped for the answer I wanted. “Is St. Ailbe’s a school for kids like me?”

She stuck her tongue out in a look of disgust. “No!” Then she laughed at herself. “No way. You would not fit in there. Trust me.”

Interesting. So who would fit in there? “Then why Texas? Why make Dad leave his job instead of making me switch schools again?”

I’d been through most of the private ones in Los Angeles while in lower school. By third grade, I’d exhausted all options. They finally sent me back to my original one. It was a good school, but that’s not why I went back there. The thinking was that my brother could keep an eye out for me. Their plan sort of worked. But my brother graduated, so that was that. Why my parents refused for me to do home schooling was beyond me. It would’ve made life so much easier.

“There’s really no one left who will take you besides Westlake, and I know you don’t want to stay there.”

Well that was embarrassing. “What about the public schools?”

Mom shook her head. “Not in this county. I want you to have an excellent education in a safe setting. And with your brother going off to college, it’s time for a new place. I always wanted an excuse to move back to Texas anyhow.”

“I could always do home schooling.”

“No way, kiddo. You’re already in your own head enough. I won’t let you become a hermit.”

“But Dad—”

“Why don’t you let me worry about your father? Okay? This job is a good one. He’ll be making the same as he was here with a fraction of the workload. After you leave for college, we’ll talk about coming back to LA, but I doubt we will. I have a feeling we’re all going to be happier there. Plus, we’ll be by your cousins. I think you’ll find that you have more in common with them than you think.”

That had me sitting up. “Seriously?” The crazy brujos? She thought I’d have more in common with a bunch of crazy people that thought they were witches. I knew my abuela had gifts like mine, but some of the stuff the rest of the family believed was really out there. I doubted they’d see eye to eye with me.

“It’s my fault really. I didn’t keep up with them after your abuela died.” Her voice was soft, and tinged with regret. “But I tracked down my cousin Ana, and her twins Veronica and Carlos both have gifts. They’re a few years younger than you, but it’s better than nothing.”

She had a point. They couldn’t be any worse than the kids at school. Plus, who was I to judge someone for being weird.

Mom stood up, and smoothed down her dress. “I know it’s been hard for you here, but it’ll get easier.”

“Thanks. As you can tell,” I motioned to the boxes, “I think I might be ready to move.”

She laughed. “Good. You can help me pack the kitchen tomorrow.”

“Sure thing.”

Dad popped in the doorway. “You okay, princess?”