Becoming Alpha

by Aileen Erin

  “Tais-toi,” Dastien said.

  Mr. Dawson hung up the phone and cleared his throat. “It’s official. No one has seen Sebastian or Donovan since they went to investigate how the vampires found us.”

  “Merde,” Trent said. That was one French word I knew.

  “How could this happen?” Dastien walked to Mr. Dawson.

  “I’m not sure. Had to be an ambush of some sort. They can’t be taken easily.” He sighed. “I can’t think that it’s a coincidence that they go missing and Rupert shows up.” He looked straight at me, even though he couldn’t actually see me. “You may have been onto something bigger than even I thought.”

  Dastien started pacing. “The vampires have been acting up more the past couple of years. Especially recently. Do you think they could’ve found a leader?”

  “No. You don’t just change your behavior after centuries. There’s got to be something more. I’m just missing it.”

  The door to Mr. Dawson’s cabin swung open. Five guys in all black with guns ran in. There were three quick shots.

  I screamed.

  “Drugged,” Dastien said. “Run.”

  Ice ran through my veins. I didn’t know how to break the link. I checked on Mr. Dawson.

  Mr. Dawson glanced at me like he knew where I was. “Out.” The command rolled through me, pushing me out of the cabin. I tried to stop it, but the power behind it was too much. I sped through trees and buildings to get back to my body. It wasn’t comfortable. By the time I found myself lying on my bed, I wondered if I’d ever feel right again.

  I didn’t have much time to think about it before Meredith strolled through the bathroom with Shannon in tow.

  The music was still blasting.

  “We’ve got news. And it’s not good.” Meredith said. Shannon hovered behind her.

  I shot up from the bed. “Run. Now.” I grabbed my cell phone and keys from my bedside table.

  “Wait. What!” Meredith said.

  The knob on my door twisted. “Window. Now. Fucking now!”

  I leapt onto the windowsill and jumped down. The landing was easy this time, and I sprinted across campus like the hounds of hell were on my heels. I didn’t look back to see if Meredith and Shannon were there. Maybe that meant I was a bad person, but Dastien was in trouble. I needed off this campus. I needed help from someone I could actually trust.

  The parking lot was packed with big black SUVs. I clicked my car key, and set off in the direction of my car. Thankfully, I owned a black SUV too.

  I was going to have to thank Axel for that one again.

  I spotted my car and unlocked the doors. For the first time I spared a glance behind me, and I was surprised to see not only Meredith and Shannon, but Adrian and Chris were there too. I wasn’t sure when they’d shown up.

  “Get in.” I closed my door, and started the car. I didn’t wait for them to buckle their seat belts. The gates were half-open as another SUV made its way into the parking lot. I swerved around it, and down the road.

  “What in the fuck is going on!” Meredith said.

  “Sebastian and Donovan are missing. And while I was linked to Dastien—long story—five cazadors broke down the door to Mr. Dawson’s cabin and shot Dastien, Mr. Dawson and Trent with tranqs. Dastien said to run. When I broke the link, Jason was coming into my room. So I got the hell out.”

  A stream of curses came from my backseat.

  “Tranqs. That’s so damned cowardly,” Chris said.

  “¡Conchesumá!” Adrian hit the back of my chair.

  “Whoa. Let’s not break my car.” What he said registered. “You kiss your mother with that mouth?”

  “The word fits the man,” Adrian said.

  “Where did you guys come from anyways?” I said.

  “We were in the quad walking back to the dorm from the cafeteria when we saw you jump from the window. When Meredith and Shannon followed we figured there’s too much drama on campus today to not see what was going on with you.” Chris squeezed my shoulder. “You’re getting much better at the jumping from the window thing. That leap was a thing of beauty.”

  I snorted. “Fourth time’s the charm?”

  “Where are we going exactly?” Shannon said.

  I sighed. “To my house. Kind of obvious, so we can’t stay long, but we need to regroup and find out what the hell is going on and what they’re planning to do with Dastien and Mr. D. I have a really bad feeling. Sunset isn’t far away and something tells me if we don’t find them before then…” I took a calming breath. “We have to find him.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  I pulled up the driveway. Axel stepped out onto the porch. “You’re home!” I said as I ran toward him.

  “What’s goin’ on?” He hugged me tightly and my feet lifted off the ground for a second. “I heard something went down today and wanted to check on you. Why haven’t you called me?”

  “It’s been a little intense.” I paused. “You shouldn’t be here. It’s not safe.”

  He glanced past me as everyone got out of the car. “Then maybe you shouldn’t have brought home so many wolves with you.”

  “Not them, you moron. Something just went down at school. Everything is beyond messed up.”

  A girl and a boy about my age stepped onto the porch. They looked enough alike—straight black hair, dark eyes, long straight noses, and full lips—to know they were related.

  “Dude. This is not the time for a party,” I said. “You and Mom and Dad need to get the hell out of town. Like yesterday.”

  “We know what’s going on, Teresa,” the guy said. His black hair just brushed the tops of his shoulders. He wore relaxed jeans that were ripped at the knee and his light blue guayabera made his skin look a richer brown. “We’re here to help.”

  Chris nudged me. “Dude. Your name’s Teresa?”

  Typical. My full name is what he pays attention to. I shoved him back. “Shut it.”

  Axel put his arm around my shoulders, guiding me to the front door. “Come on. We need to talk.”

  I shrugged his arm off. “We don’t really have time for that. I came by to get you guys out of here, and so that we,” I motioned to my group, “could regroup.”

  “You have until sunset,” the girl said. She smoothed down the skirt of her hot pink sundress. Her long hair was pulled back into a high pony tail. “Wasting time arguing now won’t save your mate.”

  Adrian stepped up next to me and sniffed the air. “¿Brujos?”

  “Claro,” the guy said. “Venga. Tenemos un poco de información que puede ayudarte.”

  Adrian stepped to follow the siblings into my house, but I stopped him. “Can we trust whatever information they have?”

  “We don’t have any reason not to trust them,” Adrian said.

  Meredith cleared her throat.

  “Unless you’re fighting one.” Adrian had the grace to blush a little. “And then all bets are off. But normally, witches and Weres get along fine.”

  I thought it over for a second. If they had any information that could help me save Dastien, I couldn’t ignore it.

  When I stepped through the door, Mom hugged me tightly. “You can’t call this time, Mom. No one can know where we are. Even if it might be the first place someone would look.”

  “Sure.” She kissed my forehead and I saw her worries. Namely me biting my brother. “Can I get anyone anything to eat?” She didn’t wait for a response as she dug through cupboards, piling snacks on the dining room table.

  We so didn’t have time for any kind of snacks. God only knew what was happening to Dastien. My skin rippled and I took ten long, deep breaths. Wolfing out in front of my family was not an option.

  Food was probably a good call. I grabbed a couple of Oreos. “Thanks, Mom.”

  “Why doesn’t everyone have a seat?” Dad said. “And then we can get back to what your cousins came here for.”

  I spun to look at them closer. If they really were related to me, I didn’t remembe
r them at all.

  We settled in around the large table. Dad stood behind me, and Mom stayed near the door. I sat across from my “cousins,” with Meredith and Chris on either side of me. Shannon and Adrian took the heads of the table, and Axel sat next to the guy “cousin.”

  Dad squeezed my shoulders. “Claudia, please.”

  The name was familiar, but the last time I’d seen any of my mother’s family was over a decade ago.

  Claudia nodded. “It’s really good to meet you. Again. Your parents told us that you didn’t know about us or what your place was supposed to be here.”

  What the what? I glanced at Mom.

  “I only did it to protect you. Living with La Alquelarre can be a bit much, and with what you could do and so young…it was better to give you choices. But when that wasn’t working out for you, I thought maybe they could help.”

  The guy leaned closer. “I’m Raphael, Claudia’s twin. Our mothers are sisters.”

  “We’re brujos. Witches,” Claudia said. “You were supposed join La Alquelarre—our coven—this year.”

  “Holy shit. This is out of control.” Adrian clapped his hands, and then blushed.

  Wow. I’d never seen him blush, and now he’d done it twice.

  Adrian cleared his throat and sat taller in his chair. “It’s really nice to meet you guys,” he said in a much more controlled voice.

  Raphael nodded. “Igualmente. Wish it could be under better circumstances.” His gaze met mine again. His female counterpart might have been friendly, but this guy was all business. “Vampires are hanging out in the caves just north of your school. It seems your pack is having some problems with them?”

  I moved uncomfortably in my seat. “It’s not my pack.”

  Claudia and Raphael shared a look. “Nevertheless,” Raphael continued, “you need to stabilize the pack. If you can’t, there will be war. It seems one of your wolves thought it’d make him look good to humans if he brought a bunch of vampires here, have them tear apart this little town and the wolves would come to the rescue.”

  That sounded completely crazy. And totally like the Hoels. “How do you know?”

  “Because we had a visitor at our house today. We were told, not so nicely, to stay out of the way tonight,” Raphael said. “So we came here to talk to your parents, hoping that they knew some way to contact you.”

  Meredith slapped her hand on the table. “Fuck a duck.”

  “Language!” Mom said.

  I grinned. Even when the world was going to crap, she was watching everyone’s language. Maybe one day she’d realize it was a lost cause. “She’s sorry, Mom.”

  Meredith scoffed, her jaw dropping open. I grabbed a handful of Doritos and shoved them in her mouth.

  “If you don’t take care of this problem, then La Alquelarre will,” Raphael said. “I don’t think any of your pack would like that.”

  This wasn’t good. At all.

  Chris growled, and I placed my hand on his arm. “Calm down.” I focused back on the twins. “We want this taken care of as much as you do. And—”

  “We’re missing some of our alphas.” Shannon cut me off, and I tried not to punch her for it. “Can you scry for them?” Shannon asked the twins.

  “Scry?” I asked.

  “It’s a form of divination and can sometimes be used to locate someone in the present,” Raphael said.

  “I’m sorry. Our powers don’t work like that.” Claudia looked at me. “But hers do.”

  Everyone but Meredith expressed surprise. Chris must’ve noticed. “You knew about her and you didn’t tell us?” he said to Meredith.

  “It was her secret to tell, ass—”

  Mom cleared her throat.

  “—dude,” Meredith finished.

  “¡Joder! I should’ve known when you said you were like half-bruja blood.”

  “Don’t take it too hard. I’ve apparently gotten pretty good about hiding it.” I sat quietly for a second as I gathered my thoughts. “If I understand everything right—which might be a stretch because I’m kind of a newbie—Mr. Hoel can’t do this whole vampire attack thing with wolves more alpha than he is. They’d order him to stop. So he took out the four wolves in the area that are more than him the fastest way he could, tranquilizers, and then shoved them somewhere. But no wolf could be ordered to kill their alpha, they’re not doing that. At least not yet. But even if Mr. Hoel pulls off today, he’s going to have to deal with the alphas. So, my best guess is that he’s going to ditch them someplace close to the vamps. Have them take care of them. Then celebrate with a lovely supernatural coming out party.”

  “Shit,” Chris said. “It makes so much sense when she lays it out like that. How come she can see it and I couldn’t?”

  Shannon rubbed her forehead. “Because she’s new to this life. She’s seeing things we wouldn’t dream of. Taking out your alpha other than at a full moon challenge is bloody disgraceful.”

  Knowing what might be going on and doing something about it were two completely different things. “We need to find them. They’ll know what to do.”

  “The question is,” Adrian said, “did they drop them in the caves with the vamps? Or did they stash them somewhere to be dealt with later?”

  My face burned. “I have maybe a dumb question.”

  “There are no dumb questions,” Claudia said with a smile.

  “No. Only dumb people.” When she started to retort, I started talking again. “Do vampires stay awake during the day or are they like dead-ish? I mean some movies have them where they just can’t go out in sunlight, but others where they can’t function when the sun is up.”

  “The second. When the sun is up, they’re dead,” Chris said.

  “Caves.” I glanced at my watch. “Mr. H would leave them in the den to be food when the vamps wake. That doesn’t give us much time to get there, drag their asses out, and stop any attack on the town.”

  “I should mention that this isn’t a small den. There are a lot of them,” Raphael said.

  “Think hundreds,” Claudia said.

  “Perfect. It’s not like we’ll be outnumbered at all,” Meredith said.

  “Shit.” I slapped a hand over my mouth as soon as I let it slip.

  “Tess!” Mom said.

  “Sorry, Mom, but really—this is a completely shit scenario.”

  “Tess,” Axel said. He’d been so quiet, I almost forgot he was there. “This seems really dangerous. I think you should leave with us. Let’s just go.”

  “Sorry, broham. No can do.” I smiled sadly. Things had changed so much in the past couple of weeks.

  “She’s right, Axel,” Dad said. “Even if I want to lock your sister up to keep her safe, she’s got a different path now.”

  That made me feel nearly like a grown up. Maybe I wasn’t such a mess after all.

  “You need to be sure before you go into a vampire den that the wolves are actually there,” Meredith said, breaking the silence. “Can you connect with him? Like you did before?”

  “Maybe. But what if he’s all drugged-out still?”

  Claudia reached across the table. “If you can connect with one of your pack, then I’ll give you the power to strengthen the connection. Should be enough to see him even if they’re unconscious and get an idea about their surroundings.”

  That seemed like a bad idea.

  “You won’t get anything off of me.” She winked.

  I didn’t really know what she meant about power.

  “You can trust her,” Mom said. “She’s family. She’ll help.”

  My hand shook a little as I placed my hand in hers, but Claudia didn’t comment on it.

  I gasped as our skin touched. It was like sticking my hand in an electric socket. Or like drinking ten gallons of coffee. I was hyperaware of my senses, and since I was already part-wolf—it was majorly intense. The colors in the room were brighter. The scents stronger. I could hear every breath being taken, every heart beating.

  “N
ow close your eyes,” Claudia said, “and picture your mate.”

  I did. My consciousness raced out of my house, through the wilderness, to a cave. Through tunnels. To four men huddled on the floor. They were chained. Their skin smoked where metal met flesh. Dastien and Mr. Dawson were still unconscious, but Donovan and Sebastian were awake.

  “And who might you be?” Donovan said, looking my way. He sniffed. “Is that you, Teresa Elizabeth McCaide?”

  “Can you hear me?” I asked.

  Donovan and Sebastian looked at each other and then down at Dastien. “Wake,” Donovan said. Power rippled over my skin, and Dastien gasped.

  “Merde!” He groaned. “What is it? What happened?” he said as he took in his surroundings. “Putain de merde!”

  “Dastien,” I said.

  His gaze met mine. “Please tell me you’re not actually here.”

  If he could actually see me, then Claudia’s extra juice was worth it. “I’m not there. But I’m coming. Just hang on.”

  I didn’t give him a chance to say anything else. They were fine for now, but they wouldn’t stay that way. I broke the link, and was back in my parents’ dining room. “I know where they are. Let’s go.”

  My chair toppled to the floor as I jumped up.

  “One more thing,” Raphael said. He went to the living room and brought back two small backpacks. “You’ll need these.”

  “No way!” Adrian said.

  The others fell in line, ooohing over them. “Am I missing something?”

  “Weapons.” Claudia grinned, revealing two deep dimples.

  “Not just any weapons,” Adrian said. “Bruja weapons. They’re the best.”

  “Sí,” Raphael said. “For the one who doesn’t wish to change and the one who cannot.”

  Meredith took the pack but held it away from her like it was going to bite her.

  “I packed these special for each of you. You’ll know what to do with what’s inside,” Claudia said.

  That was kind of creepy. I grabbed the other backpack. “Great. Thanks. Now can we go?”

  “Wait.” Dad’s hand clamped down on my shoulder.

  I tried to contain my frustration. Did anyone else understand that we had extreme time constraints?