by Aileen Erin
Mr. Dawson, Sebastian, and Donovan stood in front of the fire with Imogene. She had a backpack on, and a large duffel at her feet.
I had to respect her as she stood there ramrod straight, gaze focused above us, ready to face her fate.
Once everyone was seated, Mr. Dawson stepped forward. “You all know what happened with Imogene and her father. But here today, we’re going to ignore her relations. This is a decision her peer pack must make as she plotted against and harmed some of our own. I could make the decision, but all of you would have to live with it. And so you must decide.”
He put his hand on Imogene’s shoulder. “Imogene Hoel stands before you ready to be cast from the pack. Should you decide that as her fate, she will walk away from here with what she has and should she ever appear again—come as an enemy. Or you can decide that she stay on.”
Mr. Dawson glanced around the circle. “The vote will be placed, and the majority will rule. May fair hearts and minds rule your decisions.”
He paused. A few murmurs filled the night, but were soon quieted. “If anyone has anything to say to sway the decision, now is your time to speak.”
I looked around the fire. No one glanced her way. “Are you going to say anything?” I asked Dastien. He sat on the log next to me. His fingers twined with my ungloved ones.
“No, ma cherie. I’m not in your class and I’m not in your peer pack. I’m only here to help you to and from the meeting.”
Right.
As the seconds turned into minutes, my heart started to race. I couldn’t sit here and let them do this to her. Not after she apologized to me. As much as I wanted her gone, she’d made a mistake. Lord knew no one in my old schools ever listened to me or gave me any second chances. I couldn’t condemn her to the same fate.
“Help me up,” I whispered.
“What are you going to say?”
“Fine. Don’t help me up.”
Dastien growled as I stood. He kept his hand wrapped around the back of my calf, making sure I stayed upright.
“Hey, everyone. Tessa here.” I paused as everyone looked my way. “I know I’m new and I really have no idea how this is supposed to go or what I’m supposed to say or…I’ll stop rambling. The thing is, I guess I’m the one here that should want her to go the most. I mean—she tried to take my guy. She nearly had me kidnapped by vampires. Twice. Because of her dad, my guy actually was kidnapped by them. She attacked me. Twice. One of which was a total sucker punch, which was way lame.”
Dastien’s hand tightened around my calf.
I reached down and ran my fingers through his hair as I looked out among my classmates—my peer pack. “What I’m trying to say is that yeah—she’s done bad stuff, but maybe she’s not a terrible person. People make dumb mistakes all the time. And yes, hers were really seriously stupid, but I think if we give her a second chance, maybe she’ll be better. She knows what she will lose now and how quickly things can go wrong. She’ll have to earn back our trust, and it won’t be easy, but if she’s willing to work for it—then I think we should give her a shot.”
My strength waned, and Dastien stood, holding me against his side. “All I know is that everyone deserves a second chance. Maybe that’s really human of me. Maybe that’s not how things work here. But I really hope it is. I vote she stays.”
I looked over at Mr. Dawson. “I’m tired. Is it okay if I don’t stay for everyone else to vote?”
Donovan smiled. “Take her home, pup.”
He smiled down at me. “Ready?”
I nodded, and he swung me up into his arms.
I met Imogene’s gaze. “Good luck,” I mouthed.
A tear rolled down her face and she wiped it away. “Thank you,” she mouthed back.
Dastien lifted me into his arms, and I rested my head on his shoulder. I couldn’t control what anyone else did, but I had to do what felt right for my own conscience. Speaking up for her when no one else would felt right.
Somewhere between the fire and my dorm, I fell fast asleep.
***
Three days later I was going stir crazy. My days were filled with trying to figure out the homework on my own and resting. The good thing—or maybe it was bad—was that my peer pack decided to let Imogene stay. I hoped speaking up for her didn’t end up being a wrong move on my part, but I felt that I’d done what was right. Even if Meredith disagreed. The vote hadn’t been unanimous in the end, but Imogene had gotten enough to stay.
The vampire venom was gone, but its effects lingered. Everyone was being really great about it. They came by to hang out in shifts—to bring me homework, give me a bit of gossip, or play cards. Dastien stayed almost all the time, and spent the night in his wolf form in my bed. Apparently we were stretching the rules a bit, but since he stayed furry after hours, no one said anything. Even with the distractions, I wasn’t going to last much longer cooped up.
It might have been Saturday, but I’d be damned if I stayed in my pajamas for another day. I grabbed some clothes from my closet and went into the bathroom to get ready for the day, leaving wolf-Dastien sleeping in my bed.
When I got out, he was gone. I peeked into Meredith’s room. “Have you seen Dastien?”
“He’s grabbing his stuff. Thought you’d like a day out.”
A silly grin spread across my face. “A day out? Does that mean I’ve been cleared for my regularly scheduled life to resume?”
“You’ve been a good little patient.” She patted my head, and I knocked her hand away. “But you’re now free to leave the confines of your room. Dr. Gonzales checked on you last night and cleared you.”
This was amazing news. “I’m seriously in for something normal.”
Dastien came in with car keys in hand. “Ready?”
“Totally.”
We walked to the parking lot and then I stopped. Adrian, Chris and Shannon were leaning against a Porsche. The SUV kind, but still. “Seriously?”
“You don’t like my car?” Dastien said.
I pointed to it. “That’s not a car. It’s a Car.”
“Graduation present.”
Meredith elbowed me in the side. “Yeah right. Didn’t you know he was loaded?”
“I guess it never came up,” I said.
“You can call home on the way.” Dastien held out a phone as he opened the door for me. “If you want, we can stop by.”
I snatched it from him as I jumped in, and quickly dialed Mom. She answered on the first ring. Dad was home and she said she’d get Axel to drive down for dinner if we all wanted to come eat. I told her we’d be by in a couple hours and to think each wolf was like ten humans. She laughed and said she’d go buy burgers in bulk.
I was still processing everything. Somehow the witch thing was easier to deal with than the shifting. Hopefully. I still hadn’t gone furry, but I knew that it’d happen soon. When it did, I’d deal with it. Just like I’d dealt with everything else.
Dastien held my hand as he drove. The spark that went between us was strong. I felt more connected to him than ever before. He glanced at me. He was happy, content. And thanks to our bond, I knew that he liked the feel of his hand in mine.
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 a
nd 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.
