Alpha Unleashed (6 page)

“Agreed,” Mr. Dawson said. “Who will you send?”

“Mal.”

Who's Mal?
I asked Dastien.

One of the best wolves I've ever known.

Coming from Dastien, that was high praise.

“Good choice.”

“Aye. He's been working on a problem for me in the area. Just going to have to expand his job a bit now. Pack is feeling better from my end. On yours?” He asked Mr. Dawson.

“Much better, but I wasn't feeling much before.”

“And you?” Donovan asked me.

“Me?”

“Aye. What are you feeling?”

“It's good. As soon as you closed the pack, it was like everything solidified. It felt calm again.”

“Good. We've had enough of that then. When this bit with Luciana is over with, I'll meet up with Mal. See what's what. Until then…” He turned back toward campus. A group of students and Cazadores were watching the flood of Weres leaving campus. “Show's over. Everyone who's not patrolling get to bed.”

Mr. Dawson and Donovan headed for the admin building, hauling a very unhappy looking Joseph between them.

I shook my head at the sight. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes. Not in a million years.

Finally, everyone dispersed, with Adrian giving orders on getting their road trip to Peru underway. Dastien and I started walking toward his cabin, but he was even more quiet than usual. “Are you okay?”

“Sure.”

“Why don't I believe you?”

He tucked a strand of curls behind his ear. “Some of the Cazadores that left—they were my friends. I trusted them. Fought with them. But they left? When we're in the middle of a war with the witches?”

“I'm sorry.” I said the words even though I knew they probably wouldn't help.

He was hurting now, but Donovan had a point. We were better off cutting loose the Weres who weren't behind our cause. If we were going to beat Luciana, we had to be united.

If this was part of one of her schemes—to weaken the pack—it had definitely been a good one. Luckily, we'd caught it sooner rather than later.

I had a feeling it wasn't the last we'd see of those wolves. Maybe they'd stay gone until Luciana was out of the way, but we hadn't gotten rid of them for good. I just hoped this Mal guy—whoever he was—was as badass as Dastien thought.

For now, I was pushing away any thoughts of rogue Weres. That was one thing off my already full plate.

Now all I had to worry about were psychotic witches and night terrors that might be visions of the future.

Chapter Five

An echo boomed through the empty gym as my back slammed against the mat. Air wrenched from my lungs. “Fuck.” I moaned the word as soon as I could catch my breath. It was the third time in less than five minutes that I'd ended up on the floor. The pain receded almost as quickly as it came.

At least being a werewolf was good for some things.

“You okay?” Dastien's voice had only a hint of concern.

Jerk. “No.” I squeezed my eyes shut. If I pretended really hard, I could nearly imagine I was snug in my bed. Then I caught the scent of the highly polished wood mixed with the plastic in the floor mats and even I couldn't pretend I was anywhere but the gym.

After a few hours of fitful sleep, we'd seen Adrian, Shane, Beth, and Kaden off on their way to move Raphael, and Dastien had dragged me here.

It was half-past five in the morning, and he was convinced that getting me totally exhausted would loosen my mind enough that I'd finally
see
what I needed to see. “I'm dead. You killed me this time.”

“You're breathing fine.” My mate's voice lifted up at the end, and I knew he was smiling at me. He was closer now. Standing right above me even though I hadn't heard him move. The scent of forest overpowered the plastic as he moved even closer.

“I wasn't a second ago. Can we be done?”

He nudged my leg with his foot. “I told you I wasn't going easy on you.”

I finally opened my eyes. I was right. He was smiling.

No. Not smiling.
Smirking.

“I think we passed the ‘not going easy' on me and went straight for ‘kicking my ass.' Really. This is getting a bit ridiculous.”

“I have to go hard on you right now. You want to stop having nightmares, right?” I didn't like the stress in his voice. I wasn't the only one being affected by my dreams.

“Right.” I wiped the sweat off my face and onto my collar, but it didn't help much. My T-shirt was already soaked through.

“Come on. I know you're tired, but I think this is loosening you up. Just relax. Let your mind wander, and it'll come.” Dastien reached down to me, muscles flexing under his gray T-shirt. His sweatpants hung low on his hips, and he was barefoot. The sight of him made me melt.

From the second I first saw him I'd wanted him more than I'd ever wanted anything. I'd fought our bond when I first became a Were—because the whole biting thing hadn't gone over well—but I was done with that. Long done.

He leaned forward, patiently waiting for me to take his hand. “Come on,” he said again. When he smiled, his dimples made deep dents in his cheeks.

Damn it. He knew exactly what he was doing to me, but I couldn't deny that face. Maybe one day I'd get used to him and I'd be able to get my own way once in a while.

I put my hand in his and instantly our bond strengthened. “I'm glad you're enjoying this.”

His grin got even bigger. “You can't lie to me. I know you're having fun, too.”

“I'd rather do a different kind of wrestling on the mat.” I raised an eyebrow.

“Don't try to tempt me with your wiles.”

I shook my head. “Wiles? Seriously?” Sometimes he acted way older than twenty.

“Let's try it again. This time you try and take me to the mat.”

“But I don't know what I'm doing.” A piece of my long, brown hair fell in my eyes, and I pulled my hair out of its rubber band.

“Just do whatever feels right. This is good for you, beyond helping with the visions. We're going to be fighting for our lives. Maybe tonight. You have to be ready. I don't—”

“Want to lose you.” I finished for him. I'd heard this speech a lot the past few days. When Luciana stripped me of my powers, it had affected Dastien in a big way. He kept worrying about losing me or losing our bond. Honestly, I wasn't sure which of us it had hurt more. But it didn't matter. We were dealing with the fallout together.

This was Dastien's way. Preparing me for next time. Making sure there wasn't a next time.

I met his amber gaze. “You're not going to lose me.”

He pressed his lips together. “Of course I'm not. Because we're going to be ready. I know you're frustrated—”

“I'm not frustrated.” I tried to stay calm. Mornings weren't my most rational part of the day.

“Don't try to deny it,
cherie.
I can feel your frustration—at your visions, your lack of ability when sparing, and most of all, at what Luciana did. That's okay. I understand what you're going through, but you don't get how scared I am. How hard it was being away from you, not knowing if you were okay. Then you came back, and you
weren't
okay. I feel like I failed you. I should've stopped you from going. I knew it was a bad idea. I knew nothing good would come of you going to the coven, but I agreed for the sake of the pack. Now, you have to let me protect you. Please.”

My lip started to tremble and I bit it, trying to get it to stop the embarrassing fluttering. Those jars… It had been hard, but I'd gotten through it. I was getting through it. “I'm not broken.”

“You're not broken, but you're fragile right now.”

I wasn't sure how I felt about that statement. If I was honest with myself, I might agree, but that didn't make hearing it from him any easier. It made it more real. And that kind of sucked.

He moved toward me. “I know it was awful. I can't imagine… But I feel your fear when you sleep. I hear you yelling out during your nightmares and there's nothing I can do. Nothing but this.” He spread his hands out wide, motioning around the gym.

I couldn't look at him. Not if I didn't want to cry.

I'd done that enough. It was stupid. I had my powers back. I was okay magically—sort of. Physically. But being in that evil circle—where Luciana called the demon to take away everything that made me
me…
It had changed me. Knocked me off balance.

Maybe this whole exhausting-me-until-the-vision-came plan wasn't going to work. Maybe my visions would always be different from here on out, and I'd just see glimpses in my dreams.

“It's not your fault. It was my choice to go to the coven. Please, don't…” I didn't know what else to say. I'd told him before, but he wasn't hearing me.

He closed the distance, wrapping his arms around me. “I never should've let you go.”

“Stop it.” I pressed my cheek into his chest. “I had to.” I laughed and the sound was muffled against his chest. “We're quite the pair. Each making ourselves sick over something that we can't change.”

He ran his fingers through my hair. “The best pair ever.”

“I'm going to be okay. It's really only been a few days.” He sighed, and then his bond opened wider. All his worry and fear—terror—flooded me. The pain of being apart.

I nearly gasped. I hadn't realized how closed off he'd been. I squeezed him tighter, fisting the back of his shirt.

God. I'd been messed up because of what Luciana did, but he'd been a wreck. I'd ignored that. Ignored my own mate's pain.

“I'm—” My voice wobbled and I stopped. “I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen.” I couldn't help it now. A tear ran down my cheek.

He pulled back. “Hey. What's this?”

“You messed with our bond so I wouldn't know how bad you're hurting.” His bond started to close again, and I shoved him. “Don't you dare shut me out again.”

His mouth dropped. “I didn't know I opened it.”

Why would he close it off in the first place?

“Because you were dealing with enough. You didn't need me adding to it.”

“Well stop it. I never asked you to protect me.”

“It's my job.”

Now he was pissing me off. The caveman needed to put down his club before he hurt himself. “Screw a bunch of that noise.”

He gently cupped my face, wiping my tears away with a brush of his thumbs. “Hey now. I take my job very seriously.”

Two could play at this game. “Same here.” If being my mate was his
job
, then the reverse was true.

“All right. Let's give it one more shot.”

I crossed my arms. “Seriously? Can't we just go get breakfast now?”

“One more round and then we eat. I feel like we're finally getting somewhere. I can feel it. You're more open. I know you're getting there. One more time.”

“Fine. But after breakfast, I'm grabbing a nap.” Between my nightmares and his patrols, we weren't getting much sleep. “And we're going to my dorm. It's closer.”

“Deal.”

Fine. He wanted me to go on the offensive, then I'd give it my best. I'd be back on the mat in five seconds. And then we could go back to sleep.

Or not.

I lunged at him, and he moved faster than I could follow. I felt him through the bond and twisted before he could snag his arms around me.

I lasted all of ten seconds—double what I'd guessed—before wind brushed against my face.

The world turned as I flipped through the air.

Then it started. The tingling. Dastien was right. A vision was coming, and I had a choice. A split second to decide whether I relaxed into it or shut it out.

Whatever the powers that be wanted to show me had to be big.

I took solace in what Dastien said.

“Let go!”

I almost didn't understand his words, but then I did. As my shoulder hit the mat, I let go.

A flash of white filled my eyes and the gym disappeared.

Chapter Six

I stood in the cafeteria. The smell of food told me it was lunch—pizza day. Baked ziti. Warm garlic bread.

What the hell?

It was like I'd been sucked into a different place. It wasn't at all like the last time I saw into the future, mostly because I was aware that this was a vision. Maybe Luciana's magic really had changed my abilities for good?

I couldn't worry about it now. The vision was happening, and I surrendered to it.

I walked with Dastien, weaving through the tables to our friends. He balanced his tray piled with more food than I could eat—which was a lot—on one hand and held a bottle of Orangina in the other. He seemed to drink more of them when he was stressed. It must be a comfort thing.

This wasn't so bad. Not bad at all. Definitely not what was giving me nightmares.

Dastien looked back at me over his shoulder. “Don't worry so much,
cherie
. We will stop this, okay?”

While he was focusing on me, someone bumped him. The bottle slipped from his fingers.

Usually, if someone dropped something, it was caught before ever hitting the ground. Were reflexes were good. And Dastien's were extremely good.

Instead, we both stood there, watching the bottle as it fell to the floor and shattered in a mess of soda and glass. His eyes met mine and his panic washed over me.

The vision shifted. I was sitting between Dastien and Mr. Dawson in the conference room of St. Ailbe's main building. Twelve chairs surrounded the long oval table. Each one was taken. People stood behind the chairs, filling the room past capacity.

Everyone was arguing. Voices rose until they were impossible to differentiate.

Mr. Dawson's voice cut above the rest. “Yes, Tessa. Do you have something to add?”