Alpha Divided

I gave up on my hair. It wasn’t going to be fixable without a shower. I tossed the brush on my bedside table. “When are you two gonna do the whole ceremony hoopla?”

She snorted. “Ceremony hoopla? We’re going to do it at the Full Moon Ceremony next month.”

“Why wait?”

“We could do two in one night, but usually it’s one couple at a time. Plus, I wanted to give you and Dastien the chance to have your own special time. You’ve worked hard for this.”

I sat next to her. That was nice, but made me feel a little guilty. “I don’t want you to wait because of me. It’s not like you’ve had an easy time either.” That spell she’d been under was horrible, and not being able to shift for years…

“No, but Donovan and I have both been Weres our whole lives. We always knew what we were and the dangers around us. This life wasn’t at all what you were expecting, and you’ve had to make huge adjustments.”

No kidding. I hadn’t imagined that werewolves existed in my wildest dreams, let alone that I’d be one.

“Plus, this is my first Full Moon Ceremony in years. I’ll actually get to run with the pack now that the curse is gone. I’m happy enjoying just that for now.” Meredith popped up from my bed. “Okay. So you need to shower, and then we’ll get you ready. I got the robes from Mr. D in my room.”

“Robes? Really?” I knew that there were some in the boxes of clothes stashed around campus, but it still seemed totally weird.

“Unless you want to shred what you’re wearing or undress before you shift in front of everyone, the robe is the best way to go.”

Shit. “I’ll take the robe.”

“Thought so.”

Meredith headed into her room, and I closed the door behind her. I flipped the shower knobs, putting the water as hot as I could stand. Showering was one of my favorite things. I did some of my best thinking in there.

The past week had really been a blur. Between breaking the curse on Meredith and the birthday and everything else, I hadn’t had time to catch my breath. The nerves that I’d felt since my cousins showed up at my parents’ house finally started to settle down. No wonder I was feeling so anxious. It was natural to be worried when it came to them. But Donovan and Dastien had it covered. Everything was going to be totally fine.

I was happy with the way my life was going. Had things been a little hectic? Yes. That only made life interesting. Soon, everything would settle down. It had to, right?

When I was done showering, I worked on detangling my hair. Maybe rolling around on the ground with Dastien hadn’t been the smartest choice hair-wise, but it sure had been fun. I was pretty sure we’d move on to the next step in our relationship soon. And then I’d be spending more nights in his cabin. We’d just been sleeping so far, but waking up next to Dastien was kind of perfect on its own.

“All right, girly. Time’s up.”

I tightened the towel around myself as Meredith opened the bathroom door. She held a red robe. It was long, floor length, and hooded.

“I got this one altered for you.”

I was at least half a foot shorter than the shortest werewolf. “Thanks. I wouldn’t have thought of that.”

“No worries. I got your back.” She set the robe on the counter. “Let’s fix your hair, put on a little makeup, and then head out.”

I forced myself to take steady, even breaths. “Right.” My voice was a little squeaky.

“It’s going to be fine. This is no big deal. You’re already bonded to the hotness.”

“Right.” Still squeaky.

“And you love him.”

I let the breath go. “Right.” Not even a little squeaky.

“I’m thinking we do some braids. That way you can put on the hood and not mess it up too much.”

I shrugged. My normal style was leaving the hair down and letting it air dry or tying it up in a totally sloppy knot. I wasn’t one for fixing myself up, except for special occasions. But this totally counted as one.

“Whatever you think.” Because I couldn’t think about anything other than what would come next. My mind was already a million miles away, going over the steps of the ceremony.

Meredith clapped her hands. “Perfect. Go sit at my desk. I’ll bring everything over.”

I was fidgeting too much as she worked. “You’ve got to stop moving.”

I chewed on my lip. “So, did you see the latest episode of The Soup?” It was a total non sequitur, but it kept me distracted when all I wanted was to be outside with Dastien, and fully bonded.