Alpha Divided

They left without another word.

The room was quiet. Frozen. We all knew how the rest of the coven felt about Dastien and me, but I hadn’t realized that extended to my cousins. It had to be a recent development—as in the last couple of days.

Had I majorly screwed up? And if so, when? I’d borrowed their books to help Meredith, but I’d give everything back if that would fix whatever was wrong.

Or maybe I was being too sensitive? Dad’s reaction already had my defenses up.

I swallowed. “Anyone else think that visit was off?”

Donovan nodded. “Aye. I think we’ll be hearing from them again soon.”

“They couldn’t stop the ceremony, could they?” I asked.

“I don’t think so?” Dastien said.

“You don’t think so? Was that a question?” The wolf in me rose to the surface and I buried my face in Dastien’s chest before I started sprouting claws. I couldn’t let my wolf free in the middle of my parents’ kitchen. I inhaled deeply, letting the scent of him calm me.

He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me tight. “It’s going to be fine,” he murmured in my ear. “Dono, should we call in some reinforcements?”

“We’ll have plenty on campus, but I’ll let word out that we might have trouble headed our way. We’ll get you through this, Tessa, even if your coven shows up.”

I pulled away from Dastien and scanned my friends’ faces. No one would meet my gaze except for Donovan. His arms were crossed as he frowned. Not exactly encouraging.

“Shit. My birthday just got sucky, huh?”

“Who wants cake?” Mom said in a false cheery voice.

“Me,” I said. Might as well head off this bad feeling with a massive sugar high. “I’ll just take all of one sheet and maybe half of the other.”

“Eating your bodyweight in cake isn’t going to fix this,” Axel said.

“I disagree. Cake will totally help,” Meredith said. “Ice cream, too.”

I laughed, but it was forced.

I’d spent weeks dreading the full moon, but now that I’d finally shifted for the first time, I was pretty damned excited about the ceremony. I wanted it so badly that the thought of it not happening made me feel stabby. There’d be another chance next month, but I didn’t want to wait. We needed it now so we could get through the Tribunal.

Hopefully Dastien was right and we were overreacting, but I had a feeling we were exactly right. With just a few words, I’d screwed over both my birthday and my first full moon ceremony.

I’d bet my life that we’d be seeing more of the coven before the moon rose.

Chapter Two

Everyone took off back to campus after the cake, leaving only my family and Dastien. My parents wanted a little alone time before I went back to the dorm. Even though they knew what was going to happen tonight in a vague sort of way, they couldn’t be there. It was a Were-only thing.

The tension in the house was only getting worse thanks to the cousins’ visit. As I did the dishes, Dad started whispering to Mom about how they should stop the ceremony. Suddenly, the kitchen seemed too small.

I moved to the wraparound porch and sat on the swing to soak in a little bit of quiet. The screen door screeched. My eyes were closed, but I didn’t need to open them to recognize Dastien sitting down beside me. I could sense it through our bond and the scent in the air—that lovely mix of forest and dirt and him. I rested my head on his shoulder and he nuzzled against me.

“Nervous?” he asked after a moment.

“A little.” Straddling the lines between human, wolf, and witch was hard. Each part pulled me in a different direction. Being with Dastien was easy. Natural. I wasn’t worried about that, but the ceremony symbolized taking the final plunge into my life as a Were, letting it take precedence over everything else.

I knew why Dad was having so much trouble with it. Everything was changing for me. Fast. “I still feel like a kid, you know? And we’re basically getting married tonight. When I think about it, it’s kind of crazy.”

He lifted his arm so I could scoot closer. I pressed my head to his chest, and listened to his steady heartbeat as he ran his fingers through my hair.

“What’s making you nervous exactly?”

I blew out a breath. “Honestly?”

“I only ever want the truth from you.” His chest vibrated under my ear as he spoke, his voice low and rumbly.

“Just don’t laugh.”

“Cherie. I would never laugh.”