Alpha

by Regan Ure

  She hadn’t known me long, but she knew me well already.

  “He’s not the only crazy in this school,” I added, remembering Blake’s conversation with me had been just as weird.

  “Do tell,” she instructed.

  “Blake also made no sense,” I told her.

  She laughed again as she shook her head.

  “Let me correct that: only you would think the two hottest guys in this school were crazy,” she restated, trying to keep a straight face.

  “Maybe it’s something in the water,” I said with a shrug.

  I wasn’t going to waste any more time thinking about those two idiots.

  “Have you seen any wolves before?” I asked when I remembered the wolf I’d seen watching me last night. Even memories of the dream were still fresh in my mind.

  She stopped for a moment, my question clearly taking her by surprise.

  “Yeah, I’ve seen a couple. I once saw a huge—and I mean huge—black wolf,” she said as she held her arms out to give me an idea of the size she was talking about.

  “I didn’t think that wolves could get that big,” she added as her arms fell to her sides and she started to walk again.

  “I think I saw the same wolf,” I murmured. It was nice to know that the wolf I’d seen last night hadn’t been a part of my imagination.

  “Did its eyes glow like an amber color?” she asked in a whisper, like anyone who overheard us would think we were nuts, and then we’d be joining those two crazy idiots in the white-padded room.

  My eyes met hers and I nodded. A foreboding feeling settled in my stomach at the confirmation that we’d both seen something that wasn’t possible. Instinctively, I knew that there were too many strange coincidences for all of this to be nothing. There was definitely something strange going on.

  In my first class of the morning, my annoyance grew when Blake breezed into the room and dropped into the seat at the desk next to me.

  I glared at him and he smiled back. He was deliberately trying to annoy me and I could feel my temper spring to life. Not wanting him to get the reaction he was working for, I turned to look out of the window and ignored him as best I could.

  “Not talking to me this morning?” he asked in a teasing tone. Ignoring him wasn’t helping, so I swung my gaze back to him as I gripped my pen in my hand tightly to try and keep my temper under control.

  He leaned back lazily in the seat, smiling at me when he noticed I was trying to keep my temper under control. I so wanted to wipe that smile off his face.

  “Leave me alone,” I hissed at him in a whisper, not wanting to cause a scene. The class was starting to fill up.

  “I wish I could, but I can’t,” he said cryptically as he leaned forward. His smile began to wane. I could see the joking was over and he was very serious.

  “We can’t leave you alone,” he added.

  I was about to ask him who was the ‘we’ he was referring to and why they couldn’t leave me alone when the teacher walked in the classroom. Blake’s gaze held mine until I turned to face the teacher.

  I wasn’t going to let him say things like that to me without explaining further, so when the class ended I made sure I grabbed his arm just as we exited the classroom.

  “You need to explain what you meant earlier,” I told him as he turned to face me. His usual light-hearted and teasing look was gone as he looked at me.

  “I can’t tell you,” he explained and then added, “Just know that Cade and I are the good guys.”

  With no further explanation, he turned and walked away from me and I was tempted to throw a book at him.

  If I was confused before, I was even more confused now. They kept spinning one riddle on top of another. I had no idea what they were talking about and they wouldn’t explain.

  Frustrated, I stalked to my next class. Like the day before, I kept getting strange looks from most of the students.

  By lunchtime, I was tired of going around in circles in my mind. On my way to the cafeteria, I made up my mind. I wanted answers and I was going to get them.

  I walked into the cafeteria and spotted the person who was going to give me the answers I wanted.

  Cade was sitting at the large table on the one side of the cafeteria where the strange smell of fresh rain was the strongest. I still needed to figure out why most of the students smelled so distinctive.

  I walked determinedly to the table. This morning he’d wanted to talk to me and now I was ready to talk. His eyes fastened onto me as I reached the table. The conversation died down when the other students sitting with him noticed me.

  I recognized that the blond guy who had stood beside Cade yesterday was sitting across from him. He looked to Cade and arched an eyebrow.

  “I want to talk to you,” I informed Cade. He glanced to the blond guy and it was like they were having a conversation without words.

  “I thought you didn’t want to talk,” Cade said as his eyes locked with mine. A shiver of awareness ran through me; I hated the way I reacted to him.

  “And now I do,” I said, feeling my temper beginning to grow. I crossed my arms over my chest to keep myself from slapping him.

  I’d never met such an infuriating man and I seemed to lose my temper around him more easily than usual.

  “Don’t get your panties into a twist,” he said as he stood up.

  “Leave my panties out of this,” I threw back at him as I followed him out of the cafeteria. If I weren’t so desperate for some answers, I’d have stormed off.

  Just outside the cafeteria, he turned to face me. The hallway was quiet so we wouldn’t have anyone listening in on our conversation.

  “So, what changed your mind? I was pretty sure after your little outburst this morning you weren’t interested in what I had to say.” He cocked his head slightly to the side as he studied me.

  “Yeah, well, I’m tired of having these cryptic conversations with you and Blake,” I said as my hands went to my hips. Cade smiled at the gesture.

  “So what did you want to talk to me about this morning?” I asked when he remained silent, watching me with veiled eyes. I breathed in the distinct smell of fresh rain. I needed to ask him what type of cologne it was because half the school was using it.

  He watched me quietly for a few moments before he started to talk.

  “I want you to come to my house this evening,” he said.

  My eyes narrowed at him.

  “Why?” I asked as I looked at him suspiciously.

  “I need to tell you some stuff and I can’t do that here,” he explained softly, looking around to see if anyone was close enough to hear our conversation.

  “I don’t know you and I don’t trust you,” I told him as I shook my head. I didn’t know him well enough to go to his house alone tonight. For all I knew he would be a serial killer lining up his next victim—me.

  “It’s simple. If you want answers, you’ll meet me at my house,” he stated confidently and I wanted to kick his shin. He was so arrogant, so sure of himself, I wanted to flip him off and tell him to get lost.

  I was about to tell him to go and play in traffic when he leaned forward and under his breath and close to my ear he said, “I can explain why you started to change when you turned sixteen.”

  I couldn’t help my mouth from opening in shock as I stared at him. How did he know about that? I hadn’t told anyone except Gary.

  “How…?” I asked, still bewildered.

  “Be at my place at seven,” he ordered and then turned to leave. He rattled off an address to me before he disappeared back inside the cafeteria.

  Still in shock, I leaned back against the lockers and tried to figure out what had just happened. He knew about the changes. How did he know that?

  Well, as much as I didn’t want to, I knew the only way to find out would be to go meet him at his house.

  I couldn’t concentrate for the rest of the day so by the time school ended, I was relieved. Cade and Blake had been scarce since I�
��d had my conversation with Cade. I hurried home.

  Even during my training, Gary picked up on my preoccupied mind.

  “Everything okay?” he asked as he wiped the sweat off his face with a towel.

  “Yeah,” I replied. I wasn’t ready to tell him about my short conversation with Cade. If he knew about it he would try to stop me from going and I couldn’t let that happen. I wanted to know, to find out why I’d experienced the changes, and for once the answer was within my grasp.

  As soon as training was over, I jogged upstairs. I tried hard to concentrate on my homework but it took me forever because I kept watching the time, wishing it would go faster.

  After I finally finished, I showered and changed. I wore dark blue jeans and a white baby-doll shirt. There was no way I was dressing up for my visit to Cade’s house, so instead of a pair of high heels, I settled for flat, black ballet pumps.

  I decided against wearing makeup because I didn’t want Cade to get the wrong idea, so I only put a little lip-gloss on.

  Gary was already seated at the kitchen table when I entered. At the sight of me, he raised an eyebrow.

  “Where are you going tonight?” he asked as I sat down across from him.

  “I’m going out to meet a friend,” I answered vaguely. Gary wasn’t stupid; he knew I was trying to avoid telling him, and I knew him well enough to see he wasn’t happy about it.

  When Gary had become my guardian, he’d been very protective of me and he still was, even though he wasn’t my guardian anymore.

  “I’ll be fine,” I assured him as I got a plate of food.

  He didn’t say anything further on the subject as I sat down and ate my dinner.

  “I’ll see you later,” I said to him as I left the kitchen once I’d finished eating. My last check of the time told me I still had half an hour, so I headed to the garage. I got into my car and programmed Cade’s address into the GPS.

  My answers weren’t far away. It would only take twenty minutes, according to the GPS, to get to Cade’s place.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Scarlett

  I felt a little apprehensive as I followed the GPS instructions to Cade’s house. It didn’t take long before I pulled up in front of big black gates that were connected with a ten-foot wall around the property. It kind of looked like a fortress.

  Actually, it suited his personality from the little I’d seen; he was hard, powerful and used to getting his own way.

  I looked to find some sort of intercom system, but there was none. Then I noticed a video camera on the wall. I watched it angle lower to fix on me and then the gates began to open.

  Geez, and I thought I had a thing about security. I had nothing on this guy. I drove slowly down the driveway, taking in the sight in front of me. Although it was dark, the lights along the driveway lit up the way and then my eyes fixed on the mansion in front of me.

  His house was massive, but it wasn’t unexpected. Porsches weren’t cheap. There were a few lights along the driveway and the front area of the house was well lit with a few outside lights.

  I parked in front. With my eyes still fixed on the house, I slid out of my car and closed the door. The front door opened and Cade filled the doorway.

  “You came,” he said like he’d expected me not to show.

  “You sound surprised,” I said dryly as I walked to the front door and stood before him. He was taller than me but I didn’t let that intimidate me as I raised my eyes to hold his gaze. An awareness of him shivered through me again and I felt a flutter in my stomach. I hated the fact that I was physically attracted to him. Why couldn’t he be a hunchback with warts?

  “I didn’t think you were going to show,” he said with a shrug as he stood aside for me to enter. I eyed him up and down before I stepped past him and into his house.

  Where my house was decorated with furniture with sleek lines and a more modern look to it, Cade’s house was the opposite. It had older, more antique-looking furniture and with the Persian carpets it was way too busy for my liking. I believed less was more.

  “This way,” he commanded as he walked through a doorway to the right. I glared at his back as I followed behind him reluctantly. I hated being given orders and it seemed to happen often when he was around.

  “I’m not going to stay long,” I told him as I followed him into a formal lounge. “I just want the answers you promised to give me.”

  “Are you always this impatient?” he asked with a frown as he turned to face me with his feet apart and his arms crossed over his broad chest.

  “Yes,” I answered without hesitation, walking past him to take a seat on the sofa. I didn’t believe in beating around the bush. I crossed my legs and tilted my head to look up at Cade, who’d turned to face me.

  “Spill,” I commanded him and I could see it irritated him. He was used to giving commands, not following them.

  “I’m waiting for someone to arrive,” he informed me coldly.

  “Who?” I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

  At that moment a doorbell rang and Cade left to answer it. I’d find out soon enough who he’d been waiting for. I was surprised, though, when Blake followed Cade in a few moments later.

  “Yay, it’s Tweedledum,” I said sarcastically as I rolled my eyes. Cade narrowed his gaze at me but Blake took no offense, laughing instead.

  “Constant entertainment,” he said, still with a grin on his face as he sat down on the sofa across from me.

  “Are you always this bitchy?” Cade asked as he stood in front of the fireplace facing us with his eyes on me.

  “Nope, I took an extra bitchy pill this morning,” I replied sarcastically.

  “Do we have to do this?” Cade turned to Blake and asked. There they were, at it again, talking cryptically about me and I had no idea what was going on.

  “You told me you’d give me answers,” I reminded him, starting to feel my temper rise. “I’m here, so start talking.”

  Cade ignored me and kept his attention on Blake. Blake shook his head and turned to Cade with a grin and said, “Yeah, we have to.”

  “I’m pretty sure she doesn’t need our help,” Cade argued and continued to ignore me. I could feel my temper rise even further.

  “She needs our help,” stated Blake seriously, all joking aside as he held Cade’s glare.

  “I’m done,” I said as I stood up and stalked back to the front entrance. I wasn’t going to sit there all night while the two of them debated whether or not to tell me what I wanted to know.

  I would have to figure this out on my own. I didn’t need their help.

  “Wait,” I heard Blake call from behind me, but I didn’t stop and by the time he made it to the front door I was already sliding into my car. I slammed the door shut and started up the car.

  I drove down the driveway and, at the gates, I waited impatiently for them to open but they remained closed. I revved the engine but the gates never budged.

  My anger began to build and I felt like I was going to combust. It had taken a lot for me to put aside my dislike for Cade long enough to make the trip to his house so he could give me the answers I’d been searching for. I’d made the effort only to watch Tweedledee and Tweedledum argue cryptically in front of me.

  And now they were preventing me from leaving. I took a deep breath and released it, trying to rein in my temper.

  Then, just when I was about to turn around and drive back to the house and go ballistic at those two idiots, the gates finally opened. I pulled out of the driveway and onto the main road.

  Too preoccupied with my thoughts as I drove away, I didn’t notice the figure standing in the center of the road until it was too late. I slammed on the brakes, desperately trying to avoid the person but I felt something smack the front of the car and crash into my windshield before it rolled over the roof.

  Too shocked to try and control the car, it spun out of control and I hit something with so much force that my head flew forward, hitting the ste
ering wheel before I was flung backward.

  Dazed and shaken, I tried to move and I winced when I felt my head throb. Gently, my fingers touched my forehead and I felt blood. A pain in my chest told me I was either badly bruised across my chest or I had hurt a rib. It hurt to breathe.

  I’d hit someone.

  Terror gripped me when I realized I’d actually hit a person. Shock began to set in and I began to shake as I struggled to release my seatbelt. When the seatbelt finally opened, I tried to open my car door but it was stuck.

  I felt tears of pain and fear sting at my eyelids as I tried to push against the door with all the strength I had and the door finally opened. I bit down on my lip to keep from crying out in pain as I climbed out of the car.

  My car had hit a tree. It was then that I noticed a dark and foreboding forest on either side of the road.

  It was dark and a couple of the streetlights were out so it wasn’t well lit enough to see much. I began to panic when I scanned the road, but I couldn’t see anyone.

  There was no way the person I’d hit could have gotten up and walked away. Where were they?

  I began to scan the trees on the side of the road, trying to find the person I’d hit. Panic began to rise up in me when no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t find the body.

  I dropped to my knees beside my car when the pain in my chest grew. Tears of frustration and pain began to slide down my face.

  Everything began to spin and I put my hands to the ground to keep myself steady. I closed my eyes and then opened them again, trying to keep it together, but the world tilted again.

  I felt hands reach for me.

  “I got her.”

  It was Blake. His gentle hands turned me around and laid me gently on the ground as I winced in pain. I closed my eyes and tried to open them. Blake’s concerned face spun in front of me. My body continued to shake as the shock set in.

  “I hit someone,” I confessed to Blake, trying to stop my body from shaking. “They rolled off the car, but I can’t find them.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” he told me softly.

  “How can I not worry? I hit someone,” I said angrily, but he ignored me.