“It is, but it’s no crazier than you staying with a guy who isn’t human.” Genevieve picked up her pace making me hurry to keep up with her as we walked the few blocks toward Tulane’s campus. Gage and Denny had dropped us off far enough away that no one would have seen us all together. Gage had fought against that idea, but he’d fought against the whole plan, so it was nothing new. I understood his reluctance and secretly it thrilled me. He cared about me. He didn’t want me to get hurt. I knew that already, but every time he showed it he reminded me my feelings weren’t one sided. He was still in there. He still had his heart. He was different from who I thought he was, but the differences only made him more appealing. He was real, and for once, reality was far better than fantasy.
“That’s not crazy. I’m the reason he’s not human.”
“Correction.” Genevieve touched my arm. “You’re the reason he’s alive.” She dropped the line as though it was nothing. As though she weren’t discussing life and death.
“Fair point, but it wasn’t really my decision to make.”
“Whose was it then?” She asked a question I’d never thought to ask. “Gage wasn’t conscious to make it himself, and no one else there cared a lick about him.”
“Would you have done the same thing?” My decision had been of the split-second variety. What did it look like from the outside?
“Exchanged my freedom to save a guy I loved?” She pursed her lips. “I don’t know. I’ve never been in love. Love makes you do stupid things.”
“What I did was stupid?” It shouldn’t have mattered what she said, but I cared. The guilt was starting to eat me alive.
“Exchanging your freedom and tying yourself to a wolf-guy who you barely knew? Yes, but just because something is stupid doesn’t mean it’s the wrong decision.”
I laughed. With one sentence she’d relaxed me. “I needed this.”
“I know you did. And it’s time to stop over analyzing this decision. It’s an idea. What ideas aren’t crazy? At least what good ones? Everything truly worthwhile has crazy roots.”
“If we’re back to talking about crazy, I have to say that I can’t believe you’re doing this with me.” I’d never expected her to continue going on with the plan once the hacking angle was gone. I should have been doing this myself, but the selfish part of me rationalized my decision to let her join me. She wanted to be there I told myself, even though I knew she was doing it for me.
“Was I that bad of a friend for you to keep saying that?” Her forehead furrowed.
“No. Not at all,” I quickly explained. “But this goes above and beyond.”
“Remember that on my birthday. I’m not asking for a lot. Just a large party, maybe a new laptop. You know. The usual.” She grinned.
“I don’t know how you still have a sense of humor.” I didn’t. I barely had any energy to do anything but worry.
“What’s the alternative? Besides, I’ve only been involved in this for a day. You’ve been handling it longer, and you’ve been through more.”
“I miss my normal life.” At least some parts. I missed my parents. I missed feeling safe. But I didn’t miss everything. I didn’t miss pining over Gage or feeling like I’d never be good enough. When survival was at stake, it was hard to worry too much about grades and jobs. It put things into perspective in a way nothing else ever had.
“It’s still there waiting.”
We continued walking down St. Charles Avenue until Genevieve stopped in front of a large stone wall that spelled out the name of the university. Reading the words brought back memories of touring college campuses the year before. Had it really only been a year ago that I was worrying about college acceptances? It felt like forever since I’d graduated from high school.
Genevieve tugged on my arm, and we continued onto the campus. I glanced at several large stone buildings. It was strange being back on a college campus. Tulane looked nothing like Eastern, but every college still had a similar feel. It was eerie and made me worry about Gage. What if this plan didn’t work? It had to. We didn’t have a choice. “We can’t just walk away from this and go back to normal life.” I couldn’t leave Gage.
“No we can’t. You’d spend the rest of your life regretting it. Feeling guilty. You’d make me feel guilty too, and we’d both amount to nothing. The world would be robbed of two of its greatest minds either way. Might as well do it with some dignity.”
I laughed again. It felt good, and it further eased some of the mounting tension. I was full of nerves, and that didn’t bode well for the meeting, or maybe more appropriately termed ambush, we had planned. “Thanks.”
We walked around until we found the building we needed. It was right at the front of campus, so it didn’t take too long.
“Thanks for what?” She took a seat on a stone bench partially hidden by some bushes, but still with a clear view of Gibson Hall, the large stone building we needed.
“Keeping it real. Keeping me sane.”
“No problem, but you’re going to have to take over now. I found the girl, but I have no clue how we’re supposed to deal with royalty.”
“I don’t either, but I guess we’ll have to wing it.” Genevieve had broken into Allie’s cell phone records, and we’d discovered her plans for the day. I felt like a complete creeper, but we weren’t doing it for any bad reason. We needed to talk to her, and we had no time to lose.
“Wing it?” She pulled on the hood of her sweatshirt. “Since when do you wing anything?”
“Since the start of winter break.”
She laughed. “Amazing how much can change so quickly.”
I was glad for my sweatshirt when the wind picked up. Either Allie had never made it to the registrar’s office as she’d planned, or she was taking an extra-long time changing her schedule.
“Do you think she’s in there?” Genevieve huddled against me.
“Let’s hope she is.” I stood up to get a better view. Finally, the door to the building opened. A girl with long red hair walked outside. Seeing her red locks made me miss mine, but my hair color was the least of my problems. She was wearing a Tulane hoodie sweatshirt. Her eyes scanned the area, until they fell on us. “Can I help you guys with something?”
“Oh, uh. Yes,” I struggled to come up with an excuse which wouldn’t force us to move before Allie emerged. All of my plans involved talking to her first, I should have considered we’d run into other students.
Genevieve smiled. “We’re here visiting, and we got a little bit lost.”
“Lost?” The redhead arched an eyebrow. “You’re right next to St. Charles Ave. This is the front of campus. If you want to see more walk that way.” She pointed behind her.
“Yeah, but I can’t find a map of all the different buildings.” Genevieve shrugged and wore a rather convincing confused face. I’d never seen Genevieve act before, but she was pretty good.
The redhead didn’t look any less suspicious, but she nodded. “Have you tried the Admissions Office? It’s located on the other side of this building.”
“Oh yes, but they were closed.” Genevieve was good at improv. “But while we have you, how has your college experience here been?”
“I’m not a tour host.”
“Yes, but you’re a student here, right? You have opinions too.” I tried to go along with Genevieve’s charade.
The door opened again, and Allie strode out. She had her long brown hair tied back in an elegant pony tail. Her eyes met mine. “Hi.”
After a moment I made myself reply. “Hi.”
“You know these girls?” The redhead asked suspiciously.
“I’ve met her before.” She nodded toward me. Like the last time she seemed to understand my situation. She was choosing her words carefully.
“But she’s just a potential student.”
“Oh, I didn’t know you were applying here.” Allie watched me.
“Yeah, that’s why I’m in New Orleans right now.” I slung words together without
thinking about whether they fit. I had no idea who this redhead was.
“Hailey is trustworthy.” Allie nodded toward the other girl. “Anything you want to say to me you can say to her.”
Hailey’s mouth fell open. “Ok. Answers. Now.”
“Is there somewhere we could talk?” Genevieve looked over her shoulder at a guy riding by on a bicycle. “Privately.”
“Who are you guys?” Hailey narrowed her eyes. “What do you want with Allie?”
“We can do private.” Allie ignored her friend.
Hailey clutched my arm. “If you plan to hurt her in any way, I will kill you.”
“What are you, her body guard?” Genevieve asked.
“Not exactly, but I might as well be.”
“So, uh, what are you?” Genevieve leaned in.
“What am I?” Hailey crossed her arms.
“I mean I doubt the queen has a human body guard.”
“Prospective students, huh?” Hailey glared at us.
“I thought it was a great cover.” Genevieve smiled, and Hailey laughed. I’d never noticed how good Genevieve was at breaking tension.
“Come with us.” Allie pointed down the sidewalk. “Let’s talk in the car.”
“What are you doing, Allie?” Hailey shot me an annoyed glance. “We can’t trust these girls.”
“They’re just humans. What trouble could they cause?”
“Let’s hope those aren’t your famous last words.”
Allie laughed. “They won’t be.” She started walking, and we followed her as she continued over to a lavender Land Rover.
“Levi wouldn’t like this.”
Allie turned back. “Levi doesn’t need to know about a little girl talk.” She winked at me before continuing on to the road.
“Pretty.” I was a fan of purple. Not that I’d choose it as the color of my car.
“Yeah, don’t even start on it.” She unlocked the doors and stepped into the driver’s side.
“Her dad gave it to her when she graduated high school,” Hailey explained with a smile.
“Nice graduation gift. I got concert tickets.” Genevieve slid into the back seat. Hailey followed.
“Uh, where do you want me to go?” I waited at the side of the car.
“The front.” Hailey pointed toward the front. “You are the one who needed to talk to Allie, weren’t you?”
“Yes. Absolutely.” I hurried around and got into the passenger seat.
“You don’t want us sitting behind you, huh?” Genevieve asked. I turned to look at her, was she trying to egg them on?
Hailey shrugged. “Can you blame me?”
“I’m sorry about your mate.” Allie held onto the wheel.
“It’s not your fault. You tried.”
“Where is he? He wasn’t captured.”
“No he wasn’t.”
“But you are here to talk to me. Which means you probably need something.”
I was sure she got that a lot. People showing up to talk to her because they needed help. “How are you feeling?”
She smiled. “Ok. You were right by the way.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Right about what?” Hailey leaned forward between the seats.
“I’ll explain later. That’s not why Mary Anne is here.”
“Then why is she? Or rather why are they here?”
“Gage isn’t really my mate. Not officially.” I hoped I wasn’t making things worse.
“Okay…” Allie released the wheel and looked at me.
“But I love him. I really love him.”
“She does.” Genevieve leaned forward. “I can vouch for her.”
“No vouching necessary.” Allie smiled. “But why all the charades?”
“Up until a few weeks ago we were college students heading home for the holidays.”
Allie nodded.
“But then a wolf jumped in front of our truck. We ended up stranded in the snow.”
“You’re telling her it was a wolf right away? I guess you’re getting better at telling this story,” Genevieve interjected.
“What kind of wolf? A Dire?” Hailey asked. “I assume this is all going to relate to the attack at the courthouse.”
“There was no attack,” I quickly explained.
“She knows. “ Allie nodded again. “Go ahead, continue.”
“It was a Dire, and then I met the Alpha who recognized me from his dreams and wanted me to stay and become his mate. We tried to run but got captured by evil witches.”
“Another interesting change. Evil, not psycho. Nice.” Genevieve pointed at me.
I narrowed my eyes.
“Sorry. Just saying.”
“What happened?” Allie gestured for me to continue.
“They almost killed him, but the Alpha gave me a choice. He said he’d save Gage if I agreed to be his mate and stay with him.” Confusion and hurt swirled around my head as I told this part of the story.
“Wait.” Allie looked at me. “Wait a second.”
I knew what was coming. It was a risk to reveal their secret, but she needed to know. She needed to know everything if we wanted any chance of getting help. “You can just ask.”
“Did he turn him?”
“Yes.”
“But that’s not possible.” Hailey’s voice rose slightly. “Shifters can’t make other shifters.”
“A Dire Alpha can.” I felt guilty revealing it, but it was the only way.
There was complete silence, so I continued. “And he did, only it’s not done.”
“What do you mean?” Allie asked.
“Hunter didn’t finish it, and Gage is going to die if he doesn’t.” Tears welled up in my eyes.
“Are you sure?” Allie touched my arm lightly. “Are you sure that’s true?”
I shook my head. “No. I’m not sure of anything anymore, but I think so. Even he seems to finally believe it.”
“Where is he?”
“Waiting. I wouldn’t let him come.”
“That was a smart move. I would have knocked him out before he got to her.” Hailey grinned.
“You must be a whole lot stronger than you look.” I took another glance at her slim and tall figure.
“I am. So is Allie.”
I took another look. “I’m not.”
Allie laughed. “Honest.”
“I am trying to be.” I needed Allie to understand. We needed her help. “I’m also desperate.”
“What is it that you want me to do?” She seemed puzzled.
I took a deep breath. “Help me get Hunter out.”
“You expect the queen to free a prisoner?” She put a hand to her throat.
“The hunt makes no sense. The Dires aren’t evil. At least no worse than any other shifters.”
“That’s not true. Fielding is one of the deadliest men out there.” Hailey’s expression darkened.
“Who is that?”
“You don’t know?” Hailey studied me.
I sighed. “Does it look like I know the names of all the remaining Dires?”
“You’ve spent a lot of time with his brother, so I assumed you knew something.”
“Wait. Hunter’s brother? The one who gave him the scar?”
“What scar? The Alpha has scars?” Genevieve was interested again.
“A large one across his face and his chest. His brother did it. He’d tried to kill him.”
“Do you know why?”
“His brother, I guess Fielding, wanted to be Alpha and wanted to take over The Society.”
Allie shook her head. “I love how you say that calmly.”
“That’s how Hunter said it. Calmly.”
“An Alpha Dire calm? I doubt that.” Hailey raised an eyebrow.
“Can we stop with the stereotypes?”
“Yes, please. It’s getting old.” Genevieve chimed in.
“How did you get roped into all of this?” Hailey asked her.
“She wanted my comput
er skills.”
“For what?”
“To hack into The Society.”
“There’s nothing to hack.” Hailey wrinkled her nose.
“Exactly, but I did help find Allie.”
“Wait… what?”
“I looked at your texts, figured out your plans for the day.” Genevieve shrugged. “No evil intensions, just needed to find you.”
“I’m going to pretend that doesn’t completely freak me out.”
“It should. Probably need better security on your phone. I can help with that if you want,” Genevieve offered.
Allie rested her chin on her hand, and she seemed to be considering the offer. “I’ll talk to my husband about it.”
“Your husband, the king. Is that weird?” Genevieve asked. “I mean being married to a king?”
“Not anymore. Plus I was dating him when he was only a prince so it was a gradual process.”
‘You’re right, Mary Anne. She is cool.”
Allie laughed. “Glad I made a good impression.”
“So?” I took a chance and pushed. “Will you help us?”
“I can’t break them out, but I can look into why he is being held. I’ll talk to Levi and see what I can do.” She seemed pensive. “Unless you want to talk to him yourself.”
“Talk to the king?” I coughed. “Are you kidding?”
“You are talking to the queen.” Hailey folded her arms across her chest. “She’s just as important.”
“But she’s human.”
“So. I’m a Pteron, and I don’t freak you out.”
“You’re a crow shifter?” Genevieve asked. “What does that mean? Do you turn into a bird?”
Hailey laughed. “No, we haven’t done that in centuries. We have a humanoid shifted form.”
“Oh, so human with wings?”
“Exactly.”
“But you can fly?”
“I can.”
“That’s awesome!” Genevieve’s eyes twinkled. I felt the same way. If I got to choose a super power it would be flight.
“It is.”
“Do you fly with your husband?” I asked Allie. I didn’t want her feeling left out.
“Yes. It’s something we enjoy.”
“Do you really think we should talk to the king?”
“I should probably talk to him first.”
“Where should we wait?”
Dawn (The Dire Wolves Chronicles Book 3) Page 10