The Alpha Legacy Boxed Set 1-7

by Holly Hook

  I grab the table as sweat sneaks in between my fingers.

  If she wants to go out with Noah why won't she just put on the silver necklace to tell him? It would be perfect. She wouldn't have to ask Noah in front of her crappy friends and risk their reaction. Olivia could just say it's from a secret admirer.

  "What do you think they're saying?" Noah asks.

  On the other side of the room, Cayden watches the girls. He's listening, too. Our gazes meet for a moment before he goes back to his food, trying not to look suspicious.

  Olivia gets up.

  Matt, Ted, and the two other guys—probably the ones who walked up the trail, trying to corner me—watch as she marches over to their table. Matt glances at me, catches me watching, and goes back to his food.

  "Hey, Olivia," Matt says, tense.

  Noah leans forward, watching. "You are seeing live footage," he says, sounding like a newscaster.

  "Shh," I say before I realize it.

  "I..." Matt says. "The car won't be ready for the dance. Sorry. The auto glass shop can't get to it until Monday. They're full. So we can't go."

  "Dude, you said they'd get to it Fri--"

  Matt slugs Ted on the arm to shut him up.

  "They called me this morning. A guy was sick, so they won't fix it until Monday. And my dad's pissed and won't let me borrow the Hummer."

  "I was coming here to say the same," Olivia says. "The dance is off. I'm going with...I'm going with someone else."

  "Put on the pendant, already," I mouth. Noah will question why Olivia's wearing something that belongs to me, but he'll love that I did this for him.

  And that brings a warm feeling inside.

  Matthew rises. "Someone else? What are you? A slut?"

  Olivia pales. "You're saying that?"

  "That looks ugly," Noah says.

  "You slut," Matthew says. He can't dream of a girl rejecting him. "Get out of my face."

  "Gladly."

  Then Matthew turns his glare at me.

  Before I melt his with my own, I see death in his eyes. He suspects I've had something to do with this new development. I'm ruining his life.

  Matt looks down at his own tray, but not before Noah nudges me. "That guy might be an idiot, but he's sharp. He knows we're plotting against him."

  "We'll be fine," I say. "He's just a guy."

  "He's a two hundred pound guy who could break me over his knee."

  "Matt won't bother you."

  "And how do you know?" Noah's fear is back.

  "Cayden?"

  "I think Cayden only shoves Matt around for people without Y chromosomes."

  "I'll put in a word," I say. "Witness protection program. Noah, don't worry."

  "There she goes," Noah says.

  Olivia grabs her tray and marches out of the lunchroom. Noah gets up, too. Hope fills his eyes again. He wants to get her alone and ask her about going out a second time. One failed attempt won't stop him.

  He marches after her.

  And Matthew watches.

  I can't let Noah go alone. I don't trust Matt around other guys, either, though he'd have a different punishment ready for them. Noah would be lucky to get out with just a black eye.

  Noah exits the cafeteria.

  And, as if sensing what's going on, Cayden has left. While watching Olivia, he's slipped out of the cafeteria, leaving Everly and Remo. Both look at me, questioning. Remo shrugs.

  By the time Noah and I get into the hallway, Olivia's gone. I smell her food and her makeup, which leave a trail down the hall towards not the picnic tables, but the art wing. The click of her crutch echoes off the lockers and around the corner.

  "Where did she go?" Noah asks.

  "Hiding," I say. "If I were her, I wouldn't sit at the picnic tables where Matt could go. So maybe she's heading to the one place Matt never goes."

  "Smart," Noah says. "I told you she wasn't stupid."

  "I never said I didn't believe you. Let's find her. Then you can ask her again, now that Matt's out of the way. And she'll want someone with her if Matt's mad."

  "Good point."

  We walk towards the art hallway. The clicking of Olivia's crutch stops. I sniff the air, searching for any trace of Savage Wolf. Cayden says the infected can give off a faint scent of one right before turning, and if the full moon is in just a few days, Olivia could, right?

  "How do you know she's down here?" Noah asks once we reach the mouth of the art hallway. The metal gate is half-drawn over the archway, discouraging students from wandering the halls during lunch.

  "I heard her crutch."

  "I told you her broken leg is legit," Noah says. "She wouldn't have used it when no one's looking if she was keeping up a charade."

  My stomach heaves. "I know it's not fake, okay? Come on. Stand up and act confident even if you don't feel confident. And tell her to put on the pendant you gave her."

  Noah's jaw falls open. "The what? But I didn't--"

  I tap my bare neck. "I might have put in a word to her mother. Secret admirer gave her a present."

  "But Brie, that was your family heirloom!"

  "Just do it," I say. "Tell her to wear it all the time if she rejects Matt. It's good luck. And it'll tell Matthew she's not interested. And you wish her a good recovery."

  Noah forces a smile.

  He smells of adrenaline now.

  "Do it," I order.

  A chair shuffles at the end of the art hall. Noah and I step through the half-open gate.

  Food and makeup fill the air. The two scents combine, almost masking another.

  When I smell a third, I freeze.

  The wilds.

  Cayden.

  He's come down here right before we have and I didn't notice until now.

  "Brie?" Noah whispers.

  I break into a quiet run, my shoes making little noise on the linoleum. Noah follows. Slowing, I near the door of the final room in the art hall, the Ceramics room, and stop near the display of painted statues, patterned bowls, and stained glass. The door's closed, but the two people inside speak loud enough for Noah to hear. My best friend stops beside me, hand cupped around his ear.

  "Are you sure Matthew won't bother me?"

  "He won't," Cayden says from inside. "Once he sees us, he'll back off. I promise. You've heard what I did to him that one time."

  "But aren't you working at the dance?"

  "Just at the start," Cayden says. "After that, I'm free."

  "And Brie?"

  "We don't get along anymore."

  I realize, with horror, what Cayden's doing.

  He's asking Olivia to the dance.

  And he isn't telling me or anyone else about his plan.

  "I've noticed," Olivia says. "You guys don't even hold hands in the halls anymore."

  "Yeah, I think I'm done," Cayden says. "She doesn't know yet, but I'm done. Things are too complicated and she's always getting in trouble. And did you get the pendant I gave you?"

  My heart shrivels.

  Have I done this?

  By turning and by going against the social order, have I driven Cayden away? He's just faking this to get close to Olivia, right? To protect Noah, too?

  But he could have just told me.

  I'm an actress. I know how to play a part.

  "You're not trying to pull one on me?" Olivia asks.

  A chair shuffles. "No. I'm not."

  And lips meet.

  Noah grabs my arm, but I don't need his convincing to make me turn away and follow him down the hall. Neither of us look at each other as we step through the gate and jog back to the cafeteria.

  Chapter Eighteen

  I don't see Cayden again until the beginning of Money Management, the last class of the day. He sits away from me as if he already realizes I know.

  I pause as I enter, backpack in hand. Dropping it, I ask him, "So, how were Olivia's lips?"

  Cayden pales. I don't care. Rage fills me as another growl rises in my throat. We stare at each
other as his hazel eyes widen.

  "You followed me?"

  "I sure did," I said, gritting my teeth.

  "Let me take care of this," Cayden says. "It's the only way. I have to stop--" he eyes a few other people sitting in the room, one of who's a guy scrolling through his phone. "I have to stop you-know-what however I can."

  His words are final. Cayden turns away and looks out the window.

  "What is wrong with you? You were just going to let me see the truth at the dance?"

  "I didn't know how to tell you."

  He's still unreadable. Cayden gets his book out, shutting me away. His smell fills the room, the dominant scent, but right now, I feel like he's across the country.

  "This had better be an act," I say, sitting in my own seat and trying not to let the storm of emotion take over. The whole story might not have come to light yet. I take a breath. Cayden could be completely faking out Olivia, even with the kiss. It's not as if he hasn't fake-kissed her before. It happened when he rehearsed for Beauty and the Beast. Cayden doesn't even like Olivia. He could be pushing me away to make it all look real to her. Olivia has to wear the pendant at the dance and at least for the whole full moon night. It'll buy at least a month, or longer if he strings her along.

  Cayden doesn't think Noah has a chance of getting her to do what we want.

  And that I don't deserve to know of his real plan.

  I hold back from punching my desk and raking my fingernails down the surface.

  Cayden should have told me.

  What if he is pushing me away?

  He didn't have to kiss her. Or did he?

  I watch him. He stares down at his worksheets, shoulders hunched. The air's thick. Cayden grimaces. As he scribbles an answer on his late homework, the pencil he holds trembles and then snaps. Everyone in the room looks at him.

  And he doesn't react.

  He's tormented.

  I have to talk to him right after class.

  But I almost don't make it. My stomach turns so much that I almost excuse myself to the bathroom to throw up. By the time the bell rings, I must smell just as much as anger and fear as Cayden. If Everly or Remo were to pass by the room, they'd expect a murder.

  But when the bell rings, Cayden walks up instead of the other way around. He grabs my arm as the rest of the class clears out.

  "Brie," he says. "I know I'm the alpha, but let me take care of this one thing by myself. Let me make sure nothing happens at the dance. Give me the room to do what I need to do. And look angry."

  I check the classroom. Empty desks. People flow outside, chattering and excited to get out of school. "I am angry." I level my stare at Cayden.

  He swallows. A storm rages in his eyes, somewhere deep that even I can't reach. "This is how it has to be. And it might have to stay this way."

  My jaw falls open. "Stay this way?"

  Cayden glances at my desk. "Yes. I don't love Olivia, but if I break up with her after she puts on the pendant, she'll take it off and turn."

  "Cayden!"

  "What else would she do?" His eyes plead. He trembles as he holds my arms. "I won't let her hurt anyone. If she turns and I'm not there, she will kill and infect others. And soon we'll get driven out of Breck. Or worse. This must be the reason the Savages infected her. I will put that pendant around her neck myself. She won't be able to resist."

  I think of how Olivia threw herself at Cayden before. He's right. She won't. And "But there might be other infected people," I say, lowering my voice. "Are you going to go out with them, too?"

  "Olivia might be the most dangerous. She's too involved with everyone else."

  "But I had a plan. Don't do this, Cayden. Let Noah put that pendant around her neck. There's some hope. We'll stand beside him and make sure it happens. We. We're supposed to be a pack, and I know I haven't done the best job of it either."

  "Don't beat yourself up," Cayden says, soft. "You're still learning. And you're getting better. I shouldn't have treated you like that. I'm just--there's a lot going on and I don't know what I'm doing, either." He leans in for a kiss.

  But I shove him away. Even though he's bigger than me, I have the strength to loosen his grip on my arm.

  "Brie!"

  "You kissed Olivia. You didn't have to go that far."

  "She thought I was faking her out. I had to make her think otherwise."

  "You are faking her out," I say. "And you're making me the side girl at the same time. Aren't I supposed to be your mate?"

  "Yes, and that's not going to change. But Olivia needs to keep that pendant on, and I couldn't think of--"

  "Maybe you should have asked the rest of us for ideas before you went out and acted," I say. "You're impulsive. Why are you like this, Cayden?"

  He squares his shoulders. "You want too much to belong. And I'm like this because, well, never mind. I've screwed up a lot, okay? Gotten a lot of people in trouble. There's more than you know."

  "Stop blaming yourself for Wyatt and work with us. You told him to stay behind. Your brother made his own choice. And you said you were going to keep us together. Now do it."

  "There's more than that!" Cayden gathers his backpack. His eyes flash with pain. "I don't deserve you, okay?"

  "What?"

  "I don't deserve any of you. I helped bring you into this life. And now I can never get you out of it."

  He bolts from the room, shoes making little sound, and into the now-thinning crowd.

  "Cayden!"

  But he doesn't return.

  Picking up my stuff and swinging my pack over my shoulder, I follow. His scent blends with a hundred others. My heart races. Cayden's torment seeps into me. His problem isn't me. It's him, and I don't know how to comfort him or fix it. Or even find the right things to say.

  Down the hall, the exit doors open, and then slam as if someone has pushed them shut. Cayden. He must head to the woods, the only place he can go to be alone.

  "Brie."

  Everly calls me from behind. I whirl and let Cayden go.

  I let her run up. "He left," she says. "Cayden needs alone time."

  "He fought to be with me," I say, leaning against a locker. I suppress the urge to punch it. "Now he's fighting to be away from me."

  "He's been through a lot. You have to understand."

  "Cayden kissed Olivia." I have to tell the rest of the pack what he's up to.

  "He's not thinking," Everly says with sadness. "Brie, I'm sure he has no feelings for her. He used to come home, complaining about her throwing herself at him. Cayden only wanted you."

  "Wyatt's getting to him," I say.

  "Lately, yes. But there's more," she says.

  Though Everly has been cold in the past several weeks, her tone invites me to ask for the truth.

  I think. fighting back a storm of tears. Pieces snap together. "Does it have to do with Remo? I know he's adopted and wasn't born a werewolf."

  Every waves me down the hall, nodding. "Cayden had to turn him to save his life."

  "Cayden turned him?"

  I walk beside Everly. She checks the halls and sniffs, nostrils flaring. "I don't smell Remo, either. He's left the school. So I can talk. But neither of them want me to discuss it. It was a bad time for them both."

  "So, talk." I can fight back my tears. This is a distraction.

  "Cayden and Remo met and became friends at one of our old schools," Everly explains. "Freshman year. Well, Remo was a sophomore. They worked on a few science projects and started hanging out. Our parents weren't happy."

  "They didn't want you to have friends." So far, Everly's the only one who's stayed faithful to that. No outside buddies.

  "We all thought it was okay in that town," she says. "But then the Baltic Wolves showed up. They've hunted us for years. Our father killed their old alpha, and they wanted revenge. Savage Wolves aren't the smartest, but when it comes to making others suffer, they get creative."

  "So they went after Remo to get to Cayden?" I ask.

&n
bsp; Everly frowns. Another yes. "And Remo's family, too. It was a full moon night. The Savages didn't bother to infect. They ambushed and killed Remo's parents and his sister on a hiking trail. Remo barely escaped. He got into the family car and drove away. But he barely knew how to drive and crashed into a tree. The Savages left him to bleed out. Cayden found him, almost dead."

  "So he felt responsible and bit Remo," I say.

  "Exactly. If it wasn't a full moon night, Remo wouldn't have turned in time. He would have died from his injuries."

  I think of Remo in the woods, talking to Leonora and hoping for a cure. "Is Remo unhappy?"

  "He goes off and does his science projects so much I can't tell," Everly says. "But maybe that's why."

  Cayden has this over his head. Always did. The loss of Wyatt only made it worse, and then he had to watch me turn and suffer the same fate as his friend. Cayden might not have torn off my pendant, but he still played a part.

  Maybe he only wanted me as a human.

  I remind him of his past mistakes.

  "But Remo wouldn't be here today if it weren't for Cayden," I say. "And the Savages were going to attack your family, eventually. They don't honor truces."

  "True," Everly says. "Cayden doesn't understand that."

  "Should we go after him?" I ask.

  Until his wound closes, we can't truly be together.

  And this one keeps getting deeper.

  "Maybe not," Everly says. "Talk never helps him. I'm sorry you got pulled into this, Brie."

  Chapter Nineteen

  My shift at the store that night passes quickly--too quickly. Aunt May works with me. We don't speak much. When the store's empty, she says, "Cayden texted me. I'll help patrol around Breck on Sunday night with Remo and Everly."

  If she resents taking orders from a guy in high school, she doesn't show it.

  And Friday is unbearable.

  Cayden won't talk to me. He thinks he doesn't deserve me.

  He shows up to school, but instead of waiting at the entrance for me, he goes right in as I stand on the green. I follow, as much as I don't want to, and find him intertwining his hand with Olivia's right there in the hall. They stand by the water fountain, near a sign for the Spooktacular Dance. Tiffany and Alesha's jaws drop as Cayden whispers something in Olivia's ear.