by Dean Murray
Chapter 26
It was amazing how quickly my classes flew by when I had a friend, or at least a protector, with me at all times. Then again all of Monday had flown by, not just the school portion of the day, so it really shouldn't have been a surprise today was doing likewise.
After Spanish, Jasmin had escorted me to Mrs. Campbell's class. Telling her I wasn't going to be able to help out at the lab anymore had been one of the harder things I'd ever done, but she'd been surprisingly understanding. We'd scheduled my makeup test for the next day and I'd left with the sneaking suspicion she'd guessed more about what was really going on in Sanctuary than either pack would've liked. I'd been busy contemplating what Mrs. Campbell might have really figured out as we left the building, only to have Jasmin interrupt my musings with an apology of all things.
She didn't get into specifics, and it was obvious she was still worried about the coming showdown with Brandon, but I was pretty sure she really was sorry. It didn't make us best friends and she was still an enigma, but it was a start. It even gave me hope maybe Jessica and James might eventually come around.
I was still reeling in surprise as we walked out to the parking lot and met up with the rest of the pack, or rather the rest of the pack minus Alec. He'd shown up several minutes later, looking very satisfied with himself, but obviously unwilling to answer any questions. As we caravanned home, I realized the collection of vehicles carrying us back to Alec's estate probably cost more than my house.
Donovan had met us at the door and conducted us to the dining room, where Alec and his friends devoured a sizable meal. Even back when I'd had a more substantial appetite, I still couldn't have kept up with the wolves. Even the girls packed away more food than I would've believed possible for such slender frames. I mentally shrugged and added it to the list of shape shifter benefits. Able to eat like a complete pig and still slip into size zero jeans.
Dominic spent a couple hours after dinner helping me with Spanish. She probably would've spent even longer with me, but Mom called, so Dominic slipped out to give me some privacy. I fielded something like a hundred questions about school, reassured her two or three times that she wasn't a terrible mother, and promised yet again to stay one hundred percent out of trouble while she was gone. I was beginning to wonder if I was ever going to get off the phone when she finally decided, ultra-late shoot tomorrow or not, she'd better go to bed.
By the time I finally finished up the rest of my studying, decided I was ready for my catch-up test in Mrs. Campbell's class tomorrow, and spent a few minutes with Rachel, I was well and truly exhausted.
I thought about going back to the Lilac Room, but it would've just been because I was worried about what everyone else was thinking. I'd been raised to believe good little girls didn't spend the night with boys. Not even boys who were so gentlemanly it was sometimes painful.
I still believed that, but my desire to be with Alec had devoured the parts of my brain that used logic and reason to decide things. I wanted to be with him while he slept, even if it was only for a couple of hours. Everyone in the pack already knew I'd spent the night. In the end, the reasonable part of me never had a chance.
Waking up next to Alec fully vindicated my decision. He'd greeted me with his typical, heart-stopping smile and I'd leaned in to kiss him before I'd even realized I was in motion. He'd pulled back, but his expression at least wasn't reproachful.
I wanted to force the issue, wanted it so badly I could feel the desire bubbling inside me, but even more than my natural shyness, the thought of him pulling away again, this time in disgust, was too much to contemplate.
Once we got to school, I'd found the rampant gossip had subsided to a dull rumble, but the few undecided votes had come down solidly on the side of everyone else. Some people hated me for using Brandon, others hated me for playing Alec, while a small, but decidedly upwardly-mobile group disliked me for achieving not just one, but both of the conquests they'd been dreaming of since grade school. In the end, it didn't really matter why everyone disliked me. Still, only the fact that Alec's pack closed ranks around me kept the situation from becoming unbearable.
Biology went better than it had since my first day in Sanctuary, largely because Alec seemed to have developed a postdoctorate knowledge of Biology. Also he didn't have a single qualm when it came to using that knowledge to deflect questions aimed at me. Mrs. Sorenson tried three different times to make me look stupid before finally giving up and getting down to the business of teaching.
She continued to shoot us nasty looks throughout the class, but I hardly noticed. Alec spent the rest of the class time writing questions for me in the margins of my notebook. By the time I'd described my grandparents, kindergarten teacher, and top three most embarrassing moments, I wanted to get a chance to ask some questions of my own, but he just shook his head and passed me my notebook back with a new set of quickly-jotted queries. The sentences should have been a careless mess based on the speed with which he was writing. Instead they turned out more even and carefully constructed than anything I'd ever been able to accomplish.
I'm the Alpha here; you can ask your questions when I finish with mine.
The flippant, humorous nature of his response was so atypical, and yet still quintessentially Alec. I nearly broke into a fit of laughter that would've gotten us both in even more trouble with Mrs. Sorenson.
I roll my eyes at you...a lot. So once you're done, I get to ask you any question? No restrictions?
That was nearly a deal breaker, I could see it by the way his initial smile at my 'rolled eyes' faded away into his more characteristic seriousness. He contemplated his response for a good fifteen seconds, which was probably something like two hours in shape shifter time, before finally touching his pen to the paper again and then passing my notebook back.
It's a deal. When I finish up with my questions, you can ask whatever you want. Of course if your question is something that's going to get you into trouble, I reserve the right to pack you onto a plane and send you off to safety once I'm done answering.
I stuck my tongue out at him, for real this time, as I wrote down my response. Bully. Still, all in all it was a win for me. Once he'd dug up every painful moment from my childhood, I was going to get to finally start learning about him. His pack too of course, but most importantly, I'd finally know more of what made Alec Graves tick.
A couple of hours later at lunch, Mrs. Campbell had met the appearance of Rachel, Alec, and the rest of the pack with a raised eyebrow and a disbelieving headshake, but simply motioned them all over to the other side of the room, and handed me my test.
Despite having spent weeks preparing for my makeup exam, I was still a little nervous until I started working the first problem. Forty minutes later I handed Mrs. Campbell a completed test, and got the extreme pleasure of watching her grade it and write a large, crimson 'A' on the front page.
I was so excited I nearly squealed in delight. I managed to restrain myself, just barely, only to giggle as Rachel dropped her lunch and squealed for me. Dominic's gentle smile wasn't quite as enthusiastic, but I already knew her subdued reaction wasn't any less heartfelt. Throw in Jasmin's congratulations, which seemed to indicate the passing grade had been nothing less than inevitable, with Alec taking my hand as soon as I sat down, and Jessica and James' lack of response didn't matter at all.
With Isaac's reassuring presence at my side in History, I weathered the renewed gossip, apparently occasioned by the entire pack's absence during lunch for the second day in a row, and soon found myself reunited with Alec in Physics.
As luck would have it, Mrs. Alexander was gone again, and the substitute was typically clueless about what we were supposed to be doing. Alec of course spent the whole class unearthing other little bits of embarrassing information. I'd never experienced anything like it, every question I answered spawned two more, and he invariably seemed to figure out the underlying reasons I'd done a given thing, or reacted a certain way.
I'd just finished describing my failed tryout for the school's production of To Kill a Mockingbird, when he hit me with a completely unexpected question.
"So tell me about both your best date and your worst date before you came here."
I felt my skin instantly heat up, and looked down, unable to meet his gaze. He let me sit there for a couple of seconds, and then reached out and used one gentle finger to nudge my chin up.
"What's the matter, afraid I'll be jealous?"
I shook my head, fighting the urge to look back down. "No, there isn't anything to be jealous of. I'd never been on a single date before Sanctuary, and you know all about what's happened since I arrived."
His smile was surprisingly reassuring. "That sounds like the easiest one I've asked you yet. Why the sudden bashfulness?"
My throat seemed to be spending an awful lot of the time lately constricted down to the point where speech was all but impossible. It was even worse than usual now. I thought maybe he'd have moved on to something else by the time I was able to talk again, but he was still patiently waiting when I managed to make myself look up again.
It was tempting to lie and tell him I was just thinking about Cindi, the only one in the family who'd ever really had any luck in the dating department, but that wasn't fair. Besides, it would only put off the dreaded day. Eventually he'd find out what I was really like.
When the words finally made it out, they seemed to fight me the whole way, clawing at my throat with such force that by the time they finally exited my mouth, they were the barest hint of a whisper. "Because I'm worried once you realize just how much of a loser I was back home, how much of a loser I still am, you'll decide you don't belong with me."
"Why would you not dating very much have any impact on how I feel about you?"
"Because in addition to being the most thoughtful boy I've ever met, you also happen to be rich enough to buy a small country. You're so incredibly gorgeous girls swoon when you walk into a room. How can I possibly compete against the kinds of girls who'll continue throwing themselves at you for as long as you're breathing?"
Anger managed to accomplish what all of the swallowing hadn't. The diatribe that'd started out nearly inaudible had grown in volume until by the end I was hissing loud enough the people closest to us turned around in curiosity.
Alec calmly captured my wildly gesturing hands, immobilizing them with a casual strength that made me feel like a child.
"Please don't do that."
He continued on before I could open my mouth. "The fact you didn't date until recently doesn't mean you're some kind of nerd. Even if it did, that wouldn't matter to me. Also, other girls who may or may not find me attractive are irrelevant. I don't want them, I want you."
Even I could tell that I wasn't doing a very good job pretending I believed him.
Alec recaptured one of my hands in his, and then leaned back, lazily exuding confidence. "It's okay that you don't believe me yet, I'm equal to the challenge of convincing you."
He smiled at my shrug, but now that we weren't arguing about the inevitable fact he was eventually going to leave me, my mind was free to start working again.
"Don't do what?"
For the first time ever, I'd managed to catch him by surprise. It took him several seconds to figure out what I was talking about.
"Your hands, you tend to talk with them when you're excited or angry, and it's very distracting. I mean for us. All of the motion results in a hundred tiny signals flooding my brain as my instincts try to decide whether you're prey to be chased, or a bigger predator that I need to flee from."
I felt my eyes go wide as I realized what he was saying. It made me think of the stray kitten we'd taken in for a few months when I was five. Cindi and I had spent hours teasing it with pieces of string, watching its tiny head dart back and forth from one to the other as it tried to decide whether to pounce on them, or dart away and hide under the bed.
It'd been really amusing when it had been a half-pound kitten, but the thought of having a two-hundred-plus pound wolf attacking me because I'd triggered some kind of fight or flight instinct wasn't so funny.
"Oh, I didn't realize it was a problem. I'll stop."
Alec laughed. "It isn't actually that bad. More like an itch you can't quite reach. Although, if you ever want to drive Jessica absolutely crazy, spend a few minutes around her fidgeting. She's the most naturally high-strung out of anyone besides Jasmin. The fact she's also a submissive only makes things worse."
It was terribly vindictive, and wonderfully appealing. I felt a smile tugging at the ends of my mouth. "She won't eat me if I do that?"
His chuckle pulled my smile wider. "No. If you're really worried about it just make sure that one of the others are in the room at the same time with you."
"Now that has some real possibilities."
I was still rolling the thought around in my mind when the bell rang and Alec pulled me to my feet.
We swapped out our books and were halfway to Spanish when Vincent and Brandon strode into view. Moving so smoothly I was positive that nobody else even realized anything was wrong, Alec swung me around so he was between them and me.
The tension ratcheted up in step with the rolling waves of energy, as Brandon and Vincent drew nearer. They split up when they saw us, casually positioning themselves so Alec couldn't protect me from both of them.
I felt my knees stop working as I took in Brandon's lazy, confident smile, and Vincent's sick, eager expression, but the gentle pressure of Alec's grasp on my hand kept me from falling down. I looked up at Alec, hoping for a reassuring smile, but his face had taken on the expressionless mask he used to guard his thoughts.
I tried to slow down, but Alec kept moving forward, never altering his speed in the slightest as he pulled me directly towards Vincent.
It seemed incredible that the few other people still in the hall couldn't feel the surge of energy as Vincent stepped directly in front of us and placed his hand on Alec's chest. The sudden spike was enough to make my hair stand on end, but Jim Hansen hurried by without any indication there was something out of the ordinary.
"You're in our way, half-breed."
I felt Alec's grasp tighten slightly, but considering the crushing strength he was capable of, it was the closest thing imaginable to a non-response.
Brandon was coming up behind Vincent, as Alec reached up and placed his own hand on Vincent's chest, with another, stronger flash of power. The ripple of skin and bone was so quick for a second I couldn't believe what I was seeing, but there it was. Alec's hand and fingers had elongated, turning into a hairless replica of the deadly claw that'd terrified me just a few days before.
Vincent's bulk was such that it screened Alec's movements from passersby, as those razor-sharp claws sank just the barest distance into his chest. Alec spoke for the first time, and the even tone of his words was a stark contrast to the winds of power that seemed almost ready to throw me across the hall.
"You forget yourself, mutt. As the leader of another pack, I'm due more respect than that. Should you or your dominant wish to push things further, I guarantee that your heart will decorate the floor before he can come to your aid."
Brandon stopped moving as Alec's words carried to him. He was probably weighing odds and tabulating the probable cost of the various courses of action available to him. Vincent's life was likely a relatively small component in the grand equation.
Dominic's presence as she stepped around the corner seemed to be the deciding factor. Brandon gave us another lazy smile as he stepped slowly backwards to give us more room.
Alec's tone was still conversational as he shoved Vincent backwards and allowed his hand to return to normal. "The harassment of my people stops now."
"Now why would we do a thing like that when we all know you're a dead man?"
Dominic stopped just outside of what I was starting to understand was pouncing range for people who happened to have supernatural strength, as Alec gave Brandon a
cold smile.
"If I ever really decide the outcome is a foregone conclusion, you'd better start watching out for your people. You'd be surprised just how many of them could disappear if I no longer worried about the consequences of my actions."
The tingle of Alec's power lessened slightly once we were out of sight, but it still hadn't dropped off completely by the time we were standing in front of Mrs. Tiggs' classroom.
I could still feel the faintest traces of his power long after he'd finally let my hand go with obvious reluctance and strode off, leaving Dominic and I to find our seats.