Alpha Divided (Alpha Girl Book 3) (6 page)

Mr. Dawson crossed his arms. “This ceremony and the Tribunal are entirely separate matters, and sponsorship for tonight wasn’t given proper notice.”

Luciana waved her hands, and fire licked the ground. “You think I don’t know what this means? The second she bites him, the second the words are said, she’s yours for good. It makes the Tribunal worthless.”

The Weres that had gone wolfy prowled around the members of
la Alquelarre
. The rest were watching. Motionless, but ready for action.

“Everyone knows mated wolves can’t be separated,” Luciana said.

She was right. That was why we were doing this. With the completed bond and Sebastian and Donovan’s approval, we were golden for the Tribunal. It was just a technicality. But if we didn’t cement the bond…

Mr. Dawson grinned, and I shuddered. There wasn’t even a little bit of warmth in his expression. The man was scary when he was pissed. “If you think I will allow two of my
already
mated
pack alphas to be separated, you’re sorely mistaken.”

No way. She wasn’t getting between Dastien and me. I wouldn’t let that happen.

“Teresa isn’t just any pack member you can mate off. You stole her from our ranks—not only our leader, but our strongest coven member. The Tribunal was our chance to make our case using your methods, but by your actions, you’d obviously prefer we take her back using force.”

I knew Luciana wanted me to join the coven. She’d even tried spelling me to get her way, but it hadn’t worked. I stupidly thought she’d just wanted to speak at the Tribunal to make Dastien’s life hell. Boy, was I wrong.
Did you know they wanted to talk at the Tribunal to get me back
? I asked Dastien.

No. I knew they wanted to talk, but I didn’t know anything about this. I swear.

With the amount of panic and anger I was feeling through the bond, I believed him.

“But now…You’ve gone too far, Michael.”

Lady had lost her damned mind. No way was I leaving Dastien or the pack. I was done listening. “We’ve been over this.” I made sure to enunciate so there’d be no misunderstandings. “I’m not going back to the coven. Not when you were so quick to try manipulating me with magic. Not when you nearly killed my friend without a whisper of remorse. I don’t want to be anywhere near you let alone join your coven.”

“But you’ll take our help when you need it.”

That was low. Claudia and Raphael had helped me more than once, but they were family. And to be honest, the first two times I hadn’t even asked for it. “If you’re referring to my cousins, then yes. I’ll take my family’s help and I’ll help my family. But you—you’re not family. This—” I waved my arms toward the assembled Weres—“is my family.”

Fire shot from Luciana’s fingertips, and she wavered. A coven member—also dressed in white—came to help her stand. Whatever flashy spell was lighting her hands must’ve been costing her.

“Donovan. Sebastian. I know you remember the last time our people fought. Surely you don’t wish to repeat that.”

“Are you threatenin’ us? With war?” Donovan jumped smoothly down from the dais, his Irish accent thickening with his anger.

I’d never seen Donovan so furious, but when his eyes flashed to blue, I knew he was not someone I ever wanted to piss off. I stepped back, giving him room.

“It’s not a threat. It’s a fact,” Luciana said.

What the hell was going on? Why did she fucking care so much where I was? What was her endgame? It didn’t make any sense. If she forced the pack to make me go with her, then I’d do everything in my power to tear her down. To get back here. I was nothing if not stubborn.

Could she be that dense?

No. Not being as high in the coven as she was. Which meant that she had to be up to something. The big question was what?

“Luciana,” I said. My voice sounded much calmer than I felt. “I want nothing to do with you. Forcing me to go with you will not end up with me helping you in any way, shape, or form. I will never be like you.” I paused to let my words sink in. “You need to leave. Now.”

The spell on her hands strengthened, and I blinked my eyes from the sudden bright light surrounding her. “I think Donovan and Sebastian would disagree. Is it worth it to fight now? Why not complete your ritual at the next full moon? Give us the chance to make our case.”

“Or else?” I asked.

She held up her hands. “I’ll do what I must.”

The circling wolves moved forward, but knocked into an invisible barrier that surrounded the
brujos
. They snarled and a few more Weres shifted as they ran at the barrier.

One of the coven members threw a bottle filled with red powder at the closest wolf, and it cut through the invisible wall. The wolf yelped as the glass smashed against his hindquarters and he went down in a whimpering heap as magic flashed.

They were going to fight. Over me. People—my pack—could get hurt. I had to stop this.

“Wait.” I took a breath.

“
Non.
You can’t—”

The fight started to grow around us. Wolves crashed into the invisible barrier, bones crunching as they hit. The witches threw potions into the pack. Some sparked in blazing fire. Others were more subtle, casting shadows or fog. But every vial sparked a chorus of whimpers. Pain rippled through the pack bonds and for the first time, I could feel each wolf—and every injury.

I had to stop this before it got out of control. I grabbed Dastien’s hand. “We get through the Tribunal and in a month, we’re right back here. Nothing will change, except this fight.”

He pulled me close, running his nose along my cheek. “I don’t trust them,” he whispered in my ear. “If we don’t press this now, I could lose you.”

I pulled back. “Impossible. We’ll get through this.” I cleared my throat. “We’ll wait,” I said to Mr. Dawson.

Sebastian shook his head. “Let us handle this.”

One of the coven members yelled an incantation in language I didn’t know. The ground exploded off to my right and howls rent the night.

At once, Sebastian shifted. A spell flew his way and he dodged it, but a blast of light hit another wolf who collapsed to the ground.

Wolves were getting hurt. Arguing about this was a waste of time.

I spun to Mr. Dawson. “We have to stop this.”

“I’m with Dastien. That’s a huge mistake. You give in now, you’ll be giving in to them forever.”

Non. Please. We
have
to do this now. You can’t let her affect our actions.
Dastien protested through our bond, but I tuned him out.

It was too much. Spells flew, crisscrossing the night in streaks of jagged light. Wolves circled the coven, slamming their bodies into the barrier. It was chaos, and all because I couldn’t wait one month?

“Stop.” I yelled the word as loud as I could and backed it with alpha powers. Every wolf froze in place.

I held my breath, hoping that the
brujos
would stop, too. When no one moved, I said, “This isn’t worth fighting over. I’ll promise not to finish the bonding ceremony tonight if you’ll leave now.”

“Are you sure?” Mr. Dawson said softly to me, but every Were heard the question.

The night was quiet as everyone waited for my answer. I knew that what I was doing was right. I couldn’t let any more wolves get injured because of me. But that didn’t make this any easier. “Yes,” I said finally.

Mr. Dawson gave me a solemn nod before turning to Luciana. “You’re getting this much from us, but nothing else.”

She raised her head in the air, like she thought she was the queen of the universe, and I wanted to strangle her. “I need your word. The spell please.”

Spell?

Fur sprouted over Mr. Dawson’s face. “We won’t finish this bonding ceremony tonight. You have my word. I shall break it only on punishment of death by the gods above and below.” His voice was growly with the wolf. “Leave now, Luciana. Or we will remove you from our land.”

The fire went out of Luciana’s hands. “That’s all we ask.” She grinned, and my stomach flip-flopped.

I knew that smile. The feeling of dread that it invoked in me. That was what my premonition had been about. This moment.

She and the rest of
la Alquelarre
walked away, but I knew whatever they were plotting was far from over.

“Oh God,” I muttered. My heart was racing so fast that my hands shook. Dastien hugged me to his chest. “Did I do the right thing?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t think we had any good option, but I was ready to fight for you. For us.”

“I know.”

“You gave up.” His sadness and disappointment flowed freely through the bond, and my eyes welled.

This wasn’t what I wanted to happen. “Did you hear the wolves in pain? It wasn’t about giving up. It was about not causing a huge blow up if it could be prevented.”

It took a while for everyone to calm down. A few wolves shifted back and Dr. Gonzales led them as they took the injured to the infirmary. I hoped whatever spells had been cast could be easily removed.

“Lass,” Donovan said beside me.

I pulled away from Dastien enough to see Donovan.

He looked shaken, with his skin a little paler than normal and his eyes glowing bright blue, signaling his wolf was ready to take over. “It was a hard choice, but I think it was the right one. Even I was ready to fight, and it wouldn’t have been pretty. The last war with the witches…suffice it to say it took a few centuries before the world recovered. Thank you for keeping your head when no one else did. You’ll be a good leader.”

“Thanks.” But I was still hung up on war. It was such a strong word. “Is that what’s going to happen now? War?”

“You may have stayed it for a while, but it could be unavoidable if Luciana calls the other covens for aid.” He clasped Dastien’s shoulder. “Hang on, you two. If it’s you they want, they’ll have quite a battle in store for them.”

I took a breath. “Thanks.”

He nodded. “The moon is high in the night. Let us run together and renew the friendship and bond that takes us from lone wolf to pack.” He raised his arms, and power flowed through the pack. It hit me, rushing along my skin. My inner wolf rose up and there wasn’t anything I could do to stop it. I let go, and within a breath, I was on four feet.

Wolf-Dastien butted his head against mine and took off running.

The power of the full moon filled me with energy and I took off after him. The trees whipped past as I let the power of the pack take my worries away. It was almost like I had no problems as a wolf. Everything was simplified.

A wolf howled off to the left, and the group moved as one in that direction.

I caught the scent of the deer a second before I smelled its blood.

The wolf wanted to go after it, but I didn’t.

I shouldered into Dastien, and he led us around the kill. He howled again, and the pack followed.

I caught the moonlight and the wolf took over. I lost myself in my senses, the feel of the run, and the pack around me.

Chapter Five

I woke up the next morning in Dastien’s arms. His cabin was just one big room. The blackout curtains had parted a little bit, letting a sliver of light in. I tried to pull away, but he tightened his grip, and nuzzled his nose against the back of my neck.

“More sleep.” His voice rumbled.

I sighed and closed my eyes. After the run, we’d come back here to eat. That’d always been our plan, except that we hadn’t gone through with the ceremony. It was supposed to be romantic. We were supposed to take the next step, but Dastien didn’t want to do that until after the ceremony. I’d been scared about it, but excited too. Now that was all shot to shit.

As I lay there, my nervous anticipation kicked into overdrive. Tomorrow was the Tribunal. I knew Dastien was worried about it, but I didn’t think the worry I was feeling was his. A lot of it was mine. There was so much more on the line now that we hadn’t cemented our bond.

“How much do you think we should worry about Luciana?”

Dastien growled. “
Merde.
She’s a pain in the ass.”

I rolled my eyes.

“I saw that.”

“That’s literally impossible. Your eyes are closed and you’re spooning me. You can’t see my face.”

“Fine. I felt you do it.”

“That’s creepy.”

“I’m not creepy. I’m your mate. Remember?”

I rolled my eyes again, and he squeezed me tighter.

“The thing is, Luciana isn’t stupid. She’s conniving. I felt like postponing the ceremony was my only choice, and it wasn’t that big of a deal to—”

Dastien flipped me onto my back. He hovered over me, balanced on his forearms. His eyes were bright yellow. “Not that big of a deal?”

I reached up, cupping his face with my hand. “What are a few more weeks when we have a lifetime ahead of us?”

He sagged down beside me. “I didn’t want to wait. And now we have to fight to be together during the Tribunal. If we’d gone through with it, we’d be together. End of story.” His words were gravelly, thick with the wolf.

I winced. Okay. So it was a big deal. “I know. But she came to fight, and I didn’t want to go there when waiting a few weeks will protect the pack. What could change?”

We were quiet for a second.

“That’s the thing, though. What could change? What is she going to try to do?” I asked.

“She’s going to the Tribunal to make a case stating that I took you from them.”

“Which is kind of true.”

Dastien huffed. “I know. Which is why I wanted to do the ceremony yesterday. You’re pack now, so it’s a bit of a moot point, but she wouldn’t have wanted you to wait if she didn’t have something up her sleeve. I wanted that extra protection.”

I chewed my lip as I thought. “I want to know why she’s doing this.”

“We’ve been over that. She wants you back with the coven.”

“I know. But why?” There had to be a bigger picture, but I wasn’t seeing it. “So she gets me back over there. Then what? Is she really that delusional that she thinks she can convince me to take over? And if she hates wolves so much, why would she even want me? Hello. I go furry and I’d never let her curse me like she did Meredith.”

“She wouldn’t exactly need your permission to curse you.” Dastien cut me off before I could protest. “Okay. If she doesn’t want you to run the coven, then why’s she doing this?”