Broken (42 page)

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 head shake, 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 or 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 seemed to
spawn two more, and he invariably seemed to figure 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 looser 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 that'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 ok 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 seemed to ratchet 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 sunk
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
dominate 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. Somehow I knew he was 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
forgone 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.

**

The pack was more subdued than normal on the
way home. Everyone splintered off into smaller component parts as
soon as we passed the wrought iron gate signaling the entrance to
the Graves estate.

Donovan was waiting patiently inside the
door, but he took one look at the bristling bundle of energy that
was Alec, and obviously revised his plans on the spot. "Shall I
have dinner delayed Master Alec, Mistress Rachel?"

"I'll take mine later, Donovan, but please
don't let that inconvenience the rest of the household. I'll be out
in the garden if anyone needs me."

Alec took a pair of quick steps down the
hall, and then turned back and looked at me. "Would you care to
join me, Adriana?"

It wasn't until we'd been sitting in a
secluded corner of the sprawling, green sanctuary for nearly half
an hour that Alec finally seemed to relax. There wasn't any visible
change to his demeanor, but one second tingles of lightning were
dancing along my skin, and in the next heartbeat the unseen world
settled into a sleepy calm.

"Will you do me the honor of allowing me to
escort you to the Ashure Day festivities?"

The question caught me so much by surprise
that the tiny ant I'd been watching managed to drag his heavy
burden of leaves halfway across the nearest flagstone before I
managed a response.

"Is this because of earlier? Because I told
you I don't expect you to stay with me?"

Apparently it was his turn to spend some time
pondering his reply. My six-legged friend was joined by another of
his kind, and they were manfully working their way up the hill
towards a tree.