Chapter Thirty-three

“I hate school.” I looked at the high school building with dread. “A whole day stuck here with a bunch of losers.”

“You hate everything.” Zane locked the car and walked beside me. “And you’re the only loser in this place.”

I gave him a dry expression, since when did he get a sense of humor. “Great come back.”

“I thought so.”

I sighed and adjusted the bag on my shoulder. At the very least I knew I wouldn’t be here all day. I was planning on ditching third and fourth period to go meet Jace.

The whole thought of meeting him twisted me up inside.

“I’ll meet you in English,” Zane said before taking off in another direction. For a moment I thought he was joking, and when he didn’t turn back around, I honestly thought my luck couldn’t be this good.

Maybe I didn’t even have to do the first two periods.

I quickened my pace up and headed towards the office, and when I knew I was definitely out of Zane’s sight, I broke into a run across the yard. I had money in my wallet, and the bus stop was only up the road.

All I needed to do was let Jace know the change of time.

I slowed my pace down to a nice walk and pulled out my phone. Dialing his number, I hoped he hadn’t had morning plans.

 

***

“I don’t believe you.” I crossed my arms, not buying a word he said. “Jace, you can’t expect me to just believe what you are saying, as you have no proof and I’m pretty sure mom would have mentioned I had a brother.”

“Did mom ever tell you dad was still alive?” Jace shot back at me, “Come on, Allie, it makes sense, and if you don’t see it, then you are in denial.”

Denial.

Maybe.

But coming to terms with your dad being still alive, and you have a brother that you knew nothing about is a lot to take in. Plus, it means my mother has been lying to me this whole time.

“Why did dad leave?” I stared down at my untouched coffee cup. “You said he is still close, but why? Why stay if he wanted to leave so badly?”

“Mom wanted the safety of a pack. Dad is against what a pack stands for.” A grim smile crossed Jace’s face. “He got me, and mom got you.”

“Why don’t I remember you?”

“You were young, Allie.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t take it personally. What matters is what happens now, and that’s why I clicked the bracelet on you.”

“Yeah, thanks for that.” I rolled my eyes, glancing down at the thing. “You have no idea how much trouble this thing has caused. I’ve got my own security guard thanks to it.”

“Yeah. Zane Harris.” He cocked his head to the side. “Anything you want to tell me, Allie?”

Hell no. He doesn’t get that right.

“I don’t want to tell you anything.” I leaned across the table lowering my voice. “Don’t get confused, Jace. Just because I am sitting here doesn’t mean I want to get to know you. I’m here because I had questions, that’s it. Now I have the answers. I don’t think I want to know anything else.”

His hand clamped down on mine. “But you don’t know everything yet.”

“I don’t want to know.”

“You don’t want to know how your mom is lying to you! Forcing you to be the wife of the future Alpha. Everything dad stands against!”

I pointed a finger at him, feeling an uncontrollable rage consume me. “Mom might be lying to me, but she isn’t forcing me to marry anyone. What happens between Zane and me is no one else’s business.”

He shook his head, with a determining smirk on his face. “What happens between you and Zane will be determined by this. If you don’t see that, you’re as blind as our mom.”

“You should go.”

“Yeah, maybe I should.”

“And before you do, take this off.” I held my wrist out. “My mind doesn’t need to be hidden. I have nothing to hide, and maybe this whole hiding my thoughts and scent has more to do with your safety than mine.”

“Fine.” Jace unclipped the bracelet - seems he had the magic touch. “But when things turn to shit, don’t say I didn’t tell you.” He then slapped a piece of paper down in front of me. “You might want nothing to do with us, but dad wants you to have this. Bye, Allie.”

He slid out of the booth and left me sitting there. I was happy he was gone, but I was furious that he had distorted everything I believed to be true.

Pulling out my phone, I wasn’t surprised to see multiple missed calls from Zane.

I supposed I better ease his worry so he could lecture me. I didn’t know what scared me more, facing my mom about this or knowing that now Zane knows everything.

 

***

I had always envied the lives of fictional characters. They were always so alluring and filled with thrilling moments; unlike mine. Well, that was until now.

I sat frozen on my mom's couch. Was it stupid of me to hope that everything Jace told me was a lie?

The sad part was it wasn’t, and sadder yet was that he didn’t even scratch the surface of what was kept from me.

I hadn’t told mom what Jace had told me, and she must have thought that he had told me a lot more than he had because once she started, she just didn’t stop.

Mom left dad after she found out he was part of a movement whose sole purpose was to dissolve packs and get rid of the whole ‘Alpha’ concept.

Mom loved the safety of a pack life. It made sense because she was the daughter of an Alpha, and she had mated with a male she thought would be a powerful Alpha.

But dad had other plans.

She said it was easier to pretend he was dead than keep living knowing he was alive.

She thought I would cope better with a memory of a loving dad than a memory of a dad she ripped me from.

“Allie, you have to understand something.” She placed a hand on my knee, causing me to break from my thoughts. “You can’t tell anyone about this.”

I scoffed, “How am I to manage that? Zane is in my head most of the time, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he already knew.”

“He can’t know, Allie. You have to understand it is highly important they never find out.”

“Why? Why does it matter if he knows my family is screwed up?” I didn’t see Zane as the judging type.

“If they know, Allie, they won’t have anything to do with us. The Movement is a deadly subject, one connection could have us thrown out.”

I hadn’t forgiven her, but I was glad she was honest with me. “I can’t keep this from Zane, Mom. I don’t have great control over my mind like you must.”

She had kept it a secret this long. I didn’t know how she had done it, but she had because the pack knew nothing.

“It’s not control, darling. It’s a lock.”

“What, like the bracelet?”

“Sort of. We can lock a memory, stopping others from reading it or finding it. I’ll teach you how to do it.”

“What if Zane already knows? I haven’t been wearing the bracelet all day.”

“Have you been around him?”

“No, not yet.”

“Then there is a chance that he hasn’t reached into your thoughts yet.” She hoped.

“I’m meeting with him tonight. I need to get my things from the pack house. I want to come home.” I wasn’t going back there by myself. This ‘break’ she needed was over.

She nodded her head. “Well, it’s not like you can discover anything else now, is it? Come on, I’ll teach you how to block the thought.”

Looks like more quality time with mom. Wasn’t sure how I felt about that.