Alpha Divided

“Well, that went just about as well as could be expected,” Claudia said, breaking the silence when we were halfway to her house.



“It wasn’t so bad,” I said.



“What do you mean?” Cosette said.



“Yeah, those people sucked, but did you notice the ones along the sidelines?”



“Beth, Tiffany, and Yvonne. Yes. I noticed,” Raphael said.



“They’ll be in with us. So, that’s more than I had this morning. The rest seem like a total lost cause. I’m assuming most of the adults who disagreed with Luciana found a way to leave—like your parents, Mom, and Tia Rosa—and the rest here are complacent.”



“Yes,” Claudia said.



I blew out a breath. Well, it wasn’t a total waste. We’d learned some good stuff. Maybe not all of it was actually good good, but knowing was half the battle.



I texted Mom about getting more food and she promised to come by tomorrow with a truckload.



Until then, I needed to get a game plan. Those dreams were still haunting me. I needed to find out how to make sure none of my nightmares come to pass.



Chapter Eighteen



I’d thought the dreams couldn’t get worse. But they did.



I was drowning in the images. I couldn’t breathe and my heart was breaking.



Dastien was with Imogene.



Her gaze met mine as I saw them across campus. He was kissing her. His back was to me.



It was worse than a punch to the gut. There was no more air in my lungs. It burned and I couldn’t get a breath in.



This was why people cut themselves off from love. This was it. I knew it. It was worse than anything I’d ever felt and I wasn’t sure I’d survive.



Just when I thought I couldn’t take anymore, the images changed.



I blinked and we were back in Imogene’s room. It was a sty, as always. Clothes piled everywhere. Clean mixed with dirty.



She was putting on her gold necklace; Dastien had given it to her and it had triggered a vision for me once. Now I wanted to rip it from her throat.



I moved toward her, lunging for the gold chain, but the image shifted again, and suddenly she wasn’t there.



A moan had me turning around.



They were in her bed. They were…they were…they were…



***



“Wake up!” Claudia said.



I blinked. I was sobbing so hard I couldn’t catch a breath. The pain—the heartbreak—was still there. Lingering. I couldn’t shake it free.



“You have to calm down or you’re going to make yourself si—”



She didn’t have to finish that sentence. I ran to the toilet just in time to throw up.



When I stopped, I washed my face. I looked at my reflection. My skin was usually pale, but now it looked ghostly.



“Are you okay?”



“I don’t know,” I said honestly. I didn’t know what was going on, but I didn’t like it. “I’ve never had such vivid dreams before. I could smell her perfume. I could smell her…as he kissed her. I can’t…” I took a breath. “God. I thought since I was a Were, I wouldn’t get sick anymore, but I think I might throw up again.”



Claudia reached out to me. “Let’s get you back in bed.”



I shook my head. The thought of going back to that room made me even more queasy. “No. I can’t go back in there. I don’t trust my dreams. I can’t take it.”



“Fine. Then come to my bed.”



Seriously? I wasn’t so sure that was a good idea. What if I got visions in her bed? I was already a mess… “I’ve never slept in a bed with anyone other than Dastien.” It sounded lame, but it was the best excuse that I could come up with.



“Don’t worry. I have a queen-sized bed, and I’m not going to try and steal your virtue.” She winked. “Come on.” She pulled me toward her room, and I let her.



It was a nice room. A large bookcase took up one wall. I looked through it and saw mostly classics. All of them were vintage. The smell of vanilla wafted from the pages and they made me wish I could really enjoy an old book instead of buying new all the time.



“Pretty good stuff you’ve got here.”



She hmmed. “I don’t know about you, but I’m going to bed.” She climbed into her big, four-poster bed. It had way too many pillows. So many that when I got in, my feet nearly fell off the end. Quite an accomplishment for someone as short as me.



“One thing.” She leaned over me. Her lips were moving, but no sound was coming out. She traced a knot over my forehead with her pointer finger. “There. You’ll sleep well now.”