Avoiding Alpha

Fur spread along my arms, and I growled. The need to take Luciana down was stronger than anything I’d ever felt before. It was like fire in my veins.



Chris dragged me to the car and shoved me in the driver’s side. He kept pushing me until I was on the passenger’s side. I went for the door.



I couldn’t leave without putting Luciana in her place. I wanted blood.



Chris hit the locks before I could open the door and put the car in gear.



I raged and yelled, growling nonsense as I tried to get the car door open.



“Stop,” Chris commanded as he pulled a u-turn on someone’s lawn, speeding toward the open gate.



When we hit the cattle guard, I felt that slick feeling again, like we were passing through a barrier. But this time it didn’t just feel slimy. Now, it burned my skin like sandpaper against a bad sunburn. It was painful enough to shock my wolf. My bones cracked back in place and fur slid away.



“Holy fuck,” I said, gasping. “Do you feel that?”



His gaze stayed on the road. “I felt something alright.”



I rubbed my arms, trying to ease the sensation, but the pain lingered. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”



“No problem.” He floored it down the bumpy dirt road.



Something was wrong. Did I forget something back there?



The further we got from the coven’s land, the more my fear grew. My heart was pumping so fast, so loud, it was echoing in my ears.



This wasn’t right. I was safe. My wolf had nearly gotten me into big trouble, but Chris had gotten us away in time. My fear shouldn’t be getting worse.



“Are you okay?” Chris said.



“I don’t know.” I swallowed. “I’m so afraid, but I have no idea why. We got away from there. I’m fine. You’re fine. Why am I freaking out?”



And then it hit me. “Go faster. Drive.” I spotted him in the distance. A wolf running down the side of the road. “Stop. Stop the car. Now. Please.” I slapped Chris on the arm. “Now!”



“Okay. Okay.” He slammed on the brakes, and my seatbelt strained to keep me in my seat. “Is that who I think that is?”



“Yes.” For once, it wasn’t my own fear I was feeling. It was Dastien’s. I couldn’t imagine what would make him so afraid, but whatever it was, I wanted it gone.



I un-clicked my seatbelt, jumped down from the car, and started running to meet him.



Chapter Five



Dastien bounded toward me in wolf-form. I stopped in the middle of the dirt road and he tackled me to the ground. Thank God we’d done so much training lately. I knew how to take a fall without hurting anything. Or, more accurately, without hurting anything too badly. I hit the road, careful to curl into my stomach so my head wouldn’t slam into the compacted dirt. Wolf-Dastien ran his nose over every inch of me. He growled when he got to my hand and then licked it. And then sneezed on it.



“Gross.” I wiped my hand off.



He did the wolf-version of a grunt, which came out more like a whine.



When he was done with his inspection, he plopped down on top of me and rubbed his nose against my neck.



“Jeeze. You weigh a million pounds. Get off.” I tried to move him but he wouldn’t budge. “Babe. I can’t breathe.”



He got up and pushed his forehead to mine. His relief was staggering, but the terror that something had happened to me still bubbled under the surface. He growled, and his alpha-ness ran through me. My skin stretched and itched.



He was bringing out my wolf. My heart raced. “Stop.” My insides mushed around as I tried to fight the change. “Cut it out.” I met his gaze. “Stop it right now!” I threw as much power as I could into the command and he instantly calmed down and stepped back.



I sat up, breathing like I’d run miles. “What the hell’s wrong with you?”



He howled.



Great. I didn’t speak wolf. “Chris? What’s his problem?” The fear and anxiety that Dastien was still giving off made me on edge, ready to attack some unknown enemy.



“Honestly, I have no idea,” he said from the driver’s seat.



I stood up and brushed the dirt off my jeans. My bum was a little sore from the fall. “Maybe next time don’t tackle me so hard, okay?”



“I could give him a few lessons on tackling—”



Dastien growled, cutting off Chris. When I’d first gotten to St. Ailbe’s and tried to make a run for it, Chris had chased me through campus and tackled me mid-shift. Then, he’d hit on me while I was trapped beneath him and he was still naked from shifting, which my mate now took exception to.