Avoiding Alpha

“Eating’s part of being a Were,” Dastien said. “Don’t feel bad about it. I ate way more than you did.”



I glanced over at his tray. He’d cleaned all of his plates. Three big dishes and two small ones.



“This tray was mine too.” He pointed to another tray full of empty plates.



“Holy shit, babe.” My cheeks heated. I didn’t want to make them feel bad or anything, and I liked food as much as the next person, but this was insane. “It’s weird, you know? Where does it go?”



“Quick digestion?” Chris said.



I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. Let’s go get the books and figure out a game plan and then I’ll call my mom.”



Adrian nodded. “If we could get everything together by tonight, then we can do a midnight casting. It’s almost the full moon. Could give us an advantage.”



Sounded legit to me. “Cool. Let’s do this.”



Chapter Nine



When we got to the infirmary, Shannon and two girls that I didn’t know were in Meredith’s room. They were lost in discussion as they pawed their way through my books. One of them was pouring over the textbook, while Shannon had my family’s Book of Shadows and the other girl had the blue book.



So much for no one messing with my stuff. I shot Dastien a look before turning my anger on them. “You went through my bag and grabbed my personal property?” I practically growled.



They jumped, and dropped the books, keeping their gazes on the ground. Except for Shannon.



She held onto the book and slowly closed it. She wasn’t strong enough to meet my gaze directly, but she stared at my forehead. “We were working on helping Meredith. What you’re planning is wrong. I can’t let you try to suppress her wolf when she wants out.”



I tried to push the wolf down, but fur rippled along my forearms. My control today was total shit. “I’m trying to help her, not kill her. Anything else we try will end in a funeral. And I don’t think I gave any of you permission to dig around in my bag.”



“They were given to a pack member. They’re the pack’s books now,” Shannon said.



Was she trying to piss me off?



“Man, that was a dumb thing to say,” Adrian said.



Chris grunted as the cold fury beat inside me. The fur spread, but I wasn’t ready to change. I couldn’t—wouldn’t—let myself change.



Dastien cleared his throat. “You want to think very carefully about what you say next, Shannon.”



I took the fallen books from the ground and grabbed the Book of Shadows out of Shannon’s hand. “You two will leave here now and never speak of these books again.” I let my alpha power roll out as I said the words to the two girls.



“Yes, ma’am,” they said, but they were frozen in place.



“Go. Now.”



Dastien held my hand, and I barely hung on to my human form.



Once they were gone, I turned to Shannon. “What the hell is your problem? I know we don’t get along, but we’re after the same thing.”



“No. We’re not.” She met my gaze for a split second before looking down. “I know you’ve gotten close with Meredith, but I’ve been friends with her for years. We spent our summers together. I know what this has done to her, and I know that if there was a time to try and fix it, it’s now.”



“And you’re willing to take that risk?”



“Yes.”



I looked down at Meredith’s pale form. She was drugged, and couldn’t speak for herself. Maybe my reasoning was off. Everyone else thought so.



I couldn’t afford to screw this up. “Guys? I’m a little out of my element here. If I’m wrong, then I’m wrong. So, let’s vote.”



“A pack isn’t run by vote, cherie,” Dastien said.



“Well, this isn’t a pack. This is us being Meredith’s friends.” I turned to Adrian. “What do you think?”



He looked around the room and then crossed his arms. “Given what we know, I’m with you. Safest option is best.”



“Chris?”



He ran his hands through his hair, making his blond waves stand on end. “I hate this. I really hate this.”



I knew the feeling. There was no doubt that this whole situation was messed up.



“If we’re going on what we know right now, I think there aren’t any good options,” Chris said.



Shannon growled in the corner but didn’t speak up.



“But for the record,” Chris continued. “I want to be on Shannon’s side. I want to find another way besides making a bad situation worse. I just don’t know that there is one.”