Becoming Alpha

The chair beside my bed creaked. Dastien. A smile spread across my face that warmed my whole body and I peeked through my fingers.



We were in one of the medic rooms on campus. Dastien sat scrunched in a chair beside my bed. “How’re you feeling?”



“Better.” My voice sounded particularly scratchy.



“How’s the bite?”



“Still burns.”



He grunted. “Vampire bites are nasty.”



I raised an eyebrow.



“Okay, maybe all bites are nasty.”



Meredith came through the door. “You’re up!” She threw herself on the bed next to me. She’d been by a few times but I always seemed to miss them. “Thank God. No one could take Dastien being all grumpy anymore.”



“I’m nearly better. Right?” I glanced at Dastien.



“Right,” Dastien said. “The vampire venom had time to work its way into your system before we neutralized it. Another half-hour and you’d have been dead. Although if you told me about it—”



I growled. We’d been over this a million times, but from what I could tell, he wasn’t going to let up anytime soon.



He sighed. “You’ll be out of the bed tomorrow.”



I touched the bandage again. God. Who knew there were worse things than becoming a werewolf? “I’m so glad I’m not going to turn into a vampire. I don’t think there’s enough product in the world to fix what’s wrong with their faces.”



“Gross!” Meredith laughed. “Hey, now that you’re out of the woods, let’s move you to your room. I’m sure Dr. Gonzales would okay it.”



“That would be awesome.” I let out a shaky sigh. “If you give me a sec, I’ll change out of this hospital gown.”



They grumbled about it, but left.



I reached into the bottom cabinet where my clothes were last time. Jackpot. I pulled on a pair of jeans, white T-shirt, and some flip-flops.



By the time I was changed, I was sweating, but I did it. Dastien was going to have to carry me back to my room. There was no way I’d make it.



The idea wasn’t completely terrible.



I yelled through the door to tell Dastien and Meredith to come back, but instead Imogene walked in and shut the door behind her.



She was wearing skinny jeans and a flirty tank. Her hair was pulled back and her face was make-up free. She didn’t look bad, but she didn’t look like herself either. “I’m not here to fight,” she said as she leaned back against the door.



“What do you want?”



“Don’t worry. I don’t want to be friends.”



“Good.” I crossed my arms and ignored the bit of discomfort.



She smirked. “I just thought I’d say that I’m sorry for the way I acted. I know you probably don’t give a shit, but I’ve spent my whole life trying to get my dad to notice me. I’ve always been a big disappointment. I wasn’t a boy. I wasn’t alpha enough to do him any good. As lame as it sounds, my one shot in life was tied to becoming Dastien’s mate. When you came here, things got a little out of hand. I would love to blame what I did on my wolf, but I can’t. I was pissed. My life was falling apart and it was your fault. I did what I thought—and what my father agreed—was best.” She looked away and blew out a heavy breath. “I’ve talked a lot to Mr. D and Dastien the past few days. I’m probably going to get kicked out of here, and lose my sister if I can’t convince her to go with me, but that’s what I get because of the choices I made. I’m not asking for your forgiveness either.” She scoffed. “I wouldn’t forgive me.”



I didn’t know what to say. Or if I should say anything. Her talking to Dastien—even though I knew it had happened—made me want to hit her, so I stayed silent.



“Anyhow. I just wanted to apologize for being a bitch. Dastien’s my best, oldest friend and I want him to be happy. So make him happy.” She turned on her heel before I could say anything else.



Well, shit. If anyone had told me that I’d feel sorta bad for Imogene Hoel, I would’ve told them they’d lost their mind. But I kinda felt bad for her. It took major cajones for her to come here and apologize. I respected that.



***



That night, under the light of the moon, the senior class sat around a bonfire in the middle of the woods northwest of the school. Much to my annoyance, Dastien had carried me the whole way. Even if I couldn’t walk for long on my own yet, it was a little humiliating. As soon as he put me down, he’d wrapped a blanket around me and tucked me close to his side.