Alpha Divided

I chewed through a last hunk of garlic bread and set down my fork. The bread and PowerBar would have to do for now. “Save the rest for me?”

“Where are you going?” Claudia said.

“It might be rote of all of you, but I’ve never heard Luciana’s rant. It’s as good of a place to start as any.”

Raphael stood up. “I’ll go with you.”

“You don’t have to.” If I got caught, I didn’t want him to get in any trouble. I said as much and he shook his head at me.

“Trust me. It’ll be better for you if I’m with you. I know how to handle Luciana.”

Somehow I doubted that, but we headed out to the main road—the only road in the compound—together.

Houses and other buildings butted up against the dirt road, but there definitely wasn’t enough space for more than sixty people. I wondered who decided who lived on the compound and who didn’t. Was it based on some sort of hierarchy?

The night was quiet, and if I closed my eyes, I could almost pretend I was back at St. Ailbe’s. The scents were nearly the same, but notes of oil from the nearby cars, and dinners being cooked intruded on my illusion.

The little steeple of the schoolhouse cut into the sky up ahead. It wasn’t that tall, but the white paint stood out against the setting sun. “So do you go to school there?”

“I used to.” Raphael paused. “When we get there, try to be as quiet as possible. Luciana didn’t invite you for a reason.”

“What do you mean?”

“Luciana wants something from you, and she’s letting you get comfortable. Lazy. You going in there will show her that you’re not comfortable. In my experience, it’s much better to have your enemy underestimate you.” He paused to pick up a rock from the ground. He tossed from hand to hand before dropping it. “I know you’re having trouble with spells, but if you could maybe learn some defensive stuff, that’d be good.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. Nothing I’m doing works.”

“Well, then maybe we can make something up for you. A charm to keep bad energies away could help. I’ll talk to Claudia about it.”

I nodded.

The schoolhouse was still a little ways away, but Raphael started walking between the houses. “You’ve got really good hearing, right?”

“Yup.”

“Good. There aren’t any windows in the back. Not any at our height, at least. Less chance of being noticed. You can press your ear to the wall.”

I probably didn’t even need to get that close. My hearing was damned good. “Yeah. That’ll do.” As we neared the schoolhouse, I realized I definitely wouldn’t need to do that. The walls of the old building were thin, and the people inside were yelling. I grasped Raphael’s arm to stop him, and suddenly I felt different. Like I was outside my own body.

I shook my head, trying to break free of the feeling, but I couldn’t.

“Are you okay?” Raphael asked.

“Fine. Just got dizzy for a second.”

Raphael faced me. “I thought Weres didn’t get dizzy.”

“Well, this one did. Let’s go. And be quiet.”

We stepped close to the back wall of the schoolhouse, and Raphael pressed his ear against the wood. I stayed back a little ways. Hearing the voices wasn’t a problem. It wasn’t like they were talking quietly. At all.

“The pack doesn’t understand and they never will,” Luciana said. “The humans are weak. The wolves don’t think we’re as strong as they are and they hardly see us as supernatural. They think us a subset of humans. We’re not human.”

That was what she thought? That the Weres saw them as humans? It was entirely inaccurate. From everything that I’d seen and heard, the Weres really respected, and sometimes even feared the witches.

“The pack here will never accept witches as equals,” said a man.

That voice. It seemed familiar. I couldn’t quite place it, but something about the sound made me irrationally angry.

“The only way to make sure we’re positioned as leaders when supernaturals are revealed is to eliminate the pack structure. We need to show the pack that our coven is strong. We need to fight for our voice. We’ve hidden here too long—”

Shouts of agreement filled the night.

I stepped closer to the wall as I tried to distinguish the voices, and stepped on a twig. I winced, and hoped that no one inside had heard.

But I wasn’t that lucky.

“Someone’s listening.” I heard the whisper under all the yelling. I wasn’t sure how I heard it with all the commotion, but my wolf must’ve sensed the danger.