Kiss Of The Alpha : A YA Paranormal Romance

Chapter 110: Chapter 110

Heather

As soon I stepped onto my floor in the girls’ dorms, Serena’s door swung open. "Where the hell have you been?" She stormed down the hall. "Is that a twig in your hair?" She tugged so hard she practically ripped out a piece of my scalp.

"Ouch. Watch it."

"It is...it’s a twig." She studied it for a second. "What have you been up to?" This time the anger was gone, replaced with a heavy dose of curiosity.

"Nothing," I said, but I was sure my cheeks were a lovely shade of red, totally giving me away.

"Mmm-hmmm. Nothing my ass." She held out the twig and I snatched it from her.

I started down the hall to my room. The dorms were set up so everyone had their own room, but two rooms shared a bathroom. Serena and I shared ours. I’d been nervous about it at first, but she’d ended up being the best part of the dorm. I’d never really had a girl friend before.

My room was still decked out in all white. Even though I could probably add stuff now that I didn’t have to bleach the emotions and memories from everything, I was still a little paranoid.

I tossed the twig in the trash. "So, Brent kind of bought me a bunch of land?"

"He bought you land?" She sounded excited.

I grabbed a brush from the bathroom and saw my reflection.

Yup. I was looking crazy. My hair was one giant rat’s nest. I started attempting to fix the tangles. "Yeah. Fifty acres so we could build some sort of monstrous house and start a family."

"Nice!"

Picturing the pond and what could be there made me smile like a moron. "I know, right? But it’s a little nuts." I pulled a leaf from the brush.

"And romantic. Most people who do the Full Moon Ceremony have estates to move into. Brent’s parents have a place somewhere in France. I don’t think he’s been in years, though. But if the mate doesn’t come from a rich family, then the guy makes sure they have a place to share post-ceremony. I was expecting him to give you the keys to something, but land to build on is a nice touch."

"So, when you and Donovan do your ceremony, you’ll move to his place? In Ireland?" I said, taking a wild guess. I had no idea where Donovan usually lived.

She shrugged. "I hadn’t thought about it, actually. I guess I should’ve. I don’t even know where Donovan lives."

I grinned. It was nice being on the same wavelength with her.

Serena was quiet for a second, but then she laughed. She was totally asking him using their bond. "He just told me that I’m ruining surprises by asking him questions, but I have options. He says he has a place on every continent but Antarctica.

Although he favors the one in Ireland in County Clare, I get my pick." She plopped down on my bed. "I like the sound of that."

I gave up on my hair. It wasn’t going to be fixable without a shower. I tossed the brush on my bedside table. "When are you two gonna do the whole ceremony hoopla?"

She snorted. "Ceremony hoopla? We’re going to do it at the Full Moon Ceremony next month."

"Why wait?"

"We could do two in one night, but usually it’s one couple at a time. Plus, I wanted to give you and Brent the chance to have your own special time. You’ve worked hard for this."

I sat next to her. That was nice, but made me feel a little guilty. "I don’t want you to wait because of me. It’s not like you’ve had an easy time either." That spell she’d been under was horrible, and not being able to shift for years...

"No, but Donovan and I have both been Weres our whole lives. We always knew what we were and the dangers around us. This life wasn’t at all what you were expecting, and you’ve had to make huge adjustments."

No kidding. I hadn’t imagined that werewolves existed in my wildest dreams, let alone that I’d be one.

"Plus, this is my first Full Moon Ceremony in years. I’ll actually get to run with the pack now that the curse is gone. I’m happy enjoying just that for now." Serena popped up from my bed. "Okay. So you need to shower, and then we’ll get you ready. I got the robes from Mr. D in my room."

"Robes? Really?" I knew that there were some in the boxes of clothes stashed around campus, but it still seemed totally weird.

"Unless you want to shred what you’re wearing or undress before you shift in front of everyone, the robe is the best way to go."

Shit. "I’ll take the robe."

"Thought so."

Serena headed into her room, and I closed the door behind her. I flipped the shower knobs, putting the water as hot as I could stand. Showering was one of my favorite things. I did some of my best thinking in there.

The past week had really been a blur. Between breaking the curse on Serena and the birthday and everything else, I hadn’t had time to catch my breath. The nerves that I’d felt since my cousins showed up at my parents’ house finally started to settle down. No wonder I was feeling so anxious. It was natural to be worried when it came to them. But Donovan and Brent had it covered. Everything was going to be totally fine.

I was happy with the way my life was going. Had things been a little hectic? Yes. That only made life interesting. Soon, everything would settle down. It had to, right?

When I was done showering, I worked on detangling my hair. Maybe rolling around on the ground with Brent hadn’t been the smartest choice hair-wise, but it sure had been fun. I was pretty sure we’d move on to the next step in our relationship soon. And then I’d be spending more nights in his cabin. We’d just been sleeping so far, but waking up next to Brent was kind of perfect on its own.

"All right, girly. Time’s up."

I tightened the towel around myself as Serena opened the bathroom door. She held a red robe. It was long, floor length, and hooded.

"I got this one altered for you."

I was at least half a foot shorter than the shortest werewolf. "Thanks. I wouldn’t have thought of that."

"No worries. I got your back." She set the robe on the counter. "Let’s fix your hair, put on a little makeup, and then head out."

I forced myself to take steady, even breaths.

"Right." My voice was a little squeaky.

"It’s going to be fine. This is no big deal. You’re already bonded to the hotness."

"Right." Still squeaky.

"And you love him."

I let the breath go. "Right." Not even a little squeaky.

"I’m thinking we do some braids. That way you can put on the hood and not mess it up too much."

I shrugged. My normal style was leaving the hair down and letting it air dry or tying it up in a totally sloppy knot. I wasn’t one for fixing myself up, except for special occasions. But this totally counted as one.

"Whatever you think." Because I couldn’t think about anything other than what would come next. My mind was already a million miles away, going over the steps of the ceremony.

Serena clapped her hands. "Perfect. Go sit at my desk. I’ll bring everything over."

I was fidgeting too much as she worked. "You’ve got to stop moving."

I chewed on my lip. "So, did you see the latest episode of The Soup?" It was a total non sequitur, but it kept me distracted when all I wanted was to be outside with Brent, and fully bonded.

I borrowed Serena’s computer to show her the latest clip of Finding Bigfoot. We were laughing when I realized that maybe I was the dumb one. Could they really be onto something?

"Wait. Is there a bigfoot?"

Serena snorted. "No. Not that I’ve ever heard of."

"Thank God. If those morons were right, I was going to freak out."

"Even if they were real, I doubt leaving a half-eaten donut in the middle of the forest is going to attract one. And what is with that crazy screaming bigfoot noise that guy makes? Does he really think that it’s going to attract a bigfoot? I mean, how does he know that’s what a bigfoot even sounds like?"

I laughed. "I know! Right? Because they’re not real. It’s horrible."

Serena stepped away from me. "Okay. Done."

"Really?"

"Yup."

I got up to look in the mirror. My hair had gotten pretty long—the dark brown wavy-curls reached halfway down my back. Serena had shaped the mess into lots of little braids that twisted together and formed a crown. "Wow. This is amazing."

"Thanks."

"How did you learn to do this?"

"The same way anyone learns anything these days—the Internet."

I picked up a compact mirror so I could see it from all angles. "Seriously. I’m impressed."

"Happy to be of service. So, makeup?"

I gave myself an honest once-over. Ever since I became a werewolf, I hadn’t used much. My complexion was pretty perfect—which it had never been before. I put on a little shadow, some eyeliner, and mascara.

My hands were sweating as I slipped the robe on over my towel.

This was it. Today was the day that I was going to do this whole werewolf ceremony thingy.

You okay? Brent’s voice rumbled through the bond.

I tied the robe and ran a hand over my trembling stomach. Fine.

I’ll see you soon, okay?

I closed my eyes as his love and support washed over me. Okay.

The nerves were still there, but lessened. I still had the nagging feeling like something bad was going to happen, but I hoped that was just me being a pessimistic worrier. I was ignoring my gut and trusting my heart.

What could possibly go wrong?