Kiss Of The Alpha : A YA Paranormal Romance

Chapter 64: Chapter 64

Heather

Xander growled, and I placed my hand on his arm. "Calm down." I focused back on the twins. "We want this taken care of as much as you do. And—"

"We’re missing some of our alphas." Leslie cut me off, and I tried not to punch her for it. "Can you scry for them?" Leslie asked the twins.

"Scry?" I asked.

"It’s a form of divination and can sometimes be used to locate someone in the present," Raphael said.

"I’m sorry. Our powers don’t work like that." Claudia looked at me. "But hers do."

Everyone but Serena expressed surprise. Xander must’ve noticed. "You knew about her and you didn’t tell us?" he said to Serena.

"It was her secret to tell, ass—"

Mom cleared her throat.

"—dude," Serena finished.

"¡Joder! I should’ve known when you said you were like half-bruja blood."

"Don’t take it too hard. I’ve apparently gotten pretty good about hiding it." I sat quietly for a second as I gathered my thoughts. "If I understand everything right—which might be a stretch because I’m kind of a newbie—Mr. Hoel can’t do this whole vampire attack thing with wolves more alpha than he is. They’d order him to stop. So he took out the four wolves in the area that are more than him the fastest way he could, tranquilizers, and then shoved them somewhere. But no wolf could be ordered to kill their alpha, they’re not doing that. At least not yet. But even if Mr. Hoel pulls off today, he’s going to have to deal with the alphas. So, my best guess is that he’s going to ditch them someplace close to the vamps. Have them take care of them. Then celebrate with a lovely supernatural coming out party."

"Shit," Xander said. "It makes so much sense when she lays it out like that. How come she can see it and I couldn’t?"

Leslie rubbed her forehead. "Because she’s new to this life. She’s seeing things we wouldn’t dream of. Taking out your alpha other than at a full moon challenge is bloody disgraceful."

Knowing what might be going on and doing something about it were two completely different things. "We need to find them. They’ll know what to do."

"The question is," Adrian said, "did they drop them in the caves with the vamps? Or did they stash them somewhere to be dealt with later?"

My face burned. "I have maybe a dumb question."

"There are no dumb questions," Claudia said with a smile.

"No. Only dumb people." When she started to retort, I started talking again. "Do vampires stay awake during the day or are they like dead-ish? I mean some movies have them where they just can’t go out in sunlight, but others where they can’t function when the sun is up."

"The second. When the sun is up, they’re dead," Xander said.

"Caves." I glanced at my watch. "Mr. H would leave them in the den to be food when the vamps wake. That doesn’t give us much time to get there, drag their asses out, and stop any attack on the town."

"I should mention that this isn’t a small den. There are a lot of them," Raphael said.

"Think hundreds," Claudia said.

"Perfect. It’s not like we’ll be outnumbered at all," Serena said.

"Shit." I slapped a hand over my mouth as soon as I let it slip.

"Haze!" Mom said.

"Sorry, Mom, but really—this is a completely shit scenario."

"Haze," West said. He’d been so quiet, I almost forgot he was there. "This seems really dangerous. I think you should leave with us."

"Sorry, broham. No can do." I smiled sadly. Things had changed so much in the past couple of weeks.

"She’s right, West," Dad said. "Even if I want to lock your sister up to keep her safe, she’s got a different path now."

That made me feel nearly like a grown up. Maybe I wasn’t such a mess after all.

"You need to be sure before you go into a vampire den that the wolves are actually there," Serena said, breaking the silence. "Can you connect with him? Like you did before?"

"Maybe. But what if he’s all drugged-out still?"

Claudia reached across the table. "If you can connect with one of your pack, then I’ll give you the power to strengthen the connection. Should be enough to see him even if they’re unconscious and get an idea about their surroundings."

That seemed like a bad idea.

"You won’t get anything off of me." She winked.

I didn’t really know what she meant about power.

"You can trust her," Mom said. "She’s family. She’ll help."

My hand shook a little as I placed my hand in hers, but Claudia didn’t comment on it.

I gasped as our skin touched. It was like sticking my hand in an electric socket. Or like drinking ten gallons of coffee. I was hyperaware of my senses, and since I was already part-wolf—it was majorly intense. The colors in the room were brighter. The scents stronger. I could hear every breath being taken, every heart beating.

"Now close your eyes," Claudia said, "and picture your mate."

I did. My consciousness raced out of my house, through the wilderness, to a cave. Through tunnels. To four men huddled on the floor. They were chained. Their skin smoked where metal met flesh. Brent and Mr. Langdon were still unconscious, but Donovan and Sebastian were awake.

"And who might you be?" Donovan said, looking my way. He sniffed. "Is that you, Heather Jones?"

"Can you hear me?" I asked.

Donovan and Sebastian looked at each other and then down at Brent. "Wake," Donovan said. Power rippled over my skin, and Brent gasped.

"Merde!" He groaned. "What is it? What happened?" he said as he took in his surroundings. "Putain de merde!"

"Brent," I said.

His gaze met mine. "Please tell me you’re not actually here."

If he could actually see me, then Claudia’s extra juice was worth it. "I’m not there. But I’m coming. Just hang on."

I didn’t give him a chance to say anything else. They were fine for now, but they wouldn’t stay that way. I broke the link, and was back in my parents’ dining room. "I know where they are. Let’s go."

My chair toppled to the floor as I jumped up.

"One more thing," Raphael said. He went to the living room and brought back two small backpacks. "You’ll need these."

"No way!" Adrian said.

The others fell in line, ooohing over them. "Am I missing something?"

"Weapons." Claudia grinned, revealing two deep dimples.

"Not just any weapons," Adrian said. "Bruja weapons. They’re the best."

"Sí," Raphael said. "For the one who doesn’t wish to change and the one who cannot."

Serena took the pack but held it away from her like it was going to bite her.

"I packed these special for each of you. You’ll know what to do with what’s inside," Claudia said.

That was kind of creepy. I grabbed the other backpack. "Great. Thanks. Now can we go?"

"Wait." Dad’s hand clamped down on my shoulder.

I tried to contain my frustration. Did anyone else understand that we had extreme time constraints?

"You need to think this through more. What are you going to do when you get there? What’s your plan?"

"There’s no time. I’ll figure it out when I get there." I hugged him quickly and stepped back. "Plus, from what I understand, if my mate dies, so do I. Can’t live with half a soul, right?" I laughed, but it wasn’t because it was funny. I left him sputtering. "Bye, Mom. Love you guys."

"I’m coming with you," West said.

I gave him a hug. "No, you’re not. You’re human. Love you. And don’t stay here. Get your butts on the road ASAP."

We raced out the door and jumped in the car. Serena’s door was still open when I took off down the drive before West could object.

I needed him safe and not involved in this.