Kiss Of The Alpha : A YA Paranormal Romance

Chapter 78: Chapter 78

Heather

The guy from my vision—Luciana’s son—motioned for me to roll down my window. "And you are?" He asked.

"I’m here to see Claudia and Raphael," I said. "I’m their cousin."

"Heather?" He wasn’t giving anything away with his stoic face.

When I nodded, he stepped back. "Park there." He pointed to the side of the road.

I did so quickly, then grabbed my bag and hopped down.

The guy was waiting for me in the center of the road. "I’m Daniel," he said. His face was too empty—a perfect emotionless mask. I’d gotten used to everyone towering over my five feet and change, but Daniel was only a few inches taller than me.

Even if he was a bit on the short side, he stood the way someone does when they have a lot of power. Tall, shoulders back, head held high. He looked me in the eye, and I had to fight the urge to enter into a staring contest.

My wolf started to rise. She didn’t want anyone challenging her. The itch to change and lash out at him rose in me. I fought it down, but pain ran through my limbs.

I couldn’t let this happen.

Xander growled as he stepped in front of me, cutting off Daniel’s line of sight.

Daniel grinned as he peered around Xander. His mask slid away, making him seem a little more approachable. "It’s good to finally meet you, although I wish it’d been before..."

Right. Before I’d been bitten.

He held out his hand, and I hesitated. If I was being honest with myself, I wanted to see something from him. Especially after my earlier vision. But it was an invasion of privacy.

My mental debate didn’t last long. Turned out, I wanted information more than I cared about Daniel’s privacy.

I took his hand, letting myself open to my bruja side. It took a fraction of a second for me to relax just a little more, and—

"The wolves have taken her for their own," said a woman. She was about my mother’s age and wore a skirt that skimmed the floor. Her frizzy brown hair was braided and pinned on top of her head in a halo. "You have to bring her back."

Great. She was talking about me.

"And how am I supposed to do that, Mom?" Daniel asked. "What’s done is done."

"No. We can get rid of her wolf."

Daniel was pissed. And sad. I’d made him sad when I turned. That wasn’t something I ever expected.

"You do that and the wolves will come for us. You’re starting—"

"They started it by taking our next leader. She’s a strong bruja. And now she’s one of them—"

Daniel pulled away, and I was back in the present.

This confirmed what Brent and my mother said, but I wasn’t sure that I could fix the coven. Or if I even wanted to. It wasn’t like I could be a pack alpha and rule a coven, too. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I wanted either.

I cleared my throat, trying to buy myself time to shake the vision. "Sorry."

"That’s okay," Daniel said. "What did you see?"

"Nothing much." I lied.

"It’s been a while, Xander," Daniel said, acknowledging Xander for the first time.

"Three years." Xander had a natural dry rasp in his voice, but his tone of voice was a little rougher than usual. He wouldn’t be able to take those glasses off anytime soon.

Daniel stared him in the eyes. It didn’t matter that there was a pair of sunglasses blocking the gaze from Xander. From the way Xander was standing, completely rigid, every muscle tense, I knew we were seconds away from a code red.

Daniel started to smell like campfire with a hint of sulfur. I’d come to recognize the scent as extreme anger. I took that as my cue to intervene. "My cousin’s house would be?"

"Fourth on the right." He motioned with a nod.

I started down the road, dragging Xander beside me.

"Heather," Daniel said.

I ground my teeth. I loathed it when people called me that. Not even my parents used my full name, except when they were extremely pissed. "Yeah?" I glanced at him.

"It would be good if you came back sometime."

If I hadn’t seen those visions, I wouldn’t have noticed the meaning behind his words.

My wolf settled down. He wasn’t a threat. Not right now. But coming back? That wasn’t happening. It was enough of a risk to come when Serena was so sick. I wasn’t about to pop over for social calls. "Probably not a good idea. I’m not totally under control."

"We can help with that."

Xander growled.

Yeah, that had worked out real well for Serena... The bad thing was that if he’d asked me when I first woke up as a werewolf, I might have taken him up on it. But not anymore. "Not interested. Thanks for the offer, though."

His shoulders slumped for a fraction of a second before he stood tall again and nodded. "The door is open if you ever change your mind."

"Sure. Thanks." But I was never going to take him up on it in this lifetime.

"They want you back?" Xander asked so softly, I could barely hear the words.

"They’re all mad that I’m a wolf," I said back, my voice equally soft. "They want me here so badly that they’re planning on speaking against Brent at the Tribunal."

"Shit."

"Yep." Even if I was supposed to be their leader, I couldn’t imagine why they’d be so desperate to have me join.

There had to be someone else in my generation with the gift of sight that could take it over. If I could find someone, then maybe they’d drop this whole vendetta against the pack.

Unless there was a bigger agenda. I thought back to the vision and the mention of a war.

Christ. There was no way I had time to worry about that right then. I shoved it to the back of my mind for another day.

In the short time it took to get to the fourth house, people of all ages—some in hippy gear, some in normal clothes—started to congregate on porches. Daniel stood in the middle of the road talking to a few others. They were all eyeballing us.

Most stared at Xander like he was the enemy. Some looked at me like I was, too. Most seemed simply curious. Their eyes lingered on me a little longer.

Good thing I was used to being stared at. You didn’t get through seventeen years of visions by letting weird looks bother you.

I shoved everything out of my mind except finding answers about Serena. I was here for a purpose, and losing sight of that wouldn’t be good for anyone.

The wooden stairs to my cousins’ doorstep creaked as I walked up.

"Let’s get in and out," Xander said.

"My thoughts exactly." I knocked once and before I could knock a second time, Claudia answered.

Her thick, pin-straight, black hair was split into two braids. She wore a pair of jean cut-offs and a T-shirt. "Prima. What’re you doing here?" Her eyes were wide.

"I need your help."

She looked beyond Xander and me, taking in all the people gathered around. She pressed her lips together. "Let’s go inside," she said after a second.

"Thanks. I think that’s best."