The alpha 2, p.11
The Alpha 2, page 11
“Right, I understand.” I offered a weak smile. “It’s just…”
Every atom in my body wanted me to say yes. However, I had my duties as the Alpha to worry about, and I didn’t want to put myself in a bad situation because of the musical ambitions that started to seem more and more trivial as time went on.
“Just what?” Professor Collins’ expression melted into a solemn frown. “Mister Rafe, you’re not really going to let this opportunity pass you up, are you?”
A feeling of dread suddenly gripped my body, and I took in a low breath of air through my teeth. Was this the moment I decided between pursuing music or being the chosen one? It certainly seemed like it, and I knew in my heart of hearts this would only be the first of a series of decisions that would pull me further away from one goal or the other.
“I…” I floundered for the right words. “If I… did?”
“Well…” Professor Collins let out a deep sigh, and his shoulders drooped a little as he did. “I would understand. It’s a big responsibility, and I know you’ve got other obligations in life. I just thought, perhaps, it would be good for you to show off your talents to a larger audience.”
“I know.” I dropped my gaze to the ground.
“And I do truly think you’re ready for it,” my mentor continued. “I wouldn’t offer this to you if you weren’t ready.”
I didn’t want to give up either side of my life, though. I knew there had to be some way for me to live out both.
I thought of my mother, and how she gave me my violin as a kid and told me I would be a great musician one day. All at once, the time I spent practicing washed over me, and I could feel the aches in my fingers from the days I played for hours on end.
I loved music. Was I really going to quit because I was a werewolf? That would be the eventual outcome if I didn’t continue to push my talents.
Either get better or die.
I looked up from the floor at the professor. There had to be a way to have my cake and eat it, too.
“Professor?” I said. “I want to take the audition, if you’ll have me.”
“Oh, my word, really?” Professor Collins perked up at once and clutched his chest. “Mister Rafe, you scared me there for a moment, I thought you were about to turn the offer down.”
“No.” I shook my head, and I let the words tumble out of my mouth before I could regret it. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and I really want to give it a shot. I know it’s an audition, and it’s not really set in stone, but I want to try and be a part of the quintet.”
“Excellent,” Professor Collins said. “This is excellent news, indeed! I’m glad we could talk this out. I’m sure the staff will be delighted to hear from you this Friday.”
“I’m excited, too,” I said, and I meant the words more than anything in the world.
“Good.” Professor Collins clasped his hands together. “Well, we’re finalizing the audition music today, so come by my office either tomorrow or the day after that, and I can pass a folder with the materials along to you to review. The audition will have you play through some scales and do a bit of sight reading…”
The ringing in my ears swallowed up Professor Collins’ words. I’d done it. I’d said yes. I was going to find the proper balance in my life, I knew it.
“Mister Rafe?”
“Huh?” I blinked rapidly a few times as I was jolted from my spiraling thoughts.
“I asked if you had any questions about the audition,” Professor Collins repeated as he lifted a single bushy eyebrow in confusion.
“No, no.” I shook my head. “I’ll, uh, come by your office in the next day or so for the folder.”
“Splendid.” The professor smiled again. “Well, again, I’m looking forward to hearing from you. If you have any questions, you know where to find me.”
“Yes sir,” I mumbled. “Thank you.”
Professor Collins turned and drifted back to his office, and I walked in a daze outside. The drizzle had let up, but the sky still looked dreary and overcast.
“Jesse!” Benji hopped up from a nearby bench and jogged over to me. “You good, man? You’re looking a little pale.”
“I… I took the audition,” I said.
“What?” Benji did a double-take in surprise. “Really?”
“Yeah,” I laughed a little. “I did.”
“Holy shit, congrats!” Benji clapped me on the shoulder. “I didn’t think you were going to do it.”
“I didn’t, either.” We started to walk away from Erickson toward the quad. “But… I don’t know. I couldn’t say no, you know?”
“Not really, but I’m excited for you nonetheless.” Benji grinned like a madman, and his energy was infectious, so I felt a large smile work its way onto my lips as we walked.
Things were starting to look up. It’d been a weird week, but there was a promised glimmer of normalcy now.
“Hey, Fido!” someone shouted from behind us.
A sharp, unpleasant scent suddenly filled my nostrils, like the stench of rotten fruit, and I glanced over my shoulder and saw a man and a woman walking quickly toward us.
I stopped in my tracks and watched them, and Benji stilled at my side as well. The woman wore black pants and a tight-fitting leather jacket, while the man sported ripped jeans and a thick sweater. They both looked furious, and they both were staring straight at me.
As they drew closer, I noticed their eyes flicker into a different hue so fast that if I hadn’t been looking for it, I wouldn’t have seen it.
But I recognized that cyan hue, and my stomach dropped to my feet.
The man and the woman were werecat shifters, but they certainly weren’t from Max’s pride.
“You don’t think they’re…?” Benji said softly at my side.
“Yep,” I said as the two angry strangers drew close. “There’s no doubt about it. They’re from Aiden’s pride.”
Chapter Eight
I squared my shoulders to face the oncoming adversaries from Aiden’s pride, and I felt the familiar, uncomfortably warm sensation of a coming shift rising up to the surface of my skin.
If these people wanted a fight, I sure as hell would give them one.
Then a firm hand landed on my shoulder, and I glanced to the left to see Benji staring at me with horror.
“You can’t,” he warned me in a harsh whisper.
“Can’t what?” I snapped back. “Fight them? We can take them easily.”
“No, dude.” Benji shook his head. “You’re shifting. You can’t shift here, not with so many humans around.”
I looked down at what I could see of my arms from underneath the flannel shirt I wore and realized I’d already started to sprout my fur. I hadn’t even felt it because the need to fight came on so fast.
I took a deep breath to try and quell the fire in my chest, and at once the fur vanished, and my ordinary human body remained. The fire inside me continued to rage, though, and I was really going to have to work to keep it in check so I didn’t go full wolf-man on these bozos.
“We need to get out of here,” Benji said as he took a step back and tugged my shoulder. “It’s too risky to confront them.”
It was also too late to make a break for it.
The pair of werecats finally stopped in front of us, and they regarded the two of us with bloodthirsty smiles.
I could tell just by looking at them that they had to be thirty at least, and because of that they seemed out of place on the college campus. The guy had a patchy five o’clock shadow and a shaved head with a wicked scar running down his neck, but the woman looked attractive in the conventional sense, with a petite build, thin, symmetrical features, and a white pixie cut styled into a steep fauxhawk. They both had dark-colored eyes that complemented the pale expanses of their faces, and both of them looked at us with closed-lipped smiles, like they were in on a joke Benji and I knew nothing about.
“Take a look at this, Newt,” the female werecat drawled as she crossed her arms over her chest. “A stinking dog, taking what doesn’t belong to him.”
“Our alpha’s always right about these things, Sabine,” the werecat named Newt said, and when he grinned he revealed a broken front tooth.
“Can I help you two with something?” I asked and made a show of looking unbothered by their presence. “You look a little old to be freshmen, but maybe I can point you in the right direction for the advising office.”
“Hardy-har, kid,” Sabine said as she rolled her eyes. “Sense a humor like that, I bet you’re a bitch magnet.”
“I heard he likes mollies,” Newt murmured and nudged his counterpart. “Like some kind of freak of nature.”
“Mmm.” The female werecat nodded in agreement, and then she settled her gaze on me again with a cocky expression.
I wanted to wipe the smug looks off both of their faces, and in my chest I could feel the fire pressing up against my ribs, so I balled my fists, dug my nails into my palms, and took a low breath to steady myself.
Sabine grinned, and I realized she could tell she was getting to me.
“Look,” Benji said in an attempt at diffusing the tension in the air. “If you have a bone to pick, then do the honorable thing and arrange for a fight somewhere else. You think it’s safe to shift in the middle of a human college?”
“Who said anything about shifting?” Newt sneered with contempt. “We were just sent down to ask a few questions.”
“Then ask them and get the fuck out of my territory,” I growled.
“Your territory?” Sabine lifted her eyebrows in something like shock as she looked at Newt. “You hear that? He has territory now.”
“Well, forgive us for intruding.” Newt offered me and Benji a shallow bow. “We would hate to be overstepping our bounds here.”
“And yet, your ugly face is still in my line of sight,” I replied as I narrowed my eyes.
Sabine scoffed and looked over at Newt as though to urge him to continue. Newt smiled her way, and then he returned his attention back to me.
“… Max Jansen,” the male werecat said as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Does the name ring any bells, kid?”
“Max Jansen…” I made a show of tapping my finger against my chin as I looked up at the churning gray sky. “Hmm… Max Jansen… Oh, you know, I think I do recognize the name.”
“Yeah?” Newt asked as he cocked his head off to the side.
“Yeah.” I dropped my finger from my chin. “He was a bona fide asshole. But he gave me his pack and all his property a few days ago, so I guess he’s gotten what he deserves.”
“Max was a good kid.” The cocky smirk on Newt’s face faded quickly as his demeanor fell into cold anger. “You have no right to bash his name.”
“He’s better off dead,” I said without missing a beat.
Newt hissed air against his teeth, and I reveled for a moment in his anger. It fed into my own hungry flames, and it felt good to know I’d finally hit a nerve.
“Jesse,” Benji hissed in a warning tone under his breath. He squeezed my shoulder, but I lifted my chin a little higher as I stared down the werecats like they didn’t mean a thing to me.
To my surprise, they didn’t anymore. A part of me knew I was supposed to be intimidated by Aiden knowing where to find me, but a larger part of me, the alpha side, wanted to laugh right in these people’s faces for thinking this could scare me.
It was similar to the feeling I’d experienced when I’d fought with those robbers at the Mini-Mart the week before. Something bigger than me was in control, like an innate instinct woven into my own DNA.
“You have no fucking clue who we are, do you?” Sabine asked, and then she shook her head and clicked her tongue.
“I think I can hazard a guess,” I said. “But that means what I’ve heard about Aiden’s pride is true. You all really are a bunch of mindless grunts.”
“You really like that tough guy act, huh?” Newt growled, and I watched as his fingers twitched a little at his sides, like he couldn’t decide between curling them into fists or just keeping them flat.
“Who said I was acting?” I quipped back.
“You better watch your mouth, punk,” Newt warned as he took a step toward me.
“Newt, don’t let it get to you.” Sabine stuck out her arm to halt the man from moving any closer. “He’s playing into you.”
“You know, kid, if you wanna talk tough, you better be ready to fight tough, too,” Newt snarled. “Aiden won’t stand for this disrespect.”
“It’s pretty telling your alpha doesn’t come down here to fight his own fights.” I smirked. “Is the big cat scared of me or something?”
“Aiden’s got bigger fights to manage than you,” Sabine said with a sharp frown. “But don’t worry. At the rate you’re going, you’ll meet him soon enough.”
“Yeah.” Newt smiled again. “You better watch your back, kid. You killed Max and stole werecats from our family. Aiden’s not just gonna let that shit slide.”
“I’d like to see him try to fuck with me,” I challenged. “I’ve got a pack of my own now.”
“It’s unnatural for a wolf to lead a cat pride,” Sabine snarled. “You’re disgusting. And Aiden’s going to put you back in your place.”
“He’ll stay out of my way if he knows what’s good for him,” I said.
Newt lurched forward again, and this time Sabine barely managed to keep him back. He clenched his jaw and scowled at me, and he squeezed his hands into two tight spheres and held them lofted by his chest.
“You’d do well to lose the attitude,” Newt snapped as he pushed up the baggy sleeves of the sweater he wore. “I’m not gonna warn you again.”
Dude, he’s going to rip your throat out if you don’t shut up. Benji squeezed my shoulder again, and I turned just a little to see the captain frowning out of the corner of my eye.
I’d like to see him try, I replied as I rolled my eyes.
“Roll your eyes all you want,” Sabine said. “But we know who you are, and we know where to find you. And if you don’t surrender the werecats back to a leader who is meant to handle them, you’re going to be in a whole world of hurt.”
“I’m not scared of you.” I finally shrugged my shoulder out from under Benji’s hand and took a step toward the werecats. “And I’m not scared of Aiden, either. If you want to fight me, then fight me, but it seems like you’re only here to try and shake me. Max is history. I’m the alpha now.”
Newt let out a low swear, and then he lunged for me. He shoved Sabine’s arm out of the way and knocked into her with his shoulder as he pushed past, and the female werecat staggered in his wake as he ran at me.
Shit.
I hopped to the right in a quick side-step as the male werecat barreled past me and overshot his mark. He whipped around and locked eyes on me with his teeth bared, and then he launched forward again with his fist hooked out in a broad swing.
I’d never really been in a fistfight before. For the most part, I kept to myself, and the jocks and other hotheads in high school left me alone. College proved no different, and even in a school as small as Everleigh University, it wasn’t hard to just avoid the people I knew I didn’t like or that I had issues with. A week ago, the nerdy Jesse Rafe would see a fist sailing at his face and freeze up.
But I was no longer just nerdy, human Jesse Rafe.
I was the Alpha.
My body took over, and it was like someone slipped a key into a lock and opened the doors on a wave of untapped instinct. I allowed myself to be taken over by this new instinct, and its power coursed through my body like lava in return.
Without a second thought, I grabbed Newt’s fist from out of the air and threw the man to the ground.
The werecat’s face hit the sidewalk with a loud slap, and I quickly popped my fists up to my chest. Newt jumped up from the ground, and a flood of red blood gushed from his somewhat flattened nose. The guy looked mad before, but now he seemed thoroughly pissed off.
“Is that all you got?” the werecat growled at me.
I answered with a soaring fist of my own, and my hand connected with his stomach. The air rushed out of his lungs like a deflating balloon, and the werecat doubled over at once and looked like he’d be out of commission for a good minute or so.
“Hah!” I straightened back up and tossed my hair out of my face with a confident smile.
I couldn’t celebrate for long, though, because an arm suddenly wrapped around my throat and squeezed.
“Fuck,” I gasped.
Newt struggled to catch his breath still, but Sabine jumped in to cover for him and currently held my throat in her vise-like grip.
“Not so tough now, are you?” Sabine hissed at me.
I floundered as the female werecat tightened the pressure in her biceps and then kicked her foot out to knock me down.
“Jesse!” Benji shouted.
Sabine let me go, and I hit the pavement with a loud thunk and struggled to catch my breath as a galaxy of black and white stars flooded my vision. Then, from beyond the haze, I saw Sabine lift up her booted foot as she prepared to drop another blow on me.
The fire in my chest exploded, and the impossible heat raised my body temperature by several degrees.
I wasn’t about to let these assholes take the win.
I rolled to the right and barely avoided taking a boot to the face. Then I reached out, grabbed the female werecat’s ankle, and pulled it forward. Sabine flailed wildly, and she let out a yowl as I shoved her back so she fell on her ass on the pavement.
I rushed back up to my feet as Newt recovered, and with a newfound fervor, I barreled toward my target and swung my foot out in a low kick that swept him off balance.
“Fuck you!” I growled as I sent a fist into the side of his head.
My fist connected with Newt’s face, and he went back down to the ground.
I looked down at my hands, and my stomach fluttered in my chest. My fur threatened to burst out from my pale arms, and I could see the array of pinpricks lining my limbs. Pressure mounted in my face where my nose would normally stretch and change into my wolf-like snout, and up and down my back I felt a thick tightness as my body longed to expand out into my badass shifter form.
