Be Mine, Alpha

Seven

Daphne's POV

I had no idea which was more annoying, the sun filtering through the window blinds of the classroom and threatening to blind me, or the monotonic voice of Mr Rogers droning on and on.

On a normal day, I wouldn't be mad. Hell, I'd be excited even because Mr. Rogers was one of my favorite teachers. Sure, he was boring, but the subject wasn't. Unfortunately for both of us today, I wanted to hear nothing about space and astrology and his voice was only making it worse.

"Why don't we all open our books to chapter twelve?" Did Mr. Rogers get surgery for his voice? I winced as his voice boomed in my head, sending jolts of pain all around. "The third paragraph to be precise."

I couldn't do this, I needed to get out of here. With each second and thought that passed, I felt a thousand nails being pierced into the thick cover of my skull, each one threatening to puncture my brain. What could have been the cause? I was totally fine yesterday.

Yesterday, my thoughts trailed off as I tried to jog up the memories from last night. Conan, Camilla, alcohol! I almost groaned as it all dawned on me. I'd had too much to drink, a little too much, and now I was suffering the consequences.

I wondered if I was the only one going through this torture. Because the thought of moving my head even a tiny bit faster than real time didn't sound pleasant so I slowly cranked my neck to get a good view of the class from the right and left.

Where are Conan and Camilla? It took me a while to remember we didn't have the same classes. Conan was probably in calculus and Camilla would be in the crafts room.

"Daphne!" I almost jumped out of my seat. The voice was unexpected but it definitely wasn't unfamiliar. "Daphne!"

"I can hear you, Camilla." She was mind-linking me. It wasn't weird for werewolves to talk to each other with their mind, but it was totally questionable when Camilla decided to do it while we were in a class. " You really don't have to yell."

" I didn't yell." She was still yelling and I fought the urge to groan out loud. "I'm not yelling. Are you okay?"

"I may or may not be hungover." I sighed. "And we know whose fault that is."

"That's not important at the moment." She dismissed me. "Come meet me at the bathroom immediately."

"What? Why?"

"It's urgent." That statement made my heart drop to the pit of my stomach. "Just make sure you come after class. It really can't wait till lunch."

"Camilla…" Was all I could manage out of my lips before she cut the mind link.

My gaze flicked on Mr Rogers. He was still talking, droning on and on about things I really wasn't interested in. Instead, there was something else I so badly wanted him to do. I wanted him to leave the class as soon as possible. I glanced at my teacher and sighed, he didn't seem to be leaving anytime soon, so I did the most logical thing I could fathom, I raised my hand.

"Can I go to the bathroom, please?"

"Sure…" I didn't even wait to see if he'd say something else. In one swift motion, I swiped all my belongings off my desk and dashed out of the classroom. Immediately I was outside, I felt something pulling me from my chest.

"Daphne, are you there?" It was Conan this time. His voice sounded groggy but upset still. "I got Camilla's message, did you?"

"Yeah, and I'm headed to the bathroom right now," I confirmed as I weaved through the hallway to get to my destination. "Are you coming?*

"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute."

Like a switch that had just gone off, I tuned Conan out and focused on my destination. It didn't take a while for me to get there. I got to the bathroom to find it, empty? I was confused because it made no sense. Camilla asked us to meet her here, so why was I here and staring at the baby blue walls of the place?

The bathroom was a huge cube, stuffed into a corner of the school. In that cube, the room was divided into stalls for both males and females and a general waiting spot with a gigantic mirror and sink to wash your hands.

I could make out sparkly white tiles, a white hand towel resting against the wall, and a bright little bulb that made the room sparkle. All that, and no Camilla.

"Camilla? Camilla?" Someone barged into the room and I flinched. My thumping heart took a while to calm down after I'd realized who it was. "Where's she?"

"I don't know." I shrugged. " There's no sign of her anywhere."

"Shit." Conan cursed before resting his back on the white tiles. His eyes flicked shut as he let out soft breaths from his mouth. " Why did she make it look like some kind of emergency when she wasn't even here yet?"

"I don't know…"

"This sucks." He groaned out loud. "My head hurts so bad, I really don't need this."

"Still hungover?" I chuckled as I made my way to his side.

"Aren't you?" He peeked from underneath his eyelids. "My head feels like it could explode any minute from now."

"And who do you have to blame for that?"

"My lightheadedness." He smiled before adding. "Us being lightweights when it came to alcohol."

"I wish we were like Camilla." I sighed. " She could go on and on and on, and not feel a single thing after."

"I'm here!" I'd recognize that enthusiastic squeal anywhere I hear it. I watched as Camilla whizzed into the bathroom absolutely glowing. "Hi, guyssssss."

"Are you okay?" Conan shot up instantly, concern laced in his voice. "What's wrong with you? What's the emergency?"

"Guess." From her bright smile, I could already tell we'd been duped. "Go on, guess."

"You want us to guess the emergency?" Conan turned to me before turning to her again, realization slowly setting in. "Are you serious?"

"You know what, I'll just tell you." Camilla's grin was infectious as her face lit up. "Xavier promised to take me hiking after school today."

"You're joking." I deadpanned. "You mean you pulled us out of class for this?"

"Well, I…"

"I thought you were hurt and it was important." Conan hissed and he slid to the ground. "I thought it was serious."

"It is, we're finally going to the mountains after all this while. Isn't that great?" Her grin was still plastered on her face. "I'm literally dying from happiness."

"I'm out of here." Conan got up immediately and he headed towards the door. "Are you coming, Daphne?"

"You really don't need to ask." I breezed past Camilla. "Wait up."

"You both have got to be kidding me!"

"No, you're kidding us," Conan didn't even turn. "And you'll pay for it."

"What?" I could see Camilla's smile falter. " What's that supposed to mean?"

"What do you have in mind, Conan?" I smiled, mirroring Conan's devilish expression. "Anything goes really."

"We'd have to discuss to find the perfect way to execute our target." I had no idea how Conan was keeping a straight face. "Meet me after class at my place?"

" You can't do anything." We laughed as Camilla yelled behind our backs. "It's not my fault you both are lightweights and can't control your alcohol. You can't do s**t to me."

"Just wait and see."

***

"Home sweet home," I mumbled as I walked into the living room. Without giving it a lot of thought, I slumped onto the couch. I let my eyes flicker close, maybe it would ease the pain in my body.

I was alone if the absence of Harper's shoes outside meant anything. I still wasn't in the mood to talk to her or anyone else in my family at the moment.

"What are you doing here?" Someone's gruff voice cut through my rest. "How dare you?!"

I said nothing. Maybe if I kept quiet enough she would let me be.

"Are you deaf?" Rough hands gripped me by the side. "I'm talking to you and you're there just laying still. Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"

"How could you?" She pressed on, not even allowing me to speak. "You have eyes on your sister's boyfriend. Isn't that shameless of you?"

I wasn't going to say anything. All I wanted was to get some painkillers and sleep away the stress of the day. And maybe I could have gotten away with it if she hadn't added that last part.

"I should have gotten rid of you when I had the chance." She spat. "Then maybe I wouldn't have had to deal with you all this time."

"You know what, Mom?" I could feel my veins hearing up. "To. Hell. With. You."

Maybe it was the way I enunciated each word slowly but if the shocked expression on her face meant anything, she got the message.

Without giving her the chance to react, I grabbed my bag and headed towards my room. I was just at the foot of my door when it swung open to reveal Harper, holding a bag in her hand, my bag to be precise.

"What are you doing?" I had no intention to speak with her, but maybe Mother's aggression was rubbing off on me. "What are you doing with my bag?"

"I'm taking it out on a date." I didn't realize Harper could be so haughty. Or perhaps we'd been on good terms for a long time I couldn't even see her acting this way. "You do owe me for wanting Nikolai. That's a little shameless, don't you think?"

"I owe you?" I scoffed. The urge to burst out was high at this point but it wasn't necessary, so I reduced it to silent curses in my head.

The huge throb that had decided to take a stronghold on me wasn't even helping either. In fact, it made me irritated at Harper's sight. "I don't owe you anything. So please return my bag."

"You're kidding right?" She was shocked, her eyebrows shooting up. " I'm not…"

"Yes, you are." I cut her off, still standing my ground. "So return my bag. Now!"