The Alpha's Blood

CHAPTER 2

　　“Toast, eggs, bacon,” I murmured under my nose as I piled everything from the list onto Elijah’s plate, his eyes already devouring the food. “What am I missing?”

　　“Jam,” he said with his mouth full after putting one of the bacon pieces in his mouth. I turned around, mumbling ‘Jam, jam, jam…’ under my breath while I opened cupboard after cupboard in search of it. I spotted it on one of the top shelves and cursed as I reached out and my fingers touched its edge slightly.

　　A hand appeared in my vision, reaching over my head and grabbing the jam jar. It happened so fast that with my body still shaken from the nightmare earlier, I reacted without thinking. Sending my elbow back, I felt it hit straight into their sun split, forcing a painful grunt from their mouth. I turned around just as Chris staggered back, holding his chest with his free hand while crouching down.

　　Christian, our roommate, and my best friend, was a whole head taller and twice as big as me, but when it came to reactions, pain, and taking a hit, he was probably weaker than Elijah. Being human, an artist, and an anti-violence lover, he hated any and all kinds of altercations, especially the physical kind. Yet somehow he always got hurt with me around. I was surprised he let us live in his apartment for that long.

　　“What did I do this time?” he grunted, looking at me with teary eyes. I gave him an apologetic smile, stepping toward him and wrapping my arms around his torso. I helped him get up, slipping the jar from his hand and handing it to Elijah. I let him handle the lid while hugging Chris tighter.

　　“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I told you not to approach me from behind like that!” he hugged me back, then let go, allowing me to step away. I filled another plate with breakfast and handed it to him with another apologetic smile. “Peace?”

　　He sighed, running a hand through his hair before adjusting his reading glasses as he took the plate from me. Circling the kitchen counter to sit by Elijah, he kept looking at me while I prepared Elijah’s lunch.

　　“You had a nightmare again, didn’t you?” he suddenly asked, and I froze, my hand holding a handful of crackers and a small apple. I looked up, glancing at Elijah, who was also staring at me with half his toast stuffed in his mouth. My eyes settled on Chris, who watched me with a concerned expression on his handsome face.

　　We met two years ago at one of my university’s social functions while I was still a freshman. He had already graduated from it but had come in for an art exhibition he had decided to support. We had gone out for coffee and dinner several times, but I never let things progress any further than that. With a small kid, no stable job, and classes to attend, I had no interest in a relationship. He seemed content with just being a friend with me, so as we grew close, he met Elijah and the two of them clicked at once. Half a year later, he offered us to move into his big apartment since he hated being alone and since we had just been kicked out of our own rundown place when the municipality decided to demolish the building.

　　The real test of our friendship came when he caught me shifting into a wolf one full moon since I had forgotten my ring at work and I couldn’t risk running there to get it. Explaining to him that I was a werewolf who could shapeshift, but could also suppress her wolf side with an enchanted ring given to me by an actual witch, had been the turning point in both our lives. After he didn’t call the cops or a madhouse and emerged from his room four days later, telling me he believed me, I told him the rest of my wretched story. All of it. Even the darkest, more painful parts I hadn’t shared with anyone else.

　　Ever since then, he’d gotten this sad, haunted look on his face when I had a nightmare like he was hurting alongside me. It made me uncomfortable for many reasons, none of which had anything to do with the content of the dreams.

　　“You always get extra jumpy after you have a nightmare,” he added.

　　“It’s true,” Elijah nodded next to him, finishing his toast.

　　“Eat your breakfast and wash your hands so we can leave,” I told the boy and he stuffed the rest of his eggs in his mouth, jumping off the high chair and sprinting toward the bathroom. I looked back at Chris, forcing a smile. “I am fine, really! And I am sorry for punching you.”

　　He stared for a little longer, then sighed in defeat, looking down at his plate. I finished preparing Elijah’s lunch, stuffing the box in his backpack and leaving it on the counter so I can find my own bag.

　　“The new semester starts today, right?” Christian asked as I walked around the room, searching for my bag. I found it on one of the couches and checked to make sure I had my books, my purse, and my phone stuffed inside. There was plenty of time until my first class, but I had to drop Elijah off at the kindergarten Chris had helped us get in. “This means you wouldn’t be working so many jobs, right? You shouldn’t be working so much anyway, I told you I can help if you are…”

　　“I’m fine Chris, this is just temporary,” I told him without looking back. I didn’t want to have the conversation about money again. I didn’t want to tell him that doing all those things for me made me feel like a burden, like I was in his debt. He had already done more than any sane person would do for just a ‘friend’ and I felt like soon there will be a time when he would like to ‘collect’. It was probably unfair to him since he had never stepped out of line or asked anything of me outside of our friendship, but a part of me couldn’t help but notice the long glances, the silent smiles, and what felt like helpless longing when he looked at me sometimes. I wanted it all to be a figment of my imagination, my own ego searching for someone to scratch it, but I wasn’t stupid. Still, I pretended not to have noticed because noticing meant that we needed to move out, and selfishly, I knew I wasn’t ready for that.

　　I was a horrible person. A really, really horrible one. But I had promised my sister I’d survive and make a good, happy life for me and her child. My child, because she was gone and Elijah was all I had left. I was going to pay Chris back for everything one day. I just needed to rely on him a little longer.

　　“When are you working at the cafe?” he asked as I dropped my bag next to Elijah’s and grabbed my now cold toast, finishing it in three bites.

　　“Monday the first. I’m on a morning shift,” I replied, finishing my coffee just as Elijah appeared from the bathroom, showing me his washed hands. I gave him a thumbs up, then signed for him to get his shoes on.

　　“Are you sure?” Chris asked, and I looked at him with surprise.

　　“Yeah. Why?” I frowned.

　　“Because today is Monday the first,” he said, his head tilted. My jaw dropped and my eyes instinctively went to the clock on the wall, showing seven twenty. My morning shift started at seven-thirty.

　　“s**t!” I cursed, throwing myself at the counter and grabbing my bag. Looking at Chris, I gave him a begging look, feeling that chasm of guilt inside my chest widening. “Can you…?”

　　“I’ll take Elijah,” Chris smiled, waving for me to leave. “Hurry up or you’ll be late!” I clasped my hands together and gave him a grateful bow, then rushed toward the door. Elijah was already putting on his shoes, so I slipped into mine, kissing his head and shouting goodbye as I threw my bag over my shoulder and shot out of the building.

　　It usually took me twenty minutes to get to campus on foot, but if I could keep running, I could make it in ten. Maybe I could even be on time and avoid being shouted at by my insufferable shift manager. The ring on my finger felt even heavier, reminding me I only had my human strength to rely on as long as it was touching my skin.

　　I hadn’t believed in magic before, in spells and witches. I thought those never existed despite the stories I had heard. But if werewolves were real, why not magic too? I had been desperate to hide us from Michael and any other werewolves. Forging fake papers and documents had been hard enough, but hiding my scent and my nature from our wolves was close to impossible. Elijah was still young, he hadn’t shifted so his scent could pass for human, but I…

　　Desperate, I started looking into all kinds of solutions, from using so much perfume that even humans avoided me, to chemicals and others. I decided that magic couldn’t be the worst of it. It had been a miracle I found a real witch after a few failed attempts.

　　Life as a human wasn’t easy. The pain, the stiffness, the slowness, and even the dulled emotions and sensations… they were maddening when being a werewolf meant everything was heightened — the sounds, the tastes, the feelings. But if that could keep Elijah and me safe, I was ready to part with it. I was ready to stay human for the rest of my life.

　　I threw my shoulder against the door of the cafe, almost stumbling to the ground from my speed. The three coworkers inside and the usual early visitors all turned to look at me, some with surprise, some with amusement.

　　“I made it!” I sighed, finally allowing myself a quick breath.

　　“You are two minutes late,” Karen, my manager, said from behind the counter, giving me one of her obnoxious smiles. I wasn’t sure why she hated me so much, but I was sure she literally got off on making my shifts miserable. “It will come out of your paycheck.”

　　“Oh, come on!” I started when I noticed the others shaking their heads. That could only mean Karen was in a bad mood, so pushing her further was going to get me in more trouble. I schooled my face into an apologetic expression, making my way toward the changing rooms. “Sorry for being late. I’ll change and get started right away.”

　　Karen snorted, turning her back and walking into the storage area, while the others gave me looks full of pity while returning to their posts. I stepped into the small changing room we all shared, opened my locker, and took out my uniform to change.

　　I had hoped for a quiet, uneventful morning, then boring classes, and a nice, quiet evening in front of the TV with Elijah and Chris. So far, that plan was a failure and some weird feeling in the pit of my stomach was telling me that the rest of the day wouldn’t be any better, either.