Accidentally Bitten by The Alpha

Chapter 6

“Calm down,” Zane’s voice rings out and the room comes to a sudden hush as at least half of those in the room become eerily still as above us the intercom system chimes.

“ATTENTION STUDENTS,” A disembodied voice speaks, its words punctuated with static. “THE STORM HAS BEEN RECLASSIFIED AS A CLASS 6 SUPERSTORM….”

A group of girls in the corner begin screaming and others start shouting as well, making it impossible to hear the rest of the announcement. Feeling overwhelmed, I covered my ears.

“SHUT UP!” Zane shouts again, his voice booming with undeniable authority. Every person in the room goes completely still. “Keep your goddamned mouths shut.”

His tone was so powerful he almost seemed to glow with authority. I’m afraid to talk, afraid to even breathe in case I might offend him as I stand there, in awe of his incredible charisma. Fighting the urge to bow at his feet, I slowly turn and survey the room to see others doing exactly that–bowing, their heads low, their necks exposed.

That isn't a normal reaction.

Looking up expecting to see Zane as freaked out as I am, I'm surprised to find him scanning the room, a smug smile painted across his lips. He doesn’t seem bothered at all by everyone’s behavior. If anything he seems pleased.

“ALL STUDENTS ARE TO CALMLY FOLLOW THE ARROWS TO THE BASEMENT UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED,” the message concludes, the intercom fading to static before going silent.

Groaning, students shuffled around, picking up boxes and luggage, and filing out of the room in two separate lines. At the head of one line is my i***t ex and his new girlfriend. Trailing behind him is a group of elite-looking bleach blondes with bright tans and brighter jewelry, their designer clothing marking them as upper class and a bit preppy.

And at the head of the other line is Zane, and much like the line, the people in this group also resemble each other in style and coloring. Where Jake’s group is fair and flashy, shining brightly in the dim light filtering through the windows through the dark storm clouds, the students gathered behind Zane seem scruffier, more earthy, with swarthy tans and deep-set eyes in green, hazel, and brown. They almost look related, not just in how they look but in how they move with dance-like grace, their muscular bodies grounded and strong. Looking at the groups, they look like two warring families, if families included hundreds of people trapped on an island together.

Once we make it to the basement, the two groups remain separated, taking opposite ends of the room with a few outcasts taking up the deserted spaces between. As I lurk with my tattered box, not sure of what to do or where to go, the tension between the two camps is so charged I can almost see lightning rebounding from one group to another as the electric energy of their glared hatred bounces from one to the other.

“Ouch, that looks like it hurts,” a warm voice says over my shoulder. "Strange, usually a mark like this heals quickly. Who bit you?”

Blinking, I turn and find a smiling man with freckles and bright reddish blonde hair. “Patrick,” he introduces himself with his hand extended. "Patrick Davis. I’m a medical exchange student from Blue Ridge Pack.”

“Is that a university?” I ask, confused. I’ve never heard of a college by that name. “Where is it?”

Patrick blinks at me slowly and then grins, laughing. “Funny. You’re a funny one. Hey, I can see you’re a rogue like me. Come take a seat, I’ll fix you up.”

Pulling me along, this new stranger guides me to a part of the room that is neither on one side or the other, but in a unclaimed neutral space in he middle of the room. Ordering me to sit in a nearby chair, he pulls out an old-fashioned medical bag.

“Yuck,” he pokes my wound gently. “Goddess, whoever marked you should have done better. This looks infected. How long ago did this happen?”

“Last night...” I answer slowly, unsure of how much I wanted to say. “Um…”

“Last night! And that alpha just let you walk off. What kind of…nevermind. It’s not my place to say, it's just that you should have gotten some wolfsbane on this immediately to help heal the tears. Stupid animal.”

I feel ashamed as he continues to talk, as if I should have known better than to get myself in this situation to begin with. It’s not like I asked for any of this. I expected to be home by now, not stuck in a hurricane, feeling like the new town slut.

“Take two wolfsbane now and another two in four hours.”

“Wolfsbane,” I repeat. This is the second time he’s used that word and I have no idea what he’s talking about. “Is that some kind of painkiller? I don’t have any. I…”

His short, harsh laughter almost sounds like a bark as he shakes his head. “Seriously? Here take these,” My new friend hands me a bottle from the bottom of the bag. “I figured a young woman your age would have one of those in her bags at all times. Not only is it useful in healing your situation, but they’re remarkable pain relievers for menstrual cramps and…”

He continues to rattle on about the benefits of whatever this medicine is as I pour a few of the pills out into my hand. They’re a faint green and the powder makes my skin tingle. Placing two in my mouth, I gulp down about half a bottle of water, trying to get the dry pills to roll down my throat. Swallowing hard, my tongue is numb and the inside of my mouth has a strange, bitter minty aftertaste.

“Thank you, I guess,” and Patrick’s face almost glows with joy at the compliment. Pressing his glasses more firmly on his nose, he stands and dusts off his pants. As he slowly repacks his bag, I look around, trying to figure out a place to camp for the next day or so.

On one side of the room is my ex-boyfriend and the gaggle of blondes, each one eyeing him like candy as he struts around the space. When he notices me watching, he winks, licking his lips. “Later,” he mouths, and I shiver, thinking of his proposition as I watch his hand move back and forth within his pocket, secretly stroking himself.

No. I can’t be anywhere near him.

Turning my head, I looked in the other direction. People there aren’t even trying to mask their curiosity about me, staring at me openly. The worst offender is Zane himself, who, even with his girlfriend leaning against his arm, seems to watch me pace back and forth, his eyes a brilliant green, visible even in the dim light. Unable to look away, I find myself falling into his gaze, his eyes swirling brightly as I lose all sense of self.

Without thinking, my legs move without me and I stumble towards him.

As I lift my foot to take another step, my daze is broken by the rumbling hum of a generator. The overhead lights spring back to life in a rush of brightness and a wave of applause settles around us as spirits lighten, the gloom of darkness cast off with harsh, fluorescent lighting.

“ATTENTION STUDENTS,” the intercom blares and I wince, holding my ears. “ACCORDING TO NOAA, THE WORST OF THE STORM SHOULD PASS AT 1AM. IT SHOULD BE SAFE TO LEAVE CAMPUS AFTER 8AM TOMORROW.”

Another, much louder, cheer rattles the walls as people on both sides of the room hug one another in relief. The worst storm of the hurricane season seems to be on its way past us. If only it had come a few days later, I’d have been off the island and back home.

Instead, I’m stuck here until spring comes to free me.

Standing, I grabbed my box and looked around.

Where can I go? Neither side of the room is safe for me.

“Hey,” Patrick’s warm voice washes over me as he places a gentle hand on my shoulder. “I know we don’t know one another well, but if you don’t have anywhere else, I’d be happy to let you share my little corner of the room.” he motions towards his medical bag. “I even have an extra sleeping bag, if you need it.”

So few people have been kind to me since I arrived that I find myself shaking with tears. It’s such a small gesture of welcome, but at this moment, it feels bigger than if I had been welcomed by a parade.

“Thank you,” I warble between sniffles. He pats my shoulder and I feel two sets of eyes burning the back of my neck with their laser-focused attention.

Looking over my shoulder, I see that I’m right. Both Zane and Jake are watching me like resting lions, each waiting to see when I rest long enough to pounce. Swallowing, I try to ignore the growing feeling of dread building inside my chest.

“You’ll be safe here,” Patrick promises as he helps me get settled to rest. For the evening. The pain in my neck is so bad, I take another pill, and then another, until it grows so dull that my mind feels like it’s floating…

I am standing at the edge of a forest surrounded by the sea. “This was once a safe place,” the wind says. “We were once free to be one with the earth.”

“Who?” I ask the sky as I step forward and a pack of large gray wolves surround me, walking around and between my legs, filling the clearing before me as I take a step forward.

“Us,” a large white wolf emerges from the shadows. As she moves closer, I see she isn’t a wolf at all, but an elegant woman with flowing white hair in a dress that glows brightly in the darkness. “All of us.”

Moaning, I wake to the feeling of a hand in my shirt, squeezing my breast as something hard and firm is pressed into the curve of my ass, rocking up and down, growing harder with each stroke.

“No…” I murmur as my body struggles to wake up the rest of the way through the haze of drugs. “Who…”

Struggling, I pull away, but the arm holding my breast wraps around me tighter, moving up to cover my mouth.

“Shh, Baby…” his other hand reaches for the waistband of my sweats. “Shh.”