Page 22 of Pack Nightmare

Thursday at lunch, the guys and I are just hanging out in the SFC cafeteria. Milo and Jared don’t have an afternoon class, and Landon and I have nothing until Bio at one. The rest of our friends are chattering around us, and I’m not really paying attention until everyone suddenly stops talking and stares over my head.

Trying out my new skills, I reach out with my senses and feel several individuals who are riddled with nervous energy behind me. I turn, and to my surprise, I face Amber, her two female cronies, and the Westley twins.

Tension is thick in the air, and my supporters glare at the newcomers with clear derision.

Amber and her friends are not hostile, so I try to remain cool, and wait for someone to speak.

Amber clutches her tray and draws in a deep, steadying breath. “Hi, Layla.”

“Hi, Amber.”

“Um, I just wanted to say no hard feelings. About the wolf challenge thing, I mean. You’re the alpha, and I one-hundred percent respect that.”

“Thank you,” I reply cooly. If this is her idea of making amends, it leaves a good deal to be desired.

“Also,” she swallows, “I’m sorry. For being such a bitch to you when you first got here. I… well, I love my dad, and because of your mom, the whole thing is… kind of complicated,” she finishes lamely. “But I shouldn’t have treated you that way, regardless. So, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, me too,” one of the twins pipes up.

All the others mutter apologies, and I tamp down the intense need to absolve them completely of guilt. It’s not my job to make them feel better, and they were jerks.

“Thank you,” I answer instead. “Apology accepted.”

An obvious wave of relief crosses their faces, and I have to wonder how much of this is just pressure they felt to make up with me, now that I’m alpha.

“Well, that’s… all I wanted to say, I guess. I’ll see you in bio?”

I nod, and she starts to walk off, but I can’t quite believe own ears when I ask, “Do you want to eat with us?”

I swear her eyes actually light up when she whips around, and the five of them swiftly settle into seats at our table. They begin eating and trying to chat with my steadfast supporters, who are less welcoming than I had been.

“What are you doing?” Jared hisses in a low voice. “She labeled herself your enemy on day one. Are you really going to just forgive her like that?”

I shrug. “She apologized, and I think she was honestly in a tough position. Besides, I don’t sense any duplicity from her. She was sincerely apologizing.”

“Well, I don’t trust it,” he murmurs, and the other guys nod in agreement. “Don’t forget who she is. She’s always up to something. It’d be smart to keep your guard up around her.”

“Thank you for the advice,” I reply sharply in a low voice. “I will keep it under advisement, so long as you remember who I am.”

His expression immediately tightens. “I’m sorry, you’re right. You do you.”

I turn my focus to my food, not really up to conversing with the guys at the moment.

Seriously, I have alpha instincts that tell me what people are feeling now. They know this; they grew up in this world. I’ve only been here a couple of months and I’m already getting the hang of it, so why do they keep insisting on acting like I can’t figure anything out on my own?

A tiny voice in the back of my mind suggests, maybe they just really care about you. Maybe they don’t want me to be hurt, and they’re adjusting to the feelings of the bond, which are still pretty new for them, too.

As alpha, I know I’m supposed to be level-headed and thoughtful, always considerate of other people’s feelings and needs, and do my best to take care of them.

As an eighteen-year-old girl who has been thrust into a world of magic and responsibility I didn’t know existed, I kind of just want to be allowed to stew selfishly in my own feelings for a while.

I think for a few minutes, then shoot off a text to Roxanne. She answers swiftly, and relief floods through me. Suddenly, the idea of resolving more pack problems seems simpler than dealing with my own fated mates.

Drawing in a deep, steadying breath, I attempt to include Amber and the others in conversation, trying to set the tone of the table. It takes some effort, but by the time we’ve finished our food, things are mostly relaxed.

When we clean up our trays, I let the guys know Maxwell is picking me up after bio lab today.

“Wait, what? I thought I got to drive you home today?” The disappointment in Landon’s tone is unmistakable. “I thought we could hang out a while,” he adds more quietly.

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