Page 23 of Becoming the Alpha

“Mhm-mhm.”

“It’s time for the rebel meeting. You want us to leave you here?” I asked. She sighed angrily and opened her eyes, glaring. She dragged herself into a seated position, still glaring.

“I hate you.”

24

Lily

Jason was grinning widely at me and it made me want to punch him in the face. I hated waking up. Period. I was comfortable, warm, and wanted to sleep for hours. I did not want to get up, but I did need to be there for the rebel meeting. This didn’t make me get out of bed any faster, but I eventually swung my legs off the bed, dragging my body up with me. When I raised my head, Jason was standing there, a hand covering his mouth in an attempt to hide the obvious amusement he felt. I glared at him.

“Shut up.”

“So…you’re not really a morning person, are you?” He laughed.

“Morning people are freaks of nature.”

“Funny, I thought that was shifters.”

“Nope. It’s morning people. I have it on good authority.”

Jason shook his head, chuckling. He walked over to the dresser and pulled out another outfit for me. He threw it on the bed, then jerked his head to the door. “Dean and I will be just outside. You two get ready. We’re leaving in ten.”

Amara jumped up with a small squeak and ran into the bathroom. I exhaled, rubbing my eyes with my palms. I groaned as I stood. I pulled on the outfit that Jason had thrown on the bed and pulled my limp hair into a sleek ponytail. It wasn’t the most attractive hairstyle, but it kept it out of my way. That’s what I cared about the most. Amara hurried out of the bathroom a few minutes later and I went in, taking care of my business quickly. As soon as I stepped out, Jason was pounding on the door, yelling at us that we had a minute left.

I rolled my eyes, strolled over to the door, and whipped it open. He stood there, his hand in the air, with his mouth wide open. I heard Dean snicker behind his back. I tried to hide my smile as he dropped his hand with a glare over his shoulder. “We’re ready.”

Jason heaved out a heavy sigh, shoving his hand through his hair and making it stick up crazily. “Are you sure I can’t convince you girls to stay behind? This is going to be dangerous and I don’t want anything to happen to either of you.”

I gave him a small smile, patted his cheek, and then sidestepped him, walking out of the room. I watched Dean’s jaw clenching and the amusement that had filled his face fled. I walked over to him, settling a hand on his forearm. Jason growled behind me, but I didn’t react to him. Instead, I lowered my voice so only shifters could hear - which meant that Amara wouldn’t.

“You know you can always go with Amara to the tunnels now. Nobody would blame you for wanting to get your mate to safety.”

Dean visibly tensed, his teeth grinding so hard that I could hear them. His hands clenched into fists as he swallowed thickly. “She’s not my mate,” He ground out. I cocked my head at him, the stench of a lie wafting up to my nostrils. I stared him down until he averted his gaze.

“Alright,” I replied, turning to Amara. “Hey girl, when this whole stupid thing is over, we need to get you a date. I heard Shaun was asking around about you. You interested?” I linked my arm with hers and pulled her past Jason and Dean. Jason was shaking his head, amusement lighting his face and making him look five years younger. Dean’s face paled. I assumed anger quickly followed, as he let loose a loud growl. Amara jerked in my arms, but I kept her moving straight, not letting her turn back. “Don’t react. Don’t look back.”

“What is going on?” She hissed. I grinned saucily, shaking my head. “You wouldn’t believe it, even if I told you. Let’s just let this play out as it will.”

We walked arm in arm down the hallway and through the kitchen side door, the castle seemingly empty. It felt like the castle was waiting with baited breath and one wrong move would cause untold chaos. We stepped out of the castle, the dark night sky lit up by a full moon. I glanced up at it, my wolf jumping at the thrill of being outside.

We wandered through the castle grounds, keeping a leisurely pace. Jason and Dean walked behind us, protecting our backs. I bristled at needing to be protected - even though I didn’t have any formal fight training, but my wolf was practically rolling over at the fact a male was protecting us.

“Lily, veer left. We need to get off the trail,” Jason hissed at me. I stifled a sigh and eye roll at his tone, but did as he directed. We were soon in the middle of the forest, trampling through the bush and sticks. Amara stumbled a few times and only stayed upright because I was holding onto her.

“We are going to get caught if you don’t quiet down,” Dean snarled. Amara tripped again, her cry echoing as the metallic scent of blood hit my nose. I stopped and turned to her. Dean cursed under his breath and stomped over to us. I eyed him, smirking as he scowled.

“Dean, put me down. What are you doing?” Amara shrieked as Dean scooped her into his arms, bridal style.

“Shut up. We have to be quiet and fast. You are neither of those things. I’m solving the problem,” He growled. I snickered, catching Jason’s eye. We grinned at each other, laughing at the whole situation. Jason grabbed my hand and my stomach did somersaults. He pulled me along after Dean and Amara.

I wanted to yank my hand from his. I wanted to shut him out completely because I still didn’t want to forgive him, but I couldn’t get myself to do it. Pulling away from him felt like I would be pulling away from a piece of my soul. I let him tug me through the woods, my wolf and I feeling at peace for the first time in a while.

We made it to a clearing near the edge of the Wolf Hollow pack lands. Dean put Amara down and she immediately stepped away from him, crossing her arms and scowling. Dean shoved his hands in his pockets, looking broody. Jason pulled me to the edge of the clearing, tucking me into his side. We were standing at the edge of the forest, a vast expanse of flat land laid out in front of us. I blinked, looking at the fields in front of us. My breath caught in my chest as an ache of longing flooded me.

“Lily?”

“My family is out there…”

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