Page 24 of Step Alpha

Bo and Cole both play football for ASU. Austin goes there, too, although his dad wouldn’t let him play. He’s supposed to become a doctor, like his dad.

I was the asshole who got chosen by the pack and Coach Jamison to go to a prestigious school and shine while my best friends got to hang out together.

Of course, it could be worse. Poor Slade got stuck in Wolf Ridge, like most of the rest of the boneheads from high school. He works at the brewery on the production floor.

I just gave them the run-down on what Alpha Green told me before dinner.

“So how are you going to get the charges dropped?” Bo asks.

I shrug. “I dunno. I guess I have to find a lawyer.”

“So…when do you go back?” Cole breaks a dead tree branch over his knee. Shifters don’t need axes. Not when we can snap thick branches with our bare hands or a stomp of one foot.

The sense of stubborn resistance that’s been in me since the minute my dad said he married Leslie rises up. I toss a branch onto the fire. “I’m not going back.”

“What?” All four guys’ heads snap up to stare at me.

I shrug. “I mean, what’s the point if I can’t play ball?”

“What about your classes?” Austin asks.

“I’ll drop them.” I hold one end of a branch and catch the top of it on fire, then lift it in the air like a torch.

“Won’t that make it harder when you eventually get back on the team?” Again, Austin’s trying to be the voice of Good Student Reason.

“It’s already hard, dude,” I snarl. “And the only reason I was doing it was for football. For the team.”

I think about my teammates, and a queasy feeling comes over me. How many of those so-called friends have I even heard from since Ryan put me on that plane? My coach left me three messages, but I haven’t heard a peep from any of my teammates.

None. Not even Ryan, whose ass I saved.

Those are the guys I would’ve sacrificed anything for.

Hell, I already sacrificedeverythingfor them.

But they’re human. They understand the concept of team, but not the way these guys–my true packmates–do. This was what was missing for me there.

Except these guys have their own lives now. We’re not in high school anymore. Two of them are mated. All four are in the next chapter of their lives. We’re not the band of alpha-holes ruling the halls of Wolf Ridge High. I can’t have those days back.

I dip the tip of the branch into the fire again. “I guess I need to go pack up my shit and drive the Jeep back.”

Of course, I have no money for that.

Bo seems to guess at my dilemma because he immediately offers. “I’ll spot you the cash for a plane ticket if you need it.” He and his car-jacking girlfriend Sloane came into some money last year, which is the only reason he got to go to college.

My shoulders sag with relief. From the safety of knowing your friends really and truly have your back. “Thanks, man. I do need it. My dad isn’t going to help with anything at all.”

Bo pulls his phone out and starts scrolling like he’s going to book me a ticket right this moment. “My Uncle Greg would probably give you a job at the auto shop if you need it.”

I don’t know that much about cars. Not like Cole and Bo, who worked at the shop all through high school. But I’ve hung around them enough to feel like I could figure it out. “Thanks. Yeah. I’ll stop by and talk to him.”

“And I can book a one-way to Durham tomorrow morning. That work? You can stay with us in Tempe tonight, and I’ll drive you to the airport.”

Another sliver of relief filters into the darkness that has made up my solid chest. Or maybe it's gratitude. “Thanks, man. It’s really good to be here with you guys right now.”

They exchange a look, like they don’t necessarily agree that these are the best of times. When they look at me, it’s with what appears to be some form of sympathy and doubt. Like they can’t believe how badly I fucked up. Or understand why.

I don’t even understand why.

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