“Sorry I’m late.” Dominic. At the sound of his voice, we broke apart, both of us breathing more than a little heavily. She looked at me; her eyes were full of heated excitement. She licked her lips as a smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. “Jade?” Dominic asked in disbelief. “Out of all the pack members in this town, you go after him again!”

Jade made a sound. It came from the back of her throat, a mix between a gasp and a growl. The heat that had been in her eyes iced over and she leapt out of the booth.

“You’re one of them,” she spat.

I narrowed my eyes at her, searching her over. My brain was foggy, and my eyes kept landing back on her swollen lips. It took a few long seconds for me to figure out what she was talking about.

“I’m not just one of them,” I said just as nastily, and every muscle in my body tensed as I slid out of the booth and glared down at her. I had never had someone look at me with so much hatred, so much disrespect. “I’m the alpha.”

All the color drained from her face, and I instantly regretted telling her. For half a second she looked as if she was going to pass out. She wobbled a little and Dominic placed a hand on the small of her back, keeping her steady. He was smirking at me, a cocky smirk, and all I wanted to do was punch him.

Jade rocked on her feet for another second, and then, scarlet streaked up her neck, settling in her cheeks. She spat on the floor, and wiped her mouth so hard with her sleeve that her lips were burning red when she stopped. “I feel sick,” she whispered.

~ JADE ~

I needed air. Aidan was the alpha. I kissed the alpha. And I wanted to kiss him again. So much so that it hurt. He was staring down at me with cold eyes, and his jaw was twitching as he clenched and unclenched his teeth. Dominic was saying something to him, but I couldn’t hear it. My ears were ringing too loudly, and my heart pounding even louder.

I swallowed hard, but it didn’t help to move the bristly lump that was lodged in my throat. I kissed the alpha. The birds flapped in my stomach, begging me to move closer to him and do it again.

Suddenly, a montage of images invaded my brain. I saw Dominic. His smile. The way he held me in the picture that sat beside my bed, as if I was the only thing that mattered. The proud big brother. The best friend. Then I saw him as the beta. The cold eyes. The hatred. The aggression. His back facing me as he walked out of my life. And my irrational mind blamed Aidan for it all.

I felt my face twist into a sneer, and for a moment, I saw pain in Aidan’s eyes. It didn’t last long, and in a blink, he had his cold mask back in place.

Aidan didn’t see it coming, but then I hadn’t either. I took a step toward him and slapped him with everything I had. A burning sting rushed through my hand. Dominic chuckled, and I spun on him. Whatever it was that he saw in me made him take a quick step back, and without even a small glance over my shoulder, I left the coffee shop.

CHAPTER 15

~ AIDAN ~

Jade was like a flash thunderstorm, calm one second, and the next, a burst of ferociousness. It was amazing and troubling and more than a little confusing. And she could really hit. My cheek burned and I was pretty sure there was a nice red handprint there. I really hadn’t seen that one coming, not after the seriously hot kiss she had just planted on me. I could still taste her mocha on my tongue, and dammit, but I wanted more.

The door slammed behind her, and the glass shuddered from the impact. “You okay?” Dominic asked, although his tone clearly said that he really didn’t care one way or the other. He was smirking, and looking as if it was an effort not to burst out in laughter.

“Fine,” I said, scanning the coffee shop. Everyone was silent, waiting, watching, and the reality of what I had just done sank in fast. I dropped down into the booth, noticing the weary eyes and the stiff postures of everyone around me. Ray’s death, and my position, had been kept quiet for a reason, and because of that … that … girl, it was all going to go up in flames. “Shit,” I blurted, resting my head in my hands. “Did I really just announce that?”

The silence was ruthlessly loud. The pounding hearts and breathing of all the people around me were like bad music blaring in my ears. Too loud to think. I wanted to run after Jade. Force her to listen. Make her see me again for me. But I had a pretty good feeling that that would be a useless effort, and Jade hating me seriously wasn’t the important thing. Not now. But Bruce’s pack getting wind of a new alpha, one without a mate, was.

“I’ll make the call,” Dominic said abruptly, and pulled his phone from his pocket. Any humor that had been on his face vanished. His back stiffened, his jaw hardened, and he paced to the back of the shop, his phone already to his ear as he began barking out orders.

Shit! The pack wasn’t ready for this. I didn’t know enough about the cougars, yet. How they worked. How many there were. The last count Dominic had been able to get hold of was eighteen, but that was only a count of the males. From what I understood, the female numbers were, and always had been, an unknown factor.

I knew Bruce was vicious, and I knew he was always looking for more females to lure into his clutches. I still couldn’t figure that one out. From what Dominic had told me, Bruce only recruited females, and so far, his contact wouldn’t reveal the why. I also knew that they had been coming closer to town these last few days. Their scents were scattered along the edges of our woods.

How could I have been so stupid! This little game with Jade … this stupid crush was putting us all in jeopardy. Not just the pack but also the town. But still, even knowing that, all I wanted to do was run after her.

For about half a second, hot regret washed over me. If I had just kept driving. If I hadn’t stopped in this stupid hick town, I wouldn’t have to deal with any of this. I wouldn’t have to worry about a pack of werecougars. I wouldn’t have to deal with twenty-nine werewolves that acted as if they were the only things that mattered. I wouldn’t be an alpha with a beta that fought me at every turn. And I wouldn’t have met Jade.

I sighed. Not meeting Jade … My fists balled in my hair and my jaw tensed. That girl was ruining everything. But then, I figured it was my fault. I had been letting her and the pack walk all over me. Maybe I had been too nice, too forgiving. Maybe Ray had had the right idea all along. Evoke fear in the pack and the town. I wanted to call my dad. I needed advice, but I couldn’t bring myself to dial the number. He would only tell me what I already knew. I was being too soft with them all.

I didn’t hear the door open, or her footsteps, but I felt her slide into the booth, pressing up against me. Erika. I glanced at her. Nervous whispers and the synchronized clattering of mugs against tables suddenly invaded my brain. I glanced up to find the booths around me were now empty as people filed out the front door or moved to the opposite side of the coffee shop, giving me a wide birth.

I inched away from her, pressing closer to the wall. She wore her typical skintight black tank. It was cut so low that her breasts were barely covered, and she also sported black jeans and a leather jacket that fit like a glove. The only color on her was her bright blue eyes and her even brighter red lipstick.

Her nostrils flared, and her eyes sparked. She studied me long and hard, taking in deep breaths, and when her lips started to curve, my stomach sank.

“Leave it alone, Erika,” I warned, putting every bit of authority that I had into my tone. “She’s not part of this.”

She smiled, not a nice smile, and it sent a chill over my skin. “Too bad what you say doesn’t really matter, not when it comes to this. She’s left her stench all over you.”

CHAPTER 16

~ JADE ~

I could still feel Aidan pressed against me. The warmth of his body. The softness of his lips. The sweet taste of his tongue against mine. The butterflies in my stomach turned into a flapping nest of birds just from the thought of him. But then they stopped. How could someone so … so … perfect be such a monster?

It was strange how my perception of Aidan could change so drastically with a single word. I thought I had known who he was. Not that I really knew him, but I had this idea of who he was supposed to be, except that idea crumbled as soon as I heard alpha. In a split second, everything had clicked into place with surprising clarity. The pack loved him not because he was a nice guy, but because they had to. And it made me wonder how much of what I thought I knew about him was a lie.

The last few rays of sun had long since flickered out on the horizon, and the sun-warmed ground that I sat on had grown cold. The wind was fierce, cutting through my jeans and sending goose bumps rushing over my skin. Leaves flew around me, falling from the trees, and were yanked from the ground as another gust of bitter wind rushed through the park. I should have gone home. Marcy would be worried and so would Mom and Dad. But I didn’t want to leave. Not yet.

To be honest, I was a bit surprised that no one had come looking for me yet, but I figured Dominic had a hand in that. He was really the only person that Marcy or my parents would have listened to if they thought I was missing. I guessed I should thank him for that. For giving me time to breathe.

I traced the engraved stone, running my fingers along the grooves. The moon cast light in silver strips on the stone, cutting through the trees. I had always loved this place. The wall of faces. The monument stood in the center of the park. It was supposed to be a tribute to the alphas, their faces engraved there as they took over the pack. For me, though, it wasn’t a tribute. It was a reminder that they were not invincible.

Leaves crunched under shoes in the distance. I listened as they approached, not bothering to look behind me. I probably should have, but I couldn’t make myself care. The crunching stopped at what sounded like only a few feet from my back, and her voice cut through the air, making the already bitter night turn arctic. “You should have stayed away from Aidan.”

“Go away, Erika,” I said, letting my finger trail along the grooves of another face.

She laughed darkly. “I don’t think so.”

I straightened a little as tension flowed freely, thick and suffocating, between us, but I still didn’t bother to turn around. Erika was one of those girls that thrived on others’ fear, and I wasn’t going to let her think that her presence bothered me, not even for a second.