Big Bad Alphas

My eyes wave open and closed, as they are still sticky from my nap. Rubbing my knuckles into them, I sit up and tame my hair with my hands. Wondering the time, my eyes turn to the clock, I have been asleep for four hours. I wonder if Caroline is still here.

I slowly climb out of bed and wander down the hallway until I hear chattering. My ears perk up, and I zip down the staircase and into the kitchen.

Marina and Caroline are both in the room, Caroline eating of course. "Look who's up," she lightly cheers and pulls out the stool beside her for my to sit. Marina smiles and places a plate in front of me.

"I supposed you told him the truth?" She questions, knowing the answer.

"Yes, I did. I find I rather difficult to tell fibs to Eric as if the mated side of me thinks it is against the law."

Caroline sighs then takes another bite of her omelet. "I wish I had a mate. Even though my brother makes me want to chuck things at him, you guys are kind of adorable in a we-aren't-going-to-kiss-until-we're-eighty kind of way."

Dropping my fork, I look to her. "What is that supposed to mean?" I smile, amused.

"I dunno," she mutters, abandoning the subject. "All I'm saying is that I want a mate too."

Marina cuts in, "Don't you worry Caroline, your mate is out there somewhere. You'll find him eventually."

"That sounds promising," I add on. "But we need to focus on the search for Olivia's mate right now; you know before she strangles me again."

Marina pauses and gives us a weird look. "When I was a young girl looking for my mate, my father sent me off on a trip with my sisters. We would visit every pack until each of us found our mate."

"Did it take long?"

"I found my mate at the seventh pack, but my younger sister, a sweet girl who just turned eighteen, discovered that her mate was killed, as on our trip she felt an extreme longing in her heart and she could not stop crying. Us older girls did not know what was happening, so at the end of our trip, when she came up empty handed, our mother told her what she was feeling was death. She never found out who he was or how he died."

With a sorrowful expression on my face, I peer at Caroline, who is on the brink of tears. "What if my mate dies!"

Marina places her arm around her shoulder. "I'm sure that will not happen to you. It is an unusual occurrence now, yet back then, when multiple packs held tension between each other, many people died during attacks and battles."

as if my heart has slowed down. A new fear has now been

Marina ponders and goes back to cleaning up from

mate is dead? What if she's

You," she points at me, "be with your mate, and you," she points to Caroline, "you'll find your mate. No one is going to die." With that she closes the front

what?" Caroline

me where the training

thinking hard about something. Caroline, maybe her mate, and me,

reach to the marks?" She glances at me as we slowly make

did it—which was strange—but when

in, "Wait, Eric

out of ideas." She peers away from me, avoiding my

if I should talk

it bad? Goddess, I feel so in the dark. First his issues with

with our dad?" She asks, expecting

is

she believes she has some connection to the moon goddess, which she can hear her or something. It's confusing, but my dad believes in it

breathe out. "So Evangeline is

"I don't know."

believe it? That

it, but Eric, he thinks it's a bunch of superstition and such. So he eventually got tired of our

breath and try to register all the new information. "And how does this connect

but after their fight, he was having night terrors about him hurting our dad. Sometimes Eric would wake up thinking that he had hurt one of us, and maybe that happened with you, except this time he saw your injury, which might have made

him that I would wait to hear it from him, but if it affects him this much... Thanks for telling me. He may be upset that I know, but I want

nods. "Do you still

if he has time, but

old pack I did not know everyone, but here I

here; he's