mind wandered back to Raphael. âOkay. So, who else can we get to go on the trip? No offense, but I can only spare one of you. I figured Adrian was good to go since heâd get more time with the brujos .â
âGood call,â Adrian said. âIâve been wanting to pick their brains. I feel like I could really get better at spells with their help, but thereâs been no time.â
âWell, hereâs your chance.â
âIâll find someone to go. Someone not too alpha, but a good fighter,â Donovan said.
âMaybe Stephen? Or Kaden?â Meredith said.
I had no idea who they were. It was easy to forget that Iâd only been at St. Ailbeâs for a couple months, but then things like this happened and I remembered that I really was just the new kid in school.
The door opened, and we all quieted as Mr. Dawson strode in. His gray-speckled hair was more messy than usual, which was a huge sign that he was stressed. He wore a pair of sweat pants and nothing else. Not even shoes. That meant one of two things: either heâd just been a wolf, or he was going to go wolf any second and didnât want to destroy his favorite pair of jeans. âWeâve got a problem.â
My breath quickened. I only had a few vials on me. If Luciana were here, they wouldnât be enough.
âThe wolves we had issues with last night,â he said to Donovan. âTheyâre defecting.â
I took a moment to calm down. That wasnât what Iâd been expectingâwhich was goodâbut it still wasnât fantastic. What did this mean for the pack?
Dastien started toward the door. âWhere are they?â
âThe parking lot, but Iâm worried theyâre part of a bigger problem. Some teenage Weres leaving the pack is one thing, but if Rupert did more damageâ¦â
Even from beyond the grave, Rupert Hoel was being a pain in the ass. My patience was in the negatives and plummeting fast. There was no way I was letting those wolves get away. Not until Mr. Dawson made sure there was a clean break. We couldnât risk Luciana using them to gain power over the pack.
We booked it from the library, racing for the parking lot. Alpha energy pumped through my blood as I prepared for a fight. It made me tingle and feel alive, as I ran. The sensation built with every step. Dastien kept pace beside me, but I was in the zone, focusing only on getting to the rogue Weres.
I spotted them piling into a white SUV and a little coupe. The same group from the table at breakfast.
âStop,â I yelled the command at them, throwing a healthy dose of alpha energy into it. Imogene paused for a second, but then jumped into the passenger side of the coupe. Engines roared to life as they gunned it.
What the hell? That much power behind an order, and it just rolled over them?
How was that possible?
Good thing I wasnât just an alpha. âStop!â I put everything I had into that one word. The magic built within meâracing down my fingersâas I held my arms out, screaming the word, willing it to be possible.
Everything stopped.
Not just them. Everyone. Dastien had frozen mid-step. Chris and Adrian stood a few feet behind us, totally motionless. Even Mr. Dawson and Donovan had stopped. It was like someone had hit the pause button on the world. None of them even blinked.
It took me a second, but I remembered Claudia had done this. When I first went up against Mr. Hoel, sheâd frozen a whole mall full of people.
I grabbed Dastien and shook him, but he didnât unfreeze. âWake up!â
He gasped, almost falling forward. âWhat the hell is going on?â
âNo time. I donât know how long the spell will hold. Letâs get them tied down.â
âOne second.â He ran to the line of black SUVs parked in the front of the lot, and popped the trunk of the closest one. After pulling out a bag of gear, he headed straight for the