Alpha Dearest

Chapter 3

"Poor baby." I couldn't help but grumble. "Now where's my room?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "Upstairs, turn left, last door on the right." I turned to walk away as Alice grabbed her Healer's book to probably find a healing potion. "Hey, what time is your Ceremony?"

I turned to her, seeing her barely keeping her eyes open and sighed. "Nine o'clock tonight."

Her eyes widened. "That's only 12 hours! You need to-"

I stopped her, grabbing her shoulders and pushing her towards the stairs. "You need to sleep and I'll make you your potion for your cuts and bruises. I'll wake you up around 5, okay? I'll have supper and everything ready."

"No, Beth-"

"Stop!" I yelled, my patience wearing thin. "I'll go and get Isaac and Adam if I have to, they'll drag you to your room and make you stay there."

Alice flinched, then smiled. "Please don't. I had to spend all night with them."

I waggled my eyebrows at her and she slapped my shoulder before heading up the stairs. "I need the Wolfsbane Potion!"

I just sighed, turning open the pages before coming across the potion. It used Wolfsbane, one of the most deadly things to weres, but if used right, and with the proper ingredients, it was one of the best healing ingredients there was.

I took a look at the stuff needed and almost fainted. Like we had this stuff laying around. "Hey, Alice, I'm taking a quick drive into town!"

I instantly regretted saying I'd take care of this for her. Grabbing the keys from her jacket pocket that hung on the stair rail, I decided that I would keep my hood up, and not talk to anyone. That way no one would have to talk to me yet.

Wearing the same clothes that I had on yesterday, I trudged out of the house and into the rain. The truck was cold, and I hid my hands in my sweater as I waited for it to warm up.

After heading on the road, I turned on the music, smiling when one of my favorite songs came on. At least that calmed my nerves. I nodded my head to the beat, my fingers thrumming on the wheel. The car thumped from the loudness, but it felt nice. No one was around as I drove through the thick woods, and I felt at peace.

My head moved side to side, and I laughed, enjoying the moment. As I turned right to head into town, the song started its last chorus. I looked around, seeing familiar stores as teens and parents with their little kids walked around, store to store or through the forest or to their cars. The main street always was busy, but it was almost comforting to see everyone here enjoying themselves.

I finally parked outside the Herbs store, with a name plate above the wooden door I could barely read. Herbal Magic is what it looked like. I parked my car across the road, and j-walked, shoving through a crowd of younger kids who looked at me weird as I kept my hood up and head down. I heard them murmur, but I ignored them as I shoved open the old door, the bell tinkling as I entered.

The shop smelled of old, musky things, and had wooden walls and flooring. There were shelves and shelves of jarred things lining the room, with a desk across the open floor with a glass showcase under it. A girl with long curly brown hair with blonde highlights was seated on a stool at the counter reading a magazine. She didn't even look up as I walked over to her.

"No hoods, please." She said in a dry tone, and I sighed, taking it off. She looked up quickly, looking at my unfamiliar face and the rolled up sleeves of my hoodie, probably to see my mate status. I smiled. As of that morning, I had a mate. One that could make everyone look and say 'Oh, she's taken' or 'Wow, that wolf looks powerful'. Which, for the record, he did.