He Will Be Mine

Chapter 28: The Trials Part II

*** Alyssa's POV ***

Once Tyler leaves with Elder Gerard, I try to stick close to Ryan and Mindy hoping that the guys my dad invited for me will leave me alone. It's not as successful of a strategy as it once was, though, considering that he has Mindy now and no one is fooled into thinking we're together.

"Elder Gerard being here for only a moment was odd, don't you think?" I hear a deep, velvety voice speak from behind me as I'm refilling my glass of holiday punch. I can tell he is talking to me by the feel of his breath on the side of my face.

I turn to find that Brent guy standing right behind me. I smile a little, remembering that Tyler used to use the same move. Unfortunately, I can tell from his smirk that Brent seems to think it's him I'm smiling about.

"No, considering that he is here to see my mate," I tell him pointedly to give him the impression that I am not as available as my dad may have suggested.

That wipes the smirk off his face.

"Ah, the human. I had wondered about that. It is odd that no one introduced him as your mate, though," he points out accusingly.

Crap. He's cleverer than most.

"I haven't marked him yet," I admit. "Elder Gerard is here because my mate is determined to prove to my dad that he is worthy of me."

His smirk returns. "Which is why I'm here. Alpha Kane would rather merge his pack with mine before he lets his precious daughter take a human mate. I can't say I blame him."

"Good thing it's not his decision," I say, brushing past him and making my way back to Ryan and our other friends.

*** Tyler's POV ***

I wake up in my bed back home, my head throbbing. For a moment, I can't remember anything that happened or how I got here, but then it all comes flooding back to me.

I failed, and Aly rejected me.

The pain of that realization is too much for me. It's so much worse than when I learned Matt was her mate. At least then, it was my choice to stay away. Now, I fear she won't even want to speak to me once classes start back up. I wish I could remember what happened, why everybody got so cold toward me all of a sudden. I let myself cry it out for awhile until it feels like there are no tears left. Then, this feeling of being fed up with being miserable comes over me and I decide to do something about it.

I take my phone from my pocket and wake up the screen to see what time it is. Good, it's Friday. What's not good is that the wallpaper on my phone is a picture of us. I throw it at the wall and take some slight satisfaction from hearing the sound it makes when it hits. I know it's probably broken, but I'd rather pay for a new phone than have to look at that one full of all the reminders of her.

I drag myself out of my bed, not even bothering to shower or change the clothes I'm still wearing from yesterday. I head out to the living room and notice that the apartment is dark and quiet. My mom isn't here, which makes sense considering that she thought I'd be gone until Sunday. She probably picked up some extra hours at work, which is for the better.

As I lock the door behind me and head down the stairs, I have one destination in mind: Liquor store. I am so done with feeling miserable that I'd rather feel nothing at all, so that is my plan for the rest of the weekend. I begin walking the few blocks to the store I have in mind, fantasizing about what all I plan to buy.

I hear a scream coming from a little way down an alley tucked between two buildings about a block from where I'm headed. The sound of it gives me chills and makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I look around to see if anyone else heard it, but no one seems to react as though they did. I take a few tentative steps toward where I heard the sound coming from, just far enough to enter the shadowy region between the buildings and let my eyes adjust to the dimmer lighting so I can look and see if anything seems amiss. I don't see anything and start to turn and head back the way I was going when something breezes past me and knocks me over.