Night of the Alphas

Chapter 11

After they disappeared into the wall, I sat there for a second, trying to process everything. I looked at Zane, who was rubbing the back of his head. I walked toward him and bent down to look at him. "That looked like it hurt."

He groaned. "Well, now what?" He was acting tough, but I could see the grief in his eyes. Charity, the only person he ever had, was just taken away from him. But he was determined to get her back. He still had hope.

I took his hands and lifted him off the ground. "You tell me. You've been living here with the wall. Have you ever noticed any entrances? Or weak spots where we could get in?"

He thought for a moment. "There are only three ways to get in. We could go through the trapdoors on top of the wall. But those are reserved for higher ranking members, so it would look suspicious."

"Okay," I said. "What are our other options?"

"The entrances for everyone else are on the inside of the city. But of course, there are the guards on top," Zane said, flicking his ears in the direction of the wall.

I groaned. "I am not going up there again. What's the last way in?

"Our last option is to go in through the training area. That could work well enough, since we're at the age where they start training." He looked me over. "The only problem is that you're not an Alpha."

"But don't they accept humans and other Hybrids?" I asked.

"Well, yeah. But they usually like the kids they train to be Alphas. At least, as far as I can tell."

I crossed my arms. "How do you know this much? I mean, about the Alpha Freedom Movement?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I've watched them long enough to know this stuff." He took my hand and we began walking towards a bunch of shops. "We have to find a way to make you look like an Alpha. Come on."

Most of the shops looked abandoned, and the ones that were open had signs announcing huge blowout sales or that they were closing soon. Eventually, we found a tiny, almost unnoticeable shop that was hidden behind a Starbucks. A decal on the door read Charlotte Cosplay Salon.

I looked up at Zane. "Do you think..."

He shrugged. "Worth a try."

When we walked in, we were greeted with a blast of freezing cold air conditioning. The walls were bright pink and there was loud girly pop music playing. It was the kind of music that Miranda would listen to but would make Zaria's ears bleed. After I got over the initial shock of the entire store, I noticed a half-cheetah woman standing behind the counter. Her hair, ears, and tail were dyed lavender and she was wearing a stereotypical anime schoolgirl outfit. That's when I knew we made the wrong choice by coming in.

She looked thrilled to have customers. "Oh my gosh, hi!" She said in an annoyingly high-pitched voice. "What can I get you two?" She scanned us with judging eyes. I was aware that Zane and I looked like walking corpses, but I was still a little self-conscious about my appearance. For some reason, I really felt like I needed to impress her. I combed out my hair a bit with my fingers. But she wasn't looking at me. She was looking at Zane.

She grabbed his face and turned it from side to side, examining every imperfection she saw. "Hmmm..." She got a baby wipe from under the counter and washed all of the grime off his face. I'll admit, I hadn't seen him with a clean face until this moment. He was actually really cute. No! Stop it! I thought. He can't be that handsome. I forced myself to focus on his black eye. Soon, the girl started taking his measurements. Zane looked at me for help.

The girl stepped back and looked at Zane like he was a blank canvas. "I'm thinking a wig, some foundation and winged eyeliner to start. Then we'll focus on clothes. How about that?"