The Unknown Alpha

Chapter seventeen

Bailey remained in bed for as long as possible the next morning.

The night had long ago been chased away by dawn, now bright light peeked in through her parted curtains. The air felt so warm, so heavy, but Bailey couldn't bring herself to toss off her duvet just yet. If she started moving, she was afraid she might not stop anytime soon.

Bailey pulled the duvet up to her chin and turned her face away from the bright beam of light that invaded her bedroom. Thankfully, she returned home after she left Emily's and found no more flashing lights and sirens, but she had yet faced her parents.

She was in so much trouble. She just knew it.

Bailey groaned and squeezed her eyes shut. Downstairs, her parents moved about the kitchen. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but if she focused, words would float up the stairs.

Opening her eyes again and with a stern face, Bailey forced the sounds out of her head. It wasn't an easy feast and required a bit of grunting on her part, but her hearing gradually returned to normal.

Bailey rested her head against her pillow again, her heart twisting painfully as her mind ran wild.

She was almost convinced what she confided to Emily was true. If she was seeing things, she is losing her mind. Seeing things, hearing things, feeling things . . . It was all so much. Too much. She didn't think she could handle it all.

She felt so conflicted. So trapped.

With a heavy heave, Bailey's chest raised as she stared at the ceiling.

Maybe Emily was right. Maybe it was just some weird alpha thing. That offered slight comfort, that meant she wasn't going insane. She was just transitioning into an alpha. An alpha was a different breed to a typical werewolf. There's probably a whole lot about being an alpha that wasn't common knowledge.

Feeling only slightly better, Bailey finally left the comfort of her bed and paddled over to her dresser. Her red hair was a royal mess, knotted with leaved and twigs. Her eyes were wide and sunken, but at least, they remained green and not the freaky silver. Emily thought the silver was awesome, but it was like walking around with neon signs in her eyes and she had no control over the switch.

With a grunt, Bailey grabbed a packet of face wipes and scrubbed at her face. She leaned closer to the mirror, the green in her eyes seemed more vibrant that she recalled. Adding a hint of lotion to the dark circles under her eyes, Bailey got to work untangling her hair.

After ten minutes of struggling, she managed to liberate nature from her fiery locks, but that was about all she could do with her hands. Bailey dowsed her hair in hair mist, then instantly sneezed. The scent of coconut in the spray was almost intoxicating.

Ditching the spray, Bailey took a pass on perfume, not wanting a repeat performance on the toxic chemicals. It was so weird. A spray she's used for years was now making her slightly nauseous.

As Bailey pulled on her jeans, she paused as realisation hit her hard enough she almost fell onto her ass.

Alphas weren't like normal werewolves. Whatever they could do in wolf form, they could do in human form. It wasn't just her hearing that was going to be enhanced, Bailey realised with a heavy heart.

Speed. Strength. Agility. Senses.

They would all be cranked up now she was an alpha.

God dammit.

Bailey sighed loudly as she turned towards her bedroom door. Never again would things be normal for her. Just great.

Bailey remained hopelessly optimistic as she headed down the stairs. She may now be an alpha, but her parents were still her parents. Nothing would change that.

Bailey wasn't so certain as she entered the kitchen and a wave of emotions washed over her.

Confusion. So much uncertainty. Even a bit of awestruck.

Amelia looked up from the stove, where the stench of bacon originated from. "Morning."

Bailey fidgeted on her feet. She kept her eyes down. "Morning," she muttered.

Avoiding eye contact from her parents weren't easy, but as Bailey sank down into her usual seat at the table, she couldn't help but feel something that felt like admiration coming from her brother. "Why aren't you at school?"

Conner stopped stuffing eggs into his mouth. "Why aren't you?"

Bailey's eyes narrowed on her brother. "I tried to kill an alpha's daughter yesterday. What's your excuse?"

Conner swallowed his eggs and gave Bailey a toothy grin. "My sister tried to kill our alpha's daughter yesterday."

"Enough," Joseph said, looking over his plate at his two bickering children.

Bailey couldn't help but notice he did not have the paper at the table. It was part of his usual morning routine. But then she thought about the online video Emily showed her last night. If she was online, she most likely was splashed over the front page of the paper.

Muffling a groan, Bailey buried her face in her hands.

Amelia was instantly at Bailey's side, trying to pry her face free. "Bails? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Bailey shook off her mother's grasp, but it was hard to ignore the frantic tone in her voice. No doubt her mum thought she was almost at breaking point. Recalling her last interaction with her parents, maybe she was. "I'm fine."

With a stoic face, Amelia returned to the stove. As she cooked breakfast, the shoe Bailey was expecting finally dropped.

Breakfast with a lecture.

Yay.

It wasn't often Bailey was the subject of these passive lectures from her parents, but Bailey running away last night was unacceptable, as her parents called it. Maybe it was, but it didn't seem to matter that Bailey had to escape for the sake of her sanity.

"There was no reason for it," Amelia was saying, hands behind her back as she rounded on her daughter. Her emotions were wild at the moment and Bailey had to blink hard to focus on her mother's words. "You were obviously distressed . . ."

Bailey leaped to her feet. She's had enough of this. "It was nothing," she cried.

"You collapsed," Joseph argued.

"I'm sure it was just . . . an alpha thing," Bailey lamely said. It was just an excuse, and judging from the glances her parents exchanged, they thought so too. "Oh, come on! Alpha Young said I'd have struggles with my powers."

Amelia crossed her arms. "Even more reason to see a doctor."

Bailey shook her head. "I don't need a doctor." She could feel magic spark in her chest. If she kept at this, if she didn't calm down soon, there was no telling what would happen. She couldn't forget her mum's expression when her eyes flashed silver last night. Bailey took a steady breath and clenched her hands.

Amelia's eyes softened, noticing Bailey's attempts to calm down. "I didn't know you were struggling with your magic, Bailey. You should have said something."

Bailey turned her head away, her fingers unclenching. "I didn't think much of it at first. But then it kept happening." She didn't want to go into details of her struggles with magic, and she was glad her parents didn't ask. No doubt they'd demand answers later.

"I can't believe you're an alpha," Conner's low voice came from the table. His eyes focused on Bailey.

Bailey slowly released a breath. "Me too."