Page 3 of Claiming Her Alpha
Kendra held her arm out so Lina could hold on to it. As soon as they were out of sight, Kendra sighed and gave Lina an apologetic look.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me today.”
“He told me that you were a little out of it. He may have spilled the beans about your Sunday jogs too. Apparently, he nearly lost a tooth to you.”
“We didn’t mean to keep it a secret from you, but you know how Dad can be.”
“My lips are sealed, and I’m not upset about it. I understand.” She gave Kendra another worried look. “But nothing bad happened between you two? I won’t tell him, I promise!”
“No, nothing like that. I’ve just been feeling off the past few days. Mike joked it might be my period.”
They got lucky to still find a few slices of chocolate cake. Kendra watched as Lina filled a plate for herself and Mike and took Mike’s plate from her to help her carry it back.
“You don’t want one for yourself?”
“Maybe later.”
“Something is truly up if you’re refusing food. Maybe you are getting sick.”
“Do you mind if we walk the long way around?”
“Not at all.”
As they walked around the crowd instead of through it, Kendra’s eyes fell on Kent. He was flirting with one of his latest flings.
“We’re going to be so fucked,” Kendra muttered. “He’s such an asshole.”
“Maybe he’ll straighten out once he meets his mate.”
“Or he winds up with a hundred children. How can one be so full of shit? Fuck’s sake…”
“Such a potty mouth.”
She tore her eyes off her brother and saw Mike approach them. Taking the plates out of their hands, he nodded towards a bench close by.
“How about we sit?”
“I don’t feel like it.”
He crocked a brow at her and tilted his head in concern. “Are you mad at me?”
“Why? Because you called me ugly? I’ve been called worse.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“I’m not mad at you. Better?”
He opened his mouth to say something, but she silenced him with a wave of her hand.
“I’ll be back.”
She hadn’t meant to be so mean to him–which only frustrated her even more. She walked away from the clearing and into the darkening woods. She wasn’t in the mood for small talk. She just wanted to be alone.
Her skin was sweaty and itchy, her heart racing inside her chest. Maybe Lina was right and she was getting sick. She kept walking, even after her legs started to burn and her bones began to ache–she just couldn’t stop. It was like an urge, a force pulling her towards something she couldn’t see. And even though she didn’t know why or where she was going, she knew her life depended on it.
Suddenly, a sharp pain ripped through her body as if she’d been struck by lightning. She wanted to scream but before she could, something in her body cracked. She let out a pain-filled shriek, dropping to her knees and clutching at her chest, where she could feel her ribs beginning to break. They snapped like twigs. Her lungs no longer filled with air. In fact, they seemed to be ripping to pieces.
The itching faded only to give way to burning, and she could’ve sworn to have heard something tear. Her muscles felt as if she had been running for days, the soreness so painful she didn’t dare move. From deep within her soul, she could feel something that wasn’t herself emerge. It was instinct. She concentrated on that raw, rough feeling, and she felt as if she was pushed from her body and that thing—whatever it was—took over.