Alpha’s Hybrid Cinderella
Chapter 14

Evan was gone all of Sunday, which meant I didn't have to avoid him all the next day while I frantically buried myself in my studies to keep my mind occupied. I was not going to spend his entire absence dwelling on the sight from last night. He had been generous

this week about giving me nearly all the space and privacy I wanted; how stupid would it be to end up distracting myself?

But Sunday had to come to an end too, which meant as I lay in bed that night, I had to come up with a game plan to make sure my inevitable next encounter with him tomorrow over breakfast would be as natural and un-awkward as ever. No big deal. I could handle it. Or I couldn't, and I would panic and drive to campus an hour early just to avoid running into him on Monday morning. It scarcely felt like a single hour had passed since I saw him naked in the kitchen.

There was no way I was going to be able to do anything but stutter and stare at my feet or his face the entire time if I dared to meet him again this morning.

At least I had plenty of classes today to keep me busy. I got even go home late too, and keep avoiding Evan since I would no doubt still lack the composure to face him squarely.

But my luck wasn't as bright as I'd hoped it would be. My anatomy and physiology class decided to examine the human musculature in exacting detail today, with the bonus of examining photographs of nude men in particular. Every page we flipped in the lecture notes reminded me acutely of the silhouette I'd stumbled upon in the kitchen two nights ago.

There was no stopping it. I could only slide out of my chair to splash my face with cold water in the bathroom so many times. I had to force myself to sit through the rest of the lecture while schooling my features into absolute composed submission. Focus. Focus. Concentrate.

... I failed.

Soon, all I could think of was how Evan's muscles had tensed and bulged in the moonlight, and how the droplets of sweat on his forehead had made him appear so masculine and strong. Biceps, triceps, and the muscles across his back as he turned for the pitcher, not to mention the bulging outline of-

Oh, no. I was hopeless. The images flashed by in my head like an endless reel even while I ate lunch with Raf, and I must have absently nodded at something she said.

"Oh, that's perfect!" she gushed. "I was so sure you'd say no! You always do! Fine, tonight I'm going to make sure it's worth it. Then you'll see."

Wait, what? What did I just nod my head to? I was about to ask her to repeat herself when she saved me the trouble.

"That bar isn't too far from us, by the way. We could make it there with a fifteen minute drive from here. We might as well just hang around campus until the evening and then we can go together. You can leave your car, we'll take mine." "Wait wait, Raf. My class doesn't finish until five this evening."

"That's even more perfect! I was thinking we could leave right at half past five, to avoid the traffic. Genius! Then we can dance and hang out all night."

Wait. Crap. I had just given her more fuel for the fire. I had to extricate myself from this. Besides, Leon was a crazy drunk if Raf's accounts were true. Staying all night at one bar would end with it trashed and him potentially running from the cops. Speaking of which, he wasn't here. Where was he? Another special lecture running overtime?

"Where's your mate today?" I asked, but far from it being a harmless question, it made Raf's face crumple.

"We had a fight," she said flippantly, disguising her disappointment with expert care.

"What? About what! You two never fight."

"Just pressure from all the work we're doing, nothing important." He's just being a dumbass, she added sourly.

Complaining about him in her thoughts? The fight must have been bad. I'd never heard her think anything but the fondest of thoughts for him.

Well, fine. I'd already agreed to her invitation on accident, but now that I knew she was having a bad day, it was up to me to repay my friend for the hours of entertainment and friendship she had given me. I would go to this bar she had found and we would have all the fun she needed to get her mind off of her fight with Leon.

***

The glitzy One Horizon was already thumping with a head-splitting bass beat when we arrived. I should have known to brace myself before I entered, but I was so focused on Raf chattering in my ear that I was already inside and past the bouncer before I could prepare myself.

Sick beats, rave lights, beautiful design from top to bottom with rotating lights sliding all over the arching ceiling - and the sea of sultry, filthy thoughts from every corner of the club swarmed into my mind.

I'd known it was no mere bar when the exterior first came into view, but I hadn't known it would be like... this. I swallowed hard and worked to block out the hungry thoughts of everyone around us as we waded through the crowd. A lot of them were simply fantasizing about their partner or about the strangers they had their eye on, but lo and behold, I detected at least a dozen couples actually having s*x on the dance floor, right in the middle of all those people. This was not what I had signed up for.

Well... for Raf, I could do it.

To her credit, we did stick to the bar, and at first, we only had the soft drinks while we laughed and joked with each other. But soon Raf had the idea that she should try every drink on the menu at least once, or pass out trying. Such a bad idea, especially when she convinced me to take a sip.

If I'd known I would be such a lightweight, I would have declined, but I'd thought it was the best way to get her to quiet down and get back to talking as quickly as possible.

Little did I know that after exactly ten sips, my brain would be floating in the ether. Raf was crying and screaming about how Leon was so cold to her lately, and I remembered comforting her with lots of pats on her face and hands. And then somehow I was screaming too, and crying.

And there was more alcohol, for sure.

The nausea didn't take long to hit me. My stomach was turning, and I was nearly in tears at the vertigo that struck me every few seconds. Thankfully, Raf had had enough too, though for different reasons.

"I'm so sick and tired of him!" she wept. "I've had enough! I'm going to throw up if I don't get him off my mind. Claudia, let's get out of here!"

We stumbled out of the bar, holding each other up and laughing through our tears. That must have been too much for her. As soon as we got to the sidewalk, she doubled over and vomited on the grass. I was on the verge too, but perhaps because I had eaten so little and honestly had drunk only a few shots' worth of alcohol, it wasn't happening.

Not that it did anything to stop a pack of unwelcome spectators from sauntering up. I glared at them hard, willing them to turn away. I might look wasted, but I was still somewhat sober, just a lightweight. And I could read their filthy thoughts from a mile off - how they were about to pull us into the alleyway and do whatever they thought they could get away with two young intoxicated women.

"We'll take you home," they urged, but I held up my hand.

"We can get back on our own."

"Hey, now. Don't be a b***h when we're only being nice."

They drew even closer, crowding us against the wall. But before I could summon my wolf form to defend both Raf and myself, something crashed into them with a violent snarl and scattered them like bowling pins. I clutched at the wall, disoriented by the abrupt chaos, and watched in shock as a brown wolf laid into them.

But the youths weren't to be dissuaded so easily. They too shifted, fast as lightning, and the brawl was on. Within seconds, they were grouping up on the lone brown wolf, snapping and biting. Meanwhile, my own wolf struggled against the haze to rise to the surface. But I had to help! Whoever was helping us, I couldn't let them fight alone.

But before I could wade in even in my human form if nothing else, another wolf sprinted in and slammed into one of the dark-furred wolves ganging up on the loner. This one was enormous, and was it my imagination, or did it possess gleaming golden fur, a rich yellow hue?

It was over in seconds after that. The four creeps who had tried to put their hands on Raf and me whimpered and limped away, not even trying to shift back to human form first. Their cries echoed in my ears as I turned to look at the two werewolves who had come to our rescue, and the latter one, the wolf with the golden fur, approached with an unblinking gaze.

Only then did I realize who it was.

Evan.