Summoned

Alexandra POV

It’s been two days since my encounter with the Supreme Alpha. Two whole days, and I can’t get him out of my head. I would have thought the ongoing drama surrounding my breakup and the video of me being beaten up would have occupied my mind, but I still found a way to think about Alpha Enzo.

He was from the same pack as Faye, which meant he was a human hunter too. Oh, but that day, he didn’t feel like a human hunter. He almost seemed protective and concerned about me.

I didn’t know why he would be, because he was the reason I almost didn’t make it into the shifter region. The Supreme Alpha had the power to veto those on the Supreme Council. He didn’t want a half-human abomination in his region.

I know I hated my life here sometimes, but I couldn’t imagine where I’d be if Ellis didn’t take me in. I might not have made it past my seventeenth birthday.

Now here I am. Twenty-three and almost done with a biomedical degree.

“Alex,” Professor Seren said.

She crossed her arms and tapped her one-inch black shoe on the marble floor.

I shook my head. “I’m sorry. My mind’s… elsewhere.”

“I can see that. I need you to send these leaf samples to the lab. I suspect they have a rare genetic formation that could be used to fight infections from silver cuts.”

I nodded. I picked up the tray of samples as I was about to leave, and a blonde woman stopped by the lab’s little square screen window and laughed. I swallowed hard. She was among the girls who beat me up at the Halloween party. The blood in my veins turned to ice when Faye appeared on the little window next.

Her lips curled into an evil grin.

Professor Seren followed my gaze. She sighed heavily. “Give me that. I’ll do it. I don’t want to lose these samples.”

“I’m sorry, it’s just.”

She waved her hand to stop me. “I don’t want you to be late for your meeting with the Supreme Council either.”

I coughed. “My meeting? When is that?”

Seren blinked a few times. “Didn’t Dean Kent tell you about it?”

“No, I had no idea!”

Seren shook her head. “You'd better start moving. The council aren’t people who like to be kept waiting.”

“Wait, I don’t understand why I’ve been summoned. I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“I can’t say for sure, but I think it’s about your position in your pack and the shifter region. Without a wolf, you don’t serve a purpose. You’re just taking up space.”

A huge lump formed in my throat, and I couldn’t push it down this time.

Seren walked out of the lab with her samples. Faye and her friends loitered outside the lab.

“Alex! There you are. You’re late for your meeting. The Dean asked me to tell you,” Faye smiled sweetly.

Seren beamed. “Oh, Faye was just here to help you. Nothing to be worried about.”

Faye smiled brightly at the professor. “Of course, professor.”

Seren walked off and disappeared shortly afterwards.

“I wouldn’t listen to that hippy if I were you. The supreme council doesn’t just summon anyone,” Faye spat.

“Your ass is toast,” another girl retorted.

“I’m sure it’s nothing. Just a general assessment,” I said, trying to keep my cool.

The four girls laughed. “I won’t be surprised if this is the last time we see you,” Faye added.

I worried about the same thing as I rushed to the Ember Hall. The smallest and discreet hall the university had. What if they kicked me out? Where would I go? I had no one in the outside world. The shifter region was all I’d known.

When I arrived at Ember Hall, the last council member took their seat, and it was my godmother.

I was dead meat.

“This is a very important meeting, and you’re late!” The spokesperson, Beta Denise, snapped.

“I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”

I sat on the chair set out for me in front of the eight council members. Every pack had a representative or two in the supreme council. Heat rushed to my cheeks when I locked eyes with my ex, Xavier.

What is he doing here?

Heat travelled to my groin when I noticed Alpha Enzo.

I couldn’t believe he was here, and he was looking straight at me!

“We don’t have time to waste. You’ve been in this pack for over six years, Alexandra and your wolf hasn’t shown up!” Denise snapped.

“She has no wolf. Bringing her into the pack was a mistake, a stupid risk brought on by Ellis,” a man with white hair yelled.

“She has a wolf! It’s going to appear soon,” my godmother argued.

“Silence,” Alpha Enzo said.

He didn’t raise his voice above the others, but it was enough to quiet the room and send tremors down my spine.

“How old are you, Alexandra?” Enzo asked.

“Twenty-three,” I replied.

He pressed his lips together, but offered no further statement.

“Too old for a wolf. Her wolf’s not coming. She’s just a useless human. Throw her back to the human world and let’s forget we ever made this unfortunate mistake!”

A chorus of agreement rang out. I felt like an ant in front of them. I didn’t know how to plead my case. Hope was all I had to cling to, and that’s not what anyone wanted to hear.

“I just need more time. Something might happen,” I said.

Xavier chuckled. “Pathetic. Your wolf’s not going to show up because you don’t have one. You don’t belong here.”

My blood boiled. His face was enough to provoke my anger.

“Sometimes half-humans are late bloomers!”

“Not this late, honey. You’re practically an old maid,” Xavier laughed.

“Enough!” Enzo roared.

He shot to his feet, and his eyes flowed with a deep red colour.

The room was forced into silence.

“She’s not leaving the pack,” Enzo declared.

I gasped as did everyone else in the room.

“You’re being unreasonable, Enzo,” Xavier said. “She’s a threat to the packs!”

Enzo growled. “What threat could a little wolfless woman be? Are you that pathetic?”

Xavier stood too, and suddenly the tension skyrocketed. The room quieted. Everyone watched them, scared to see punches and too scared to take their eyes off them including me.

Xavier pointed at me. “She has no place in this pack. Humans and wolves had lived apart for hundreds of years. That shouldn’t change now.”

“I’ll give her until the next full moon to get her wolf. If she doesn’t shift, then she’s out.”

A flurry of disagreement and rage filled the hall. Everyone spoke above each other it was hard to hear what each person said.

“I don’t want to hear it! Alexandra has until the next full moon to shift. You are all dismissed.”