Awakening the Alpha's Daughter

Chapter 33

Davonyé

I wake up with a clearer head than I've had in days. I’ve made up my mind about what I want and what I'm doing, so now I'm just anxious for Carisse and me to get home so I can see it the fuck through.

But what I can't wait for most is seeing Ariella again.

I pack my shit and throw it in the car. I get a message from Carisse letting me know she'll be back late morning and that she loves me. I swallow down the I love you that I send back and then go downstairs to find my mom and sisters.

“Morning,” I say when I find them in the kitchen.

“Morning,” they reply and then carry on talking about some werewolf that's snatching up humans in Alaska.

“So those people on the news, that's him?”

“Yeah,” Clarisha answers mom. “He's on some power trip because he knows the alpha can't fight right now. We don't know how it's gonna play out, but they're gonna have to do something soon.”

“What's an Alpha?” I ask them. I need to learn this werewolf lingo.

“The person in charge of all werewolves. Kinda like royalty,” she answers.

I nod my head and then leave them to it. I don’t know shit about all that, so I make a bowl of cereal before joining them at the table.

“About Carisse,” mom starts.

I look up from my cereal. “I'm sorry, mom. I know how much you love her.”

“I do. But I also know that you can't help not loving her back.”

“Okay...” Where’s she going with this?

“Your sisters have put some money into your account so you can find another place to live. Now, regarding school, you know your sisters never finished and that’s because they decided to change and move to Alaska to be with their husbands. Now I don't know what Ariella's intentions are, but I want you to know that I support your decisions no matter what you decide to do afterwards.”

I frown. “After what?”

“After you change. If you do.”

“Oh.”

“And be kind when you break up with Carisse. She doesn't deserve all this as much as you can't help it, alright?”

“I will.” Shit, I don’t wanna hurt her either.

She looks at all of us and then smiles. “I love you all, so much. I wonder what your father would think of all this. Lord, he's probably spinning in his grave right now.”

We all laugh at that. Knowing my dad, he would probably have become one, too. Damn, I miss him.

“We love you, too, Ma,” Clarisha says.

***

Things are tense when Carisse comes back to the house. My sisters make a point of telling her that if she needs anything that she can contact them. They do it without being obvious, though. I need to get her home before I tell her. The last thing I need is us getting into it on the drive home and her jumping out the car or doin’ some other crazy shit.

My sisters leave around five. They make me promise to keep them updated on what I decide, and to let them know when I find out who Ariella really is. Shit makes me curious as hell, but as much as I push them for answers, they still don't say a word. I’m about to get my own answers anyway. Direct from the source.

After saying goodbye to my mom, Carisse and me get on the road. She's quiet in the car and I'm surprised cuz Carisse is always callin’ me out on some shit. We ain't said much to each other all day. My family kept her busy, so now we're alone it's awkward as fuck.

I run through what I'm gonna tell her during the drive. I was gonna ask for a break, but I know that shit ain't gonna fly. She'll only keep tryin’ to get back with me and this shit ain't gonna be no break. Even I know that.

She falls asleep and I look over to her leaning against the door before returning my eyes to the road. There was a time I thought she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. I thought we'd always be together. She was my future. We were gonna graduate and have kids, build a life together, grow old together... But now I feel nothing when I look at her. No love, no attraction, no future. Nothing.

My thoughts continuously return to Ariella instead and the excitement I feel at seeing her. I think about whether she wants kids, what her aspirations are in life, and if we’ll grow old together. That’s even if she does get old. I’d say probably not going by how young her parents look, but I don’t know much of a damn thing about werewolves. Only what my sisters told me, which wasn’t much.

I wanted to go to her after I told Carisse, but it's gonna be gone midnight by the time I get home, so I'm gonna have to go there tomorrow. I know she said she don't want me to, but I need to see her. I gotta make her understand how serious I am about us. I fucked up the last time I saw her properly, but now I need her to know that I’ve accepted her for what she is and that I’m down with whatever, as long as I can be with her.

***

“Carisse,” I say as I shake her arm. “Wake up, we’re home.”

She stirs and finally wakes up. She rubs her eyes and then realises where we are when she looks outside the car. “You shouldn't have let me sleep the whole way home. Now I'll never sleep tonight,” she complains.

“I did try waking you when we passed through Val-d’Or, Carr, but you wouldn’t wake your ass up.”

“Ugh,” she moans before getting out of the car.

I grab our bags from the trunk and then follow her up to our apartment. I'm feeling anxious now; shit is making me nervous as a muthafucka. But as much as I’m likely insane to be throwin’ Carisse and me away, I know I gotta do it.

I think about what Ariella’s said about me being with Carisse. She ain’t once asked me to leave my girl, but she has made comments about me not belonging to her. If this whole ‘mates’ thing is for real, then me being with someone else must be hurtin’ her, and I don’t like the thought of that. If Ariella was with another man then I know that shit would kill me. Even Niro tryin’ to get with her at Harmony’s party made me feel furious as fuck. As far as I’m concerned, I’m damn lucky she ain’t been with no one else, cuz I swear the thought of that shit makes me murderous and I’m far from a violent man.

Carisse takes her bag from me but I sit mine in the hall. I follow her into the bedroom and then stand at the door. “Carisse? We gotta talk.”

She looks up from her bag to narrow her eyes at me. “That sounds like the start of a breakup sentence.”

I sigh. “Because it is.”

“What? Are you fucking serious? You said we was good, Davonyé!”

“Listen, I'm sorry, alright? I don’t wanna hurt you. You didn't do anything wrong, I just don't feel the same about us.”

“I fuckin’ knew it! You fucking with someone else, ain't you!” She gets up off the bed and storms towards me.

This is the part I wasn’t prepared for. What the fuck am I gonna tell her?

She glares up at me. “You fuckin’ are! How could you!” She slaps me across the face and I blink as the sting settles across my cheek.

This fuckin’ woman…

I take a step towards her. “Don’t put your hands on me, Carisse.”

“Fuck you!” she screams, stabbing a finger into my chest. “How fuckin’ dare you! Who the fuck is she, Davonyé, huh? Who you been screwin’ behind my back?”

“It don't matter. She ain't the reason I'm breaking up with you.” I know that’s a full-blown lie but fuck her after the shit she just pulled.

“How the fuck ain't it!” she screams. “We were fine a week ago! Is it Harmony? You been fucking with my friend?”

Harmony? Seriously? I walk past her and start grabbin’ my shit. “No it ain’t, and it don't fuckin’ matter.”

She follows after me and then pushes me so I almost fall into the damn wardrobe. “Is it Ariella? I see how she was lookin’ at you at Harmony’s party. You fuckin’ her?”

I turn around to face her. Tears are running down her face. “I ain’t even spoke to that damn girl, Carisse. And it don’t matter why I’m breakin’ up with you, what matters is that I don’t love you no more.”

She starts crying harder. “It matters to me! How could you! I fucking love you! Almost two years we been together and you’re just gonna throw it away over some fucking thot!”

It takes a lot for me not to grab her ass by the throat and strangle her for sayin’ that shit, even if she don’t know it’s Ariella that’s changed the way I feel about her. “She ain't a fuckin’ thot.”

She recoils in shock. “Oh, so that's how it is? You gonna defend her whorin’ ass to me now?”

“Don't fuckin’ push me, Carisse!” I shout, making her jump back. “We done and that's it. I ain't gotta explain shit to you about nothin’.” I grab some trash bags from the kitchen and throw the rest of my shit into them. I’ve never put my hands on a woman in my life, but she’s pushed me closer than I’ve ever been.

She calls her mom from the other room and I know shit is gonna escalate if I stay here much longer.

I put my things by the door and Carisse appears again. “You're a no-good nigga, you know that right? You're a piece of shit!”

I pick up the trash bags and move closer to the door. “I’m leaving.”

“None of this shit makes sense,” she says, suddenly sounding calmer and holding onto my arm. “You moved here to be with me and now you’re just throwing me away like I was nothing to you.”

“Listen, it ain't personal, alright? It ain’t my intention to hurt you. I just can't be with you.”

“Fuck you!” She punches my chest and starts screaming again, so I take that as my queue to get the fuck out of here. “You fucked up, Davonyé!” she screams after me. “Wait till my brother hears about this shit. He's gonna fuck you up!”

“Give him my number.” Fuck all of them.

“Fuck you!”

I hear the door slam and feel nothing but relief. That went better than I thought it would. Now I just gotta find my ass a hotel.