Presented By:
Title: Alpha Unleashed
Series: The Alpha Girl Series
Vol or Book #: 5
Author: Aileen Erin
Audience: YA, 14+
E-Book Publisher: Ink Monster, LLC
Cover by: Art by Ana Cruz
;
Graphics by Paddy Donnelly
Editor: Ink Monster, LLC
Pages: unknown at this time
ISBN: 97809906352A0M
ASIN: B00NX52A0M
Date Published: 10-13-15
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I trailed off when I noticed Meredith staring hard at
something behind me. I quickly glanced over my shoulder.
“What?”
“What’s Shannon doing with that group?” Her lips pressed
into a tight, thin line. “And is that Imogene?” Meredith and I might be split
on how we felt about Shannon, but we totally agreed on Imogene.
I turned back to my now-cold omelet and took a bite. “I
know,” I said after a second. “Looks like they’re BFFs
now.”
She scrunched up her nose as she thought. “Why is she
with those guys? Shannon has nothing in common with them. She’s from the Irish
pack. And Imogene? Really?” Meredith stared at them like she could glean
answers off them. “Maybe if we all try reaching out to her, she’ll sit with us
again.”
I’d explained what happened between Shannon and I while
Meredith was sick, but she didn’t understand. For better or worse, they’d been
friends since forever. Their parents were friends and they’d grown up taking
vacations together. Meredith was loyal, almost to a fault, and that meant she
refused to give up on Shannon. “We tried that, remember? It didn’t
work.”
“I should go over. Try talking to her
again.”
I nearly rolled my eyes. Meredith had tried talking to
Shannon, and in her defense—Shannon was still nice to her, but it was a losing
battle. Shannon would obviously rather be with her new friends than
us.
Meredith started to stand up, but I grabbed her hand. “I
wouldn’t—”
“I have to try.”
I let her go as I tried to think of a way to say what I needed
to say without making it worse. “I don’t know. I still can’t feel anyone at
that table through the pack bonds. Including Shannon.”
Meredith crossed her arms as she stared down at me.
“Whatever happened between you and her, she wouldn’t do anything to harm the
pack. Shannon’s not capable of that.”
I disagreed, but saying so would only hurt Meredith’s
feelings. “What if she thought it would help the pack?” And what if they aren’t
part of our pack anymore? I thought the words but didn’t say them
aloud.
For a second, Meredith’s lower lip trembled, and I
thought I’d gotten through to her, but then she shook her head. “No. I don’t
believe that. Not at all.”
I kept my mouth firmly shut. If there was one person I
didn’t want to piss off, it was Meredith. She’d been my friend—no questions
asked—from the beginning. She’d helped me through when all I’d wanted to do was
run away from St. Ailbe’s. And when I’d sucked at running and kept falling out
of windows, she hadn’t made fun of me. Much. “I just don’t want you to get
disappointed.”
“I—” Meredith stopped in the middle of what she was
saying, and turned to the door.
It took me a second to figure out what was going on, but
then Donovan came into the cafeteria, and started our way. Maybe he’d be able
to reach Meredith, because I sure as hell wasn’t getting
anywhere.
She laughed at something he must’ve said through their
bond. “Donovan is going to keep you company while I talk to Shannon. I’ll be
back in a sec.”
There wasn’t any point in trying to stop
her.
Donovan took Meredith’s spot at the table. He wore sweat
pants and a T-shirt and his black hair was still messy from his run. His
clothes gave of the scents of cedar and grass and dirt, and it almost made me
jealous.
Maybe a run would clear my mind. Help me figure out a way
around these visions.
“She’s checking on Shannon, eh?” Donovan asked, bringing
me back to myself.
“Yeah.” I’d already said my piece to his mate. I didn’t
need to repeat myself.
He jerked his chin toward the table in question. “There’s
still something off about them.”
My fork dropped to the plate with a clatter, and I glared
into his glass-blue eyes. “Oh, come on. We’re not doing
this.”
Donovan raised his eyebrows. “Not doing
what?”
He had to be joking. “I just had this conversation with
Meredith. I know how the whole mate thing works. There’s not a chance she
didn’t tell you.”
He gave me a wicked grin, and I knew trouble was coming.
“Aye. But what you don’t know is that I agree with you.”
“You do?” Mr. Dawson had been all—everything’s fine.
Donovan hadn’t said a word. Why now?
“Yes. I do.”
“What do you know?” I leaned toward him, lowering my voice.
Pesky Weres and their super-awesome hearing. “Why are their bonds missing? I
thought they couldn’t leave the pack without putting in a formal bid to Mr.
Dawson.”
“That’s true enough. I don’t know what’s going on, but I
think you’re going to find out. If this absence of pack bond is spreading, then
we need to find the cause. Just… Don’t say anything to Meredith until we’re
positive. All right?”
Whoa. I didn’t keep much—if anything—from Dastien. “Do
you think that’s wise?”
“Keeping my opinions from my mate?” One side of his mouth
quirked up. “Not usually. But she made her side clear enough with you, and I’d
rather not start an argument that won’t get us anywhere.”
Who knew? Even the great Donovan—one of the all-powerful
Seven—was afraid of pissing off his mate. The idea was a little preposterous,
but then again—I didn’t like upsetting Dastien either. I’d done it. But that
didn’t mean I liked it. That left me with one last question. “Why can’t you
keep an eye on them? You’re probably way better at this pack bonds stuff than I
am.”
He raised an eyebrow. “In case you’ve forgotten, I’m not
of this pack. I’m an alpha, and can use that to overpower and override the pack
bonds if necessary, but this needs more finesse. An insider’s
look.”
“But your mate’s in our pack.” When Dastien bit me, I’d
become part of the St. Ailbe’s pack. I figured it would be the same for Donovan
and Meredith and their mate bond, even if they hadn’t gone through with their
bonding ceremony.
“Doesn’t work that way. I’m already the alpha of another
pack.”
“So, what about Meredith? Is she still part of this
pack?”
“Until she and Michael decide to let her move to mine.
She’ll keep it for as long as she’s here, and I think that’s best.” He leaned
forward. “I’ve heard through Michael and Meredith, but I want to know what it
is you’re feelin’ from them. I’ve not experienced this before, and that’s
sayin’ something to me.” His Irish accent thickened, and I finally knew that
someone else was as worried about this as I was.
“I don’t know what to say except that I can’t feel them.
It’s like they’re there, but they’re not.” I sighed. “It makes no sense. Which
is why Mr. Dawson blew me off when I brought it up. Shouldn’t you be talking to
him about this? He’s the alpha.”
“What makes you think I haven’t already?”
The tension on my shoulders relaxed. It seemed like a
good sign that two alphas were really talking about the problem.
“And?”
“Nothing. If they’ve withdrawn from the pack, he’s not
feeling it.” He leaned in closer, speaking so quietly that even I could barely
hear. “But last night, he gave that group of boys from the Canada pack a direct
command and they disobeyed. I backed the command and forced their obedience, but
I shouldn’t have had to. He’s their alpha. It may be that Rupert Hoel’s
influence went deeper than those we’ve caught. There’s still a major player out
there, and I’ve a fine idea who it might be.”
Holy shit. That was bad news. Only someone more alpha
than Mr. Dawson could ignore his commands, and they weren’t more alpha. At
all.
“Who?”
“I think you might know. It’s one who got
away.”
It hit me then. They’d kicked one of the Seven out of the
Council. The one who hated me. Ferdinand. “Do you really think it could
be?”
“Aye.”
“But you didn’t say anything when I brought it up
before.”
“It took me longer to feel what you were getting at. I
like to suss things out before actin’. Get fully aware of the situation. If you
feel anything else out of the ordinary, let me know. Just be aware that if that
lot wants to leave, that’s fine by me. They’re welcome to go their own way, but
they need to make formal bids to Michael and they’ll have to tie to the Seven
until they find their new packs. It must be done properly, or they’ll be
considered lone wolves. And if they align with Ferdinand… I’d like those
youngsters to avoid that if possible.”
My stomach churned, and suddenly I didn’t feel much like
finishing my omelet. If the pack was breaking up, then how were we ever going
to defeat Luciana? We needed to be united if we wanted to stand the slightest
chance of surviving.
MY TAKE ON THE READ:
From the beginning of Alpha
Unleashed to the last page I was a ball full of emotions. I knew beforehand
going into this read to have a box of tissues, a stash of Hershey’s bars, and a
fully charged kindle (because there was just no way I was going to be able to
put this down for even a second), at the
ready. Boy did I need that chocolate! Throughout majority of the first half of
the book I was thinking to myself, Tessa and Dastien just cannot seem to catch
a break, if it’s not one battle it is the next. I feel like I’ve known these
characters for so long that I’ve grown attached to all of them, well with the
exception of Imogene of course. Imogene has and never will be a character I will
manage to like. The battle scenes had me near to the point of an oncoming
anxiety attack I don’t know how, but I managed to suppress the urge to throw my
kindle across the room when I was just too overcome with emotions. I will say
for those true fans of this series get your tissues ready because by the end of
this novel I was done for. I can’t seem to help myself from falling in love
with yet another book in the Alpha Girl series by Aileen Erin. I look forward to reading more from the author in the new upcoming year!
Aileen Erin is half-Irish, half-Mexican, and 100% nerd—from Star Wars (prequels don’t count) to Star Trek (TNG FTW), she reads Quenya and some Sindarin, and has a severe fascination with the supernatural. Aileen has a BS in Radio-TV-Film from the University of Texas at Austin, and an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. She lives with her husband in Los Angeles, and spends her days doing her favorite things: reading books, creating worlds, and kicking ass.
Website - http://inkmonster.net
Blog –
http://inkmonster.net/blog/category/aileen
Facebook –
https://www.facebook.com/aelatcham
Twitter –
https://twitter.com/aileen_erin
Goodreads-
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7190350.Aileen_Erin
Amazon-
http://www.amazon.com/Aileen-Erin/e/B00EZCXI1C/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
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