THREE

Alecia went straight to her room, and sat on her bed, She got under the comforter and hugged herself tightly. Her heart beat was erratic, and for some reason she could not name, she could feel tremors running down her body. She placed a hand on her cheek. Heat, rose over her skin. Ryder's pale gray eyes filled her mind. He would probably never talk to her again, finding her too much trouble.

    A small sense of loss filled her. Alecia shook her head. She snatched up her cell phone and dialed Helen’s number.

“Hello,” Helen answered.

     "I left the party,” Alecia said. “The alpha came up to me and started hitting on me, so I left to get away from him.”

     Helen laughed even though she could hear a trace of sadness in her voice.

      "Did he hurt you once?” Alecia asked. She did not know why, but she just couldn't shake off the feeling that the alpha once had a relationship with her friend -- and that he broke her heart.

     "No. Why do you ask that?”

     "You just seemed hurt when he walked away from you.”

     " don’t care about Ryder, but it’s wise to stay away from him. He has a habit of sleeping with girls and acting like he doesn’t know them the next day.”

    Alecia drew in a breath. She would have  been his next victim. Thankfully, Helen had warned her about him. “Why do girls keep sleeping with him?”

    "Because he's an alpha duh! Plus he’s handsome, rich, and he has this way of always convincing a girl that she is the most precious woman in the world.”

     "I find that hard to believe, all I got was ‘come on, girls always let me steal a kiss.’” He must have thought she was cheap just because she was human . Maybe now he wouldn’t look at human girls as easy conquests.

     Helen laughed. “Don’t worry about Ryder. He never works hard to get a girl in bed.”

     Alecia ran a hand through her hair - sweat stuck at the edge of her forehead. For some reason Helen’s words didn’t fill her with relief but a sense of loss. She realized that she wanted the alpha to desire her, she wanted him to find her attractive. “Well, that’s good. I was a little worried since he insisted on walking me home.”

    “He did?” Helen asked.

    "Yeah.” Aleciy sat up straighter. Helen's words startled her. Obviously, the alpha didn’t walk girls home, but why did he pursue her? A warmth heated up her cheeks and burned through her.

    Maybe he saw her as special - worth his time.

     "I wonder why he did that.” Helen paused for a moment. “Anyway, I've got this volunteer service I'm doing, I'll see you tomorrow Alecia”

    Alecia arched her brows. “Sure. See you later.”

    She placed the phone on her nightstand. Helen doing volunteer work! That sounded odd. That girl never lifted to do anywork -- and then volunteer work at that! She was obviously just looking for an excuse to cut the call.

     Alecia kicked her shoes off and dismissed Ryder from her mind. She grabbed a picture of Kylie, her best friends older brother, a boy she’d had a crush on her whole life. She placed it against her chest. Kylie wasn’t as handsome as Ryder, but his heart was pure. She could imagine them spending their lives together. Her as a  teacher shaping young lives, and him as a local mechanic . That was the life she imagined for herself, and no one like Ryder Hendrix was going to get in the way.