Chapter 9: Coffee and a Confession
Zariah
I wake up with a smile on my face. It’s time to go get my dress, and nothing can upset me this day.
Nothing.
I hurry and get ready to go meet Alice at the café. We are going to get coffee and pastries before we head to the dress shop. We know that a lot of girls bought their dresses weeks ago, but the dress shop owner, Miranda, told us that she was getting a new shipment of dresses in yesterday after closing, and if we came in first thing this morning, there was a good chance we would be the first ones to see them.
That’s great because no one wants to wear the same dress as someone else to a ball—especially a Moon Goddess Ball.
That would be awful.
Downstairs, I tell my mom goodbye and rush out the door. It’s a lovely fall day, and I am practically skipping as I head to the coffee shop.
Alice is late, but that doesn’t surprise me. Alice is almost always late. I send her a text and wait a minute. She says to give her five minutes, which means ten. I decide I’m not going to stand outside and wait for her, so I head inside.
Our friend Tracy is working as the barista. “Hey, Tracy,” I say, a wide smile on my face. “Give me a vanilla latte and one of these.” I point at a strawberry pastry in the case.
“Sure thing, Zariah,” she says and goes about getting my order ready. She comes back to give me my total, and I hand her more than enough money to cover it.
“Keep the change,” I tell her, taking my items from her.
“Thanks, Zariah,” she says, her smile widening.
I smile back and go and find a booth, knowing it will take Alice a few more minutes.
I have just bitten into my pastry when I see Greg come through the door. He does not look like a person who has been planning on coming out in public that morning. He is disheveled, to say the least. He is wearing mismatched shorts and a T-shirt, his legs are dirty, and he has on no shoes. His hair hasn’t been combed either. I’m confused because I was pretty sure he had patrol this morning. He sees me and a look of relief crosses his face as he comes over.
Tracy doesn’t say anything to him because they are friends, but we know we’re not supposed to come into establishments fresh off of a shift. “What’s going on?” I ask Greg, setting my pastry down on the plate Tracy handed it to me on.
“Thank goodness I found you,” he says. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I went to your house, and your mom said you were coming here to meet Alice.”
I nod. “Is everything okay?” I ask, afraid something is very wrong.
“It’s just… Alpha Micah just got back from a mission. He took a detail out to the trail you found. Obviously, without you. I just thought you would want to know.”
I stare at him for a long moment, feeling all of the blood flow out of my face and pool in my twisted stomach. I don’t know what to say. I’m both angry and feel betrayed.
“I’m sorry, Zariah. I just didn’t think it was fair after you found the tracks for him to not even ask you to go, that’s all.” I can tell by the look in Greg’s eyes that he is almost as upset as I am.
Almost.
“No, you’re right. Thank you for letting me know, Greg,” I tell him.
He takes a deep breath and shifts in the booth. Alice comes in the door behind him and waves, and I wave back.
Seeing her, Greg says, “I should go. Will you be all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I tell him. It’s not like I can say, “No, I’m going to go kill the Alpha.” Instead, I find a fake smile and say, “I’m perfectly fine.”
He nods but he knows otherwise. “All right. Well, if there’s anything I can do, let me know.” He gets up and his shorts have shimmied down a bit. He pulls them up but for a moment, I am reminded that Greg is a guy—a very muscular, well-built, attractive guy.
I shake my head to clear it, and see Alice and Greg talking for a second before he leaves.
Fury burns deep within me as I don’t even know what to do or say to Micah about this. Why would he do something like that? Why couldn’t he just include me?
I take another bite of my pastry, but I’ve lost my appetite. It tastes like sawdust now.
“What’s going on?” Alice asks as she brushes some grass off of the bench that fell off of Greg while he was sitting there and then slides in across from me.
“He didn’t tell you?” I ask, meaning Greg.
She shakes her head and says, “He said you’d tell me.”
“Micah took a detail out to investigate those tracks this morning.” I can hardly say it without tears forming in my eyes. Not because I’m sad but because I’m angry.
Very, very angry.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Zariah,” she says, taking a drink of whatever steaming beverage she has in her cup. “You must be so upset.”
I shrug. “There’s not much I can do about it now.”
“No, but you need to tell him that it hurt your feelings so he understands he can’t do things like that,” Alice points out.
“He already knows that, Alice,” I tell her. “He already knows that it hurts my feelings when he does stuff like that.”
“Then why does he do it?” she asks.
I take a deep breath and tell her the truth. “Because he doesn’t care.”
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone