Alpha Erased (Alpha Girl 9)
Page 137
“I know.” That wasn’t the point. That wasn’t why I was freaking out. “How much longer do you think I can keep hiding? Really. I mean, let’s be honest here. It’s only a matter of time before I do something wrong or someone notices. I can’t change what I am. I’m terrified that—”
Roan pulled away and grabbed my face. “You won’t get caught.”
“You don’t know that.” There was every chance that sooner or later, someone would catch me. Every couple months SpaceTech would remind the world who my mother and I were. My mother had altered her appearance some and the aging they’d done on my toddler picture wasn’t totally accurate. It was the only reason no one had turned us in yet. But someday someone would look at me and they wouldn’t see Maité Martinez. No. They’d see Amihanna di Aetes. Daughter of Rysden di Aetes, head of the Aunare military and second to the King.
And when that happened, there would be no more running from my fate.
CHAPTER THREE
I’d never been happier to be home as I was that night. Roan had paid the exorbitant cab fare and then left on foot to Starlite as soon as I’d entered the apartment building. He’d asked me to join him, but the close call with the cop had me on edge. All I wanted to do was hide in my darkened room for the next day or ten. But as I approached my front door, voices seeped into the cement-lined hallway.
For a second, I dismissed them, but Mom’s sing-songy voice rose above a deeper one and I stopped walking.
We rarely had anyone over at all and never at this hour. Something was going on, and it couldn’t be good.
I tip-toed the rest of the way, pressing my ear to the door.
“I tried to get ahold of you. I really did.” Mom’s voice was muffled, but I could make out her words. “But how could I know if he’d come for Maité after all these years?”
It felt like a noose slithered around my chest and tightened. Someone had come for me. But who?
In between the next three heartbeats, a few scenarios ran through my mind.
One. The cop from earlier had sent another officer to bring me in, but SpaceTech Police Force didn’t move that fast, especially for an idiotic ticket.
Two. SpaceTech had found us. Two of Earth’s Most Wanted. But if that were true, then there would be fighting and screaming and the sounds of my mother begging for them to leave me alone.
And then the third idea came and I took a big breath. There was only one other possibility. They were here. The Aunare were here. I’d stopped dreaming my father or the Aunare would show up to rescue us years ago. I wasn’t sure what this meant except that my life was about to change in a huge way.
The fluttering in my stomach started small and crescendoed into thousands of flying butterflies. I wasn’t sure if it was excitement or nerves, but specifics didn’t matter.
Better face this now.
I slid my backpack off my shoulders and unlocked the door.
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Off Planet, Book One of the Aunare Chronicles.
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Aileen Erin is half-Irish, half-Mexican, and 100% nerd—from Star Wars (prequels don’t count) to Star Trek (TNG FTW), she geeks out on Tolkien’s linguistics, 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 and daughter in Los Angeles, and spends her days doing her favorite things: reading books, creating worlds, and kicking ass.
For more information and updates about Aileen and her books, go to: http://inkmonster.net/aerin
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Acknowledgments
This series has been a journey. I started Becoming Alpha as my thesis project for my MFA in Writing Popular Fiction at Seton Hill University. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would turn into a series this long or with this many readers.
Thank you to everyone who has been on this journey with Tessa, Dastien, and their friends.
I had a few mentors at Seton Hill, but I had so many amazing professors and critique partners that helped me get the first book into shape. I don’t think I can list them all, but they know who they are. ;)
Two critique partners stand out above the rest because they turned into my developmental editors. Kime Heller-Neal (books 1-2 & 7-9) and Lola Dodge (books 1-7). They both got me through all of these books and helped me keep my sanity.
Sharon K. Garner is my copyeditor. She catches all my typos.