Free Becoming Alpha by Aileen Erin

my second sight crazy. The press of bodies moving to the music was overwhelming. Wave after wave of visions hit me.
    I hope he likes me.
    I think I’m going to be sick.
    That guy is totally checking me out.
    I can totally see down her shirt. This drink is gross. She’s totally into me. I am totally going to get laid tonight. He’s a bad kisser I think I smell I’m totally hotter Yeah baby come to papa
    The floor rocked. All the emotions that everyone was feeling built on top of each other. The visions were crazy. Usually when I got one from physical contact with another person, I saw the last thing that affected them emotionally. But since everyone was well on their way to wasted, whatever they were thinking and what they were feeling were the same thing. So I was seeing what everyone was thinking.
    That might’ve sounded like a cool superpower before, but now I knew mind reading wasn’t something I enjoyed. At all. The only thing I was feeling that was all mine was the nausea. I needed air.
    I crossed my arms in front of my chest, and hunched over them so no one else could touch my skin. To the side of the dance floor there was a sliding door. “I’m going to go get some air,” I yelled in Rosalyn’s ear.
    “Cool,” she said and went back to her swaying.
    The air outside hit me in the face with a wall of wet heat, but one by one, all the other feelings and visions faded away until I was left alone with my nausea. The backyard was so dark that I couldn’t see where it ended.
    Mr. Dawson had said that there was a big creek behind the neighborhood. The dark part was probably where the drop started. I walked toward the edge of the darkness, where the ground started to slope. Yup. My house had to be somewhere down the edge here since both our houses backed up to the creek.
    I sat down on the grass and contemplated walking home.
    Listening to the sounds of the night, I took another sip of the beer and gagged again. Even though I was dying for a cold drink, I couldn’t choke it down. I looked around to see if anyone else was outside, and then pitched the liquid into the creek.
    “Hey!” A voice shouted from the darkness.
    I jumped up. “Oh my God! I’m so sorry! I totally didn’t see you.” A shape of a guy stepped into the light—tall, definitely over six feet, with dark hair. He was brushing himself off. His eyes glowed yellow in the moonlight. My breath caught.
    “It’s fine.” Dastien motioned to my now empty cup. “Not to your taste?”
    “No.” My face flamed. “I really am sorry. I didn’t see you.” He was wearing the same black jeans and black T-shirt he had on earlier. When he shoved his hands in his pockets, a line of his skin peeked from beneath the shirt.
    I looked down at his feet to get away from the overload he caused, but even the sight of his bare feet on the grass made my heart stop.
    Where were his shoes?
    He put his finger under my chin, lifting my head until our eyes met. I squeezed mine closed, dreading the vision that would come.
    Running through the forest. Smell of grass and trees. And a rabbit. Hunt.
    He dropped his hand to his side, and the vision went away. “Don’t worry about it.”
    That was it? A feeling of running, the smells of nature, and a slight urge to chase animals. What kind of guy thought about those things? And why didn’t I see the usual triple-X rated show? A guy that hot had to be a chick-magnet of extreme proportions. No way was he celibate.
    I didn’t realize I had been holding my breath until I gasped for air. I seemed to do that a lot around him. The burning in my cheeks slowly spread through my whole body.
    “ Vamanos , Dastien,” a deep voice said from the dark.
    Squinting, I tried to find where it was coming from.
    “I’ll catch up with you later,” he said, keeping his gaze on me.
    I smiled. I didn’t think I could stand it if he left so soon.
    “Dude,” said a different voice. “Not a good idea. You know—”
    Dastien had his back to