Free The Wild One by Melinda Metz

the power.”
    Isabel blinked in surprise. I’m the one with the power. The thought repeated itself over and over. I’m the one with the power.
    Nikolas was right. Why was she so frightened of Valenti when
she
was the one with the power?
    Isabel felt all her muscles begin to relax. Muscles she hadn’t even realized were tense. I got so used to being afraid, she thought. It started feeling normal to me.
    â€œThis is so amazing,” she whispered. Impulsively she reached for Nikolas’s hand. “We didn’t know … we thought we were the only ones. It never even occurredto us that there might be another one of us. You have to meet Max and Michael.”
    â€œI started thinking I might be wrong about you and Max and Michael,” Nikolas told her. “I’ve been watching you for a couple of weeks, and you never used your powers. Now I know why I still can’t believe you let some human scare you. And there are three of you. I could take on Valenti by myself, easy, So could you.”
    An image of Valenti lying on the ground at Isabel’s feet, begging for mercy, flashed into Isabel’s mind. She smiled.
    â€œMax believes in being careful,” Isabel answered.
    â€œCareful. Is that what you call it? What a waste.” Nikolas reached for a strand of Isabel’s blond hair and slowly twirled it around his finger. “You’re lucky I showed up, Isabel,” he murmured. “Someone needs to teach you what your powers are for.”
    Alex glanced across the quad. Isabel and that new guy Nikolas were still over by the pecan tree, talking. Talking and standing very close together.
    â€œCan I have some of your pork rinds?” Max asked.
    â€œYeah. Sure. Whatever.” Alex shoved the bag at him without looking away from Isabel. Max, Liz, Michael, and Maria probably thought he was pathetic. And they were right. He knew he should stop staring at Isabel like some kind of stalker. But he couldn’t. It was physically impossible.
    It was the hair. He knew it. Red hair could look amazing on girls. But there was no guy equivalent. Just a bunch of clowns with, like, orange hair.
    If Alex didn’t have red hair, Isabel wouldn’t be over there with Nikolas. She’d be sitting fight here, next to him. Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Alex thought.
    Alex shot another quick look at Isabel and Nikolas. They were heading over. Oh, great. Now he was going to be tortured up close while he was trying to eat lunch.
    â€œHey, guys.” Isabel squeezed into the circle between Michael and Maria. She grabbed Nikolas’s hand and pulled him down next to her. Alex noticed she wasn’t too quick about letting go of his hand, either.
    Isabel did a quick introduction. She basically talked directly to Alex’s ear when she got to him. It’s worse than I thought, Alex realized. She can’t even stand to look me in the eye.
    It’s not like he and Isabel were going out or anything. But he’d gotten the impression that she thought
something
was happening between them. He definitely felt something when they were together, something special.
    Alex caught Liz and Maria exchanging one of those significant looks girls give each other. It was pretty clear that they thought it was uncool of Isabel to show up with another guy when Alex was right there. But they were his friends before Michael, Max, and Isabel ever joined their group. Of course they would side with him.
    â€œWe’ve got something to tell you,” Isabel said. She sounded all breathy and excited. Not at all the way she usually did.
    I feel like one of the guests on some dumb talkshow, Alex thought. I know there’s no way I’m going to like what I’m about to hear.
    â€œNikolas is one of us,” Isabel announced, glancing back and forth between Max and Michael. “His parents were on the spaceship, too. He broke out of his incubation pod before we did and got adopted.