Kiss Of The Alpha : A YA Paranormal Romance Chapter 10

Heather

Alone at last. I’d been feeling antsy since we got here, and it’d only gotten worse. For there were only two things that would quiet my mind, dancing and running. I’d already gone for my morning jog, and had been waiting for a chance to blast so music.

I clicked on last week’s BBC One Essential Mix, turned the volu up as loud as I could stand it, and started dancing around my room.

West walked in without knocking and turned off the music. "Are you trying to make everyone in the state deaf?"

Or not. "Who said you could co in here?"

"I did. We’re parentless!" He hamd it up with so cheering, and then collapsed on my bed.

"That’s hardly cause for celebration." I rolled my eyes. "Co on. I’ve been listening to what everyone else wants to for days now. Can I just—"

"No."

I kicked his shin.

"Ow. Don’t be so violent." He rubbed his shin. "It’s your last night before starting a brand new school year."

I groaned. "Not you too. Can we please drop the whole ’school starts tomorrow’ talk? I’d like to live in denial for a little while longer."

"One thing, try not to bite the head off of the first friendly person you et. Promise ."

I crossed my arms and gave him my best tough-girl look. "Dude. I’m not a bitch. I’ll be as friendly as people are to ."

"Riiiiight." I went to kick his shin again, but he hopped out of the way. "Let’s go for a drive. We can scout out a pizza place."

"Fine, but I get to pick the toppings."

"No way. You picked last ti."

I grabbed a pair of gloves and my flip-flops. "Yeah, but you like to experint with nasty combinations. The fact that you actually picked pineapple and anchovy ans that you should be banned for life in the topping-picking departnt."

"I still think the combo of sweet and salty could’ve been a good thing. It was nearly genius."

"Near genius doesn’t count." I shoved him.

"Moron."

He clutched his chest. "I’m hurt by your na calling."

"Good." I grinned. "Your ego could stand to lose a few pounds."

"What’s wrong with knowing that I’m aweso?" He ssed up my hair.

When we were on the way back with the pizza, a strange sensation tingled through my body. It was like a weight had settled over . This intense sense of foreboding mixed in my blood making cold.

By the ti we got ho, it was dark. West went into the house, but I lingered outside for a minute, sitting on the porch swing as I tried to figure out what was making feel that way. I knew that staying outside after dark was a bad idea, but I couldn’t help myself.

Goosebumps ran up and down my arms. The full moon hung low and yellow. The crazies would be out tonight, or so Mom always said when it looked like that. I smiled. I was outside, so she had a point.

I hadn’t even realized that there had been noise outside until it was suddenly gone. The cicadas song cut off. The owls stopped hooting. There was no rustling of the leaves. Everything was still.

A healthy dose of fear pumped through my veins.

A wolf crashed out from the woods. Then three more. They were playing, not really noticing I was there as they rolled around on the ground and pawed at each other.

I probably should’ve been scared, but in that mont, I wasn’t. They were on the other side of the driveway, and I felt safe on the porch. I relaxed in the swing as I watched them. One of them bit another one’s tail, making the bitee yelp. I laughed.

One of them suddenly stopped playing and looked straight at .

Dumb. I was so unbelievably dumb. These weren’t wolves in a cage. These wolves could actually co over here and eat .

I thought about darting inside. It probably would’ve been the smarter choice, but I didn’t want to spook them by moving.

One of them ca closer to the porch.

I stood up, torn between going down the stairs to pet it and rushing inside. I wasn’t stupid, but the way it was moving—with its head down and tongue out—it looked more curious than dangerous.

Before I could do anything, another wolf jumped out of the woods. It was beautiful, mostly white with patches of gray sprinkled along its face and back. The coloring seed much more regal than the shades of brown the others were. It slid to a stop in between and the approaching brown wolf, snarling.

Shit. That one was pissed and was more likely to eat . I should’ve gone inside.

The new wolf stared down each of the others, and they started to whine and rolled over, exposing their stomachs. It had to be the alpha of the bunch. It howled and the others scrambled up, fleeing back into the woods.

The alpha turned to .

My heart pounded. I stepped back into the front door until the doorknob of the screen door dug into my back. The wolf sat down on the ground to watch .

Sothing about it seed familiar. I couldn’t quite place it, but the face and its eyes just had this quality like I knew I’d seen it sowhere before. But I knew I hadn’t.

"Haze!" West swung the front door open. "You’re eating or what? The pizza’s getting cold."

I turned away from the wolf for a second, and when I looked back, it was gone.

My breath ca in short gasps as I looked back to West and then to the drive again.

"You okay?"

I shook my head. "I don’t know." I moved out of the way so West could open the screen door. He grabbed my gloved hand and pulled inside.

"Co on," he said softly. "You need to eat."

I let him pull inside.

The whole exchange with the wolves went by so quickly that I wondered if it had actually happened. For the second ti since I’d arrived in Texas, I was questioning my sanity.

Yet another thing to add to the weird and new category.