Filed To Story: Claimed by the Alpha I Hate Book Read Free
With his hands in the pockets of his jeans, he whistled a tune under his breath and headed in the direction of the barn. It replayed itself in my head while the scent of dirt and machine oil clung to my nose. Even with the windows down and the crisp breeze passing through, the smell lingered.
‘Ready when you are.’ I mind-linked Nolan, steering the car onto the shoulder of the main road.
As his thoughts filled my head, I closed my eyes and allowed myself to slip into the memory.
Four grey walls stood on all sides, far enough apart to allow room for a desk, computer, and two bulky
Alphas. Stale coffee and a mixture of cologne stained the air. Displayed on the monitor was a grainy image of where Devin’s body had been found. Just across the street, walking in the opposite direction, was a figure.
Zeke’s profile came into view, his smoky eyes narrowed as he clicked a few buttons on the computer.
It was dark outside when the surveillance video began to play, but the streetlamps along the road illuminated every corner of the screen. There was no hiding from the light, or at least I thought there wasn’t.
A blurry figure came into frame and one by one the streetlamps went out.
‘Rewind the video to the exact moment they came into view.’ I told him and waited until our k****r came back into view.
The picture wasn’t the greatest, but what I thought had been a low-quality camera was actually a cloak wrapped around the k****r’s body. There were no discernable features visible-even determining their gender was impossible. They were just a mass of darkness, one dragging the corpse of Devin
Armstrong.
The video resumed, and exactly three minutes and twenty-seven seconds later, the streetlamps flicked back on. A steady throb started in the back of my head as my eyes scoured the screen from top to bottom. It wasn’t Devin’s freshly placed corpse that had me breaking the mind-link and forcing the car into drive, but the witness I now knew I recognized.
“Daisy, what the h**l?!” Mason cried out and clutched the door, but that did little to hold him in place as I spun the car around and took off fast enough to make the tires squeal.
His face paled and then turned green as I hit the sharp turns, slowly letting off the gas to keep us from flying off the side of the mountain. I could feel Nolan’s voice rattling in my skull, but the sound of my pulse and the throbbing in my head was far louder.
I shot down the narrow dirt road, not once slowing even though the dust kicked up was impossible to see through. Pebbles bounced off the hood and windshield, one leaving a crack the size of my pinkie.
The car jerked, and a masculine scream rang in my ears as I flattened the break against the floor.
The tires locked, sending us sliding across the dirt before coming to a complete stop, inches away from the side of the barn.
Both Mason and Nolan’s voices joined the low ringing in my ears as I shoved open the door and clamored to my feet.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” The grittiness of dirt hit my tongue when I opened my mouth and snarled.
Slowly I turned, narrowing my eyes to try and peer through the thick wall of evergreens that surrounded us and the barn. There wasn’t the faintest sound or scent of Lars, only the eerie silence of a vacant forest. The sour feeling in my gut was confirmation enough, our only suspect and witness was gone in the wind.
“Quit sulking.” Mason scolded me from the driver’s seat.
“If you wanted to drive you shouldn’t have tried to drive us off the cliff.”
“That’s not what I was trying to do, and I already apologized.” I griped and folded my arms over my chest. “…you’re just angry I made you scream.”
The trees that grew out of the rocky cliff side whooshed by in shades of shamrock and olive. I wondered if Lars were in there somewhere, deep within their protective cover. Were the witches there too?
“You didn’t make me scream, your reckless driving did.” His voice had an edge of defensiveness that made me snort. Warm hazel eyes slid over to where I sat in the passenger, “…you won’t tell anyone about this, right?”
“I won’t.” I reassured him, and waited until relief flooded his eyes to say, “…if you let me drive us back, and you can’t act like I’m going to drive off the mountain with every curve.”
“Deal, but you keep this to yourself for as long as you live.” He narrowed his eyes.
“Deal.” I nodded and began to relax in the seat when a thought crossed my mind. “…I can tell Breyona, right?”
“Yeah, you can tell Breyona.” His eyes warmed when he chuckled, and his tone implied he’d been expecting me to ask as much.
Our banter dwindled until silence took over, sending my eyes veering back towards the forest and my thoughts to a certain slippery werewolf.
I’d been sorely tempted to mention my suspicion regarding Lars’s boots, but Nolan was already putting out a pack-wide memo. Soon every werewolf on our land would be on the lookout for Lars, which meant there was no need to turn it into a manhunt. Still, I had to tell him eventually…I just needed more time.
I tried to think of where Lars might’ve gone but came up with nothing. The most I could do was scour the woods and search for his illusive friend, which I was considering when another thought popped into my head.
Cassidy…she’s going on a date with him.
Even though I made the mental note to talk with her after training, it didn’t ease the dark cloud that loomed over my head for the remainder of the day.
After a quick search of the clinics in the area, I found a small privately owned practice that had an abundance of positive reviews. Mind-linking one of the therapists was the fastest route of communication, and by far the most awkward.
Nolan promised slipping into the pack-members minds would become easier over time, but I was still a non-believer. A girl could only handle so many horrified shrieks. The worst of it is when they’re in private and in their shock unwillingly send me mental images of things I definitely shouldn’t be seeing.
The private practice was nestled right in the middle of town. Located in an off-white colonial house whose cobalt blue shutters were a cheerful beacon from halfway down the street.
The three licensed therapists that made up the little practice were pleasant, even though one had to turn down the offer when her client stormed into the building, face smeared with heavy make-up.
Her wet sobs filled the room, warping her words as she flailed her hands dramatically to get her point across.
“I understand, Selena. Come on, let’s talk about it in my office.” The fair-haired therapist said soothingly and guided the trembling girl past us with a comforting hand on her shoulder.
I locked eyes with the sobbing teenage girl and managed a small but encouraging smile when she waved and stumbled over a ‘hello.’ Well, I assumed that’s what it was since she couldn’t exactly form the words. Her wailing continued once the door closed, though it was muffled.
One of the remaining therapists, a dark-haired male whose wire rimmed glasses made him look shrewd and analyzing, seemed more than willing to drop a client or two for the Luna’s younger sister. I might’ve hired him off his resume alone if it weren’t for the onyx shade of his hair and the severe way he pursed his lips, both of which reminded me of my father.
If the sight could send me tumbling backwards through time, back to that b****y battlefield, then I wondered what it would do to Holly.
I went with his colleague instead, a middle-aged she-wolf with a kind smile who introduced herself as
Dr. Mayfield. When she wasn’t at the local hospital acting as in-house psychiatrist, she took a handful of clients here at the house.
Her resume was just as impressive and revealed that she’d been helping people heal for over a decade. I could see the full extent of her history written all over her face. It was tattooed within the fine lines around her eyes and mouth and hid beneath every inch of her bronze skin.
“Magic and Vampirism certainly play into your sister’s experiences, but I’ve found that no matter how complex a situation is, it can always be deconstructed into something easier to s*****w.” Dr. Mayfield said kindly.
There was a look of understanding on her face that made me feel like Holly’s demons might not be so undefeatable after all.
I left Dr. Mayfield with Tristan’s contact information and rushed to make it to training on time. Mason kept up his end of the deal, even if he did look a bit pale every time I hit a sharp turn.
Even after stopping at home for a change of clothes, I made it to training before Breyona. Mason supplied the directions since had training as well, only his was in a different class.
“Shame we won’t be partners this time around. Can’t say I miss getting my a*s kicked.” Mason’s cheeky grin revealed the dimples he tried hard to hide, the same ones I watched girls swoon over.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?