The Alpha Dire Wolf

Now.” Above us the storm came boiling forward like the pyroclastic flow from a volcanic eruption. There was no escaping it. Instead, we drove right into it. The darkness swallowed us whole. In the rearview mirror, I watched the bright blue sky disappear fully. Lightning continued to flash, driving back the shadows as it tinged…

I looked at him. He was a bit pale. “How sharp?” “Very. But we can’t slow down.” Something hit the back of the car, bumping into it enough to lift the rear wheels off the ground and slowing us down. I screamed. Light glowed in Lincoln’s eyes as he snarled back at the storm. Whatever…

“Do you promise not to try and kick me between the legs again?” he said humorously, referencing my earlier struggle. “No,” I said, but I didn’t mean it. Lincoln chuckled. “You should never be in sales. Your technique sucks.” But he set me down anyway. I stepped to the side, not wanting to get close…

“Maybe my ego,” I muttered, still stretching. When I straightened again, the floor seemed an inch or two farther away as my spine unclenched. “I always told myself I was decently fit, that in a fire if I had to, I could haul a man out of harm’s way. But now …” Lincoln smiled, his…

The shrug was far more casual than I would have thought for such an explosive secret. “You mean besides my pack? Like people in town?” My jaw dropped open. “Your pack? There are more of you ?” I expected many replies from Lincoln. What I wasn’t prepared for was laughter. It stopped as fast as…

“Oh. Umm …” I shook my head. “Sorry, no, that’s not it.” “What do you smell then?” I sniffed again, nostrils opened wide. The air flowed in and … “Nothing,” I said, smiling. “Nothing at all.” “Are all wolf shifters this weird?” she asked, leaning back into her chair while projecting an air of casual…

Sylvie, limbs rigid, managed to meet my eyes. “Can you protect me from yourself when it comes around?” I didn’t shy away from that gaze. It was time I laid some of those cards on the table. Called her out on it to see how she reacted. “If you can tell me you don’t want…

“No, no, not that one,” she said. Her lips twitched, bringing about a narrowing of my eyes. She was up to something. “Which one then?” I asked warily. “The one that says that animals must be on a leash and collar when outside.” “Leash … and collar,” I repeated slowly. Sylvie nodded eagerly, the smile…

Bloodbound. Bloodbound. It wouldn’t quit. I dashed toward the forest, the dark tree-thing stabbing its branch-legs into the ground as it came along in pursuit. My danger senses weren’t letting up. They combined with the pounding in my head in a cacophony of noise that was impossible to sort out. I darted under the branches…

Not on my watch. Leaping to my feet, I lunged forward. It was time to put the thing down. Permanently. My ears were probably bleeding, but I found a way to ignore the pain as I latched on to its already wounded arm and thrashed around as hard as I could, shaking it back and…