Bound To The Alpha Princes

If Shantel Adams could find a way to escape from the car she was stuck in, she would have gladly done it without hesitation. Stuck in between her unbothered siblings and watched cautiously by her mom, Shantel couldn’t mention a place as suffocating as her mom’s rickety vehicle. It wasn’t about riding in an old, worn-out car; it was about leaving her entire life, college, friends, and everything she loves behind to an unknown place. “Where did you say we are going again, Mom?” Shantel asked for the fifth time. “Silver-line community,” Maria replied, her eyes fixed on the road. Shantel sighed for the umpteenth time and grumbled loudly. “You should have looked for a job around the neighborhood, why come this far?” Shantel grumbled, pissed off. Maria glanced at her daughter’s flushed face from the rearview mirror and smiled lightly, shaking her head at the stupidity of Shantel. “Silver-line is cool; you’ll love it,” Derrick, Shantel's older brother, mumbled with his eyes shut. “What’s so cool about a backwater community?” Shantel sneered at her brother and he peeked at her, warning her with a glare. “Everything, sweetie,” Daisy grinned at her. Shantel narrowed her eyes as the grin on her sister’s face disappeared as fast as it came. “And mind you, Silver-line is not a backwater community; it’s the largest community around here; it’s more like a town,” Daisy added. “Well… it’s not a town, it’s a community,” Shantel retorted, unwilling to let her family win the fight. “Whatever it is, I don’t care. All I know is that it is a beautiful place with beautiful guys,” Daisy winked, waving her phone at Shantel’s face. Shantel narrowed her eyes, knowing the direction Daisy was heading to. “Don’t worry, I will find you a boyfriend when we get there,” Daisy winked and Shantel turned up her lips in disgust. “Mom, Daisy wants to find Shanty a boyfriend!” Derrick, who has always been protective of his little sister, reported. “Isn’t she old enough to get one?” Maria’s reply made Shantel and Derrick’s jaws drop while Daisy jumped around, slamming mocking victory songs at their faces. “Ugh… that’s enough!” Derrick grumbled and slammed his eyes shut again, dosing off into another round of slumber. Daisy sighed in relief and stuffed earphones into her ear before dropping her head on the headrest, letting the music on her playlist drown her mind. The car became silent again, leaving everyone in their worlds. Maria knew how hard it was to decide to move to an entirely different environment, but she had no other option aside from that. Besides, a better life for her children was what she craved, and she was ready to sacrifice everything to accomplish that. ‘They won’t end up like me.’ Those were the words she always said to herself. Those words and the memories of her past would encourage her to work her ass off to give Daisy, Derrick, and, Shantel the best. After years of running away, she thought she was happy getting a man who would finally love her, but to her dismay, she lost him six years ago, and ever since then, her past kept calling out to her, dragging her back to things she had always eluded. But there was only one thing she hoped for; the past shouldn’t repeat itself. She glanced surreptitiously at her children and sighed inaudibly before fixing her attention on the road before them. As the car puffed and rattled along the lonely road, Shantel cranked her neck, staring out of the window, with anger and loneliness sinking and enveloping her entire body slowly. She still couldn’t understand why her mom had to move so suddenly. She had lost her job at the small company she worked for reasons best known to her. Everyone was shocked to see her coming back the next day after the sad announcement, waving a letter of appointment to their faces with a false grin on her aging face. “We are moving out!” that was her only utterance, and that was the reason for Shantel’s anger. There were a thousand and one job vacancies around; why did she choose to work in a small town? Shantel sighed and rubbed her arm, glaring at her mom for making her lose everything she had built for herself. She swerved her attention away from her mother and stared at the trees that seemed to be running slowly as they drove past. Something dark caught her eyes and before she could get her senses together, a horrified scream escaped her parted lips. Maria slammed her feet on the brake pedal in shock, and the twins stirred, sending a worried look at Shantel, who seemed to be paralyzed in awe as she stared at the huge blue-eyed animal that glared at her from the dark forest. “What is it, honey?” concern filled Maria’s voice as she cranked her head backward and inquired. Their voices sounded like an unintelligible blabber to Shantel as she stared intently at the wolf, her heart shrinking in dismay. No matter the level of fear brewing in her, she couldn’t bring herself to tear her horrified gaze away from the creature. Daisy tugged on Shantel’s sleeve and forced her to look at her. “What happened?” they questioned. “I… I saw a wolf, a large wolf,” Shantel stuttered when she found her voice, her heart constricting in fear. “What nonsense are you saying?” Maria chuckled, shaking her head in disbelief. Derrick swerved his head in the direction Shantel was staring at earlier. “There’s nothing there,” he muttered. Shantel glanced at the spot and her eyes popped out when she didn’t see the wolf standing there. “But… but it was right there!” Shantel snapped, shaking her fingers at the empty spot. Maria opened the door and stepped out of the car. “Be careful, Mom,” Daisy called out in a shaking voice. Derrick stepped out, too, standing protectively behind Maria as they observed the surroundings. Shantel’s heart skipped a beat as she watched them survey the area. She prayed fervently for the safety of her family. They were in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by the dangerous creature she saw earlier, what could be worse than that? “There is nothing here,” Maria muttered after a thorough search with Derrick. Shantel shook her head, refusing to believe her mother’s words. She was sure she saw a wolf, she wondered why they couldn’t believe her. “But I saw it—” “Perhaps it was one of your crazy imaginations,” Daisy said in a firm voice, shutting Shantel up with a glare. “Shanty, I think your sister is right, what will a wolf be doing here, anyway?” Maria replied and Shantel’s shoulder dropped in defeat. No matter how hard she tried, she knew that no one would believe her, no one. The car made coughing sounds as her mom struggled to ignite it back to life. Shantel’s mind was far away from what was happening, all she could think about was the strange creature she saw earlier. What amazed her was the color and aura in the eyes of the wolf. The hair on her body rose, the more she thought about the incident. This was more reason for her to detest the town they were in. She didn’t want to be there, she wanted to be somewhere away from there, she wanted to run away. “Is something wrong?” Derrick’s voice snapped her back to reality. Shantel glanced at her mom who was struggling with the car’s ignition. “s**t, the car is dead again!” Maria blurted out and Shantel’s heart shrank.