Hunted By My Cruel Alpha

SOFIA BELLINI I shouldn’t be here, and I shouldn’t have seen this. But I can’t move now. He calmly raises the gun and points it at me, then toward the forest behind me. “I’ll count to three, and you’ll run,” he says with a strange smile. My eyes widen, and then I turn and start running into the forest as fast as I can. “Run. I like it when they try.” I am terrified, but I can’t stop now. I can’t die now. I feel tears soaking my face as I run, trying to dodge the trees and branches in front of me. It’s very dark. I feel like my heart is about to explode inside my chest at any moment. I don’t know where I’m going. I only know that I need to get far away from him. I shiver when I hear howls behind me and then sob when I see the man starting to chase me as the large creatures howl louder. I almost crash into a tree in front of me. “Please!” I beg, running faster. When I turn my head and look back, my eyes widen again when I see that he’s very close to me now, but that’s not what scares me the most. It’s the color of his eyes. They’re golden and glow in the dark. “D*mn it!” I shout, running faster. I don’t know how he can be so fast. What the hell is he? I should never have taken this shortcut. Now I’m going to die in this forest, alone, hunted like an animal. He reaches out to grab my arm, but before that happens, I scream when I trip over something and fall, starting to roll downhill through the dirt. I groan when I hit my head hard against a rock. Everything hurts, and when I try to open my eyes, I can only see the man’s shadow approaching me and then more howls. “Please, don’t hurt me…” I whisper, tears in my eyes. I feel blood running down my forehead, and when he kneels beside me, my hand immediately goes to my belly, and I think about the life I’m carrying inside me. My eyes start to close when I feel his hand touching my face. “Put her in the car. She saw too much.” And then everything goes dark, and the last thing I feel is someone carrying my body. HOURS EARLIER “I’m pregnant…” I’m locked inside the pharmacy bathroom, holding the pregnancy test with trembling hands. Two lines. I close my eyes, wishing this is some kind of dream, but when I look at the test again, I see the same thing. This is impossible. I feel tears in my eyes. I’m in shock, but everything seems to make sense now. For weeks I’ve been feeling very nauseous and noticing changes in my body, along with my delayed period. I haven’t had any s****l relations. None. I can’t be pregnant, but I am. My eyes widen when I remember my gynecologist appointment last month, where I went in for an exam—but what if they did more than that? “No…” I remember signing something without reading it. “No. This can’t have happened.” I leave the pharmacy crying nonstop. I put the pregnancy test inside my bag and walk back home. It’s very cold, so I take the forest shortcut that will get me there faster. I take out my phone and call the clinic several times, but no one answers. “D*mn it…” I’m looking at my phone when a sound makes me stop walking. I hear a man screaming for help. Regret for taking this shortcut hits me. I turn around, ready to go back, when I turn my head and see something that paralyzes me. A man is kneeling and bleeding. There are huge things jumping around him. Some kind of non-human creature. I cover my mouth so I don’t scream. I watch as a man in a suit holding a gun approaches the other man. I should leave, but my legs won’t work. The kneeling man starts begging. “Please… Alpha… I swear I can fix it and—” I stifle a scream when the man shoots. I take a step back, and a branch snaps, drawing all of their attention to me. The man in the suit slowly turns his head, and then he looks at me. God, no. They aren’t normal. They aren’t human. “Get her.” I scream and turn to run, but within seconds strong hands grab me. “Please! I didn’t see anything! I swear! Don’t hurt me!” I’m dragged over to him. I lift my head and see him studying me slowly. His gaze drops briefly, then returns to my face. “You saw too much, human…” he whispers. I sob, feeling tears soaking my face. “Please, I swear I’ll never tell anyone, please…” He steps closer to me, and I squeeze my eyes shut when he whispers in my ear: “Run.” ANTHONY DE ANGELIS I watch as they put the girl into the car. She’s unconscious after hitting her head hard, but she’s still alive. I keep looking at the girl who should never have seen what happened here tonight, and because of that, she must die. Alaric steps closer to me and also looks at her. Kidnapping a human girl definitely wasn’t in my plans. “What are you going to do with the girl?” Alaric asks, worried. I scoff, not taking my eyes off her. Alaric is my younger brother. We’re different—he cares too much about things he shouldn’t. “She saw too much. You know what has to be done, Alaric.” “She’s just a human, Anthony. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Have some compassion.” I clench my fists tightly and glare at him. He’s far too emotional. Humans can’t see what she saw and keep breathing. “That makes her a risk,” I say. Alaric grips my shoulder. “We don’t hurt humans.” “We don’t hurt them when there’s no threat.” He shakes his head. “What are you going to do with her?” I take a deep breath. “Clean up the mess,” I answer. “Now.” He hesitates, but obeys. Alaric walks away, giving orders to the men, while I keep watching the car door close. I step closer to the car before they take her away. She’s lying on her side, her long red hair spread across her face. She’s young—she can’t be more than twenty-one. I’m going to kill her. That’s the smartest choice. If she talks. If someone believes her. If a single word about werewolves leaves the wrong mouth, it won’t just be my pack that suffers. Humans can’t know. One of the men approaches and holds out a bag. “I think it’s hers.” I take it without looking. I don’t open it. It doesn’t matter who she is. “Let’s go.” When we arrive at the mansion, I give orders: “Take her to one of the rooms. The one at the back. I want to interrogate her when she wakes up.” She might just be a frightened human. Or she might be a spy. I don’t trust coincidences. While they take her away, I head to my room. I strip off my clothes, still stained with blood, and step into the shower. I squeeze my eyes shut, and then I remember the look on the girl’s face as she ran and I chased her. She was afraid of me. That’s what everyone feels. I put on comfortable clothes and drink a glass of whiskey before heading to the room where she is. I prepare myself to find her screaming, but she’s still asleep on the bed. I sigh, and before I do anything, I receive a call. “What is it?” The voice on the other end is tense. “There was a mistake.” “What kind of mistake?” “A sample was used incorrectly in the laboratory.” I grip the phone tighter. “Whose?” “Yours, Alpha.” “Explain.” “The genetic sample was implanted into another patient. By mistake.” I clench my fists. “Who is the woman?” “She’s human.” I almost crush the phone when I hear that. “I want the name.” “The girl’s name is Sofia Bellini. Twenty-two years old.” “I’ll find the one responsible for this and make him pay for that mistake.” “I’m very sorry, my Alpha.” God. Somewhere right now, a woman is carrying my child inside her womb. D*mn it. I hang up the call and then look at the girl’s bag sitting on the bed. I carefully unzip it, and the first thing I see is a positive pregnancy test. I frown and look at her belly, which still looks far too normal. The other thing I find is her ID. Sofia Bellini. My eyes widen, and then I see her date of birth. It’s her. I take a step back, trying to control the rage inside me. I was ready to kill the woman carrying my child. I move closer to the bed and see her shift, but she doesn’t wake up. Before I touch her, the door opens and I see Alaric step inside. “So? Have you decided what you’re going to do with her?” “Change of plans.” He steps closer. “What?” “I can’t kill her.” Alaric frowns. “And why not?” I lift the pregnancy test and point it toward her. Alaric looks confused, then his eyes widen. “I can’t kill the woman carrying my heir. Not until the baby is born.”