THE RICH ALPHA

CHAPTER TEN

Maggie stepped back and shook her head. "No. I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on."

Adrian folded his arms across his chest and studied her with his crooked grin. "You are most becoming when you're most obstinate."

Maggie backed up in the direction of the driveway. Her hand tightly gripped the handle of the mirror. "Tell me, or I leave now."

Adrian shrugged. "There isn't much to tell. What you witnessed was a-shall we say, an altercation because my household and a wizard."

The young woman blinked at him. "A. . .a wizard?"

He nodded. "Yes, and not a bad one as far as they go. You see, they have a fascination with werewolf souls. This one was particularly persistent in his objective which is why we returned the compliment. He won't be returning to bother us."

Her eyes widened. "So you. . .you took his soul?"

Adrian closed his eyes and bowed his head. "Precisely."

The hand mirror dropped from Maggie's shaking hand. The glass hit the ground and cracked. She backed up and shook her head. "You. . .you killed him!"

Adrian arched an eyebrow. "He would have done the same to all of us if we had given him more chance."

"But you didn't have to kill him!" she objected.

Adrian took a step toward her and stretched out his hand. "Please, Maggie, listen to-"

"How could you kill him so easily?" she questioned him. Warm tears slid down her cheeks and dropped off her chin. Her dreamed image of the handsome man before her dropped to reveal the beast that stood out. "How could you kill him at all?"

A sob escaped her lips. She spun around and rushed into the woods.

Adrian strode up to the mirror and stooped to pick it up. Albert stepped up beside him. "Do you wish for me to catch her?"

Adrian flipped the mirror over and studied the broken glass. His multiple images all reflected the beastly face he wore. He lowered the glass and looked at where she'd gone. "No. She will return. Fate has ordained it. Besides-" He raised the glass and pursed his lips, "-this will take some time to fix. She will return to us before our errand is done."

Maggie's arms and face were swatted by the branches and brambles. Her hot tears burned her eyes and mixed with the dust and sap of the forest. By the time she reached her vehicle her hair was a cobweb of pine needles and dead leaves, and her clothes were stabbed with small holes.

She slumped over the passenger side of her car and cried into her arms. The sound echoed through the lonely woods. After a time she straightened and shook her head.

"Why. . .why am I doing this? He doesn't. . .he doesn't love me, and I don't love him," she told herself.

Maggie wiped her face with her sleeve and turned around. The other car with the strange license plate still sat in the middle of the road. She gave the plate one last glance before she walked to the driver side and ducked inside.

Something made her pause. There had been movement in the woods. Her pulse quickened as she leaned out and squinted. The night made the forest nearly impenetrable. All she saw were shadows.

Maggie shook her head and slammed her door shut. She backed up and drove away from the long nightmare.

As her taillights disappeared down the driveway, a dark figure stepped from the shadows near where her car had stood. They wore a cloak, but they lifted their head and revealed bright red eyes. A chuckle slipped from their ruby-red lips as they stepped back into the darkness.