THE ALPHA’S MYSTERY MATE

Ember’s P.O.V My eyes fluttered open as I jumped in my seat as we were currently driving on a bumpy road in the middle of the Texas countryside. "Are we almost there?" I sighed from the back of my parent's pickup truck that we had rented out. "Ember, you've asked that over five times now" My brother Kyle exaggerated from beside me throwing his head back, he was as miserable as I was. "Let's go to Grandma's ranch for the summer, it'll be fun" I mocked from the backseat crossing my arms over one another. I caught my mum rolling her eyes from the passenger seat, we had been over this multiple times when the topic was first brought up. At first, I thought it would be fun, leaving the English countryside only to realize we would be traveling to my grandma's house in the Texas countryside, keeping in mind in the middle of nowhere. Also, the trip may have sounded more enjoyable if it was only for a week or so, not the whole summer which meant missing out on hanging out with my friends, attending parties, and doing what teenage girls do in the summer. But it had been decided, my whole family was going to Texas for the whole summer, two months which I hope will go faster than I think. "Come on, Em look on the bright side, I heard grandma got a few new horses" My dad piped up staring at me through the window mirror. "How fun, hopefully, there will be horse crap and everything" I smiled sarcastically, closing my eyes and leaning my warm head against the cooling window. I stared up at the ranch, it was just like I remembered since I was last here, let's just remind you I was ten so that was around seven years ago, just great this was going to be one long summer. "Oh Em, look how big you've gotten!" My grandma gushed from the front porch rushing over to me. Her warm skin wrapped around my small frame as she embraced me in a gentle hug. I guess I hadn't seen the woman since I was a child so I barely remembered her or what she looked like. "Did your parents tell you I've got new horses?" She grinned letting go of me but still keeping me at arm's length. "Yeah," I smiled nodding before my dad handed me one of the few suitcases I had brought with me. She smiled before turning to Kyle who was currently what looked like trying to find service, also another downside of being here, no service whatsoever, not only am I not spending summer with my friends but now I can't communicate with them. I trudged over to my bed, hurling the empty suitcase onto the floor as I sprawled out on my new bed that was mine for the summer. After all the greetings that had taken place earlier, Grandma showed us to our rooms, luckily for me, I got the bedroom with a bathroom and a double bed, just the same one I had stayed in seven years ago. For the past two hours I had been in the middle of unpacking my three large suitcases into the small wardrobe space that I was provided with, I guess I really can't complain though. Kyle got the short end of the stick when it came to rooms, he had to take one for the team and take the sofa as the house didn't have enough spare bedrooms to occupy us all. I wiped off the bead of sweat that was starting to form on my forehead as I ripped off the flannel I was currently wearing, maybe now it's a good time to have a shower. I pulled on my Converse as I headed out my bedroom door before stuffing my phone in my pocket, if I couldn't find service out here I was going to make it my mission to find some. I trotted downstairs and passed the kitchen where everyone was currently gathered sitting around the table with mugs of tea. "Hey, Grandma is it alright if I take one of the horses for a ride?" I asked, standing in the doorway of the kitchen. "Go ahead sweetie" She smiled before turning back into conversation with my parents. I quickly slipped out the front door and made my way over to the barn that was located only a few steps away from the house. I entered the barn taking into account the different horses that occupied stalls, I quickly grabbed a saddle and ran as I opened the first stalk to the right that currently held a midnight black horse. I prepared the horse before grabbing a helmet that was probably a useful thing to use. I haven't ridden in years and I'm probably pretty rusty. I led the horse outside the barn by the rains before using a stepping stone to climb onto him. What can I say? I'm a short girl and the horse is probably taller than most people. I took my phone out of my pocket and kept it in my hand so that when I did achieve my goal of finding service I would be able to call my friends. I followed the lane that led into my grandma's house and back into the main road before I walked the horse for a few minutes before spotting a trail beginning. I quickly changed the direction of the horse to follow the trail that hopefully may lead me to some service, after around 15 minutes of no luck I was beginning to lose my determination before the horse came to a halt before a small lake. I frowned, maybe if I keep going for another little while I will turn around and make my way back home before it's dark. I gave the horse a small kick to give it some encouragement to cross the lake, it did as it was told and I felt the water collide with the bottom of my ankles as the horse noisily splashed across the shallow lake to get to the other side. As we finally crossed the lake, my phone lit up and to my delight, a few bars appeared in the corner of my phone. Who knew that crossing a lake would make so much difference? I smiled taking my helmet off, maybe I should find a place to sit and give the horse a break before I spend some time taking advantage of the service. I quickly moved the horse onwards, knowing that I could spend at least another half hour here on my phone before I should head back. I was about to settle down when I heard a twig snap just a little bit onward ahead of me, the horse I was currently on took a step backward as if it was about to be spooked. I sighed patting the horse trying to help it calm down, it was probably just the wind. My head snapped to the side when I heard the noise of a twig snapping again, only this time much louder and much closer. Maybe I shouldn't have come out here alone. I jumped as the noise sounded again only followed by a low, deep growl which made the horse start to make noise loudly. My eyes widened in fear before I saw something black dash through the trees. I felt the horse jump widely without any warning, sending me flying off the back of the horse and landing with a hard thud on the ground, my head banging on a large rock before everything went black.