Accidentally Bitten by The Alpha

Chapter 9

Closing my eyes tightly, I turn away from the sounds of their bodies pumping and pulsing together as they go at it again. I can’t stand it. He means nothing to me. If anything, I’m the other woman, and yet hearing them together feels like I’m being stabbed repeatedly in my gut.

I shouldn't feel this strongly, but I can’t help it. What the hell is wrong with me?

Closing my eyes tightly, I cover my ears and take deep breaths, until sleep finally takes me and everything fades away.

Blinking them open, everything is different. I'm not in the basement anymore, but standing in a field, the wind whipping around me as the storm slowly fades. Looking at my feet, I'm surprised to see they've been replaced by snow-white paws. In this dream, I seem to be a fox, maybe, or some kind of dog.

"A wolf," a voice in my head declares. "How could you be anything else?"

Turning my neck, I look up at a full moon. It’s beautiful, the way the light shines down on dew-covered grass. I raise my nose and taste the salt of the nearby ocean. I want to run on the beach and feel the moonlight on my back.

On legs that are not my legs, I rush forward towards the trees. The ocean is on the other side, just through the deeply shadowed thicket. Following the sound of the waves, I push forward, catching air as I soundlessly leap over a fallen log.

My eyes are sharper than ever, and even though it is dark, it almost feels like day under the moon's steady glow. A rabbit crosses my path, its delicious scent on the back of my tongue as I taste its fear, rolling it around in my mouth like sweet honey.

My heart skips and my stomach jumps. It feels like I haven't eaten in forever, and this is more than food. This is prey. And my instincts are telling me that stalking prey is about more than eating–it’s about the sheer pleasure of the hunt.

I have never hunted a thing in my life. I hardly even eat meat, but at this moment, as I look at the world through the eyes of a wolf, I can’t think of anything sweeter than the tender meat of a well-earned kill.

The rabbit looks up, its eyes widening as it notices me standing there, watching it breathe. It silently dashes into the underbrush, racing to freedom. The rabbit may be clever and swift, but my eyes are keen and my ears sharp. This body was built to stalk, hunt, and consume. I am a predator, and under the blessings of the full-moon, nothing in this wood is stronger or faster than me.

A small squeak to the right turns my head and, in a flash of movement, I soon hold the rabbit’s life in my jaw, its pulse beating beneath my teeth. With a quick snap, the rabbit stops moving. As its blood drips down my throat, satiating my need for blood, I feel a pleasure almost deeper than s*x as I consume my first morsels of still-warm meat. Feeling at ease for the first time in a long time, I finish my meal and lick my paws right before I sit down on my haunches, licking my lips.

Inhaling the crisp night air, a new, even more delicious scent crosses my path.

But this time it isn’t prey–it is something far more enticing. Leaning towards the aroma, I let my nose guide my gaze until I see something, or someone, standing in the distance. Slowly moving forward, the scent becomes stronger, filling my senses, making me warm with a different kind of need because on the hill is another wolf, a large, black beast with eyes the color of brightly burning emeralds. He smells like the woods and the salt-air of the sea, a my core squeezes with need.

I want him, more than than the rabbit, more than anything.

With a yip, I call out to him.

Our eyes connect, and without saying anything, the black wolf dashes off.

No, I can’t lose him!

“Come back,” I howl as I dash after him, but he doesn't stop. If anything, he moves faster, so fast I can barely track his scent. I chased him for hours, jumping over logs and padding downriver towards a swamp that dumps into the sea. Occasionally he stops just long enough for me to see him, but every time I get near, he rushes off again, taunting me, teasing me along on some unknown path.

He’s taking me somewhere. But why?

Looking over his shoulder one last time, he dashes forward leading me to a building that has now become very familiar.

The university.

“Wake up,” a kind voice shakes me. “The storm has passed.”

That was a strange dream. My mouth is sticky and tastes foul, my head pounding as open my eyes slowly. Squinting through the painful glare of the morning sun shining through an overhead window, I moan as I hold my head between my hands. Whatever the hell it was that Patrick gave me, wolfsbane? Whatever it was, I hate the side effects--This feels worse than a hangover and it also gave me bizarre dreams. I actually thought I was a wolf for a moment, probably because I could hear them howling last night in the moonlight.

A swath of bright blue sky and a wisp of cloud peeks around the edges of the window above. I guess the storm really has passed. Thank God! Now I can get the hell out of this weird dungeon and up to reality, maybe even find myself a place to crash while I go to school for the year and figure out what the heck to do with myself the rest of the time.

Whatever I do, it needs to be as far away from Jake as possible. I should report his ass to the campus police. There were more than a few witnesses to what he tried to do.

"How are you feeling," an unfamiliar voice asks, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. Startled, I jump and turn to see a sweet-faced young woman with a thick braid the color of wet bark draped across her shoulder. her hair is long, reaching her waist, and as she blinks, I see she has the most beautiful, kind eyes, a pretty shade of hazel the color of warm honey and spring leaves.

She grins, holding what looks like a soft brick covered in aluminum foil. “Do you like sausage? I grabbed you a breakfast burrito.”

Reaching out I take her offering and an unexpected tear rolls down my cheek, this small act of kindness loosening up the grief sitting heavily in my heart. In such a short time I've had what I thought was a safe, stable life torn apart. I caught my boyfriend of three years screwing around, and in anger made a connection with another boy who doesn't want anything to do with me. I can't go home, I can't even move out of my old apartment. I'm f*****g stuck here all because my boyfriend is a jerk and I was too stupid to see the truth soon enough to save myself.

"It's okay," the kind girl pats my arm. “Here,” she hands me a pack of wet wipes. “Full moon nights tend to be pretty messy, both on the body and in the heart." Looking up and away at the sunny window, her face falls with some deep emotion as she adds, "Sometimes the Goddess can be cruel that way.” she snorts cryptically.

“I'm sorry," I apologize, although I don't know why other than it feels like see needs it. As she turns to grin at me, I know it was the right thing to say. "Thank you for your help last night, um..."

“Dana,” she reminds me. "My name is Dana Riversong. And that shy girl over there," she waves at a someone who looks almost like a split in image of her only with bouncing curly hair instead of her straight rope. They both have the same chestnut brown skin and dancing hazel eyes. "Is my twin sister, Corrina. And you don't need to apologize. It's the least we could do."

Inclining her neck and looking down at her hands, she gives me the smallest bow as if helping me out was an honor instead of a favor I can't possibly repay. Embarrassed as a warm blush colors my cheeks, I can't meet her gaze as she reaches forward to take my hands. She saved me last night, sleeping so close after what had happened between me and that asshole, Jake, and I couldn't even remember her name.

"Hey, if you need it, I'm here for you, okay," she reaches back into her pocket and pulls out her phone, swiping it open, she hands it to me. "Here, type in your number."

Deciding to trust her, I place my number in her phone and she grins like I gave her a gift. A few moments later, my phone buzzes. "That's my number. If you need anything, just ring, okay?"

Feeling optimistic for the first time in days, I thank my new friend and look around for Patrick. My neck is killing me, and I also want to apologize after Jake knocked him out to get to me. He was only trying to be a friend, and he ended up suffering for it because my ex couldn't understand that no means no. But as I search, he seems to be invisible. It's like he wasn't real.

Shrugging, I find something fresh to wear, do the best I can with my hair, and after stowing my box away in a storage locker head out to the quad. Calling the last number on my list, I'm surprised to get not only an answer, but a positive response.

"Yeah, sure, we take vouchers," a cheerful male voice replies. "Here, take down the address, I'll meet you there in 20."

Bounding towards the main doors, I jog towards freedom.

Until a rough voice stops me in my tracks.

"Who gave you permission to leave?" He growls and my body freezes as I turn and face him.

"Why do you care?" I hiss. "Why does it matter to you, Zane Rivers?"