The Alpha’s forbidden mate

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE.

THE CHASE

~EMMA’S POV~

“Great, now I’m lost,” I said to myself, lifting up my phone in a desperate attempt to find a signal. Waving it as I paced back and forth on the cracked pavement. My legs, feeling sore from walking all day.

After a few minutes of trying, I gave up. There was no use. I was stuck in this God-knows-where part of this eerie town, and my so-called partner? He was supposed to have my back. But instead, he ran off like a coward.

“Damn you, Cody,” I cursed under my breath.

Three days. That’s all I had left until my big break, and I’d already messed it up. Worse still, I had absolutely nothing to show for it.

This case was supposed to be my chance at stardom.

After three years as a journalist, I was still stuck covering the fluff pieces no one else wanted. Then, I got a tip about a string of unsolved crimes in—what was the town's name again?

I squinted, biting my lip as I wracked my brain. After a moment, it came to me.

“Ridgehaven,” I said aloud, my voice echoing faintly in the empty street. “The town with a history of unsolved deaths… creepy, weird little place.” I let out a heavy sigh.

Today had been a disaster. I arrived at the crime scene with Cody, only for the two of us to get chased out almost immediately. Of course, Cody ran to save his skin.

The guy’s been a liability ever since the chief burdened me with him. Nobody at the office wanted him, and now I understood why.

I thought taking him under my wing might make him better, but who was I kidding? Cody was a lost cause. And if I didn’t find my way out of here soon, I would be too.

I glanced around, hoping to find some clue about where I was. To my left, a rusty green sign barely clung to its post, the faded letters still reading *“Ridgehaven.”*

“Great!” I exclaimed “Still stuck in this creepy town,” I muttered, annoyance creeping into my voice.

After a minute of contemplating, I decided to pull out my phone again, holding it up as if that might somehow summon a signal. Just one bar, that’s all I needed. If I could make a call or book a ride, I’d be out of here in no time.

But the bars stayed empty, just like the street around me.

Soon enough the sky started to darken, and a chill settled over the quiet town. Being a woman alone on a deserted street in Ridgehaven felt like the start of a horror movie.

Sure, it might make a fantastic headline if I ended up dead—but I had no plans of being tomorrow’s front page. Not today.

I started walking. With no idea where I was headed hoping I might come across a Good Samaritan. A soul who’d take pity on me and offer to drop me off at the nearest bus stop.

After about an hour of aimless walking, I paused to catch my breath. By now the sky had grown completely dark.

“This is insane,” I muttered as frustration and exhaustion settled over me. Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse—that I might end up stuck here forever—I saw a flash of hope. Headlights.

A car was approaching. Its bright beams pierced through the darkness, making it impossible to make out the vehicle’s shape. I shielded my eyes from the intensity of the lights as it drew closer.

The car came to a stop right in front of me. Odd I presumed and instinctively stepped back, putting some distance between the car and myself. As the headlights dimmed, the vehicle came into view. It was black van.

Dread washed over me. This van looks like one straight out of a k********g scene of a Hollywood movie.

I cautiously took another step back, but before I could move farther, the van’s side door slid open with a menacing ‘thud’. Three masked men stepped out.

My heart dropped.

Before I could fully process what was happening, instinct kicked in. I turned and ran.

“Go after her! Now!” a voice yelled behind me.

I kept running as fast as my leg could carry me. Not once did I bother to turn around to see who it was. I didn’t care. All that mattered now was getting as far away as possible.

Their heavy footsteps pounding behind me. My silent prayers grew louder in my mind, begging God to let me survive the night.

I didn’t want to believe this was how it might end—just another name added to Ridgehaven’s long list of unsolved deaths.

“No, stay away… No!”

I froze on my tracks as sudden screams erupted behind me, my body visibly trembling as I slowly turned. My breath caught in my throat. I was alone.

The men. They were gone.

I stared at the dark, empty streets in disbelief. Then, my eyes fell to the ground. Blood. Fresh, dark stains smeared across the pavement.

I stumbled back, my pulse racing.

“What the hell is happening?” I whispered, my voice barely audible.

A sudden, low growl snapped me back to the moment. My heart, beating loudly as I turned toward the sound. Emerging from the dark shadows of the trees, a massive creature stepped into view.

A wolf.

No—this wasn’t just any wolf. It was an enormous one. Larger than any dog I’ve ever seen. Its fur glistened with streaks of blood, and its glowing yellow eyes locked onto me, and I felt like a prey being sized up by its predator.

Its growl grew louder, I took an involuntary step back as it bared its sharp teeth at me. Fear gripped me like a vice.

I tried not to move too suddenly, not wanting to provoke it. But my thoughts were racing. A wolf. In Ridgehaven. Of course, this town would have wolves.

Creepy, blood-covered wolves.

My gaze darted back to the blood on the ground. Was this thing responsible for the masked men?

I swallowed hard. If I ever survived this, I am definitely doing some serious digging into the secrets of this town. To hell with Cody.

But right now, survival was all that mattered.

I didn’t wait to find out if the wolf was friendly—judging by the blood and its murderous stare, I already knew the answer. I turned and bolted into the woods.

Behind me, the wolf let out a snarl and gave chase.

My legs weaved through the dark, silent forest. The cool night air burning my lungs as I ran for my dear life.

I glanced back—the wolf was close. Too close. Its canines sharp, glistening in the moonlight. Drool dripping from its jaw as if it was savoring the idea of devouring me.

“God, I don’t want to die. Not yet,” I gasped out loud, my voice trembling. “I still have scores to settle with my cheating ex and my so-called best friend!”

Each step felt heavier, my legs growing weaker. I was reaching my limit. The last time I ran this hard was since that awful night, when I got the call from the hospital about my mom’s death.

And just like that night, my chest tightened. The pain of the past colliding with the danger of the present.

Suddenly, my sprint came to an abrupt end. My foot caught on a massive branch lying across the forest floor, and I went sprawling.

“s**t, s**t!” I groaned, pain shooting through my body as I hit the ground hard.

I twisted around, forcing myself to face the inescapable. The wolf was almost on top of me, its massive body closing the distance with terrifying speed. I stared at it, frozen.

This was it.

This was how Emma Parker—25 years old, single, and forever unlucky—was going to die. Alone, in a dark, creepy forest, in some backwater town no one cared about.

But even as the truth stared me down, something deep inside me resisted. I didn’t want to die. Not like this. Not in a gruesome, horrifying way that would leave my name as nothing more than a footnote in Ridgehaven’s strange history.

Tears burned in my eyes as I screamed, “Please… someone, help me.”

The wolf growled, its teeth glinting as it lunged.

And then, everything went black.