My Neighbor is an Alpha

Chapter 2

“Come here, girl.”

My head snapped immediately to the owner of the voice and froze.

His dark hair sprawled over his face, barely covering his sharp jaw. He was dressed in a black shirt that clung to his impossible frame like a second skin and a loose black jogger. Dark eyes watched the cat while a silver ring gleamed beneath the moonlight as he crouched down.

He stretched his tattooed arm forward, keeping his eyes on the cat. The cat meowed before running into his arms. He straightened. I stumbled back instinctively.

Not because I was concerned about how the hell he got into my backyard or how he looked like the last person you’d want showing up in your backyard after midnight.

No.

He seemed to grow with every second that passed until my head was barely reaching his chest.

I swallowed thickly.

For some reason, the stranger didn’t seem to notice it was probably against the law to trespass, seeing as he barely spared me a glance.

That made irritation spark in my chest.

And as he turned to leave, I spoke.

“Excuse me?”

He paused, glancing over his shoulder like I was an inconvenience. Rude.

I scoffed, appalled by his audacity. “Is there a reason you’re in my backyard?”

The stranger stared at me for a moment, then he looked around like there was someone other than the two of us. “My backyard.”

I blinked. “What?”

He adjusted the cat in his arms. It immediately settled against his chest, purring loudly. “You moved into the Miller house.”

I frowned. “The what?”

“The Miller house.” His gaze swept over the property before landing back on me. “That fence?” He pointed toward the wooden barrier separating our yards. “It’s broken.”

I followed his finger and, sure enough, one section near the back was crooked.

“Lucy uses it as a doorway.”

As if on cue, the cat meowed. I looked between him and the fence. Then at the cat. Then back at him.

“You’re telling me you casually wander into other people’s yards because your cat can’t stay on your property?”

“Pretty much.”

The answer came so easily that I almost choked. “What if someone called the police?”

He shrugged with an indifference that made my irritation double for reasons unknown to me. Maybe it was because everything about him screamed unbothered while my entire life was actively imploding.

“That’s incredibly irresponsible.”

“And yet,” he said, scratching the cat behind the ears, “I’ve survived.”

I narrowed my eyes.

He just stared back, his gaze fully focused on me now. Dark. Sharp. Annoyingly calm.

A strange flutter hit my stomach. I hated it.

The cat suddenly leaped from his arms and rubbed against my legs.

The stranger’s mouth twitched, like he was fighting off a scowl with a look that said ‘traitor’.

A snicker escaped me before I could stop it. His eyes flickered toward me and for half a second, something changed. It was barely visible but enough to make my pulse stumble.

I cleared my throat. “So are you going to tell me your name?”

He stayed silent but the corner of his mouth twitched.

“No.”

My jaw dropped.

“No?”

“No.”

“Are you always this rude?”

“Are you always this nosy?”

I opened my mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.

He had the audacity to look amused.

Before I could think of a response, a porch light flicked on nearby.

The stranger glanced toward the neighboring house.

And just like that, his expression shuttered, his jaw ticked once as he scooped his cat back into his arms. “Goodnight.”

I folded my arms. “You still haven’t told me your name.”

He started walking away but halfway to the broken section of fence, he paused. “Get some sleep, Valerie.”

My stomach dropped.

I never told him my name.

My feet followed him without hesitation but he had already slipped through the opening in the fence and disappeared into the darkness.

It felt like I’d closed my eyes for five minutes before my alarm dragged me back to consciousness.

My tired eyes refused to stay open as I got ready for my first day in a new highschool, my sweaty hands shoving books I wasn’t sure I needed into my bag.

I swung it over my shoulder, heading downstairs. In the hallway, I managed to catch a glimpse of mom, still sprawled over her bed, her body rising and falling in a steady rhythm.

An empty wine bottle laid at the feet of the bed, her hair sprawled over the mattress.

I lingered at her doorway, studying her face. She looked peaceful when she wasn’t pretending that this entire mess wasn’t weighing down on her.

The doorbell chimed, snapping me back to reality. My mom stirred but didn’t wake at the ringing that was now insistent.

Irritation flickered at the sound as I bolted downstairs, throwing the front door open.

A girl stood on the other side with a smile too wide to be genuine. She raised a basket of chocolate higher before speaking.

“Welcome to the neighborhood,” she said brightly, the sound of her voice grating on my already frayed nerves.

Lack of sleep and anxiety didn’t go too well together.

“My name is Diane and I’ll be your guide.”

I frowned, shuffling on my feet. “My guide?”

She shoved the basket in my hand with more force than necessary even as that smile was glued to her face. I balanced it with one hand as my unease grew.

“We’re basically going to be sharing classes together for the next year,” she said, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder. “And I’ve decided to make sure you don’t get left out.”

I carefully placed the gift basket on the ground with a tight smile. “Thanks.”

Her gaze flicked to my outfit, a sharp expression passing her eyes before she exhaled. “Come on,” she said, hooking her arm into mine and before I could protest, she dragged me out of my house.

“I told my dad to wait a few blocks over,” she rambled on. “Don’t want the sheriff scaring the new comers.”

I get it now.

That ‘better than everyone’ look in her eyes, the confidence… and the need to check out the competition. I knew it because I was her, once upon a time.

It was almost laughable really.

Highschool drama. My kind of normal. Not court trials and death threats.

Still, I let Diane drag me to the cop car idling a few houses away. Let her talk my ear off about the way things went around her. Let her not so subtly tell me to stay in my lane.

The car door shut behind me the minute we rolled into the school’s parking lot. “Thanks dad.”

“You’re welcome, cupcake.” Sheriff Joe said, then his gaze slid to me, lingering longer than I would have liked. “Have a good first day, Valerie.”

My grip on the bag tightened as I looked ahead. This was it.

A fresh start.

My stomach turned.