Alpha Loren

ELLA

“And you’re certain you want to go to this party, Ella?” Connor asked as we ate dinner.

“No, I spent half an hour trying to perfect winged eyeliner to stay home,” I said, putting down my fork to point at the masterpiece I had created on each eye.

He rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“Chill. I can handle Cameron. He’s not a threat and I’m over him.”

Connor leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Okay, if you’re sure…”

I picked up my empty plate and walked to the sink, ruffling his thick, dark hair as I went. “Don’t worry.”

Connor was blessed with our mother’s genes. With brown curls and warm hazel eyes, he was a spitting image of her.

I, however, got my father’s genes.

My hair was a dull blonde and my skin was as pale as the uninteresting blue of my eyes. But of course, I wouldn’t get to inherit his tall, muscular physique.

Instead, I was short and in no way remarkable looking.

Biology is a bitch.

***

An hour later, Abi and Charlotte were waiting for me in the cramped hallway of the house.

I’d chucked a tomato down my top and was rummaging for something else to wear as Abi tapped her foot.

“Ready!” I announced, running down the stairs, my only pair of shoes in my hands. They were a battered, dirty pair of Converse I’d had for years.

Connor and I had serious money issues.

We worked at a café five shifts a week and Mom sent us the odd check, which was scarcely enough to cover the bills and necessities, but new shoes were not on the cards.

“Looking lovely, ladies,” I said as I shoved them on my feet.

“Thanks, but we need to go. We’re in danger of going over the fashionably late category,” Abi exclaimed before hustling us out the door.

Connor waited outside with what looked like a bottle of vodka in his hands.

“Connor,” I groaned, “please, don’t get wasted tonight.”

“Relax, Mom,” he said, unscrewing the lid and tilting his head back. “Not like I’m gonna drink it neat or anything.”

He swigged some and grimaced before holding it out to Abi and Charlotte. “Ladies?”

They both giggled as they drank from the bottle, gagging and squirming as it burned their throats.

“No pressure, Ella, but you can have some if you want,” Connor said, offering the bottle.

I glanced at the bottle and thought of Cameron and Logan and how on earth I was going to get through this night without slapping at least one of them.

“Just a little,” I replied, taking the bottle.

Neat spirits are disgusting. Dangerous too, but the more Abi, Charlotte, and I drank of Connor’s vodka, the less he had to make him into a moron.

So, I took a swig before handing it back to him, now only three-quarters full.

“Be careful with that,” I warned.

When the thudding music of the party reached our ears, the bottle was only a quarter full and we were all giggly.

As I walked arm in arm with my friends, the continual trials and challenges of my life paused and a smile slipped onto my face.

“Okay,” I said as we reached the door, “I’m tipsy and not a single part of me misses him. That’s a good sign, right?”

They all agreed.

“And Connor, for the love of the Goddess, we have a shift at seven a.m. At least make sure you’re sober by then.”

“It’s adorable how low you think of me, Ells,” he said, chubbing my cheeks. “Now, stop worrying and have some fun.”

We joined the hordes of teenagers flocking inside and danced and chatted and partied for hours.

It was a great night. At least, it was until I saw Cameron. I’d avoided him all night until I turned to see him leaning against a doorframe, glancing at me.

His jaw was tight as he looked down at the ground. I almost felt sorry for him. But then I remembered that he was an ass, and I was over him.

I turned back and continued to dance with Abi and Charlotte, who were screaming the lyrics to “Party in the USA” at the top of their lungs.

As we were getting the chorus, someone tapped my shoulder.

“What do you want?” I grunted, turning to see Cameron.

“To talk outside,” he said.

“No.”

“Ella, please,” he begged. “Just for a few minutes.”

“You get thirty seconds.”

I followed him outside to the front yard where the music, muffled by the walls, wasn’t so deafening.

“I wanted to say I’m sorry,” he said, “for pressuring you. And I miss you. I was wondering if we could give us another go?”

“No, Cameron,” I said. “There is no way in hell.”

“Why?” he asked. “We were happy, weren’t we?”

“We were, but now we want different things.”

He sighed and tightened his lips as he stared straight ahead. “Ella—”

“It’s never going to work,” I said. “Goodbye, Cameron.”

The smell of alcohol was rife in the air. Combined with the teenagers around me making out and groping each other, I began to feel sick.

So, I marched down the path, through the front gate, and into some fresher air. I needed to get into the forest to let off some steam. I needed to shift and run.

As I charged along the street, I passed Logan.

“How’s your boyfriend?” he called after me.

“Logan, you are the last thing I need right now.”

“Oh, looks like someone’s got their panties in a twist.”

I turned back and glared. The corner of his lip folded up as his friends jeered around him.

“Fuck you.”

“Don’t you want this?” he said, waving the shiny envelope in the air.

I stopped and turned around once again. “Just give it to me,” I said.

“Sure,” he chirped, holding it out to me. As I reached forward, he whipped it away and laughed. “I never gave you that lift home.”

“If you think I’m getting in your car with you this drunk—”

“Not now,” he interrupted. “After school on Monday.”

“Fine,” I said. “Whatever.”

“That’s a deal,” he said as he handed me the envelope. I grabbed it, but before he let go, he bent down, bringing his lips close to my ear. “Don’t break it.”

He moved his lips toward my cheek, but I smacked him across the face before he could get any further.

Irritatingly, he didn’t even flinch.

“I’ve been wanting to do that all day,” I spat before marching away.

I soon found a small footpath leading into the woods.

That was the first stupid thing I did.

Walking into the woods in the middle of the night alone is never a smart idea; not with all the werewolf territories around.

I lived in Washington state, where there were hundreds of packs because the mountain ranges and forests are sparsely populated with humans.

Cerridwen had a different pack on every border but I didn’t bother to know much about them. As far as I was concerned, I lived a human life, and the packs didn’t concern me.

I was still steaming from the Cameron and Logan incidents as I marched through the trees. The second I was far enough from the town, I stripped, tied my clothes to my wrist, and shifted.

It was that or fall onto my knees and have a complete breakdown about the aspects of my life going wrong—oh, so, every single one of them.

The wind through my hair and the forest under my paws was the perfect remedy. The anger dissipated, and endorphins took its place.

It was hours before my wolf grew tired and I had to shift back.

Putting my clothes back on and the sticky sweat and spilled drinks against my skin was an unpleasant reminder of how sour the night had been.

I sighed and leaned my back against a tree, still catching my breath.

Connor and the girls would be wondering where the hell I had got to, so I pulled out my phone to call them.

No service.

1%.

Oh, one bar of service!

0%.

Shit.

After groaning, I glanced around, only now noticing the unfamiliarity of my surroundings.

The trees were tall and menacing, with an eerie gloom hanging around them that trickled down my spine, triggering a shudder.

But more unsettlingly, after allowing my wolf to take over, I had no idea where the hell we were.

I took a few steps forward, taking a deep breath of the air and all the scents it held.

This was no longer Cerridwen territory; I was sure of that. The scents of other packs were all around. None of them were remarkable, yet something about the forest ahead was alluring.

The shadows and darkness enticed me with their mystery and compelled me to saunter on. But within a couple of minutes, I halted at an invisible borderline.

I must have crossed through a half dozen territories already, but this one was different, and my wolf didn’t want me anywhere near it.

A new scent filled my nostrils now. One too intense to go unnoticed.

I should leave. Figure out how to get home. Let Connor, Abi, and Charlotte know I’m fine.

But there was something about that damn scent.

So I stayed.

I traced the border, running my hands along the leathery bark of the trees, occasionally daring to dip a finger into the territory.

My eyes scanned every bush and tree the darkness would allow me to see, examining every branch and twig.

Nothing but stillness; the only noise was the crunch of leaves under my feet.

I paused for a moment, my foot hovering above the divide between the two territories.

Nothing of any physical significance marked the spot, yet my wolf still whined and begged me to turn around.

But over the years of living in the human world, I’d become immune to the control of my wolf and she didn’t govern me anymore.