The Alpha’s Fated Choice (Alpha's Fated Encounter Trilogy #1)

“Not you, too.”

My vision is blurry with tears as I look around. This room smells like Rita. Her scent is everywhere. My footsteps are heavy as I go to the bedside table drawer and take out the black phone. There are a few more bottles of the same potion that I drank the last time I was here. I don’t know why, but I pocket them as well.

I turn to leave but stop in the doorway. I slowly walk over to Buster, crouch next to him, and stroke his head one last time, whispering, “Good boy. You were a very good dog.”

My heart feels like it’s going to burst as I head back to the study. Alex is standing by the window, peering outside.

“We have to leave. They’re coming!”

He moves to the door, grabbing my wrist in the process to pull me with him. But as I pass the wastebasket, Rita’s last words come back to me.

“Wait!”

Fortunately, Rita always lined her trash cans with plastic bags to make it easier for her to empty them. I scoop up the plastic bag, garbage and all, and take off at a run.

Alex hurries after me. “What are you doing?”

“Never mind. Let’s go!”

He shifts as he rushes out the door. Lifting me with his teeth, he swings me onto his back. I don’t know if somebody’s chasing us, but Alex is moving so fast that I dig my hands into his fur and close my eyes, holding on for dear life.

The wind whips my cheeks as Alex takes us far away from Rita and her cottage. Burying my face in his fur, I let myself cry. My shoulders shake with fierce sobs.

Why would someone do this to her? She was harmless. She couldn’t fight anymore. Even when Rita shifted into her animal form, she had to be supported by someone. A few months ago, I came across her in her wolf form, in her yard. She told me she missed running in the forest and feeling the wind on her face. The few times she had attempted to run with the pack had been spectacular failures. Nobody had been unkind to her for needing help; they had tried to support her, but her pride had stopped her from taking part again.

She didn’t deserve to die like this.

I’m sure Buster tried his best to defend her. There were deep claw marks in his sides, and from the way he was lying in the bedroom, it was obvious somebody had tossed him in there. Neither Rita’s nor Buster’s last moments should have been like that, with them feeling helpless, unable to protect each other. I can’t imagine what Rita must have felt as her faithful companion was killed in front of her.

My wolf is howling in misery within me. I cling to Alex, lost in the storm of emotions. We finally come to a stop, and Alex shifts back into his human form with me still on his back. He gently sets me down on the grass next to a stream. Taking my hands, he carefully washes the blood off them in the flowing water, not uttering a single word. My eyes are dry now, but I feel empty and numb.

He sits down across from me. “I’m sorry, Sophia.”

“Yeah.” My voice is tired. “So am I.” He doesn’t say anything further, letting me sort through my thoughts. After a couple of minutes, I sigh and look at him. “Did you find anything in the study?”

He appears hesitant to reply, but then he reaches into his pocket bringing out several small slips of paper dyed in a very particular color. “She was in communication with somebody. She was working for them.”

I snatch the papers from him in disbelief. “What are you saying? Rita moved here for her retirement. She wasn’t working.”

But when I look at the papers, I recognize the style. People who work closely with the pack security and the Alpha communicate on pieces of parchment like the ones Alex found. I stare at them in disbelief. Why did Rita lie to me? Even if she was still working for the pack security, there was no reason to lie to me.

Unless she wanted to get close to me for some reason.

The thought comes to me unbidden. Now that I think about it, when Rita first came to town, I ran into her at the bar. My shift had just started, and she was sitting at the bar by herself. She struck up the most random conversation with me, and after a while she ended up buying a drink, and she spent quite a bit of time there before leaving. I later found out that she had been sitting there for hours even before I showed up. I never thought much about it, but what if there had been a reason for her to do that?

My tongue darts out to wet my lips nervously. What am I thinking? Why would Rita wait around just to get close to me? I’m not anyone important.

I look at the papers again. They have no dates on them. I read them out loud:

“No contact.”

“First contact established.”

“Trust exercises with subject.”

“Started administering doses.”

“Subject is compliant to doses. Trust has been established.”