curse of the alpha - episode 03 & 04 Read online

  CURSE OF THE ALPHA: EPISODES 3 & 4

  SPECIAL TWO-BOOK BUNDLE

  TASHA BLACK

  TASHA BLACK

  13TH STORY PRESS

  Contents

  Copyright

  Episode 3

  1.

  Chapter 1

  2.

  Chapter 2

  3.

  Chapter 3

  4.

  Chapter 4

  5.

  Chapter 5

  6.

  Chapter 6

  7.

  Chapter 7

  8.

  Chapter 8

  9.

  Chapter 8

  10. Chapter 9

  11. Chapter 10

  12. Chapter 11

  Episode 4

  13. Chapter 1

  14. Chapter 2

  15. Chapter 3

  16. Chapter 4

  17. Chapter 5

  18. Chapter 6

  19. Chapter 7

  20. Chapter 8

  21. Chapter 9

  22. Chapter 10

  23. Chapter 11

  24. Chapter 12

  25. Chapter 13

  26. Chapter 14

  27. Chapter 15

  28. Chapter 16

  29. Chapter 17

  Afterword

  Also by Tasha Black

  Copyright © 2014 by 13th Story Press Al rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  First Edition: September 9, 2014

  ASIN: B00MTBGUQ6

  13th Story Press PO Box 506 Swarthmore, PA 19081

  [email protected]

  Cover design 2014 by Cormar Covers

  www.cormarcovers.com

  Created with Vellum

  Episode 3

  C H A P T E R

  1

  A insley didn’t stop to think about how Julian had betrayed her. She didn’t think about the thousands of hours of acute agony over a lifetime of resisting her wolf at every full moon. She didn’t think about her parents or past.

  She let the burden of thought and control fall to her feet and break into a million

  pieces.

  The wolf nudged her consciousness, offering, urging.

  Ainsley assented.

  Take me. Take over. Do what you were made to do.

  Her body was in a rapture of anticipation. Every cell tingled and began to rearrange.

  She was going to shift.

  And then she was going to kill Julian.

  C H A P T E R

  2

  T he ecstasy of transformation suffused Ainsley’s body.

  Tremors of pleasure and anticipation flickered through her. Her wolf coiled itself

  tightly. Its release would be earth shattering.

  “Subsisto lupo mutatis!” Julian lifted his hand and a lightning bolt of ghastly blue light shot from his fingertips, striking Ainsley so hard, she bounced off the walnut door like a rag doll.

  Pain blossomed in the back of her head, but it was dwarfed by the agony unleashed

  by the evil blue light. It snaked through her body and constricted her chest. Her blood ran cold and she struggled for breath as though she had been dunked in an icy river.

  Her transformation stopped dead. Her wolf ceased to howl. It wasn’t gone completely,

  just…hiding, from whatever this was.

  Julian stared at her, frozen in horror.

  Push said a voice in her head.

  With everything she had, Ainsley pushed against the light. At first nothing happened.

  The pain only intensified.

  Push the voice repeated, more urgently.

  She gathered the rest of her strength around her and pushed again.

  Something broke free inside her and the light left her body with the force of a bullet.

  Her whole being sung with exhilaration.

  The light hit Julian square in the chest, slamming him back into the leaded glass

  window of the study, which exploded immediately. She had time to take in his shocked

  expression as his body was flung violently into the space above the rhododendrons out front.

  Ainsley skidded across the floor. Most of the glass had gone out the window with

  Julian, but enough had fallen inside to find its way into her bare feet. She crouched in the broken window and peered into the yard below.

  The rhododendrons were still shaking from Julian’s landing.

  But he was gone.

  She remained hunched down at the window, grasping the frame for support.

  What just happened?

  What had they done to each other?

  Ainsley let her body slide to the floor. Blood trickled from tiny wounds on her hands and feet. She ached all over.

  The beautiful glass window was ruined and her father’s study was trashed again. No

  matter what she did in this awful town, it didn’t matter. Everything she touched went to hell.

  Why couldn’t things just be normal for a little while?

  She curled up on her side.

  She would allow herself to cry for two full minutes. Then she would sit up, pick the

  glass out of her hands and feet, and clean up the study again.

  Then she would do whatever she had to do to get out of Tarker’s Mills, quickly.

  C H A P T E R

  3

  T he screen door snapped shut.

  Ainsley’s eyes popped open.

  Erik’s masculine aroma wafted up the stairs before she even heard his footsteps.

  “Ainsley!” he cried in a hoarse voice.

  Ainsley squeezed her eyes shut. Out of the frying pan into the fire.

  He thundered into the room cursing softly under his breath.

  “What happened?”

  She opened her eyes reluctantly to find him crouching by her side.

  “Are you okay?”

  His eyes scanned her body, and he cursed again when he saw the blood on her hands

  and feet.

  “I’m fine.”

  Ainsley tried to sit up but a sliver of glass in her palm sent an electric shock of pain up her arm.

  “You’re not fine. Goddamn it, Ainsley, why are you so stubborn?”

  He scooped her up in his arms and carried her down the hall to her room.

  “Don’t put me there.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because my grandmother made that quilt and I don’t want blood on it.”

  He ripped the quilt off the bed and lowered her gently to the sheet.

  “I’ll buy you new sheets. Just lie down and try not to move.”

  He stomped out of the room.

  Ainsley grabbed her cell phone from the bedside table and texted furiously.

  Grace, it’s Ainsley. Can you come over please? I need you.

  After a moment her phone buzzed.

  B right there!

  Erik came in quickly enough to send a breeze of intoxicating scent ahead of him. In

  spite of everything she felt a surge of excitement.

  He was carrying a first aid kit.

  Oh God.

  No, it was a good thing.

  She couldn’t draw his alpha if he was pulling glass out of her, right? All she had to do was make it until Grace got here. And not give him the satisfaction of screaming while he worked on her.

  She noted with approval that he had a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a pile of old

  towels under his arm. He looked down at her with a gigantic scowl.

  “I�
��ll get the glass out,” he said. “Then you can shift and heal the rest.”

  “This will heal if I shift?”

  “Jesus, Ainsley. Do you know anything about being a wolf?”

  “I…I don’t want to shift right now.”

  “Fine. We’re starting with your feet,” he growled.

  Without waiting for her consent, he lifted her left foot and placed it down on a towel.

  He poured alcohol onto a piece of cotton and began to slowly and carefully clean each toe.

  The alcohol stung a little, but mostly his touch tickled, until he hit a piece of glass.

  She winced but managed not to cry out.

  “Okay, look away, Ainsley,” he said gently.

  She averted her gaze from the scene of the crime, but the sight of the study torn

  apart made her feel even worse. Instead, she concentrated on his gorgeous left bicep. It flexed as he held her ankle down, sending an eddy of luscious scent to her nose.

  The pain was annoying but bearable. He worked silently until her whole foot was

  clean and all the glass was gone.

  “You’re lucky. There’s no major damage.”

  He bandaged the foot and patted her ankle.

  Then he placed her right foot on the towel and began the process all over again.

  Ainsley could hear the birds in the garden and the sound of Erik’s heart booming at a steady pace. It was soothing. His hands were warm and gentle.

  “How did you learn to do first aid?”

  He stopped and looked down at her.

  “I work on a construction site.”

  Ainsley reddened. Of course.

  He began to work on her left hand.

  “So, do you want to tell me what happened?”

  How could she? Ainsley didn’t know herself what happened. And the last person she

  wanted to tell was Erik Jensen. Besides which, he already probably knew half of it.

  She snuck a glance at his eyes but he was focused on her hand.

  “Well, I guess you already know how I spent the evening.”

  He nodded curtly.

  “I was looking for something in my dad’s study this morning and I slipped and broke

  the window,” she finished weakly.

  He continued to clean and bandage her hand until she was pretty much convinced he

  had taken the bait.

  Thank God.

  “Ainsley, you’re very important. And you smell like a fucking peach. But that doesn’t mean I have to pretend to believe you when you lie to me.”

  He paused.

  Ainsley was too stunned to respond.

  “Now I know it’s none of my business, but I want to know what that guy wants with

  you.”

  “What the hell, Erik?” Anger replaced her shock and loosened her tied tongue.

  “Seriously,” Erik said. “Why is he all over you the minute you get here?”

  As if it was completely inconceivable that a man might simply find her attractive

  enough to pursue.

  “I don’t know. But at least I know it’s not because he’s some power hungry animal like the rest of you!”

  Fucking Erik Fucking Jensen. Why did he have to insult her? It was all the worse that after what just happened, Erik was right.

  “Why did you come here anyway?” she asked, taking the conversation in another, less

  painful direction. “You were here, like, the second it happened.”

  At least he had the decency to look embarrassed.

  “I was patrolling, Ainsley.” The accusing tone was gone from his voice. “And now I’ll bet you’re beginning to understand why.”

  “Who asked you to patrol? Are you spying on me?”

  He breathed out slowly and then took her right hand in his and began to clean it and

  search for glass splinters. It didn’t tickle. But it teased at a part of her that snuffled and scratched to be let out of its cage.

  “I patrol because I need to know you’re safe.”

  “Why?” Ainsley demanded.

  Instead of answering her he looked down at her.

  His luminous eyes were tortured. The planes of his jaws were clenched tight with

  unsaid words. He held her hand so gently, but she could feel waves of passion coursing through him and into her.

  She was trapped in his gaze for a long moment.

  He turned his body toward her and leaned in slowly.

  The screen door banged downstairs.

  C H A P T E R

  4

  A

  “

  insley?”

  Grace’s clear voice bounced off the walls and her steps drummed swiftly up the stairs.

  “I’m… I’m here!” Ainsley managed, tearing her eyes from Erik’s.

  “You need to mate with Clive right away, like your parents wanted you to,” he

  whispered fiercely.

  Grace was already in the doorway and her raised eyebrows suggested that she had

  heard Erik’s last comment.

  “Hello, Erik,” she said politely.

  “Grace,” he nodded with a deference that Ainsley couldn’t help but notice. She made a mental note to ask Grace about it later.

  “Ainsley, what happened?” Grace asked, eying the bloody rags and bandages.

  “I’m going to head out now,” Erik said. “She’s got some minor lacerations but nothing that needs a doctor. She’s cleaned up.”

  He stood smoothly. Her whole body felt cold at the loss.

  “Erik,” Ainsley called.

  He turned back to her and his dark eyes glimmered.

  “Thank you.”

  He jerked his chin up in acknowledgement and strode away and down the stairs.

  A moment later she heard the screen door bang.

  “What was that about?” Grace asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “Trust me, even I don’t know what’s going on with that guy.”

  “What did he mean about Clive?”

  Ainsley shifted uncomfortably, she should never have lied to Erik. One lie always

  begets another. She smoothed her hair behind her ears.

  “My parents wanted me to choose Clive Warren as my, um, mate.”

  “Really?”

  Ainsley shrugged.

  “I wouldn’t have expected that,” Grace said finally.

  “Why not?”

  “It’s really not my place. I’m not a wolf. I’m sure they had their reasons. I just

  wouldn’t have expected your parents to choose Clive. So…” she looked Ainsley up and

  down, “what happened here?”

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  “Try me.”

  “Julian came by last night. He just showed up with dinner and a bottle of wine.”

  Grace nodded and waited for her to go on. Ainsley thought to herself that it was good to have a policewoman for a friend. Grace knew how to listen without judgment.

  “We had a nice evening. I probably drank too much.”

  “That’s not usual for a wolf.”

  “I know. Normally, I can drink as much as I want. Anyway, I overdid it. When I woke

  up I was really groggy. I heard Julian in the other room and I snuck down the hallway.

  And he…”

  Ainsley paused. Time for another lie?

  No. She would be honest with Grace, about this, at least. Maybe she could help

  Ainsley understand what was going on.

  “He was chanting something,” Ainsley continued.

  “What was he chanting?” Grace asked. “Can you remember the words?”

  She remembered. The sights and sounds of tonight had etched themselves on her

  brain. She didn’t think she would ever forget.

  “Invenies quod perierat,” Ainsley repeated the words. “I’m not sure what it means. My Latin is a little rusty.”

  “Okay.” Grace said, clearly
intrigued. “Go on.”

  “There was this horrible blue light. And what looked like a compass in the air –

  floating. And then it pointed at me.” Ainsley hesitated, remembering the pain of what happened next. “So I tried to change – into my wolf. But he blasted me with the blue

  light and stopped me.”

  “He stopped you from shifting?”

  “Yes. It hurt so much. And then…” This was the part that frightened her the most. “I

  pushed it back into him. And he crashed through the window. But by the time I looked

  out, he was gone.”

  Grace was silent.

  “Am I crazy, Grace?”

  Grace shook her head slowly.

  “And the blue light thing, is that a wolf thing? Because it didn’t feel like a wolf thing.”

  “It’s not a wolf thing, Ainsley.”

  “Is it a wolf thing to throw it back at the person who hit you with it?”

  “You don’t really know much about being a wolf, do you?”

  “Why does everyone keep asking me that?”

  Grace shook her head, “No, that part’s not a wolf thing either.”

  Ainsley smoothed her hair behind her ears.

  “So then, what… what am I?”

  “Ainsley, did you know that your mother was not a wolf?”

  Ainsley shook her head mutely, numb with shock. She knew her father was a wolf. She

  had always just assumed about her mom.

  “She wasn’t. There is so much you don’t know. I’m just beginning to understand how

  lost you must be. There are other things in Tarker’s Mills besides wolves. Did you know that?”

  Ainsley shook her head again.

  “Well, there are witches. And warlocks. Julian must be a very powerful warlock. Do

  you know what witches and warlocks are, Ainsley?”

  “Um, they do magic spells, right? Like Harry Potter?”

  Grace threw her head back and laughed.

  “Thank God for Harry Potter! He’s been great PR for us. Yes, we do magic spells. Most of us are small potatoes. Like me, I do divinations mostly. I can help find lost things. It comes in handy on the job. Sometimes I can get a glimpse of the future or even far

  speak.”

  “Far speak?”

  “Talking to someone who’s not there.”

  “Is that what you meant about my parents?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Oh.”

  “Anyway, what you are describing Julian doing is on a whole other level. The spell he used was an evocation - meaning he created something from nothing, and he

  manipulated energy. Those spells are very hard to master.”

  “Why was I able to send it back? Does it have something to do with my mother?”