fate of the alpha - episode 2

  FATE OF THE ALPHA: EPISODE 2

  A TARKER’S HOLLOW SERIAL

  TASHA BLACK

  13TH STORY PRESS

  Contents

  Copyright

  Foreword

  Episode 2

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Afterword

  Also by Tasha Black

  Copyright © 2015 by 13th Story Press All 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: January 2015

  13th Story Press PO Box 506 Swarthmore, PA 19081

  13thStoryPress@gmail.com

  Cover design 2014 by Cormar Covers

  www.cormarcovers.com

  FOREWORD

  Thanks for taking the time to read the second installment of Fate of the Alpha!

  KEEP IN TOUCH:

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  I’ll let you know when I have something new coming out. Plus you'll get the chance to read unreleased sneak previews, snag free stuff, and even make suggestions on future installments!

  YOU CAN ALSO CHECK me out at:

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  Drop me a line, I’d love to hear from you!

  And thanks again for reading my book. I know there is no shortage of books out there. It means a lot to me that you chose to read mine!

  -Tasha

  Episode 2

  CHAPTER 1

  A insley lay on her back on the porch, head aching from the fall. The magic had hit her so hard, it felt like someone had replaced her bones with a swarm of angry bees. She tried to rise but couldn’t.

  Exhaling slowly, she called on her senses for any information that might help her. The porch ceiling needed paint and there were dried-up fall leaves under the wicker sofa. Classic rock was still blasting from Charley’s car. The song had changed. It was a Stones song now. Jagger was in character, introducing himself and gloating over his wealth and his taste.

  She could smell Camilla Parker Bowles dashing toward her. Instead of bounding up the stairs, the little dog began snuffling around in the rhododendrons that lined the front of the porch.

  There was no sound of Charley. Had he been hit too? He had nothing to do with any of this. It seemed dreadfully unfair that even a human resident of this village had to suffer.

  Ainsley’s wolf was slamming herself helplessly against the bars of Ainsley’s mind, but she was completely unable to shift.

  In all the years she’d spent in Manhattan, denying her nature and wishing she could be free of what she saw as her curse, it had never occurred to her that she could feel such a profound sense of loss at losing that connection, however briefly.

  Her jangled thoughts bounced to her mate, Erik. How must he feel, without his wolf?

  And somewhere nearby was the bastard that took it. Ainsley grabbed hold of that thought before it could slip away and forced her consciousness around it until the chaos focused into a pinpoint of rage.

  A powerful hum tingled along the surface of her skin. She couldn’t turn to her wolf, but her magic was still intact.

  Responding to her call, the magic reverberated at a deeper pitch, clearing the cobwebs and bringing her back to the moment.

  Ainsley was very, very angry.

  A light blue haze tinted her vision.

  A car door slammed.

  Charley!

  His heavy tread shook the porch as he approached. Thank god he was okay.

  With supreme effort, Ainsley lifted her hand to him.

  He didn’t take it.

  Instead, she heard the creak of the wicker sofa and his face appeared, looming down over her.

  “Ainsley,” he said. “Why couldn’t you just go?”

  He leaned back and she was left looking at his knees, clad in a pair of soft brown cords.

  “I’ve known you since you were a little girl. And, I don’t want to do this. But dammit, you’ve left me no choice.”

  What was he talking about?

  A fluttering of wings drew their attention.

  “Are you finished monologuing, Coslaw?” a smooth voice asked.

  “Jesus, Garrett, stop doing that.”

  “You’re jealous, aren’t you?”

  Ainsley capitalized on the distraction to take inventory of her body. The magic coursed through her and her limbs seemed less ghostlike and more real again. Maybe she could take them by surprise.

  Before she could try, there was a tap, tap, tap sound across the porch.

  An attractive older man with a long black cane stood above her.

  “Ainsley Connor,” he said slowly.

  She blinked at him.

  “I’m going to keep this short and sweet,” said the man Charley had called Garrett. Where had she heard that name? “We’re here for the key. We know Sadie had it. We know she gave it to you.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ainsley said, honestly.

  “We are going to offer you one chance to hand it over. If you don’t, we’ll kill you.” Garrett spoke in a conversational tone, as though he were asking about the weather instead of threatening her life. “So, Ainsley Connor, daughter of Michael, where is the key?”

  Ainsley willed herself not to mentally chase her tail wondering how sweet Charley Coslaw could be involved with this.

  She had no clue what key they were talking about, but these two seemed to think she did. It occurred to Ainsley that her life might just depend on keeping them under that impression.

  “You will rot in hell before you will lay one stinking finger on that key, you creepy, Charlie Chaplin motherfucker!” she spat.

  Garrett barked out a surprised laugh. “Are you making fun of my cane?” he asked.

  She shrugged and felt the magic surge again. Every part of her crackled with energy.

  “Funny,” he said. “Well, I guess we’ll be finding the key on our own.”

  With a flourish, he pulled a thin sword out of his cane and lifted it over his shoulder.

  Suddenly, the neighbor’s holly bush shook and something dark and furry exploded out of it and streaked through the air, crashing into Garrett and knocking him to his knees.

  Erik!

  Ainsley’s heart soared for an instant as she pulled herself to her knees.

  But of course it wasn’t Erik. He hadn’t been able to shift since he’d been struck by the trap. The trap that was meant for her.

  It was the lone wolf she’d fought in the woods...yesterday? It already seemed like a lifetime ago.

  He had found a way to prove his loyalty after all.

  Through the buzz of her magic, Ainsley could feel the warm green glow of his submission. The pact was made. He was one of her own now.

  “Son of a bitch!” Charley yelled.

  The new wolf had the element of surprise, but its impact was already receding.

  Desperately, Ainsley tried to gather up he
r magic. The image of the wobbling Coke bottle on the stump from the last time she had trained with Julian threatened to derail her.

  Then she caught sight of Garrett slashing her pack-mate with that thin sword and she was filled with fury.

  Charley stood. Frantically, she racked her brains and hit him with a spell.

  “Subsisto lupo mutatis!”

  Nothing happened.

  Why was he smiling?

  Oh god, that was the wolf spell. Charley wasn’t a wolf.

  She took a shallow breath, evoked her energy ball and hurled it at him.

  He caught the tiny mote of light like it was a ping pong ball, then bounced it playfully in his hand. The condescending look on his face was infuriating.

  The ball in his hand shifted from blue to red. He controlled it now. In the span of a breath, the energy swelled to the size of a watermelon.

  Ainsley braced herself.

  CHAPTER 2

  Grace’s heart beat frantically in her chest as she felt herself being lifted like a rag doll and carried away under a mysterious cloak.

  “Hush,” the assailant whispered and she felt her insides melt.

  Julian.

  The hand that was clamped over her mouth loosened slightly.

  “Put me down,” she whispered through clenched teeth.

  Abuelo’s voice spoke in Grace’s head, coaching her through an escape. Head butt him, knee to the groin, and he’ll drop you!

  But her body was also speaking to her. Wrap your legs around him, press yourself against his chest, smell his hair!

  Before she could make up her own mind, he had placed her gently on the ground. The darkness around them parted slightly and Grace could see they were back in Triangle Park.

  “We don’t have much time, and we’ve got to get to Ainsley before it’s too late,” Julian whispered.

  “Walk and talk,” Grace replied.

  “Indeed.”

  He put his arm around her, keeping them shrouded in the magical darkness which had hidden them from the two passing men. Now that she had calmed down, Grace could just make out the street and the shapes of the houses in front of them through the shadowy shroud.

  Julian’s warmth reassured her. Grace fought to stay focused on the task at hand.

  ‘That was Garrett Sanderson, wasn’t it?” she asked.

  “Yes, he’s looking for a key. And he thinks Ainsley has it.”

  “Does she?”

  “I don’t think so,” Julian said. “Which could be very bad for her.”

  “Who was the other guy?” Grace asked.

  “You’re the sheriff. You tell me.”

  “His voice was familiar.” Grace strained to match a face to the voice, but came up short. “I just can’t place it.”

  Without speaking, they quickened their pace.

  They had barely cleared the park when a ripple of magical dread lifted the hair on Grace’s arms.

  Ainsley.

  She broke into a run and Julian followed suit, dropping the magical cloak of darkness. The time for secrecy had passed. They swung left onto Princeton and tore down the last half of a block to Ainsley’s house.

  Julian was in shape, but Grace was fast, and her friend was in danger. By the time Ainsley’s house came into view, she had pulled ahead of him by about half a block.

  The wet leaves made the sandstone sidewalks slippery and she nearly wiped out as she rounded the corner onto Ainsley’s front walk.

  She froze in place for a second, taking in the scene as Julian closed the distance.

  Her best friend was on her knees on her own front porch. Charley Coslaw, a man Ainsley and Grace had known since childhood, stood over her, a roiling red ball of energy in his hand, ready to be hurled.

  On the other side of the porch, Garrett was slashing at a wounded brown wolf with such gusto it jangled the wind chimes.

  Her police instincts took over.

  “Hold up!” she shouted with confidence, pulling her taser out of its holster. “Everybody cool off.”

  All eyes moved to her.

  “You don’t want to do this, Charley,” she said, looking into his eyes.

  “You’re going to have to do this, Charley! Man up!” Garrett hissed. “Take her out and deal with the consequences. More important things are at stake here.”

  Charley wavered.

  While Charley thought and Garrett cursed at him, and the music blasted out of the car, Grace edged closer to her friend.

  “I’m gonna give you a boost, be ready,” she breathed to Ainsley so quietly that no one without a wolf’s ears could hear it.

  Then she reached out and Ainsley reached back.

  The second their fingertips touched, the ball in Charley’s hand began to turn blue again.

  Ainsley’s eyes rolled back in her head and Grace felt a surge like no magic she’d ever experienced before.

  The blue ball in Charley’s hand expanded explosively, enveloping his whole body. He moaned in agony from inside the energy field.

  With her other hand, Grace managed to deploy her taser at Garrett. The angle was off, and she was firing left-handed, but her aim was true.

  He slumped. But instead of jerking outward in reaction to the electrical charge, he seemed to fold in on himself, disappearing in a cloud of birds that turned the porch black with their beating wings.

  Instinctively, Grace dropped to protect Ainsley. When the sound of the birds was gone, she stood quickly.

  Garrett was gone and Charley was gone as well.

  “Neat trick,” Ainsley said in a light voice that reassured Grace her friend was unharmed. “Can you teach me to do that?”

  “Why didn’t you catch him? I thought wolves had a strong small prey drive!” Grace joked.

  “I’m no bird dog!” Ainsley pretended to be insulted. Then her face grew serious. “How did you get here so fast?”

  “Hold that thought.” Julian’s voice cut through the cool air. “This boy may be dying.”

  Grace turned to the brown wolf. But it was gone. In its place, a muscular young man, with a tattoos circling each bicep, lay unconscious in a pool of his own blood.

  CHAPTER 3

  Erik decided his Ford F-150 might be the future of tough, but it had a lot of room for improvement in the comfort department. He struggled to lie back without putting his work boots up on the creamy leather interior. At least the dual moonroof gave him an oddly peaceful view of the night sky.

  When he bought this truck, he’d paid for that upgrade with exactly that in mind, and his investment had been returned with interest. He remembered one full moon in particular when Cressida had been on his lap, riding him raw while he licked the moonlight off her breasts. God, he’d like to replay that night with Ainsley.

  Oh, Ainsley.

  Erik gazed at the moon and begged it to enslave him again.

  Instead, it stared back at him coldly, looking like nothing more than a flashlight beam or a circle of paper.

  The feeling of staring at the nearly full moon without consequences was terrifying. But it was also oddly liberating.

  Erik planned to sleep in the truck for a few nights to avoid the questions that were sure to come if he arrived in town during the full moon and didn’t shift. Although the solitude had been forced on him when Ophelia Winter had come from the Federation and sent him to assist the Copper Creek pack, he found himself surprisingly grateful for the chance to get used to his new powers by himself.

  Powers.

  It was strange to think of it that way, but it was true. Erik Jensen now had the power to not turn into a wolf. The power not to lose himself to wild fits of passion every month. He had the power to not know when someone was lying to spare his feelings. And the power not to smell bad smells unless they were up close and recent.

  He slid around on the seat in search of a more comfortable position, to no avail. He made the decision to move to the back, where he would have room to stretch out.

  Erik hopped out of the cab
, locked the door, and swung himself up into the bed of the truck. He always kept a moving blanket back there, folded neatly in one of the metal drawers. In a few moments he lay on his back, staring up at the impossible number of stars sprayed across the black sky, and trying not to think about what Ainsley was doing, until he fell asleep.

  CHAPTER 4

  J ulian watched as Grace took up a position at the boy’s side, sliding to her knees with remarkable speed.

  He admired the ease with which she checked his vitals, and her no-nonsense attitude about a little nudity and a lot of blood. Something akin to jealousy tickled the back of his mind as he watched Grace on her knees attending to the muscular young man. But he pushed that foolishness aside.

  “He’s alive, but badly hurt,” she said.

  “How can I help?” Julian asked.

  Before she could answer, the sound of many running feet thundered on Princeton. Damned college soccer kids - did they really need to run at this hour?

  Ainsley hopped to her feet with a smile. What a libido. He hoped her urges had something to do with her being a wolf and didn’t mean she wasn’t discerning. Must be hard for Erik.

  “Shoot,” Grace said. Her eyes were darting from the sidewalk of Princeton up to the porch.