Behind Grayson, three wolves slunk out from his house. The three gray female wolves padded down his front steps and meekly joined the rest of the wolves in front of his house.
Grayson raised his head and let out a long howl.
All the wolves followed their alpha's lead. The white wolves and the gray wolves all pointed their noses to the sky and howled as one.
They were one.
They were two wolf packs before. But now they was one.
And Grayson was their Alpha.
Hayley listened to the eerily beautiful sound of the wolves. She could still hear Grayson's howl through the voices of his pack. She shivered at the deep, powerful timbre of his voice, which seemed to resonate through her entire body.
Hayley gripped the windowsill to stop herself from moving to the door. Why did Grayson's howl seem to pierce right through her heart and soul, calling to her in a way that was almost impossible to resist?
He was calling to his pack, to his wolves. She wasn't part of his pack. And she wasn't one of his wolves.
She wasn't his to call. And yet…
Hayley sank into a nearby chair, but she didn't trust herself to let go of the windowsill.
She could now understand why the Sullivans had regarded her with wariness and misgiving when she first approached them. They were right to be suspicious.
This was a shifter town, and it looked like the shifters here were more wild, predatory and territorial than the shifters in other towns and cities. They behaved like animals in the wild. Wild animals fought over food, territory and females. The fittest and smartest survived. But to rule a pack of savage, predatory beasts, you had to be the most powerful, cunning and ruthless of them all.
From what she had just seen and heard, Hayley guessed that Grayson had just taken over a rival pack. By taking the three females, he was asserting his dominance and ownership over the new pack. She knew that some animals in the wild killed all the cubs sired by the male they'd defeated once they took over as alpha. They would mate with all the females and try to impregnate as many females in the pack as they could.
Was that what Grayson was doing?
Hayley shuddered and glanced at the house next door. She was living next door to a powerful, predatory alpha wolf.
She gulped and clenched her fists. She wasn't going to run. She couldn't afford to. She'd hoped to make this town her home. But...this wasn't really her town, was it?
Wolves Hollow belonged to the wolves. If she wanted to survive in Wolves Hollow, she had to keep her eyes and ears open and her doors firmly locked.
CHAPTER FIVE
Grayson Edge stood in front of his house and surveyed all the wolves before him. His white wolves stood guard in front of every house down the street, making sure that none of the neighbors came rushing out of their houses and into the frothing sea of wolves.
Most of the inhabitants of Wolves Hollow had enough sense to stay indoors when rival packs were out in force, but there would always be a handful of foolhardy, busybody individuals who thought it would be fun to come out and play with the wolves.
Those fools were lucky to make it back to their homes without losing more than some skin and blood. Some lost way more than an eye and a limb. Those foolish, reckless people were flirting with danger, gambling with their lives. And sometimes, they lost the gamble.
Grayson whistled a command to his pack, the Sentinels. Every Sentinel wolf raised its head and stood at attention. Grayson had ordered his pack to protect the residents in the vicinity. When rival packs clashed, innocent blood could be spilled.
It was with a heavy heart that Grayson had just fought and killed the Alpha of the Silverfangs pack tonight.
The Silverfangs pack was a smaller pack than the Sentinels. The Silverfangs pack was highly unstable and volatile. None of their Alphas had lasted long in the pack. The three female betas were the ones who were really in charge. Those three she-wolves were master manipulators and the three of them schemed and plotted their way to positions of power within the pack.
The latest Silverfangs Alpha, Asher Ronski, had been their latest victim. Grayson had known Asher since he was a lieutenant in the Silverfangs pack. Asher was a good man, and he had known for some time that there was something rotten in his pack. He had wanted to contain the rot and fix his pack. That was why he fought so hard for the Alpha position. And he had won it fairly and honorably.
The three Silverfangs betas, Alexa Joyce, Dannika Tay and Holly Lassa, had pretended to submit to their new Alpha. The three she-wolves had always used sex as a weapon. But Asher didn't allow himself to be seduced. Grayson had warned his friend to watch his back within the pack, but Asher chose to trust his wolves. He was fiercely loyal to the Silverfangs pack, and he believed that he could rebuild the Silverfangs pack and reclaim their glory days. Sadly, his trust and faith were misplaced.
Grayson had watched as Asher Ronski slowly lost his mind and his humanity. What went on within a pack was the pack's business and no one else's. Grayson knew that if he intervened, he would start a war between the Sentinels and the Silverfangs.
It was Asher who issued a challenge to Grayson. Grayson never wanted to fight his friend, but as the Alpha of the Sentinels, Grayson could not turn away and ignore a challenge from the Alpha for another pack.
Grayson finally understood Asher's intentions. Asher wanted to deliver his pack to Grayson and he wanted to die at the hands of an alpha wolf he trusted and respected.
Asher's mind was already shattered, and he had been driven half-mad by his nightmares and delusions. Grayson suspected that witchcraft was at play but he couldn't prove it.
When Grayson raised his claws to deliver the killing blow, Asher had looked up at him with lucid, clear eyes and smiled. Death would put him out of his misery and shame. With an anguished, angry roar, Grayson granted his friend a quick, honorable death.
Asher had whispered his dying wish to Grayson just before his eyes closed.
And Grayson had honored it.
Grayson stood on the top step of his house and watched the Silverfangs pack leave. The three Silverfangs betas, Alexa, Dannika and Holly, bowed their heads and slunk away silently with the rest of the Silverfangs wolves.
Under their gray fur, the three females were bleeding from the deep bite he had given them. He had taken them and marked them viciously. The sex was hard, rough and animalistic. It had nothing to do with lust, desire or passion. It was a show of dominance and power. As their new Alpha, he had left his mark on them. It was nothing they wore with pride. In human form, those three females would have their Alpha's mark on their necks. It marked them as the lowest in the pack, effectively stripping them of their beta status.
Grayson turned his head and spat on the ground, but he couldn't get rid of the foul taste in his mouth. He didn't want those three females, but he had to take them to subdue them. It was either take them, or kill them.
These three she-wolves were loyal to no one. They served only their own interests. To force their submission, Grayson had to either maim them or make them submit sexually. It was a blatant show of force and power over them. Grayson found both courses of action repulsive, but mutilating and maiming those three females went against everything he stood for. He derived no pleasure at all from fucking those three females. It was just something that had to be done.
Grayson closed his eyes briefly, recalling Asher's last words. Save my pack. Save...every...wolf.
Asher wanted to save every member of his pack, even his three treacherous betas.
Grayson bowed his head in memory of his friend. Even as Asher looked death in the eye, he had sought to protect his pack.
It was exactly what Grayson would have done.
Asher's death was inevitable. He was descending rapidly into madness. Everyone could see it but there was nothing anyone could do to stop his decline. Eventually, Asher
would be taken out by his own pack. No pack would allow a mad wolf to remain as Alpha.
Grayson snarled as he watched the last Silverfangs wolf disappear into the night.
He would not let Asher die in vain.
CHAPTER SIX
Grayson scrubbed a hand down his face and exhaled roughly. Those Silverfangs wolves were now his wolves. The Silverfangs pack was no more. They were now part of the Sentinels.
His white wolves were still standing in position. They wouldn't move without his command.
Grayson looked at the proud, white wolves lining the street and surrounding the area. His Sentinels had positioned themselves around his house and down the neighboring streets before he led the Silverfangs pack back to his place.
His large, two-story house served as the unofficial headquarters of his pack. His lieutenants and unit leaders often came over for meetings and his pack members sometimes dropped by unannounced with homecooked dinners and baked goods prepared by their mates, mothers and grandmothers who seemed to think that he was incapable of preparing a proper, nutritious meal for himself.
Grayson accepted all the food graciously and gratefully. He lived alone, and he was hopeless in the kitchen. He had his hands full with pack business. His sister, Ari, was always offering to teach him a few simple dishes but he just didn't have the time or patience to learn.
Grayson gave a sharp nod, and the white wolves dispersed. Only two wolves didn't leave with the pack. Ari and Scott, his Beta, stayed behind. Ari and Scott shifted to human form and walked quietly towards him.
“You okay?” Ari asked, putting a hand on his arm. Her blue eyes searched his face anxiously.
“Yeah,” Grayson said gruffly.
Scott made a face. “Those three females were screaming and howling like banshees.” He shuddered dramatically and added, “Sucks to be you.”
Grayson glared at his Beta. “You do know that once I step down, you will become Alpha, don't you? And...lately, I've been thinking of retiring and getting myself a cozy little cabin...”
“Don't you dare!” Scott growled. “You're only thirty-nine! Retirement is not for you. I won't...”
Grayson smirked. “You don't think you can handle those females?”
“Oh, I can handle them all right.” Scott cracked his knuckles. “I just won't enjoy it. And I prefer not to do things I don't enjoy. But of course, if it's an order from my Alpha...”
Ari elbowed him hard. “You know that Grayson always puts the pack first. And he always has your back. He won't order you to do anything without reason.”
Grayson hid a smile. His little sister was always the first to jump to his defense. She might be his baby sister but she was fiercely protective of family and pack. Always had been since she was a pup.
“Ouch! I know that, Ari,” Scott snapped, rubbing his side. “I was just joking. Geez.”
Grayson clapped his Beta on the shoulder. Scott was a good Beta, good-natured, level-headed and jovial. Scott liked to crack jokes to lighten the mood, but Ari tended to take everything seriously. She worried for him, and ever since he became Alpha, she worried even more. That's what sisters do, she'd huffed. You may be Alpha but you're still my brother.
His baby sister was tough, fierce and strong. She had their mother's good looks and at the tender age of twenty-five, she had already broken a few hearts in the pack.
“Your new neighbor's human,” Ari said. She had a thoughtful look on her face as she turned to stare at the small house beside his. “I was in front of her house the whole time, and I saw her. She was at the window, but I scented no fear from her.”
Grayson frowned. “What?” he said distractedly.
“I said, there's a new human female in town. She's living next door to you.” Ari jabbed a finger into his chest. “And—she saw everything.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Hayley stepped out of the small bookstore and saw that the shadows were lengthening swiftly. She glanced back and saw the owner of The Quill, Madam Betty Morg, flip the sign to “Closed”. Hayley had chatted with the pretty, dark-haired woman and learned that she was a young widow who had moved to Wolves Hollow not that long ago. When she asked Betty Morg if she was looking to hire an assistant, the bookstore owner had given her an amused smile and replied, “The Quill is more of a hobby. Not many people buy books these days.”
With a sigh, Hayley glanced back at the row of quaint little shops behind her. The shopkeepers were all switching off the lights and flipping the signs to “Closed” on their doors. She could hear the sharp clicks as locks and bolts slid into place. The sun seemed to rise and set earlier out here in Wolves Hollow. It would be dark soon, and she'd better get back home as fast as she could.
Pulling her coat tighter around herself, Hayley rubbed her arms unconsciously as she started walking briskly towards her car.
She was determined not to let what she'd witnessed that night unnerve her. That was five nights ago, and so far, she hadn't seen her next door neighbor, Grayson, again. He seemed to keep odd hours, coming home in the wee hours of the morning. She'd seen the headlights of his car illuminating the front of his house just before dawn when she woke up to go to the bathroom. As far as she could tell, he had come home alone. He hadn't brought any women home. Not since that night.
Hayley huffed. Her neighbor's sex life was none of her business. As long as she kept her head down and stayed out of the wolves' way, she should be fine. Even the most ferocious predator hunted and killed out of necessity. Animals in the wild rarely attacked humans. They only attacked when they sensed a threat. Hayley wasn't a threat. The wolves wouldn't bother her as long as she didn't bother them.
But she couldn't hide in her house all day long. To survive, she had to know her way around Wolves Hollow. She tried to drive a little further each day to visit a part of the town she hadn't yet discovered. She had spent the day exploring the small shops at the edge of town and tried to see if she could find a job as a shop assistant. But she'd had no luck so far. No one wanted to hire her.
Hayley looked up and gazed at the sunset for a moment. The last rays of the beautiful sunset were rapidly fading and darkness was rolling in like a dense, impenetrable fog. In the day, Wolves Hollow looked like a sleepy, idyllic town. But when night fell, fangs and claws glinted from the shadows.
Fumbling with her car key, Hayley managed to unlock her car door. She yanked the door open and was about to jump in the car when a huge hand caught the door.
A tall man with a leathery, scarred face smiled at her. His smile turned her blood to ice. Hayley yelped as he slammed her car door shut with so much force her little car shuddered and swayed.
“Where are you going, love?” the man drawled.
Hayley backed away slowly. Instinct warned her not to make any sudden movement. The man's bloodshot eyes looked crazed and cruel. He was very tall and his build was lean and sinewy. As he prowled silently towards Hayley, his nostrils flared and he seemed to be sniffing the air around her.
His smile widened. “Human, female and so ripe...” He licked his lips. “I've been looking for wife number five. You're it.”
Hayley glanced down and saw his erection straining against his jeans. Shit!
Immediately, she spun around and ran. She saw the raging lust and intent in his red eyes. He was going to rape her!
She opened her mouth to scream for help, but the man's hand slapped over her mouth. Desperately, Hayley kicked out and tried to use her nails and teeth on him. But the man was too strong. When she bit him, he laughed and yanked her hard against him. He ground his erection against her and hissed, “I love it when you fight me. Makes me want you more.”
Grinning, the man wound his hand through her hair and dragged her into a narrow alley. “Are you going to run, little one? 'Cause when you run, it makes the chase more exciting.” He ran his tongue down her nape. “Ah, you smell and taste del
icious. You human women are so fucking delicious!”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Hayley tried to punch him but he caught her fist easily in his palm. “Bite me again,” he said, shoving her against the wall. “I want to feel your blunt human teeth on me.”
He unzipped his pants and grabbed her breasts roughly. He tried to put his hand down her jeans but Hayley kneed him in the groin. The man snarled and tore her blouse open.
Hayley screamed, tears leaking from her eyes. This couldn't be happening to her. She didn't want to be raped and killed in this dark alley. She didn't want to die, not like this. She had felt disheartened, disillusioned and jaded after two divorces but it suddenly dawned on her that she was only thirty-four. She still had her whole life to live.
“No! No! Please, no! Help! Help me, please!” she shrieked, hoping that someone would hear her.
She felt the man's mouth on her neck and she felt the sharp points of his canines. Claws were digging into her wrists. Hayley pushed away her fear and fought harder.
Her attacker was a shifter. He was strong, brutal, feral and he could probably snap her neck in a heartbeat. But she wasn't going to give up without a fight.
Predators went for easy prey. Hayley screamed and head-butted her attacker. She wasn't easy, and she wasn't prey!
The man cursed and backhanded her savagely. Hayley's head whipped back and slammed against the wall. Black spots swam in front of her eyes and she tasted blood in her mouth.
The man roared and she instinctively raised her arm to shield herself. But the blow never came.
She was no longer pinned against the wall. The pressure around her throat was gone and the man's hard, gravelly voice sounded far away.
As Hayley slid down the wall, she saw a tall, blond man slam her attacker into the opposite wall. The man roared and she saw claws glinting from his fingertips.
Alpha Next Door (Wolves Hollow Book 1) Page 2
