Alpha (Wolves Creek Book 1)

by Samantha Horne

  ALPHA

  WOLVES CREEK, BOOK ONE

  SAMANTHA HORNE

  Copyright © 2015 by Samantha Horne

  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.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events

  and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or

  used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  First Published, 2015

  Paranormal Romance:-

  Wolves Creek Series:

  Alpha- Out Now!

  Book 2- Coming Soon!

  Contemporary Romance:-

  Cole Brothers Series:

  Jared- Out Now!

  Alex- Out Now!

  Luke- Out Now!

  Thomas- Coming Soon!

  Bodyguard Series:

  The Bodyguard- Coming Soon!

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you everyone who has taken a chance on my books, and my family and friends who support me even when I drive them mad with talking about them!

  Special mention to my older sister for being brutally honest when I need it and making sure the books actually make sense; which is fairly important, so she tells me!

  Paranormal romance books are my favourite books, and I hope I have done the genre justice.

  Your feedback, comments and reviews mean everything to me so if you do have anything you would like to share, please do not hesitate to contact me! For sneak peeks and release date information, follow my Facebook page.

  Email: authorsamanthahorne@gmail.com

  Facebook: Author Samantha Horne

  Website: www.samhorne91.wix.com/authorsamanthahorne

  LAURA

  “Great. Perfect! Is there anything else that wants to go wrong today?!” I’m not going to lie, I should not have asked that question. As soon as the words left my lips, the heavens opened and Mother Nature herself decided to teach me a lesson about tempting the fates.That bitch.

  “Fuck!” Shouting in to the sky, I spun around and lashed out at my poor car, kicking the tyre and earning myself a very sore foot in the process. Yep, my stupidity really knew no bounds. Here I was, stuck in the middle of god-knows-where, being pummelled by rainfall and stood next to my car which had just decided not to go any further. It was almost like the car was getting the same creepy vibes I was from the surrounding woods and just went, ‘nope, I think I’ll stay here!” After hours of driving through these strange woods with nothing but trees for miles, the only thing I wanted to go was get the hell out of here. I had a really bad feeling about the area, and was praying that I would come across some civilisation soon.

  I really was having just the worst day, and in fact one of the worst months of my life. In the past month I had celebrated my 25th birthday, got married, been cheated on and then ran away from said husband. Yep, busy July for anyone to handle, I think we’ll all agree? But, that was a story for another time. What I’d gone through in the past month could probably be made in to a movie where we all laugh at the main character as she fails at absolutely everything in life. Yipee.

  I looked around to try and figure out where I was but it was so dark, and I hadn’t really been aiming for anywhere in particular. All I’d wanted was somewhere far away from my husband and civilisation in general - somewhere I could ‘find myself’, as cheesy as that sounded. I’d packed up the very few things I had and google mapped ‘places in the middle of nowhere’ and just driven. I’m not even kidding, that is actually what I searched. You’d be surprised how useful a tool the search engine can be, even when you have no idea what it is you are actually looking for. Trying to figure a way out of the mess I was in, I pulled my mobile phone from my jeans pocket, and lo and behold - no signal. Well, wasn’t that just fantastic? Peachy. A few hours ago, the thought of vanishing in to the middle of nowhere where no-one knew who I was sounded like a brilliant idea. Now? Not so much. Now it sounded like something someone would do, who had absolutely no brain cells and was acting purely on their emotions. Probably not ideal.

  Realising I needed help, and beginning to shake from the cold of the rain soaking to my skin, I locked up the car and waved it a solemn goodbye. Ok, so I hated the piece of crap, but it was the only constant thing in my life right at that point and I did feel kind of guilty leaving it in the dark woods all alone, as stupid as that sounded. Throwing my handbag over my shoulder, I chucked my useless phone into its depths and started to walk, praying that I found someone who could help me soon.

  After what felt like hours, but was in fact only around ten minutes, I breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the welcoming lights of what looked like a pub in the distance. Getting closer I could see it was surrounded by trees with an eerie look to it, and I physically shivered as the water dripped off my long, dark hair and the cold breeze hit my sodden clothes. The thought of entering a warm and cosy country pub – however odd looking - had my legs moving faster toward the brightly lit doors. I looked up and scoffed at the sign hanging by the big oak doors. The Howl. Well, that was fitting for how unnerving the place was. All I needed now was a vampire and a werewolf and I’d set myself up to be in a cheesy horror movie! As I pushed open the door, I smiled at the warmth that instantly hit me and stepped inside, wringing my hair of water and trying to peel the wet clothes away from my body, so they weren’t quite so skin tight. I’d worn a yellow floaty top, with a pair of skinny jeans but right now they had moulded to my body so tightly you couldn’t tell where the top ended and the jeans began. Real sexy. As I walked in I noticed the dim lighting in the pub, and the fact it was packed full of patrons enjoying an evening drink. I was quite surprised to see how busy it was, considering it seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. I scouted around to try and find a friendly face to help me, when I noticed that every single eye in the room was on me. They weren’t exactly welcoming stares, either. No, these were more like ‘stranger! What are you doing here?’ kind of stares, and I felt more uncomfortable every second I was there. Trying to ignore the suspicious and hostile looks being thrown my way, I walked over to the bar and the man who was stood behind it, leaning against the bartop and watching everyone with an amused look in his eye. He definitely looked the friendliest of the bunch.

  “Hi, I was wondering if you could help me? I’m completely lost, and my cars broken down. I don’t even know where I am!” I laughed and smiled in what I hoped was a friendly manner, despite the fact that my teeth wouldn’t stop chattering.

  The man looked at me with a curious gaze for a moment, and then held out his hand for me to shake. Humbled and grateful for a friendly gesture, I shook his hand and jumped back in shock at how hot he was to the touch. Looking down at my hand, my eyes widened when I saw that not only was I now warm, but the yellow top I wore was now completely dry, and back to its floaty self. How was that even possible? Jesus, I’ve lost it.

  “You okay, Miss?” The man looked at me with a tiny smile, almost as if he knew something that I didn’t, and I shook myself out of my thoughts so he didn’t think I was totally crazy. The man looked to be in his forties, with a short beard and hands that showed he’d clearly done some manual labour in his time. His eyes were the bluest I had ever seen, and I coughed slightly as I tried to remember what he had asked me.

  “Erm, yes, I’m fine, sorry. My name’s Laura.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Laura. The name’s Logan. You mentioned some car trouble?”

 
Thankfully, he was still smiling and the friendly vibes I got off him were making me slightly more at ease in an increasingly uncomfortable situation. Looking around, I noticed how everyone was still gawping at me. There were a few whispered conversations here and there, but mostly everyone was just looking at me, their staring getting the point across that I absolutely was not welcome here. Message received loud and clear guys.

  “Erm, yes, my car just stopped working. Piece of crap just broke down and I walked to the nearest place, which just so happened to be this lovely, warm and welcoming abode.” I said, probably a bit too sarcastically, and I worried I had just offended my only ally in this place. It was soon clear, however, that no offence was taken, as Logan let out a full belly laugh which caused me to jump back quickly, as unexpected as it was.

  “We’re not used to visitors around here, that’s all. Don’t take it personally.” He smiled at me and I couldn’t help but smile back in return. “I know someone who will be able to help with your car. I’ll just give him a call. Can I get you a drink while you wait?”

  “Thank you so much, that would be amazing. The car would probably make more money as scrap metal, but it’s my baby.” I smiled fondly as I thought of my poor little car and then frowned as I remembered where I had left it. “Just a coke would be lovely, thank you.”

  “Coming right up.” Logan moved to grab a coke for me, and passed it over at the same time as he walked towards a phone near the back of the bar. As I took a sip of my drink, I took stock of my surroundings and settled more comfortably on a vacant bar stool. My jeans were still soaking wet and I shivered from the cold, at the same time as being totally confounded as to how my top was now completely dry, as though it had never been wet. I guess there were some things in life that were just unexplainable, and as someone with a pretty open mind I tended to believe even the wildest explanations, if only just for some excitement. Well, I’d left home to try and find adventure and it looked like I may have found one. Okay, breaking down and walking miles in the rain probably wasn’t most people’s idea of an adventure, but as someone who had followed every rule my whole life, I needed a change. I just wanted to experience life a little bit and start over somewhere where nobody knew my name, or my embarrassing history with men. I’d like to say that I was a lone ranger, and content with going on my adventures by myself, but that was a lie. If I’m being honest, I craved human contact and the sense of belonging somewhere. I thought I’d had that with my husband, but I guess I was wrong. I had no idea what it was I was looking for when I hopped in my car and started driving, but I had a good vibe about the place I was in, and as I looked around the pub I had a sudden urge to stay there, and not carry on with my journey. That’s crazy though, I mean these people clearly don’t like me. I didn’t even know whereabouts I was in the bloody country.

  Whilst I was trying to process all my thoughts and ignore the constant stares of those around me, I felt a sudden chill across my back as the front doors of the pub opened behind me. I didn’t turn around and simply kept sipping my drink, until I realised that the whole pub had gone silent again. Only this time, you could even hear a pin drop it was that quiet. Curious - and slightly scared - I turned slowly in my chair, and couldn’t stop my jaw from dropping open at what I saw. Two of the biggest men I had ever seen had walked in, and were both staring at me with matching frowns on their faces. The one near the front was tall, with dark hair and tattoos that covered every inch of his body that I could see. He was wearing a white t-shirt which his muscled arms could barely squeeze into, and jeans that moulded to his body. The man behind him was dressed almost identically and looked very similar in features, only he had blonde hair and a small number of tattoos going down his left arm. They started to walk towards me, and my heart started pounding in my chest as I could not take my eyes off the man in front. I didn’t know what it was about him, but he just exuded power and I had the massive urge to just bow before him and tell him I would do whatever he asked of me. Crap, maybe I just need to get laid. As they stood before me, they bowed their heads slightly in a silent greeting and I swallowed loudly as I tried to hide the fact that they made me nervous.

  “Who are you?” The blonde one blurted out suddenly, his stance becoming aggressive as he looked at me. Startled by his rudeness, I snapped out of my daze and looked back at him with an equally angry face.

  “Excuse me?” I said, standing up so I didn’t feel quite so vulnerable with them towered over me. Didn’t really help though, they still loomed over me by way over a foot at least.

  “I said, who are you?” He took a step towards me, but the dark haired one in front held his arm out as if to stop him.

  “Isaac,” He said, and I swear to God I almost passed out at the sexiness of his voice. As cheesy as it sounds, he just had the deepest, most beautiful voice. Could melt butter, I tell you. “Don’t be rude.”

  “Jackson, this woman is a stranger. We need to look after our people.”

  “Our people?!” Ok, now I was pissed. “Look, my car broke down and I didn’t have anywhere else to go, so until it’s fixed I’m hanging around with ‘your people’, okay? What is your problem?”

  The rude man seemed taken aback for a moment, before he scowled and looked to the guy with the gorgeous voice to say something.

  When he spoke again, I had to bring myself back in to the room and away from the daydreams about late nights listening to that beautiful voice.

  “Is Logan talking to someone about getting your car fixed?”

  “Yes, he’s just doing it now. So are you guys like, police officers or something?”

  “Or something. My name’s Jackson and this is my brother, Isaac. We’re not used to strangers around here; you’ll have to excuse my brother’s abruptness. Do you have somewhere to stay for the night?”

  “No, do you know of any local hotels?”

  “Around here, everything is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, so it’s a ten minute drive to the nearest hotel. It’s only a small B&B, but like I said we don’t get many visitors. It’s actually run by one of my brothers and his wife; would you like me to take you there?” I noticed while he was talking that he maintained that serious composure, never even smiling once. He had an aura about him, one of power and intimidation. I didn’t want to show I was intimidated though. I didn’t know these people from Adam, but I did know instinctively that I needed to avoid showing any signs of weakness in front of them.

  “Yes please. What about my car?”

  “I’ll make sure your car gets dropped to you tomorrow, so you can continue with your journey. I know it may seem like people don’t trust you, but we look after everyone here, even strangers. If you need anything, let me or one of my guys know. Each one of us has a paw tattoo on our left hand.” He held out his hand and I spotted a tiny mark in the shape of a paw, barely noticeable unless pointed out.

  “Any particular reason?”

  “It’s a long story.”

  “Hmm, cryptic.” I smiled at him and let the story of the tattoo drop, for now. I was curious, but I was also tired and desperate to get out of my soaking wet jeans, so I was keen to wrap the conversation up as quickly as possible.

  Just as I was about to ask politely if we can please go to that hotel now, so I could get some beauty sleep, Logan came back with a smile on his face, that instantly made me feel more comfortable. He definitely seemed to be my only friend in that place right then.

  “Right, Miss Laura, your car will be ready and waiting for you tomorrow.”

  I smiled broadly at him, tempted to jump over the bar and give him a quick kiss! Wow, it really had been too long since I’d gotten any action.

  “Thank you so much! Do you know how much it’s going to cost me?”

  He gave me a wink, and leaned forward on the bar in a casual pose which screamed confidence.

  “No charge. Take it as a ‘thanks for visiting’ and ‘please come again’.”

  “Seriously? I really don’t mind payin
g. I have my purse on me.”

  “Your car will be back in your safe hands tomorrow, and that’s all you need to worry about.”

  “Well then, thank you. I really appreciate it.”

  “No sweat.” Winking again, he moved along the bar to serve two men who had walked in about five minutes ago. Turning around, I looked back at the two brothers, and saw them waiting impatiently for me to join them at the door. As I went to walk out, Logan called my name and I turned quickly to see him smile at me again. Seriously, if this guy wasn’t twice my age he would be seriously cute!

  “Hope to see you again, sometime.”

  Hmm, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad here, after all.

  ****

  Honestly, sitting in the back of a car with the two buff brothers, Isaac and Jackson, was probably the most awkward situation I’d ever been in. I could tell they were both annoyed with each other, and they weren’t particularly interested in getting to know me either, so it was silence all round. I tried to watch the scenery as we drove but all I could see were trees, and in the cover of darkness I could barely even see them. I was still getting a weird feeling from the place, but the mystery surrounding it seemed to be calling to me, and a shiver passed through me that I couldn’t explain. We’d been in the car for about five minutes when Isaac cleared his throat, and glanced at me quickly out of the corner of his eye.

  “Jackson, you know this is dangerous.”

  “Dangerous how? Isaac, she’s going to spend the night in Noah’s B&B and will be leaving tomorrow, what could possibly happen?”

  “We don’t know her! She could be any one; she could be helping someone who means us harm.”

  I felt confused as to why Isaac was so worried about me being a danger, but then that turned in to anger at being so blatantly talked about, whilst not being included in the conversation.

  “It’s one night, Isaac! I get the final say, and she stays.”