Page 51 of Rocked By the Alpha

“Come punish me, then, Alpha,” she purrs, and she hears him groan on the other end.

“I’m on my way.” The line goes dead and she smiles with satisfaction. If she wasn’t so close to home, she’d be tempted to touch herself and torture him by making him listen on the other end of the phone. But she can see the car’s only a couple of blocks away from her house.

When the car pulls in, she wishes the driver a good night and hears the car reversing as she walks up the path to her house, the security lights flicking on. She rummages for her keys in her bag and reaches up to slide the first key in the lock. But the door clicks open and immediately a scent hits her nose.

She blanches, taking a step backward. She sniffs. It’s unfamiliar, masculine and fierce. It doesn’t belong to anyone she knows.

She spins around but the driver and the car are gone. Her heart starts to hammer in her chest and her hand shakes as she scrabbles for the phone in her pocket.

She takes a step away from her door. Then another. And another. Quiet steps — she doesn’t want anyone inside to hear.

But they would’ve heard the door, wouldn’t they?

Shit!

Her fingers curl around the flat plane of her phone and she tugs it from her pocket. Her hand trembles so much, she has to concentrate with all her might to make her fingers work across the screen.

It flashes alive and she thanks her lucky stars it has charge as it rings in her ear.

“West!” she gasps as soon as she hears the call connect on the other end.

“Hey sweetheart—”

“West!” Her own voice is screechy and frightened and she swallows hard, trying to speak calmly.

He sounds suddenly alert. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know, it could be nothing—”

“What’s nothing? What’s going on? Where are you?”

“At my house. I opened the door and …” A sob bubbles up in her throat and she waits for it to pass before she can speak again. “The smell is all wrong. A scent—”

“You think there’s someone in there?”

“I don’t know.”

“Where are you now?”

“Outside.”

“Okay, I’m on my way. Don’t go in, Ruby. Did you call the cops already?”

“No.”

“Okay, don’t worry, I’ll do that.” She can hear the sound of his car gaining speed. “Now, do you know any of your neighbours?”

“Yes, Mrs Joseph next door.”

“Right, well, go knock on the door and get yourself inside. I’ll be there soon.” She closes her eyes, clutching the phone to her ear. “Ruby? Are you there?”

“Yes,” she answers quietly.

“Omega,” he says more sternly. “Did you hear what I said, start walking?”

A shiver runs down her spine, shaking awake her body, and her feet start to move down the path. “Don’t go yet,” she whispers.

“I’m still here.”