Page 14 of The Alpha Dire Wolf (Bloodlines & Bloodbonds #1)

Lincoln

T he hunter had become the hunted. I was stalked across the parking lot of town hall, to the grass and bush-covered park directly across the street.

The eerie sensation of knowing I was being tracked and reeled in should have been uncomfortable, but it wasn’t.

Perhaps it was the knowledge of who was hunting me.

Or perhaps I want to be caught.

“Hey. Hey, you! Forest-man!”

Her voice reached out and grabbed at me, the trap tightening its noose as the hunter struck.

Wispy tendrils of imaginary power sank their greedy fingers into me, burrowing deeply until they reached where my wolf strained against the bonds of my mind.

The beast was desperate with desire to stop and turn around. To be caught by this woman.

Setting my jaw, I plowed onward, sheer willpower overcoming desire and keeping me going step after step.

My resolve was fueled by the anger of what I had done in the town hall, the words I had spoken to antagonize the population of New Lockwood.

I didn’t enjoy it. In fact, I had wanted nothing to do with it.

Jackson and the rest of the Elder Council disagreed, however, and their point had been proven.

The animals stampeding through the woods had been detected over an hour before they left the confines of the trees and raced through town.

Dark magic was afoot, and they insisted that “the woman” must be kept isolated. They thought she was behind it.

“She must not be allowed to make allies of those in town who could assist her.”

That’s exactly what my words would do, in time. They would spread around, and the people of the town would begin to look for outsiders, like Sylvie, to blame. So they “suggested” I go speak at the town hall. It was well-known how the mayor responded to such incidents.

It irked me to do as they wished, like I was some lackey and not the alpha of the pack.

Going against the elders right now would create strife within the pack.

It would hurt people and break apart friendships as people were forced to decide who to side with.

If resistance was too strong, I might even be forced to make an example of someone.

I wouldn’t do that—not yet, not when there might still be other ways.

Not until it became clear just how much Sylvie knew about us and the forest, and what she was up to.

Some wanted her dead. Some wanted her to pay the full price for the past, for actions of her ancestors, but I had shut that down immediately.

I was alpha, and nobody was to be killed without my permission. I wouldn’t back down on that.

“I’m talking to you. I know you can hear me!” She was closer now, hurrying to catch up.

Not that I was going especially fast. Maybe I did want her to catch up. I didn’t know.

The only thing I did know was that if anyone so much as looked at her wrong, I would tear their throats out. Not just because of my own personal feelings on the matter.

But because if the elders were wrong, if she didn’t know anything, attacking her might provoke her, or spur an awakening. Something we very much wanted to avoid.

“Stop running away. Coward!”

My feet hit the ground and did not move.

Who is this woman? How does she affect me and my wolf this way? Nobody has ever had such sway over me. Could she truly be that powerful?

Or were the elders perhaps wrong about her?

I shoved the thought aside as Sylvie grabbed my arm and swung me around. At the instant her fingers touched my forearm, a shock jumped between us, big enough to sting.

Sylvie jumped back, crying out in pain.

“Are you okay?” I moved toward her.

She backed away. “What the hell was that ?” she demanded. “Did you just tase me?”

I looked at my empty hands, turning them over to demonstrate they weren’t holding anything. “How would I do that? It must have been static electricity.”

That made no sense, but what other explanation was there?

Sylvie shook herself out and stood up tall, her eyes ablaze.

I clamped down on the beast inside me, fighting it harder than I ever had before.

I couldn’t lose this battle, not now. Every muscle fiber inside me strained to be let free.

To step forward, scoop Sylvie off her feet and carry her off into the woods.

There I would tear the clothes from her gorgeous, feminine body, exposing its every soft, silky inch to my gaze.

At which point I would mount her and claim her, doing a great many very dirty things to her body that would result in more pleasure than she had ever experienced before.

She would cry out my name over and over again, until she could speak no more, and fall asleep in my arms.

It would be perfect.

“Just what kind of asshole are you, saying such things back there?” she snapped, her face turning red with fury. “Evil will come from one of them? Who are you to say that about them, besides some weirdo who wanders alone in the woods?”

She was cute when she was mad. It brought out the dimples in her chin, though I was wise enough not to antagonize her further. Mostly.

“What are you smiling about?” she hissed through clenched teeth.

I smiled broader, my head falling to one side as I admired the soft flesh of her neck, wondering how it tasted. I imagined her head falling back as I kissed it, my fingers threading their way through her hair and pulling it tightly. Taking control.

“It takes a weirdo wandering the woods to know a weirdo wandering the woods,” I pointed out.

Sylvie’s face went crimson. “What are we, ten?”

“All I’m doing is pointing out the glass house you live in,” I said calmly, knowing that would infuriate her more.

So much for not antagonizing her further.

“No, you’re deflecting. You know more than you’re letting on.”

“Know more? About what? You haven’t asked me anything.”

“About the woods.” She stabbed a finger at my chest, her eyes narrowing when I didn’t respond. “What is the curse of the woods?”

I shrugged.

“BS.” She licked her lips, her eyes pinning me to the spot. “Are you the curse of the woods?”

“Absolutely not ,” I said sharply, anger coloring my tone at the unexpected insinuation.

My people protected the woods. That was our duty. The woods and those around it, like the town. If anyone was some “curse of the woods,” it was her.

Though I dared not say that. Not out here, alone. If I was wrong about Sylvie being completely ignorant of her powers, challenging her to a fight was not something I wanted to do, alpha bloodline or not. The power she possessed—whether she knew it or not—was significant.

Sylvie did not back down at my response, though she took a second or three to reply, “If you’re so sure you’re not the curse, tell me something else, stranger. Are you the guardian?”

I forced my eyebrows to raise in unspoken question. Mostly because I did not trust myself to speak. Hopefully, she would mistake my surprise for confusion until I could get a better hold of myself.

Where had she heard that term? It was not one spoken of lightly or often. I had barely heard of it, outside of legends of the past.

“The guardian?” I said into the silence that yawned before us, with Sylvie not electing to keep speaking.

“Of-of the woods,” she said, going red. “I read about it. Somewhere. Never mind.”

Now where would she have read about it? There were few options, and one in particular jumped out quite clearly. Her grandmother.

“I’m sure you did,” I said, too deep in thought to properly enjoy her embarrassment.

If her grandmother had told her about the guardian, I had to wonder what else the old witch might have told her.

Thoughts of Sylvie’s ignorance to all the goings-on diminished greatly. I had to find out what else she knew. Somehow.

“Well, are you him?” she pressed, overcoming the embarrassment with such sudden intensity that I was forced to backtrack. Had she faked it to lure me in?

“I am Lincoln,” I said. “I’m sorry if that’s not the answer you want.”

“Hello, Lincoln. I’m Sylvie.” She lifted her hand.

I didn’t take it. “I don’t want to hurt you again. Static electricity and all that.”

“Right,” she said, dropping her hand.

If she was in full control of her powers, I didn’t want to give her another way in.

The surprise she’d shown on that first contact suggested she wasn’t that strong.

But I shouldn’t take chances just yet. Though there wasn’t a lick of magic to be scented on her.

Invisible magic … was that a thing? I made note to ask the elders.

Regardless, her ancestors had tried to take everything from my people, so I could not be too careful. Not right now, with the very thin line I was walking.

And what a line it was. On the one side, my pack and its needs and desires to stay away from the woman, to prevent her from acting against us.

On the other side, the very tempting allure to treat her as just that, a woman , and take her. Claim her. Have her at my side and under me in the throes of heated passion, her lips on my ear, screaming my name as I took her.

That was the line I walked, trying hard to balance without tipping over, even as I leaned far to the side. The scent of Sylvie, the cinnamon and lavender combination, was driving me crazy the longer I spent in close proximity to her.

Perhaps it is time to exit the situation before it gets too intense. Before you make a mistake.

“Why are you here?” I asked. “You don’t live in town anymore.”

She searched my face in surprise. “You know who I am?”

“I know you’re Helen’s granddaughter.”

Perhaps it was too much to give away, but I watched her face closely for anything other than surprise. Anger, fear, hate, malice. I detected none of it.

“That’s true. If you know that, you know I came back for her funeral. I need to take care of a few other things while I’m here. She was all I had left.”

It wasn’t a lie, but she was holding back, not telling me everything. It was plain as day in her eyes.

“You’re keeping secrets,” she continued. “You know more about what happened today than you’re admitting. That’s why you said what you said back there.”

I smiled, enjoying the dance, the verbal jousting, attempts to pry and discover what the other knew, or didn’t know. Normally I hated such conversations. But with her, everything was fun.

“You would know all about holding back,” I countered without answering her question.

“Why are you holding back your secrets?” she asked, not bothering to deny my accusation at all. She crossed her arms.

I fought down the urge to stare at the emphasis the movement brought to her chest. Did she do it on purpose? Probably, I surmised. She was a smart woman. But did she know just how close she was to me losing the battle and crossing the line between us? I doubted it.

Her question held such interest, and such naivety, that I couldn’t believe she had any idea what she was getting herself into. Nor was she acting. Not unless she was the best actress on the planet, who had missed her true calling.

No, she has no idea who, or what, she’s descended from, or what I am. I doubt she knows the world she’s trying to push her way into even exists. She’s reaching blindly in the dark.

“Well?”

“Because,” I said, “not everyone is ready to hear them.”

“Not ready to hear them,” she repeated, twisting her mouth as if she’d bitten into something sour. “And when would someone be ready to hear what you have to stay?”

I stared deeply into her eyes. “When they’re ready to believe.”