Page 4 of Wild Alpha (Cold-Blooded Alpha #12)

“ H e’s alive, and he’s breathing, so it’s okay to leave him.”

After sniffing him, I walked away, leaving him to sleep. The fire had burned out, and the sun was already high in the sky. I checked the area for predators, making sure he'd be safe from anything that might try to eat him while he slept.

And so I left him.

The farther I walk away from him, the more I regret it.

Aware that it’s been a while since I bathed, I shift back to my human form when I find a lake and wade into the cool water.

It’s beautiful here. The crisp, bright early-morning light bounces off the surface of the water, reflecting my bedraggled appearance back at me. I make a face as I drag my fingers through my wild copper hair and get my hand caught in tangles I hope the water will tease out.

My life has been simple the past few years. Hunt something when I’m hungry. Find a bush or a cave to sleep in when I’m tired. And swim or float in lakes and creeks when I smell myself.

“It was okay to leave him,” I whisper to myself.

So why do I feel like I’ve done something wrong? Why is guilt twisting my stomach, making me think I should have stayed until I knew he was better? Maybe I should have led him down from the mountain, back to his home or to his car, in case something inside him was broken.

“He’s fine. You’re worrying about nothing.” My voice is firmer now, and I wince when I step on sharp, tiny stones as I wade deeper into the water.

As I float, my eyes drift closed, and I keep replaying his smile in my mind.

I want to go back to him, but it would be a mistake that could cost me my life.

“If you stay, it’s only a matter of time before someone finds you,” I whisper to myself.

I’ve stuck to the forest, careful to keep my distance from the Blackshaw pack, and I need to keep doing what I’m doing.

Fisher isn’t someone who can disappear, and no one will miss him.

He’s nice. Friendly . He probably has a million friends, and if he doesn’t return from his hiking trip, which is what this seems to be, they’ll come looking for him and find me.

I’m drifting off when a burst of male and female laughter startles me.

My eyes snap open, and I swim as fast as I can to the side of the lake, pulling myself out and sprinting into the forest.

I make it just in time.

Peering around the side of a tree, I watch a man and a woman, both hikers with large bags on their backs, slip them off with sighs of relief and roll their necks. They’re around my age, maybe a little younger, probably college students on a hiking trip in the Colorado mountains.

They grin at each other.

“That last mile was tough, huh?” the girl asks the guy.

“Try saying that when you’re the one weighed down with dinner,” the guy grumbles.

“Ha ha.” She leans toward him to poke him in the chest, and he catches her wrist and hauls her against him, dipping his head to touch his lips to hers.

Seeing them kiss is different.

It’s not the first time I’ve seen a couple kiss, but this time, it makes me think of him.

Fisher.

The guy with a smile so sunny he could befriend a wild bear—he’s that nice.

A flutter starts up in my belly as I watch them kiss, and I can’t help but smile when he wraps his arms around her and lifts her, spinning her in a circle. It’s sweet and romantic, and I wonder what it would be like to have a guy spin me around like that.

They break the kiss, laughing.

When he moves to lay her down on the ground, I turn away, retreating deeper into the forest because it feels like I’m intruding on something private.

They came to hike in the forest to be together. Why did Fisher come here alone? Doesn’t he have someone to go hiking with?

“He probably has a girlfriend,” I mutter, skimming my fingers along a tree bark. “Yes. He has a beautiful girlfriend, who was probably busy with work, so he came out here alone.”

She would be heartbroken if Fisher didn’t come back from his hike.

I slow my steps, biting my lip as I hesitate.

What if he’s not better and something happens to him?

My mind wanders back to the couple by the lake.

I recall how they held hands, laughing together, and the love in his eyes as he peered down at her.

She must have felt the same, because she melted into his kiss.

Even if I’d approached them, I'm sure they wouldn't have noticed me.

They were utterly absorbed in each other.

My gaze slides west.

If I keep walking that way, I’ll reach Blackshaw land. I’m still in the national forest, but I’ve never been closer to death at the cold-blooded alpha’s claws.

It isn’t safe to stay here, but I want to know what Fisher is like with me when I’m human, if he is as kind as he was when I was a wolf. The sound of laughter draws my gaze behind me. Moments later, a splash and more laughter follow. The couple are in the lake, swimming and laughing. Having fun.

If they’re splashing around in the water, it would be easy for them to miss a small red wolf if that wolf is sneaky enough to grab a T-shirt or a dress from the woman’s bag.

But I would have to be fast.

Bad idea, huh? I ask my wolf.

In my mind, my wolf yawns, lazy, unconcerned. Bored.

But she’s more than up for the challenge.

I check the coast is clear and sink into a crouch, embracing my beast.

The change sweeps over me as quickly and smoothly as it has since I turned sixteen, and she burst out of me for the first time.

I have always been an alpha.

My place in the pack wasn’t as well-defined as Vaden's. I was dominant, an alpha strong enough to hold my own in a fight. But I wasn’t an enforcer. My dad was always cautious about my fighting alongside my brother. I didn't get why until he told me about Xavier.

I had another role that he hadn’t wanted to tell me about, probably a role he had been fighting to save me from for years. Xavier’s mate. But that’s in the past now, a past I’ve spent the last three years running from.

It’s just me and my wolf now. We've lost everything that matters to us. Now we hide from the world so we don't lose anything else.

The couple are splashing each other in the water as I creep closer to the lake.

I watch from behind a tree, my eyes bouncing from them to their open bags and the clothes spilling out of them. The man is bare-chested, but the girl is wearing a swimsuit. That must have been what they were searching for to have made such a mess.

My gaze locks on a pale blue striped sundress. It’s pretty.

I wait.

When he draws her close, kissing her again, I dart to the bag, snatch up the dress, and dash away again.

I run for five minutes, wanting to make sure they didn’t see me and wonder why a wolf would steal a dress and not any of the food. Then I stop, drop the dress, and reach for my human self.

The dress is a little too big in the chest, and the skirt skims the top of my knees.

One strap slips down, and I tug it back up again, nervous and shy as I approach the camp I built for Fisher.

My hair is longer than it’s ever been, a bright copper with odd bits of sun-streaked gold that hits the small of my back.

But it’s tangled. I quickly run my fingers through it, wincing when I pull on a knot.

Briefly, I hesitate about braiding it, then decide I’m starting to care a little too much about what I look like, and I need to stop.

“This isn’t a date,” I tell myself. “Stop acting like it is. You’re just going to check he’s okay, and then you can leave knowing you’ve done everything you can.”

I’ve spent the last three years as a wolf more often than I’ve been a human.

I’m more vulnerable as a human than I am as a wolf, and I’m still not sure I’m doing the right or even smart thing.

Just ahead, I spot movement. Fisher is sitting by the fire, poking at it with a stick—possibly trying to reignite the embers, though I’m not certain.

“Is someone there?”

I freeze at his yell.

His voice isn’t steady or calm. He sounds as nervous as I am.

When I sniff, I can smell a slight tang of fear in the air. The dog scent has faded a little more, and I remind myself not to mention the fact that he smells a little like a dog. I’m not sure he would like that.

Swallowing hard, bracing myself for his reaction, I step into the clearing.