Alpha Bully (Wolf Ridge High 1)

Cole shakes my keys out of my purse and pops the locks. He opens my door and lifts me into the seat.

After he climbs into the driver’s side, I warble, “A-am I going to turn into a werewolf now?”

He lets out a puff of surprised laughter, but immediately sobers. “No, baby. We’re a different species. It’s not a disease. Not contagious.” He takes off out of the parking lot, screeching down the dirt road.

“Tell me you don’t eat my species.”

Now he does laugh. “Only in the way you love, Pink.”

I pull my knees up to my chest, my ruined Chucks resting on the seat as I hug my legs.

“Hey.” He lays a hand on my knee. “Are you okay? Do you need a hospital or can we take care of your injuries at Austin’s cabin?”

Austin.

The other wolf. Holy shit! Those other wolves are kids from school!

Ice sluices through my veins. My brain tries to chug forward to assimilate all this and then falls off a cliff and crashes.

“Bailey?”

“Huh? Oh, um, no. I don’t need a hospital. Unless I need a rabies shot or… sorry.” I realize that probably sound super offensive.

“S-so you’re a werewolf, huh?”

“Wolf shifter, yeah.”

“Wolf shifter. Is that the same thing as werewolf?”

“Werewolf is not the preferred term. It’s what humans call us.”

“Right, totally.” I hug my knees tighter.

“Bailey? You hanging in there? You’re not scared of me are you?”

Am I scared of him? No. Definitely not. I’m experiencing a huge sense of betrayal at not knowing this whole town are actual fucking wolves, but Cole Muchmore just saved me from a pack of them, so I’m not scared of him, in particular.

Still, I say, “Should I be, Cole?”

He glances up through the windshield at the full moon and utters a low curse.

“Cole?”

“You’re going to be okay, baby. As far as those assholes know, you never saw anyone shift, right?” He glances away from the road to send me a warning look. I notice his hands strangle my steering wheel.

“I never saw anyone shift,” I repeat. “Which assholes?”

Cole makes a distinctly wolfy sound in his throat. A growl that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. “That was Bo’s brother Winslow and his buddies. They’re dicks. They had no right to terrorize you like that.” His knuckles go white on the steering wheel and a muscle in his jaw flexes. “I would’ve fucking killed that asshole Ben for biting you if I weren’t outnumbered.”

He’s been winding around back roads for a while, but now he pulls down a long dirt driveway that dead ends at a small cabin.

“And then your friends came to help?” I’m still trying to figure this all out. My brain is still partially stunned from the fright and shock. “Austin and who else?”

“You know, the alpha-holes: Bo, Wilde, Slade. It’s the full moon, the whole pack goes for a run. Listen, you’re not supposed to know any of this, Pink. If our alpha finds out you know, I’ll be in deep shit and so will you.” He parks and gets out.

A shiver runs up my spine.

I don’t even want to ask what deep shit means in this context.

And yeah. My boyfriend is a wolf-shifter. This night couldn’t get weirder.

Cole

Bailey climbs out of the car and winces when she puts weight on her injured foot. I scoop her up in my arms and carry her to the door. The key is hidden where it always is, sitting on top of one of the porch rafters. I unlock the door and let Pink hobble in while I find a pair of jeans and a t-shirt in the front hallway bins.

Shifters always keep extra clothes available. Every shifter car has clothing in the trunk. Cabins like these are meant as a stopping place when the wolves are out on a run, and are fully stocked with clothing, food and supplies.

And it’s a good thing Austin’s dad is the town physician, because I know there will be a decent med kit here. I find it in the bathroom and bring it out. Pink is sitting on the sofa, with her shoe and sock off. Her foot is already swollen and bruised and she has one deep puncture wound.

Seeing it nearly makes me shift with fury.

I like Winslow okay. I owe him for helping me with The Captain and giving me a job, but he and his friends can be real cocksuckers when they’re together. When they were in high school and we were still small, they used to beat the shit out of us just for fun.

I don’t know if Winslow thought he was doing me a favor by picking on Bailey. I’m sure Bo wouldn’t have told him that our relationship is more complicated than bully and victim. Maybe he was just pissed to find a human in our stomping grounds. That was my bad for bringing her there, although I can’t possibly regret it because of what we shared there.