Ripe for the Alpha

Everyone bursts out laughing and I can’t help but think that this is what family is supposed to be like.

My family was always so distant and cold. I didn’t have any siblings and neither of my parents were on speaking terms with their families by the time I came around. Family dinners were silent except for the sound of the clinking of utensils and the sound of my dad turning the page of his newspaper.

I come from a rich family and we appear to have it all, but I always felt like I had nothing. No love. No affection. Just stuff.

My father is financially successful, but he’s also morally corrupt. You know those lowlife executives you read about who are the head of a major company and authorize the dumping of radioactive waste into a community’s lake or they greenlight a product that they know causes cancer? Well, let’s just say I wouldn’t be surprised if an article like that featured my father one day.

And my mom, well my mom concerns herself with the latest jewelry collection and buries her head in the sand for everything else.

I always felt like something was missing in my life, and now I finally feel like I’ve found it.

The sound of a car pulling up fills the room as the headlights flash against the wall.

“We have a surprise for you,” Kinsley says with a sly smile as she looks at me.

For some reason, my stomach fills with a sense of dread.

No…

Damon hops up and goes to the door.

“Kinsley…” Austin says looking as worried as I feel.

“I invited your parents!” she says with a beautiful smile. I can’t hate her even though I really want to right now. “They were missing you so much!”

I swallow hard and turn just as Damon opens the door. They’re standing there, looking as cold and distant as ever.

“Mom. Dad,” I say as I quickly get up, nearly taking the tablecloth with me. “What are you doing here?”

My father looks uneasy as he steps into the house. I don’t want them here. Not yet. This has been so perfect and I want to indulge in it a little while longer before my old life comes crashing into my new life.

My mother’s nose crinkles up as she holds her purse a little closer to her side. She’s looking at everything with a pompous air of dissatisfaction. She’s such a snob and right now I hate her for it.

“We heard you were found,” my father says as he tosses his coat at Damon without looking at him. He shakes his head. “Just as the ransom money was about to come in.”

The vein on his temple starts throbbing and my stomach churns with disgust. He did set this up. The kidnapping was just a ploy to get the ransom money. I can tell by the way he’s disappointed to see me free.

“That’s what you’re worried about?” I say as my eyes narrow on him. “You’re more concerned about the money than me.”

He scoffs. “Oh, please.”

But it’s true. Everything starts to click into place. He’s been stressed about money lately. The bank repossessed our lake house. My parents have been spending lavishly for decades and now it’s finally caught up to them.

And I was their ticket out of debt.

“What was the deal, Dad?” I ask with a cutting look.

“What deal?”

Austin steps by my side and I immediately feel bolder. I can take on the world with this man at my side. My parents are nothing.

“How much of the ransom money were you getting?”

His eyes widen for a second before he starts to deny it, sounding all insulted and indignant. “You really think I was involved in business with those… shifters.” He says it with a look of disgust on his face.

“Who said they were shifters?” I ask as I cross my arms over my chest and stare him down.

He starts to panic and backtrack. “I just… assumed. Shifters are—”

Austin charges forward and grabs him by the back of the neck. “Let’s go have a chat,” he says as he pushes him to the door. “Outside.”

They disappear into the darkness and my mother drops her eyes to the floor, ignoring everything going on around her as usual.

I just want them out of my life.

Chapter Eight

Austin

If this guy wasn’t Ellie’s father, his neck would already be snapped.

It’s taking every ounce of self-control I have not to end his pathetic life.

“Get your hands off me!” he shouts as I push him across the yard. I do what he says and shove him hard as I let go. He tumbles onto the grass, ruining his expensive suit.

It’s dark out with a full moon shining down on us. I can see the fear in his eyes as I stand over him.

“You handed your own daughter over to those animals,” I hiss out. I’m trying to control my fury, but it’s so fucking hard.