ALPHA ORION

CHAPTER ONE

(Ava's POV)

ALPHA ORION

My heart was pounding, and I kept running, my backpack thudding against my back with every rough step.

The air was overwhelmed with cold. I disliked running in the woods at night, but this night was different. Tonight, I was feeling a panic that was sharp and immediate, not just my normal fear of the dark.

Then a strange voice hit my ears. "Come on, Ava! Come over here!”

I turned around, trying to see whoever was speaking to me from behind.

No one.

Nothing but black tree silhouettes and deep darkness. The moon was lit with silver well up in the air, providing very little illumination.

I wasn’t supposed to be out here. I knew that. We lived in a small mountain town, and curfew was like a normal thing. And especially since the last full moon, it was even more.

A stick broke. It was not a small twig, but a large branch, cracked cleanly. I stopped breathing, until my lungs were on fire.

I began to run faster, this time. My old running shoes were slippery on the moist ground. I had to reach the edge of the woods, where street lights were present.

Next, I smelled it.

It was something powerful, and completely clean, like rain on granite and smoke. Its smell was terrifying, amazing, and it raised hairs along my arms.

I recognized that smell. Every person in town did, even if they denied it. It was the scent of a shapeshifter.

I ventured a look back over my shoulder. And I saw him. "I haven't crossed any border," I insisted, trying to be brave. "The town line is just back there." I pointed beyond him.

He didn't even glance. His eyes stayed locked with mine. "The territory shifts. This area now belongs to me."

“Well, you’d better mark it better,” I said, trying to be a bit sarcastic. I was scared, but I wouldn’t let him know that.

His golden eyes narrowed, and a rough growl began to vibrate in his chest. This vibration also shook the ground below him. Again, he was taking a step closer. “Sarcasm can be very dangerous, little human,” he warned. “Especially when you are alone.”

I swallowed hard. I could smell the power of him now, a wave of heat that was both threatening and completely irresistible.

“I’m not small,” I said, weakly. “And I just want to go home.”

"You're not scared, you know that?" he said, remaining still. "You're just worried. Your heart rate is normal. You're not telling the truth when you say you're scared."

He could hear my heart beating. That realization brought blood rushing from my head.

I lowered my hand, pulling it back from the spray. It was useless, though. If he wanted me, he already had me. “Okay,” I admitted. “Yes, I’m scared. Now, if you would, I…”

Finally, he moved, but it wasn’t in a way that showed he was going to step back. He reached out with his left hand, his finger large and powerful. He did not touch me, but reached up and pushed against the strap of my backpack, until it slid down from my shoulder.

“You’re carrying too much,” he said. His eyes darted from the bag to me.

“It’s just books,” I added. “College stuff.”

“College…?”

Mr. Ledwidge wore a look of sudden amazement. "Humans still do that? I thought you all were just worried about the next storm."

"We’re worried about both," I said. "Can I please have my bag back?”

He paused, then offered it to me temporarily. I reached out and accepted it, and our hands touched.

I was running until I was safely in my small apartment, locking the door, throwing the deadbolt, and leaning against the wood, trying to catch my breath.

I slid down onto the floor. My legs were shaking.

Orion.

He was what the town whisperers called the Alpha. They never uttered his name aloud, but they knew it. Orion was the most powerful, most ruthless shifter in the territory.

And he was the one who stopped me. He had looked at me. He smelled me.

I slowly removed the backpack. I opened the large pocket to stash my keys. But there was other stuff in there too—it wasn't mine.

There was a thick, white envelope pushed between my books. It was marked with a splash of dark red wax. The smell of rain on granite, of smoke, was his.

I reached for it, my fingers shaking. I turned it over.

It wasn't addressed to anyone. Only a single word, in bold, angular script:

URG

I opened it right away. It wasn’t a threat. This wasn’t a ransom note, a small piece of paper with three lines of text, plain and direct:

"Be at the old mill tomorrow at dusk."

Don't be late.

I needed a guide.

I gazed at the note. He’d stopped me, scared the life out of me, and left a note in my bag. He hadn’t asked for a favor. He’d ordered it. And he’d asked me—just a normal human girl with two part-time jobs in order to pay rent—to lead the Alpha.

I looked about the woods and stopped running. In my own way, I knew the woods better than anyone else. I'd spent my youth finding every hidden path. I went over to the window and looked out at the black, far-off trees. His smell was still present on the paper.

I did not want to go. It was dangerous and was going beyond a line that would get me killed.

However, five hundred dollars would repair my broken water heater.

Wait a minute. Five hundred dollars? There wasn't a mention of that in the letter.

I looked in my wallet. It was empty. I rechecked the envelope. Nothing.

I was just about to toss it in a trashcan, angry as I was, when I noticed a note was stuck to the back of it.

It was a perfectly folded $100 dollar bill. Taped down, as if I hadn't yet noticed it in order to avoid it being discarded.

That arrogance of his angered me. He did not ask, he simply said, “I settled it just now.” He paid up. I needed the money. I also had to repair the heater before it became even colder.

I looked at this note again. The old mill. Dusk.

I wouldn't be his guide. Instead, I would take his money, point him in a direction, and split. That was the plan—a quick and easy exchange.

I wadded up the note in my hand, then flattened it out. I will re-read it tomorrow. I would not be late. Whoever Orion was, I needed to know.

As I was still muffled in rough thoughts, I heard another voice from behind. “Make way for the Alpha King of the Shadow Moon Kingdom!”

What did I just hear? Alpha of the Shadow Moon?