I stared up at the top of the hole. When did a group of fanatical hunters set up their torture shop around here? Why didn’t anyone warn me they were in town? It seemed impossible for a group this dangerous was in the area and the alpha didn’t know it. My stomach tightened. Had he warned everyone and my aunt chose not to tell me?No.I shook my head from side to side, trying to toss away the dark thoughts. My aunt may blame my dad for getting my uncle killed and she may place that blame on me since Dad wasn’t here, but she wouldn’t put me in danger like that. And none of this mattered right now. What did was I had to get out of here before those crazy humans came by to check on their traps. My breath and heart raced as my mind thought of what they might do with me if they found me here. I stumbled back as my head grew light. Suddenly mom’s voice, or what I remember her voice to sound like, surfaced and echoed in my mind. ‘It’s okay to be scared, Robin, but never let that fear turn to

“Ah, the little wolf.” A hint of a smile appeared on his bloodied lips as he took a step towards me. I hunched down on all fours until my belly grazed the grass. To get away from him, I took a small step back, but in the blink of an eye, he was right behind me. I yelped, turned to face him with a growl. That hint of a smile appeared again on his face as he began walking in a circle around me, looking at me as if I was a bug that had just crash landed in his drink.“Little wolf, little wolf,” he said as he encircled me. “What to do with you?” I didn’t think he actually wanted an answer, so I did my best to stay low and keep my eyes on him. “I should kill you,” he said, but this time he sounded like he was talking more to himself. “Can’t have you running and telling your alpha about the big, bad vampire.” He clicked his tongue as he shook his head, still walking around me like a shark waiting for the perfect moment to strike. “Though, by the look of you… I don’t think anyone is going

Shaun and I walked down the quiet residential road. As we walked, I kept stealing glances toward at him. Shaun Hunter was walking me home. I swear the way this day was going, not even aliens landing their flying saucer right down in front of me would surprise me. “Oh,” Shaun said, breaking the silence. “Uhm, so the school librarian told me you have their copy of Monday’s Trouble.”My brow furrowed. “Uh, yeah, I have it,” I replied, not sure why he was asking me about a book. “Cool. When you’re done with it, can you give it to me? Been wanting to read that one for a while.” Was he serious? Not only did Shaun read books, but he wanted to read that one? That was like the top tier ‘nerds only’ type of book. Okay, so perhaps today could still surprise me. I smiled at the weirdness of the day. Weirdness I survived. “Yeah, of course. I can bring it to school tomorrow. I’ve read it like a hundred times by now.” “Yeah?” He looked excited by the idea. My smile grew. “Yeah. No problem.”“Gr

I couldn’t believe I was actually doing this. When was following a vampire ever been a good idea? The darkness underneath the trees didn’t help settle my nerves at all. The day had been a deeply gray with bouts of rain. Oddly enough, the thought that if it did rain, the trees would keep a lot of the water off me helped settle me some. “So,” I said, drawing out the word. “What exactly am I going to be doing?”“You’ll be learning to run, little wolf,” the vampire replied. He looked nearly the exact same as when I met him yesterday. Did he have a change of clothes?“Right, could you be less vague, maybe?”“No.”I scowled at his back. “Then at least tell me where we’re going?”He glanced back at me with a look that screamed. ‘Are you an idiot?’ before answering me. “To my territory.” The tone was nothing short of condescending. “I know what your alpha is capable of, and I will not spend a minute longer near his borders than I have to.”What he was capable of? What did that mean? I tried t

My lips met with Shaun’s and his surprise echoed through me. His lips were soft and warm. That softness and warmth echoed through me when he not only didn’t pull away from me, but kissed me back. The surprise was gone in a flash and instead turned to attraction. He most definitely liked me. Knowing that made our kiss all the sweeter. I closed my eyes and let the emotions, both his and mine, fill me and I forgot about everything. I forgot about school, my uncaring aunt, horrible cousins, and Alec the vampire. It was wonderful. Butterflies fluttered around in my stomach and my heart raced. I could stay like this forever and be happy.When the kiss ended and Shaun took a step back from me, it was all too soon. His eyes were a darker shade than before the kiss started and he gave me a smile I’d never seen before as he rubbed the back of his neck. It was a small, kind of shy smile that made him seem almost bashful. It was something I’d never seen from him. “We should get you home,” he said