My heart must be banging a million miles a minute as I watch Rick’s eyes glow like mine in the dimly lit room. A growl escapes my lips as he finally stops hiding his wolf, and its presence overwhelms mine—he is powerful. An alpha. How did he hide?
"How did you appear so human to me?" I ask, my words coming out as more of a growl as my wolf pushes me to shift and challenge Rick in order to protect Sophie. Rick stands up, and I do the same, keeping still and refusing to back down. I hold his gaze, knowing it is never smart to run from a wolf. Let alone an alpha wolf. Though I’ve never run from my own kind before, it’s just what my mum always told me.
"A gift of mine, but I won't hurt you," he says moving closer to me, holding his hands up, and I can’t feel any kind of threat coming from him. I don’t know if he is telling me the truth, but when he takes another step closer, I let out a long growl, and I almost let my wolf take over. He does pause though, not pushing me any further, which surprises me a little, but my growl must have caused Sophie to panic, as the next thing I see is a brown bundle slam into Rick's chest. It knocks him over, and he hits the sofa as he falls. I rush to pull Sophie off him, but a long growl from Rick stops me. He slowly stands up, holding Sophie as she tries to bite him and claw at his shirt, ripping it in places.
"Sophie," I plead as Rick picks her up by the scruff on her neck, holding her away from him, and she whines in annoyance.
“That was unexpected,” Rick grunts, looking down at his shirt. “I loved this damn shirt, pup.”
"Don't hurt her," I beg, moving slowly closer to them as panic fills me until I can’t stop shaking. I'm a little shocked when Rick softly places Sophie into my arms. Sophie licks my chin as I look down at her, checking she is okay even though I know she is.
"You shouldn't attack an alpha, pup," Rick laughs, and his big hand strokes her head. I’m surprised when she happily lets him fuss her. “I used to challenge my uncle when I was a pup, until I learnt it wasn’t a good idea until I got older and stood at least a little bit of a chance.”
"I've never met another wolf, other than our parents. Neither has Sophie, and our parents were not alphas," I tell him, and he frowns briefly, going to say something, but a door slams open, and a man walks in the open lounge doorway. The man smells human, but everything from the way he stands to the way he stares at me like he is planning my death tells me he is anything but. Sophie whines as I place her behind me on the sofa and move in front of her with a growl at the man whose gaze darkens. The man has wavy black hair that curls away from his face, revealing his dark blue eyes. They are so dark, you can only just see the blue, and without staring like I did, you would think they were just black. The man keeps his hands at his side, tightly in fists, and his muscular arms press against his black leather jacket.
"What the fuck is going on, Rick?" he asks in a deadly calm voice, which is somehow seductive. It sounds like a voice that could talk you into dying for him without saying much more than a whisper. Even though he asks Rick the question, his eyes still watch my every move. Assessing everything about me, I bet. I run my eyes over him, having the feeling he is not a wolf, he seems too deadly for that. Everything about him sends shivers and warning bells through me, yet I can’t seem to pull my gaze away.
“Josh, we have new neighbours. Two wolves who have no pack and are clearly in hiding,” Rick says, maneuvering himself so he is in front of me and cutting my gaze from Josh off. I move to the side, not wanting to be blocked, and Josh only smirks at the action.
“Then send them to the castle before anyone notices,” Josh retorts. “She needs to fucking leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere, but why don’t you get the hell out of my house before I make you,” I suggest, crossing my arms and keeping my head high. “Get out.”
“You have no idea who you are taking to, sweetheart,” the man growls, a light blue shimmer appearing all over his skin as he reveals the massive black wings on his back. Angel. A dark one. I growl low until Rick moves in front of me, blocking my view of Josh again.
“Leave, Josh. I will figure out who they are, but I don’t sense a threat here. You need to calm the fuck down,” Rick warns, a low growl slipping out with his words. “Calm it down now or we need to take this outside, and I don’t want to fight you again, bro.”
“I am calm, brother,” Josh replies smoothly, though his gravelly voice suggests otherwise.
“Josh…” Rick warns him again, this time his words are filled with an alpha demand. It’s enough to make me shiver and want to fall to my knees in submission, but I fight it off. I won’t submit to anyone. I glance back at Sophie, whose wolf has submitted in a heartbeat and is rolled onto her back, showing her stomach off. It would usually make me chuckle, if it were in a different circumstance, that is.
“Fine,” Josh responds, and I glance around Rick just in time to see Josh walk out the door, leaving it open behind him. The sound of the front door opening and shutting is heard not long after. There’s an awkward silence as Rick turns around, lifting a massive, muscular arm and rubbing the back of his head.
“You might want to stay away from Josh…he won’t hurt you, but he doesn’t like strangers. Especially not right now,” Rick says, defending his brother.
“Got it. Stay away from tall, dark and downright terrifying is something I can do,” I mutter and turn around, picking Sophie up. I walk her to the stairs and place her on the bottom one. “Run to your room and change back. We are safe, I just need to talk to Rick alone.” Sophie whines, pressing her head against my hand before running up the stairs like I asked her to.
“Why are you here?” Rick asks me, and I turn around to see him leaning against the door frame like a model for a magazine. I go to answer when the front door bell rings, and Rick goes to answer it. I can smell the pizza from here, without even opening the door.
“Go and sit, it’s the pizza,” he tells me, holding the door handle as I pause, not knowing if I can trust him. “I promise that I will never hurt you. I only want to talk and understand why you are here without a pack.” I don’t answer him, but I do walk into the lounge and awkwardly sit on the sofa. Rick comes back in the room not long after and slides the pizza on the coffee table, opening it up.
“I would get plates, but everything is in boxes,” I say, reaching across and breaking a piece off as Rick sits on the other sofa with his own piece.
“You don’t need plates for pizza,” Rick says, shrugging his massive shoulders, and I agree. We eat silently, to the point that it is seriously uncomfortable.
“What do you want to know?” I ask when I have finished my slice, and Rick has already finished his and had a second one as he eats super quickly. He spreads his arms back across the top of the sofas and watches me closely.
“Where is your pack?” he asks. “What is their name, and why are they not protecting two young females?”
“We don’t have a pack. My mum and dad said there were no packs around anymore, none that could be trusted anyways. We kept moving to keep safe,” I explain, and he looks confused as he processes my answer for a few seconds.
“That’s not true, Red,” Rick mutters. “There are plenty of packs that protect their own, and until ten years ago, they were spread all around the world.”
“I don’t know why my parents didn’t go to any, but they always kept us hidden and moving around. What happened in Paris…well we had to keep super low down after that,” I say, referring to how Paris suddenly had a massive ward appear all around it for months. When the ward came down, most of the people in Paris were missing or dead. And some of the people had turned into things almost like zombies. It soon came out that supernaturals were real and had caused what happened in Paris. After that, anything different or suspected as supernatural was hunted and usually killed. Everywhere in the world suddenly became extremely dangerous overnight for people like my family.
“Coming here is not keeping you safe. You need protection, an alpha and a pack,” Rick mutters angrily. “Your parents risked your life way too much by hiding you.”
“Why? We have done fine without one. My parents clearly kept us alive and fine,” I remark, folding my arms in annoyance, and he huffs, shaking his head.
“The world is dangerous for supernaturals. Hunters are everywhere and actively hunting anyone different,” he tells me what I already know.
“I know that. We are good at hiding, and this village is tiny, no one will look for us here,” I retort. It’s not like I moved into the middle of London where I couldn’t shift and would be found super easily.
“This village is not what it seems. You need to leave,” Rick says gently, but it is firm and a demand.
“We have nowhere to go. I had to drop out of university, I have no job, and this house was all that was left in my parents’ will,” I admit to him. “I couldn’t sell this house if I tried, and I have to do what is best for Sophie.”
“Shit,” Rick grumbles, rubbing his face. “Then I guess I will look after you for a week. We have a place I can get you to, and you will be safe. You will be with your own kind.”
“There is nowhere safe,” I remark, not understanding where he thinks I can just go to.
“I grew up in the safest place for supernaturals, and my stepmum is the queen of the supernaturals. Winter will give you both a home and protect you. She does that for anyone that needs help,” he explains to me. I stare at him for a second in shock. There is a queen of the supernaturals and somewhere safe to live? Sounds like a fairy tale. If Rick’s stepmum is queen, then he must be a prince. Just my luck to trip over and literally be caught by Prince Charming.
“I don’t know…” I let my voice drift off.
“I’m not living here for no reason, and this village is more dangerous than anywhere else. Let me help you,” he asks. “I want to help you.”
“Now I think about it, I’ve heard rumours of the supernaturals having a queen and four kings. That they hide all the supernaturals with them. It was a story told around university,” I reply, being honest with him. “It always sounded like a fairy tale that couldn’t be true. My parents said it must be lies, and I really didn’t think on it until now.”
“Not one part of it is a lie. I am prince, heir to the supernatural throne, and I promise on my blood to protect you,” he says, and goose bumps spread all over my skin as we stare at each other. “You are my pack, and as your alpha now, I will keep you safe no matter what.” The more I stare at Rick, I get the feeling he isn’t joking one bit, and what he did was very serious.
“Rick, look, how can I believe you?” I ask, standing up and resisting the urge to pace as I keep eye contact with him. I won’t drop my gaze, not when I know he is an alpha, and my wolf wouldn’t let me anyway. I’ve never been a submissive wolf. My parents once submitted to me when I was mad about something silly. I just didn’t know I was an alpha female until then. Mum and dad said alpha wolves are rare and meant to be more powerful than usual wolves. They are meant to lead. The only place I would lead anyone is into trouble, so that can’t be true.
“That’s the thing, you already do trust me, but you don’t know why you trust me,” he says, grinning as he stands up and walks to the door. “Come over to our house and meet the others in the morning. They will want to meet you, and we need to sort out a way to make you seem human.”
“Are they as scary as Josh?” I ask quietly, not wanting to touch the subject about how I trust this hottie already. I’m sure it’s just a wolf thing and nothing to do with how damn sexy, protective and stunning he is. Rick laughs, and I resist the urge to shiver at how nice his laugh sounds.
“No one is as scary as Josh,” he winks at me, and walks out the room. I wait for the front door to shut before collapsing back on the sofa, not having a clue if I am right for trusting the handsome next door neighbour. Or if I just made a big mistake.