Page 18 of Pack Fever

A Nexus-branded car whips past the end of the alley. I jerk back, colliding into the Alpha, and when I glance up, I notice him staring at the car, then down at me. Panic slams into me, and that sensation of being cornered has me glancing around frantically for a way out.

“I have to go,” I say, ripping away from him, my words tumbling out in a rush. I spin to run, but the Nexus car has returned and is starting to turn down the alley.

“Fuck, fuck,” I murmur.

Out of options… if I run down the alley, it’ll be obvious, and they’ll chase me. There are no open doors in the alley, only trash cans.

I turn to the stranger and desperately plead, “I’m in trouble. Please help me. They’re going to hurt me.”

He doesn’t hesitate. In one swift motion, he loops an arm around my back and steers us to a door in the building near his parked van. He shoves it open and rushes us inside.

My heart’s slamming into my ribcage, and I’m scared out of my mind, needing to run and hide from everyone. How the hell did they get to this town so fast? It was my call with Mom, wasn’t it? They tapped her phone, and I should have known better. Fuck!

Now, I’m here in a dark corridor with a stranger.

The shadows crowd in around me, and suddenly, I’m terrified I made a terrible decision. This man could be a serial killer for all I know.

I pull away from him. “Where’s the way out? The front?” My shaky voice betrays me, and he stares at me with a sigh.

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

That’s when the sound of car doors slamming just outside in the alley pierces the fragile silence, and I flinch, every inch of me tensed.

“Please, I have to get out of here.” I’m sweating and shaking all over.

Before I can move, the Alpha hits the lock on the door, then his grip is firm around my wrist as he hauls me down the passage.

“This way.”

I stumble to keep up with him, my feet barely keeping pace with his long strides.

“Not sure what trouble you’re in, but for a nobody and a Beta, you have some powerful people after you.” There’s amusement in his voice, and if I wasn’t scared out of my brains, I’d quip back at him.

The truth is, he’s helping me when he doesn’t need to, and I need him.

We weave through the maze of the building, the unexpected thumping of a guitar’s beat vibrating through the walls.

Suddenly, we burst into what looks like a living room, then up a flight of stairs, into a residential area that’s surprisingly mundane. But when he opens a bedroom door, my insides curdle, and I back away.

“Hey, I’m not that kind of girl, and you might have gotten the wrong impression because this isn’t what you think,” I start, my mind racing with the worst scenarios.

“Trust me, it really isn’t,” he mutters, almost gently. “You want protection, then get in the bathroom and stay low. I’ll deal with them.”

His gaze is genuine, and I want to believe him. I have no choice. The possibility of being caught and knowing my mom might get in trouble after our conversation weighs on my shoulders.

Reluctantly, I nod and step into the bedroom that smells heavenly and like him. As the door shuts behind me, I’m engulfed in the essence of him, and it triggers something inside me that feels like wildfire.

Please, God, don’t let that be…

Swallowing hard, I lock myself in the bathroom, leaning against the door, trying to calm the sudden storm inside me.

I’m safe for the moment. Sliding down on the tiled floor in the shower, my teeth are chattering, and my body is shaking with fear and shock.

Hugging my knees, I whisper under my breath, “Please, not now. Please, don’t let my heat start now.”

Chapter

Four

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