Page 5 of My Shy Alpha

I want to move. Scream. Run. But I’m frozen.

I’m never listening to my heart again.

The wolf takes a silent, prowling step, and my instincts win. Running will make it chase me, but what choice do I have?

As I sprint for my life, a stockier, darker figure flashes its teeth behind the brown wolf. A black bear of a wolf lunges for the brown wolf’s neck, and I don’t watch a second more.

I run and run, not stopping no matter how much I need to. I’m so winded that I’m having trouble staying on my feet, tripping and scrambling until my palms bleed.

Pausing at a rock, I cough as I struggle to inhale enough oxygen to soothe my burning limbs. Every breath feels like it’s calling out to the enormous wolves, begging to be found, but I can’t stifle it. I grip my aching heart muscles, preparing myself to sprint despite their complaints, when a twig snaps behind me.

Fear locks a scream from escaping my throat. From the corner of my eye, a black figure swoops for me. I swear I see fur.

3

Without looking, I start smacking. My first hand whiffs through the air, but the second hits something hard.

Someone speaks. “Shh... You’re okay.”

I cower from the gentle, deep voice. My pounding heartbeat nearly drowns out the stranger, but their words calm me just enough to be able to breathe.

“There you go. You’re okay.”

I open my eyes to find a large man. My heart flips. His stare flits away before I can see the color of his brooding eyes, but I’m hit by a sweet, luxurious scent from his hair. Long stragglers frame his shaved fade, but most of his hair on top is shoved to one side, choppy and wild like his breath. With powerful arms shielding me, he scans the forest, revealing a sharp, scruffy jawline. The one I can never find in a magazine.

This isn’t Mr.-Sexy-Dream-Dude. He looks, smells, and sounds even better.

But after what the last large man did to me when we were alone, I’m way more confused about why I’m not scared of this one. As we meet eyes, his soft, teal stare enraptures me. It’s rude to stare, but I can’t help it. Neither can he.

“What–” He clears his throat, his husky whisper quivering as much as my shoulders. “What are you?”

With that single, demeaning question, my developing emotions embarrass me too much to acknowledge, dropping to the floor with my jaw.

“Excuse me?! How mean!”

The man flinches, his gorgeous eyes crushed by my angry reaction, and frankly, I’m fine with that.

I can’t believe I just thought this guy was my soulmate. What kind of question was that? Did the wolves scramble his brain?

My ribcage locks. “Wolves!”

“...Yes.”

“All you have to say is ‘yes?!’ No, you don’t get it–”

With a crackle of dry leaves, another animal scrambles behind the man. I need to stay as quiet as possible, so I stifle my panicked breath with a sharp, vacuuming inhale.

Instead, I hyperventilate.

The man grips my cheeks, scanning my eyes for what’s wrong.

All I can say is, “Wolves! There are wolves!”

His eyes widen at my wheezing lungs. “Hey, breathe!”

“I– I can’t! I’m– I’m going to die–”

“I’m not letting you die.”

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