Page 7 of Alpha's Forbidden Bond

“I know,” Georgie said. “It’s because they finally reopened the senior living community across town, and the manager called me with a really long list. That’s not even all the books. I had to order a few online, and they’ll be coming later this week.”

I stared at the three boxes of books in the back of my car. Georgie ran a program in town that helped older people and those financially challenged order used books from her store at a heavy discount. Twice a month, she would load up her car with all the orders and personally deliver them to everyone in town. This week, however, we had to split the orders into two trunks and back seats, seeing as nearly everyone in the newly renovated senior home had placed an order for at least one book.

“You know where the place is, yeah?” she asked. “On the west side of town. Sort of by the boonies.”

The boonies was what everyone in Silverleaf called the strange plot of land on the outskirts of town. A group of reclusive people lived there, and most locals were afraid to go anywhere near the road that led to their property. There were rumors of kids going missing and sightings of bears lurking in the woods near there, but I didn’t believe any of it. Still, I hadn’t traveled there since I was much younger and on my way to boarding school. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d left downtown Silverleaf recently. I had lived a very simple life since my family skipped town, and honestly, that was perfectly alright with me.

“Yeah, I know where it’s at,” I said. “Do they need me to help distribute the books, or should I just leave them all with the front desk lady?”

“You can leave them with Jan,” she said. “She’ll distribute them to the right rooms.”

“Great.” I clapped my hands together. “In that case, I will most likely beat you back to the shop so I can open up.”

“That would be fantastic.” Georgie tossed me her keys to the shop. “I won’t be back until probably around lunchtime. I’ve got to drive all over the damn place. I’ll text you if I pick up food on my way back, just in case you’re hungry too.”

“Sounds good.”

Georgie and I waved goodbye and then got into our respective vehicles. I was driving the same car I had learned to drive on over a decade ago. It was one of the few things I had kept when I left home, and thankfully, it was fully paid off and very unfashionable, so my parents didn’t try to take it from me when we parted ways. Georgie, meanwhile, was driving her grandmother’s old Volkswagen, which had so many miles on it, I worried every time she got behind the wheel that it was going to be the day the car officially broke down. At the end of the block, she hung a right, and I went left. She headed into the heart of Silverleaf, and I zoomed towards the edge of it.

The senior home was only three or four miles away from the shop as the crow flies, but I had to take the winding forest roads that I wasn’t familiar with. They weren’t even paved in sections, the gravel crunching under my tires. Maybe they weren’t paved because I had probably taken some wrong turns and wasn’t where I thought I was.

At the third right turn, I felt I was in the right place. I slowed down the car and eased the wheels onto a dirt road leading deeper into the woods. I remembered the home being surrounded by massive trees, so this dense foliage felt like a good sign. I continued crawling up a hill and around a sharp curve in the road, then spotted a wooden sign up ahead.

“Nice!” I said in triumph. This had to be the right place. I took a left at the sign, not even stopping to read what it said, and promptly arrived at a patch of overgrown grass. There were a few houses in the distance and a gazebo to my left, but no place to park. “Wait… Is this it?”

But even as I said the words out loud, I knew I had messed up. This wasn’t the senior living center. It was the compound. I had driven onto the private property of some of the least-approachable people in the area, and I knew I had to get the fuck out of there. Fast. Even if I didn’t believe the rumors about kidnappers and bears, I could still guess how people like this might react to seeing a stranger lurking in their yard. I threw the car in reverse and hit the gas. My brakes screeched as I drifted around like a kid doing donuts in their driveway, and then I heard an unmistakable popping sound.

Within seconds, my car was sitting lopsided, with the wheel underneath the passenger seat no longer supporting the vehicle's weight. I swore under my breath and let my head drop on the steering wheel. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

A few seconds went by, during which time I wasn’t sure if I wanted to cry or scream, but thankfully, I had the forethought not to do either. Just as I was about to get out of the car and call Georgie, someone knocked on my windows and scared me half to death. I started in my seat and then turned to see a handsome man with thick dark hair smiling at me. He waved kindly, and I waved back. He stepped back from the door, and I got out.

“Hi there,” he said. “I was out for a walk and saw that you got yourself in a bind here. Do you need help?”

“I could use a hand, yeah.”

Normally, I wouldn’t have talked to a strange man I didn’t know on the side of the road, but at this point, I didn’t have another option. Besides, he had kind eyes. When he moved to take a look at my popped tire, I noticed he had a slight limp. “If you’ve got a spare,” he said. “I can put it on for you. I’m pretty good with cars.”

“Really?” I sighed with relief. “That would be so helpful. I’ve changed one once before, but I don’t exactly remember how to do it, and I’ve got to hurry up and get these books delivered before it gets too late.”

“It’s no problem,” he said. He held his hand out to me. “I’m Mikeal, by the way.”

“Diana.”

“Nice to meet you.” He smiled again, and he reminded me a little bit of one of my sister’s high school boyfriends. The kid’s name was Leo, and he was really sweet. He used to treat me like a little sister and would be nice to me even when my sisters were trying to exclude or bully me, which happened a lot. “Sorry about the broken glass. We had a big party here last night, and I think a few people got slightly intoxicated.”

I laughed and looked down at the broken wine bottle that had taken out the tire. “No worries. I’m the one who trespassed on private property. I’m really sorry about that, by the way. I was trying to get to the senior home, and I saw a sign that I thought was pointing me in the right direction, but clearly it wasn’t. I hope you’re not too mad.”

He waved his hand in the air and walked to the trunk. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not the one who cares about trespassers. My brother, on the other hand…” But he trailed off without finishing the thought.

I hurried to open the trunk for him, and then we both moved the heavy book boxes out of the way so he could access the spare tire hitch.

“You said you were on a delivery run?” he asked as he took the tire and the bag of tools out of the back. “You were delivering bricks, I assume?”

I laughed. “No, those are books.”

“Books?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I work at a bookstore in town, and the owner likes to help people get access to books without making them pay full price or travel all the way into town to get them. That’s why I’m delivering these to the senior home, which I thought was out this way.”

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