Page 102 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part One

The thing... The wolf? It lowered its head and looked her in the eye. To prepare to attack? If it was a wolf, then she knew not to challenge it. She lowered her gaze and stopped moving. If she appeared less threatening, it would leave her alone. Hopefully.

But it came forward, one giant paw after the other. She could see it in her peripheral vision until she felt the heat from its huge body. She felt its warm breath on her face.

Something dripped onto her lap, and when she looked at it, she realised it was blood.

The thing was dripping blood all over her.

She should have been shaking. There was so much pressure in her head from the things she should have felt that she closed her eyes against them.

That morning she had decided she wouldn’t freeze if attacked again, but how did someone not freeze against this monster?

She closed her eyes and whispered, “Please don’t hurt me.”

Did such wild animals understand human languages? Would it be able to read her body language?

“Please,” she repeated.

A moment passed, and then another. Her head was ready to explode, but the monster didn’t make its move. When she couldn’t take the suspense any longer, she opened her eyes.

It was gone.

There was nothing there, not even the foul-smelling wolf that had been killed in front of her.

Was this... Had she imagined this again?

“Miss Layla.”

She startled and looked behind her. Two men were jogging towards her, and as they got closer, she realised they were the two she had bumped into at the door.

She got to her feet quickly and looked around again. Though it was a little dark, she could see the dark patch where the head had been.

She couldn’t have imagined this. The giant wolves had been real. The spot of blood on her leggings was real.

“Miss Layla.”

She turned around to the men. Had they seen the monster? Did they know what lurked in their woods?

“Are you okay? You’ve come too far down the trail alone; we’ve been sent to escort you back.”

The man didn't look around, so she didn’t know if he could see the blood on the ground. She opened her mouth to tell him but closed it straight away.

She was sure she had seen what she had seen. But what if she hadn’t?

“Who sent you?” she asked instead.

Her voice was clear and steady, yet inside, she was a mess.

“Alph... It was Jackson,” the man answered.

Alpha.

The chill went through her body again.

The things she had seen had been huge wolves. These people called Jackson ‘Alpha’. They had called her human several times. And the growls. The inhuman strength. The time Jackson returned to his room with blood all over him...

She hadn’t lost her mind.

Wolves.

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