Page 1 of Sidone

Chapter 1

Kade

Bullets fly. People scream. I duck behind my truck, then glance over my shoulder and see the Hordesman on the ground, Tabby, his Omega, underneath him. I have no idea if she’s dead or alive. The shooter hid in the big oak tree beyond the overgrown live fence and came at us out of nowhere. I poke my head out from behind the truck. Across the street from the house I work at, reporters in tents scatter every which way. I watch them run. Nobody is falling. The shooter is clearly targeting the Hordesman.

Doesn’t he know these Alphas have bulletproof armor? Unless…he’s targeting Tabby. Oh, that motherfucker. My rifle is in the back of my truck, under my damn tools. Dad told me to keep it near me at all times. But I just cleaned my damn truck and forgot to put it back near the seat.

I glance behind me again.

An Alpha is running, coming right at me. Oh no, not an Alpha. I gape. It’s a girl of their kind. Tits, hips, long-ass legs, and blonde hair. She’s hot.

“Out of my way!” she shouts at me.

Coming right at me, she looks like she's gonna tackle me. What the fuck? I crouch. Her boot lands on my shoulder, and then it’s gone. I spin around. She used me as a climbing post to leap on my truck, and she’s gunning for the tree, the shooter’s location. I better cover the girl.Holy crap, action movie!

I scramble into the back of my truck and get my rifle. Taking cover in the bed, I aim and shoot at the tree. The alien girl crawls up the fence like a damn spider, stands on it…and her body rears back. I think she’s been hit.

That motherfucker. I flip the rifle to automatic and fire at the tree. The female turns and rattles out a battle cry that makes my skin crawl. “Cease fire!” she shouts.

Okay, well, that’s good, because I’m out of bullets. I watch the crazy girl throw herself at the branches. At the risk of making myself a bigger target, I climb to the roof of my truck. The shooter is running down the street.

Oh, no you don’t.

Through the window, I swing my body into the driver seat and start my badassmobile, then peel out of the gates, tires screeching, lifting dust in my wake. I’ve always wanted to do this. This is fantastic. I love cooking for the crazy Hordesmen. Poison cookies? No problem. They’ll eat them just to see if they’ll die. What’s there not to like?

And the alien girl? On the street, she’s running after the shooter. She’s fast but not as fast as the sporty bike he gets on and speeds away. I slow down next to the sprinting alien, and she glances my way, does a double take, trips over her own feet, then hurls forward, landing on her hands. I stop the truck and lean an elbow on my window ledge. “I’m that hot, aren’t I, baby?”

There’s this thing she does with her mouth. I’m unsure. It looks like a smile but also sets me on alert. I smile back. “Get in.”

Her jaw ticks, and she looks down the street.

“Save your energy, girl. I’ll give you a workout later.”

With a grunt, she rounds the truck and gets in the passenger side. Wow, the space just shrank. I stare at her. She’s got a small nose, full lips, slanted pitch-black eyes, and blonde hair pulled into a tight, thick braid. On her lap, she strokes an ax the way one would pet a kitten.

“Drive,” she snaps.

Why, yes, ma’am.I gun it after the shooter.

“Don’t lose him.”

“I’ll try not to,” I say and glance at her. I. Cannot. Stop. Staring.

“Eyes on the target, boy.”

Well, shit. Yes, ma’am again? I press the gas harder and zip onto the main highway.

“Might wanna put your seat belt on,” I say.

She ignores me, pulls another ax from a holster behind her back, and places it on her lap. “Less worrying about me, more worrying about what I will do to you if you lose him. Clear?”

“Yes, ma’am.” There, I said it.

“Alpha.”

“What?” I jerk the truck to the right to avoid hitting the tiny mobile in front of me, then jerk back left when I almost crash into a semitruck, gripping the wheel tightly so the truck doesn’t slide, and finally find my place back in the left carpool lane. The shooter is way ahead, zipping between cars.

“Faster,” she barks.

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