Page 4 of Alpha's Twins
Whoever it is isn’t moving very quickly, and clearly hasn’t shifted, so I don’t bother either. Instead, I creep through the trees silently, closing in on my prey. I can feel her heart racing. Her senses are clearly not as good as mine. As I spot her ahead, her dark brown hair shines under the moonlight, and she spins one way and then the other. She knows I’m out here, but she doesn’t know where. Cutting across the path, I move lightly through the tree line until I can see her better. She’s surprisingly small for a shifter, though from her scent, I know she is one. Short but curvy. Most shifters are athletically built, but she looks soft and cute. As she turns slightly, I get a perfect view of herfigure and the sight of her full breasts straining against the fabric of the thin dress she’s wearing sends a shockwave straight to my cock. Cute and sexy—my favorite.
Her fear is palpable now, and it almost seems cruel to drag this out, but I’m enjoying myself more than I probably should. Besides, every time I try to get closer, the trees seem to grow thicker instead of thinning out, so I move around them again. I don’t remember this trail being so dense. Any suspicion that she’s out here snooping vanishes as I take in the flimsy dress and unsuitable shoes she’s wearing. The pale blue fabric strains over her breasts, shows off a small waist before skimming full hips. She must be one of the shortest shifters I’ve ever seen, but rather than looking weak, she seems resilient, pushing on through the forest even though fear is rolling off her in waves.
Perhaps she’s trying to escape Nolan, I chuckle to myself. Despite his charm, he’s always struck me as a bit of an insufferable prick, so I wouldn’t blame her. But on the other hand, I can’t have any drama upsetting this new alliance. She’s almost at the ravine now, clearly unsure of which way to go, which confirms she’s not from the island. She stops to assess her surroundings, and as she casts a worried glance behind her, I make out full pink lips and her flushed cheeks. Malik isn’t even on my mind now as my wolf’s entire focus is on the woman in front of me. The damn trees seem to grow before my very eyes, distorting my path, but I’ve had enough. I want to see what my prey is up to tonight.
In one movement, I sweep aside the leaves and vines, stepping out onto the trail a few feet from the woman. She spins around to face me, and for a moment, I think she’s going to actually faint. The blood drains from her face, and she takes a step back.
“P-please don’t hurt me,” she stammers, and as I step closer, I’m amazed at how small she is next to me, my alpha frame dwarfing her. Her curves, though…they look even more tempting up close.
My wolf feels ravenous, and she must see something in my eyes, because she looks like she’s about to run. I raise a hand. “I’m not going to hurt you,” I soothe, “I was just out for a run. You shouldn’t be out here. Part of Nolan’s pack?”
She looks unsure for a moment, but then nods, almost reluctantly.Definitely running from Nolan, then. Interesting.
“Nolan is my guest. Whatever you’re doing out here, I’m going to have to take you back,” I tell her, and her eyes go wide as if she’s just realizing I’m the alpha. She glances around as if she’s considering running, which would be ridiculous. “How did you get out?”
She seems to weigh my question before answering. “I climbed out the window,” she finally admits.
I chuckle at the thought of someone so short scaling a building. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll take you back, but if you can get back in the window, I won’t tell anyone about this. Okay? If you need some help, you'll talk to the witches at the ceremony tomorrow; I’m pretty sure they’d love to put a hex on Nolan, anyway.”
Her eyes flicker to mine, and after the briefest of pauses, she laughs, really laughs. Her heart is still racing, but despite the ridiculousness of her situation, the genuine humor on her face disarms me for a moment, and I simply watch, entranced. As the beautiful sound fades, she levels me with a suddenly sad stare. “You won’t let me run?” she asks.
I shake my head, “Not unless you give me a good reason right now? There’s a lot riding on this alliance.”
She seems to consider what I said for a moment before shaking her head. My wolf huffs with disappointment; for some reason, he wants the chase with this one. I think he wants a lot more than the chase. Unusually for me, I feel like an absolute bastard as I take her back and watch her climb through the window, watching the way the flimsy dress rides up and makes my cock ache.
Something feels so off about all this, but I can’t blow up the alliance. I make a mental note to have Nolan’s group checked out tomorrow before they head back, in case she’s lying and is in danger. More than anything, sending her back before I could find out more about her just feels like a disappointment.
Chapter 3 - Serena
Sitting with my back against the slightly rough wood of the cabin wall, I squeeze my eyes shut and try to steady my breathing. The sun is coming up, and I was so damn close to escaping. Ever since he brought me back here and watched from the tree line as I climbed back through my cabin window, I’ve been torturing myself. I should have tried again, but I just knew he was watching. Besides, I didn’t want to admit it, but when he’d found me on the trail, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing or where I was going.
Everything happened so quickly after Nolan arrived at the store that I barely had time to help Hannah arrange the next shipment. She’s going to try to keep the store going, but realistically, I don’t see how that will work without me. Despite everything, Hannah seemed thrilled that I’m going to be mates with an alpha. It doesn’t appear to matter to anyone what I want. The thought that an alpha may wantmeseems too good to be true—except it’s not. I don’t want to be traded off as part of some deal and lose my store, the only thing that has ever been truly mine or brought me any kind of respect or happiness.
Besides, Aiden doesn’t want me. He doesn’t even know who I am. He agreed to all this as some kind of pact, and he clearly doesn’t know what I look like, because he just assumed I was running away from Nolan last night. I groan, letting my head fall back. I didn’t tell him who I was, and now he’s going to think I’m a complete idiot when I have to see him today.
I couldn’t tell him, though. I saw the look of shock on his face when he realized how small I am. It’s the same one all shifters get when they take in my short, fat frame. I just couldn’t handle facing his disappointment right then and there. Not that this is going to be any better. I’d half hoped that perhaps femaleshifters on the island might look a little different, but all the ones I’ve seen so far are strong, tall, and beautiful. I know exactly how this is going to go for me.
It doesn’t help that Aiden is also extremely good-looking. I suspected he was from all the gossip I’ve heard over the years about the alphas on the island, but nothing could have prepared me for seeing him. I knew someone was following me, but my senses aren’t as strong as other shifters, and it wasn’t until he stepped out onto the trail that I realized just how vulnerable I had been sneaking out.
Aiden is huge, almost twice my height, and has unruly dark brown hair. Even in the darkness, I could see his tanned skin and muscular frame. He had obviously been out running, as he said, because his T-shirt and shorts clung to his ripped body in a way that demanded attention. I may be completely inexperienced, but I’m not dead inside—he’s hot, which is a complete nightmare, because I am objectively not hot.
I can hear people are already up downstairs, and I know it won’t be long until someone comes to tell me to get ready. This alliance is a big deal to Nolan. He’s tried to play off that it’s a symbol of support for the island after the monster, Malik, attacked them, but our pack suffered enormous financial losses when trade faltered. Hannah and Roy were open about how desperately the pack needed Roy’s freight to keep running. Our coast was also flooded with strange rogues and mercenaries, all trying to go to the island, clearly believing that Malik would take control because he was growing stronger and stronger. I’m not sure if they were paid to go or simply following Malik, like some kind of cult, but I know Roy lost ships, and many other businesses were vandalized or had things stolen.
The island may have had to deal with Malik, but our coastal pack suffered the fallout, too. This deal is important toNolan and the rest of the pack, including Roy and Hannah. And as tempted as I am to climb out of the window again and run, the truth is I have nowhere to go, anyway. Even if I could get off the island now, I doubt I’d be welcome back in my pack, at my store…I’ve always known that my place in the pack is conditional. Firstly, it relied upon me being as small and grateful as possible so that my uncle and the pack would care for me out of pity. Later, my success with the store brought in money for the pack. And now, this is simply the latest condition.
A knock at the door startles me, and I scramble to my feet as the door opens. I already know it will be Nicola, one of Nolan’s cousins, who has travelled over with us under the guise of keeping me company, but I can tell the last thing she wants is to have to talk to me. I don’t want her to find me sitting on the floor, which would give her another reason to look at me with even more disgust than she usually does.
“There you are,” she says breezily. “Big day. Nolan told me to come check on you. I’m surprised you’re not already dressed, with an alpha waiting for you.”
She keeps mentioning that Aiden is an alpha, and I suspect she might be a bit jealous about that. She’s engaged to one of Nolan’s betas. He seems nice, though; you’d think she’d be happy with that. Someone who genuinely wants her and a place at the heart of her pack, not traded off over shipping routes to an alpha who will probably reject me the moment he knows I’m his bride. I’m practically poised for public humiliation—one I’m sure Nicola fully expects, too, given the thinly-veiled amusement on her face.
Over the years, I have perfected staying as neutral as possible around pack members like Nicola. It also helps that we’re the same age and I’ve been dealing with her ever since our school days. As Hannah pointed out, perhaps moving toa dangerous island filled with monsters, rogues, and warring witches won’t be as bad as dealing with some members of Nolan’s pack.
I straighten my spine and smile, nodding to the dress hanging on the closet door. “I was just about to get ready.”
She turns to look at the dress and scoffs lightly, “That’swhat you’re wearing?”
To her credit, she tries to recover slightly when I’m too stunned to reply. “I’m sure it will do.” She chuckles. “Besides, it’s not a real mating ceremony, is it? More of an inter-pack meeting. It’s a nice color, anyway.”
