Page 332 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha
“Huh?” Samuel was apparently still basking in his after-chocolate glow. “Story?”
“Don’t you remember? The one that my momma was telling us last night? The one that had the monsters with feathers?”
“Oh.” A tiny tremor ran through Samuel. “Yeah, I remember. But it wasn’t feather monsters, it was shadow monsters with talons for fingers.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Trevor shrugged off the correction. “Remember it? She said the monsters came on nights like this, when there was a full moon above and no stars in the sky.”
Samuel looked up at the sky, which was like a blanket of black aside from the silvery light of the moon.
“You’re looking a little scared, Sammy.”
Samuel sputtered at the taunt. “No, I’m not! The monster’s probably just a giant bird, and I’ve helped my daddy catch all sorts of those.”
“Oh, yeah? Then do you wanna go deeper?”
“I-into the forest?” Samuel glanced behind them. To him, the forest seemed to stretch on and on forever. “I dunno, Trevor, maybe we should just go home? I’m sure our moms are gonna notice we left home?—”
“No!” Trevor zoomed past him and leapt onto the fallen trunk. He pointed to the forest, and in Samuel’s eyes, he looked dazzling in the moonlight. “Let’s try exploring! We might see something really cool.”
Samuel ran to the trunk and put his hands on the wood as if he were going to jump up there, too, but he stopped short.
“What’s wrong?” Trevor asked.
He stared at the bark, watching a beetle trundle across the surface. “But what about the boys who went into the forest andnever came back?” he asked. “Michael has been missing for two weeks, and Charlotte’s brother hasn’t been seen in months.”
“Oh.” Suddenly, Trevor didn’t look so dazzling up there; he looked like a little kid. “Maybe we should go home after all. I…I don’t want to end up like them.”
“Okay. Do you need help getting down?”
Trevor shook his head, then both boys jumped as the leaves rustled. Samuel stared with wide eyes as a dark figure stepped out from between the trees. Trevor yelped and fell off the trunk in his haste to get away. But all Samuel could do was stare as the figure got closer and closer. Finally, the figure started to look less like something dragging itself out of the shadows and more like a person.
“Hey, what are you two doing out here?” The figure pulled back its hood, revealing Troy’s face.
Seeing Troy as a young teenager punched me in the chest. I recoiled from the memories of him yanking my hair and pushing me down. The gray film over the vision grew thicker as the shock rolled over me.
Get it together, Bryn,I coached myself.Just get through it. You can’t lose it now.It took a couple of seconds to recover, but when I felt stronger, I opened my eyes, and the vision was stable again.
“Wh-what are you doing here?” Samuel retorted, his tone defensive and petulant.
“Y-yeah.” Trevor had pushed himself to his feet after his fall. And, like Samuel, he was probably terrified that they’d just been caught away from home after curfew by the alpha’s son.
“Well, of course, I’m just taking a walk.” Troy’s tone was innocent, but he stalked toward the boys like the predator he was. “And you two? Sneaking chocolates to eat?”
The boys gasped and glanced at each other. I could see Samuel’s disbelief and worry that Troy had caught them reflected in Trevor’s eyes.
“Actually,” Troy went on, “I’m not really going out for a walk. I’m on a hunt. Amonsterhunt.”
“Really?” Trevor stepped forward. “Are you protecting the pack from the talon monster?”
Troy blinked. “Uh, yeah, sure. I’m out here protecting the pack while you pups are misbehaving.”
“We’re not misbehaving,” Samuel protested at the same time that Trevor burst out, “We’re not pups!”
Troy smirked. “Oh no? Then prove it. Let’s hunt monsters together.”
Both boys froze.
“You want our help?”
