Page 9 of Sigma
It's why I have to go back later tonight, hook up my trailer, and hit the road. Get as far away as I can as fast as I can. Because my urges feel like they’re killing me slowly and I can’t take a chance, can’t risk unleashing my monster on her.
4
CICELY
The camper is here at the spot I checked out the other day, but there’s no sign of life. I decide to hang out for a while and see if this mystery guy shows up.
Why? Who knows? Because of how weird Linc was about it? Probably. But I can’t help but feel like I need to investigate.
It’s a nice spot to set up camp. The river is right here. Beautiful trees provide plenty of shade, and there’s a perfectly sized clearing for basking in the sun and for stargazing by a bonfire, which I can tell he agrees with by the fire pit he obviously dug and bordered with stones.
I’ve already seen two shooting stars tonight. I didn’t wish on either of them, though maybe I should have. But I’m not sure what I’d ask for. I’ve got a pretty good life. A family. A lot of friends. A sweet little nest of my own above the store.
I’m not sure if I crave a life with motherhood and a mate. I mean, I could’ve seen it working with Linc because he was never too intense, never so interested it made me claustrophobic. I don’t get excited by the idea of being smothered by a male. But I’m also not remotely attracted to betas, so it’s a conundrum. Is that why I’m intrigued by this male who they say is an alpha but is a different sort of alpha? A rare sigma male who marches to the beat of his own drum? Time will tell.
I’m enjoying the sky and the sounds of a beautiful night and before I know it, it’s approaching the witching hour, so as muchas I’ve enjoyed the sights and the sounds around me, I should be counting the not-so-many hours there are until I need to open the store. Maybe I’ll come back tomorrow night.
As I’m rising from the grass, the world around me is suddenly mute. No crickets, frogs, not even any wind. My skin breaks out in goosebumps as everything in me goes on high alert. Taillights are coming toward me. A vehicle isn’t driving in, it’s backing in. And for some reason, my wolf perks up inside me and excited is a weak word to describe the sensation.
I don’t know how I’ll explain my being here at his campsite after three in the morning when we’ve never met, but I don’t let that stop me from moving from the side of the camper where I’d been sitting on the fold-down steps up to the hitch so he will see me, though if it’s true he’s alpha, I’m sure he’ll also smell my presence.
The pickup truck stops far away. And suddenly the tires are spinning like he’s put his foot to the floor before dirt flies and the truck is speeding off.
I barely form awhat the fuckthought when the brake lights shine and now it’s backing up again. It stops just a few feet closer and is idling for a good minute before I decide to approach.
I move slowly in that direction, noticing the continued absence of noise. Things feel strange, like something big is about to happen. No,huge. Like returning from a commercial break that left me dangling on the edge of a cliff. Whether it’s something that’s right or very wrong about to be revealed, I know to my bones that I’m not prepared for whatever it is. Despite that, I have zero sense of self-preservation because I’m overcome with a driving need to approach this truck.
The engine turns off.
Suddenly it’s turning over and not starting. Has it stalled? He’s turning the key again, making it sound like it’s having a coughing fit. I hear a male voice cuss.
I pick up my pace and as I get within twenty feet of the bumper the door flies open.
“No!” the deep male voice shouts. “Run away. Now!”
“What? Why?” I query, not even loudly.
“Cicely!” he shouts. “Fucking run!”
And I’m so startled by my name and the guttural demand that instead of running, I’m trying to process a weird sensation unlike anything I’ve ever felt and added to that is the fact that my nipples are tingling, my breasts are suddenly heavy, and my underwear are completely saturated. The truck’s horn startles me half out of my skin, blaring like he’s leaning on it.
But I soon realize he’s shifted in the driver’s seat, and his wolf leaps out of the truck and lands on all fours before turning and looking in my direction.
It’s dark, almost like it’s mysteriously gotten darker, but I easily make out his wolf is light gray with dark gray markings and amber eyes. Ripped clothing pools at his feet as well as one shoe. Reflective eyes are pointed in my direction. He is massive. From here he looks as large as a council alpha.
He stretches his neck and sniffs the air and despite the distance of twenty or so feet between us, I clearly make out those pupils are narrowed to slits. Vertical ones. Something’s wrong with this wolf.
My own wolf pushes, adamantly wanting in, but I deny. And it strikes me so strangely I’m not sure if I’m breathing. I’m never at odds with my wolf, it generally doesn’t feel like my wolf is a separate entity, but everything in my human form is frozenand yet my wolf wants out. I don’t know if it’s curiosity, self-preservation, or something else that has me feeling so strange at the sight of this shifter’s unusual wolf.
His lips peel back and I zero in on the massive open maw and not only are the top teeth massive, I think I’m looking at two rows of jagged canines on the bottom. Two! Between the teeth and the eyes, I can’t help but think of a shark. The ultimate predator.
The growl that erupts from this beast sounds like it comes from the bowels of hell.
He told me to run. He knew my name.
Drool drips from the wolf’s mouth as it sniffs the air, scenting me, and for a split second I think it’s going to approach me slowly, and I’m about ready to give in to the urge to drop my clothes and shift to greet his wolf with mine in case it helps defuse what feels like a volatile situation. But before I can do that, he lunges with what I’m instantly sure is malicious intent.
I’m not the screaming girlie type, but terror rips through my veins and I do let out a blood-curdling scream. Self-preservation kicks in and I bolt, running from him like my ass is on fire.
