Page 3 of Alpha Rising (Secrets of the Northland Shifters)

“Is that Uncle Joe?” he asked.

I physically moved him out of my way, doing even less to control my growly response than I had in front of Joe.

“Jesus,” he muttered behind me.

Through the haze of my murky consciousness, I could see my sister Melanie standing at the end of the hall in front of me, her eyes wide.

“Out of my way,” I ordered, the words rumbling deep in my chest. I needed to get outside. I needed to shift. I needed to run.

Melanie stepped aside to let me pass.

Far behind me, I could detect Sarah’s scent as she stepped outside my office and into the hall. I could feel the weight of her worried gaze, pressing between my shoulder blades as she watched my retreat.

A few seconds later, I was outside in the warm afternoon air, then slipping into the protective shadows of the woods. I stripped down as I broke into a jog and headed deeper into the trees.

I’d thought I was getting a better handle on my reaction to Sarah McAvoy, but I’d clearly been lying to myself. One mere suggestion of a threat—even one from a trusted friend—and it had blown the doors off my defenses.

Something needed to break. And I just hoped it wasn’t me.

Having fully stripped and stashed my clothes, I shifted into mountain lion form and ran deep into the forest. It wasn’t long before I sensed another sentient being swiftly slicing through the air behind me. Obviously my exit from the lodge had been alarming. One of my concerned siblings was following me.

Scaling a pine tree, I hunkered down on a lower branch and waited for whomever it was to catch up. I assumed it would be Sam, but it was Melanie.

Just as she passed underneath, I leapt from my perch, landing on the ground behind her. She whirled to face me, swiping a front paw through the air. Then, realizing it was me, she snarled.

I greeted her with a big brother’s rumble of reproach. She should have complied with my order to leave me alone, but when I took off running again she continued to follow, sticking close to my left flank.

My initial annoyance was quickly abated by the memory of the first time we’d run together like this, soon after she’d turned sixteen and made her first shift. As the oldest of her big brothers, I’d taken it upon myself to teach her the wonders of her new form, as well as its limitations—like the kind of branches that would break the easiest under her weight, and how wind patterns could ruin an otherwise stealthy hunt.

Running with pack mates was something all shifter alphas did to strengthen the family bonds, but something I had deprived my family of in the wake of our father’s untimely death. I had forbidden them all from shifting this past spring, fearful that they might meet the same fate.

I’d only recently lifted that ban, and I could see now that we’d suffered from my overprotectiveness. We needed to maintain our skills, our speed, and our territorial control—especially with so many vultures circling our land.

We may have avoided financial collapse so far, but that didn’t mean the threat of sabotage was gone. I hadn’t forgotten that someone had vandalized our property, injuring one of our guests.

But that was only one of many mysteries that plagued us. Who killed our father? Who was trying to push us off our land? And who the fuck was Sarah McAvoy?

For the moment, these questions were oddly soothed by the exertion of running with Melanie, not to mention the peaceful feel of the early summer air ruffling through my fur.

The sounds of the forest—bird songs and squirrel chirpings—piqued my ears. Coming from somewhere off to my left, the tangy scent of a scared rabbit tingled through my olfactory organs.

A heavy shoulder hit my hind quarters and Melanie knocked me sideways. I’d lost track of how far we’d run by then, but she was clearly wanting me to turn back.

So much for soothing peace. I snarled, turning and swiping at her with my front paw, claws extended.

She released a feline scream—more from hurt feelings than actual pain, though I could see I’d drawn blood near her shoulder.

Regret cut through me, but she should have known better. It was no secret how unpredictable I’d become in the last few days. I’d seen it in all of their eyes, the wariness…

Melanie rumbled at me, urging me to return home, but I wasn’t ready. I couldn’t allow my attraction to Sarah McAvoy—or the mating urges that rose unbidden in my gut—to lure me into making my father’s same mistakes.

Melanie could go back to the lodge if she wanted to. I wouldn’t be following her home. Until I could get my shit together, they were all better off without me.

3

SARAH

After witnessing Reese’s abrupt exit, Sam hustled Joe Turnbull out of the lodge, making some excuse that I hadn’t been able to hear. I’d followed Reese as far as the back door of the lodge and for the last thirty minutes I’d been standing there, staring through the door’s glass pane, watching the forest edge for some sign of his return.

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