Page 84 of Step Alpha

I give his huge, immovable body a shove. “It’s hard when there’s literally this huge wolf always crowding me. In my bedroom, in my bed…”

“Mybed.” He picks me up by the waist and smacks my ass. “But I don’t mind sharing.” He drops me back to my feet. “Let’s go, jellybean.”

Outside, the nearly full moon is rising from behind the peak. We both stop to honor her with our awe.

“Hunter’s moon,” Wilde murmurs in appreciation. Even ballers have reverence for the power and beauty of the pale goddess in the sky.

I swear I feel the energy of it enter me. A charge of electricity runs through my spine, making every nerve-ending tingle. It feels like…recognition. That I’m a part of something much, much bigger than I ever imagined. Of fate, nature, and the tapestry of our species as a whole.

For one sliver of a moment, I’m able to access some kind of deeper wisdom.

And with it, I know something significant just happened to me in there. Something that goes far beyond getting my V-card punched.

ChapterNineteen

Wilde

I wake up cranky after spending the night on the couch. Now that I’ve had Rayne, I don’t think I can lie in the same bed as her at night and not fuck her senseless, and our parents would certainly catch the scent or hear the pounding.

I told Rayne last night why I was staying away, but she seems cranky with me, too.

Maybe my sweet stepsister needed me.

That thought makes me harder than stone.

“Can we stop at the post office on the way to school?” Rayne has a brown paper-wrapped shoebox with a printed address taped to the front tucked under her arm as she climbs into the Jeep.

“What is that?”

“None of your business.”

There’s a prickle at the back of my neck. My wolf senses are telling me something. An irrational rage simmers beneath the surface.

“Try again.” I refuse to start the vehicle.

She huffs and rolls her eyes skyward. “Fine. They’re shoes. Used shoes. I’m getting a thousand bucks for them.”

“Uh. Wow. That’s a lot of money.”

“You see? This is a lucrative business.”

The prickle of warning returns. “I still don’t like it. Is your name and address on the box?”

“Wilde. I’m not an idiot. I used a fake PO box.”

“But he’ll know what state you live in. What town, even.”

“Yeah, and I live in a town full of shifters. You think a stranger looking for trouble would survive five minutes in this town?”

It’s a valid point. We don’t like outsiders here, and we do keep track of anyone who shows up and seems out of place.

“Next time, ship it from Phoenix,” I concede.

“Are you going to drive me?”

I look over at her, bemused. “You’ve got a lot of attitude this morning, jellybean. Are you looking for punishment?”

“Shut up and drive, Wilde, or I’ll be late.”

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