Page 99 of Step Alpha

I’m celebrating the small win until he turns with a needle in his hand.

Oh, fuck!

I bide my time, waiting until he’s close enough, then I twist to deliver a kick to his head, aiming the heel of the stiletto right at his eye socket.

I miss and the needle jabs into my shoulder.

“No,” I snap, twisting to knock it away, but the fast-acting tranquilizer is already taking hold. My body sinks into the bed, as if invisible weights suddenly coiled around every limb, dragging me down, deeper and deeper until the entire room goes black.

* * *

Wilde

My dad, Sheriff Gleason, and Russ, his deputy, hold me down as I struggle on the floor.

I can’t even remember why I’m in this fight.

Oh yeah, I was trying to tear the sheriff’s office apart.

“Enough, Wilde.” Alpha Green uses alpha command in his voice, and my body goes slack.

He comes to stand over me. My limbs are still pinned to the floor by the older men. “Do you want to find your mate?”

The wordsyour matesnag my wolf’s attention, and I’m suddenly listening, paying attention to my alpha.

He’s talking about Rayne. Finding Rayne.

He called her my mate.

How can he tell? Never mind–it doesn’t matter. He’s talking about getting her back.

Yes, mate,my wolf howls.

I find my tongue. “Yes, Alpha.”

“Then sit in that chair and wait for instructions.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

The men release me, and I climb jerkily to my feet and sink into the chair opposite the Sheriff’s desk.

It’s been sixteen hours since Rayne left the football stadium. We’ve been up all night searching for her. Two of the sheriff’s deputies and I shifted to try to follow her scent, but it disappeared up the hill from the football stadium, indicating Rayne got into someone’s car.

They traced her phone and found it by the side of the highway that leads down the hill to Phoenix.

Rayne’s mom weeps in the corner. My dad’s been trying to get her to eat all day, but she’s been too upset.

I don’t think I’ve eaten, either. I can’t remember.

After I spotted Leslie in the stands at the game, I went frantic. I abandoned the end of the game to race in the direction Rayne had headed. When I didn’t find her, I got in the Jeep and drove up and down. I called all her friends. Then I found our parents to let them know what happened, and they called in the Sheriff and Alpha Green. Now the entire town is on alert for Rayne, but we have no clues.

“What haven’t you told us?” Alpha Green asks again.

“I told you. We had a fight. She was upset with me for getting her elected as Homecoming Queen. She said she would call her mom for a ride, but she didn’t. When I saw Leslie in the stands, I went looking for her but couldn’t find her.”

“There’s something else.”

I can’t think. I don’t know what he wants to hear from me, but I would admit anything if it helps get Rayne back. I don’t give a shit what anyone thinks about me. I don’t care if it gets me kicked out of the pack.

---