Curse of the Alpha: The Complete Bundle (17 page)

A
insley wrapped
her wet hair on top of her head turban style in a fluffy white towel. Her body was drained and warm and clean. Maybe that would be enough to help her get to sleep.

She felt like a different person than the one who had woken up this morning.

Was she really…magical?

Had her mother been a witch?

And how could straight-laced Grace Kwan-Cortez be part of that world?

She remembered the sliding sound she’d heard after the séance, or whatever that was, and repressed a shudder. Best not think about that if she wanted to get some sleep.

She smoothed lavender lotion all over her body and sighed at the lush scent, then slid into her Victoria’s Secret cotton nightie and looked in the mirror.

Staring back at her was everyday Ainsley Connor.

The nightie clung to her curves. She turned side to side, trying to see herself the way Clive might see her. Would he find her attractive enough to go through with it?

The unplanned nature of her scheme was troubling. She knew it was hopeless, maybe even dangerous. But she had no other choice.

Ainsley met her own eyes in the mirror and gave herself the encouraging, confident smile that had never failed to gird her when she had to gear herself up for business. Hopefully a little chutzpah would get her through tomorrow as well.

She sighed and padded into her room. As soon as her foot crossed the threshold every hair on her body began to stand up.

There was a man standing by the window. He was rail thin and tall. And young. His face was in the shadow.

He looked familiar.

Brian Swinton?

Her heart dropped. Not again. She couldn’t be having the dream again. It was too much.

But instead of running into the woods, she simply stood there, and felt the warm rush of electricity flow through her body.

The temperature of the room plummeted. Ainsley could see the plumes of her warm breath.

Brian turned, but Ainsley was not afraid. Somehow she knew that he meant her no harm.

“Brian?” she asked softly.

He nodded.

“I-I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, Brian.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Ainsley. You shouldn’t feel bad, it wasn’t your fault. That’s why I came back. To tell you.”

“It wasn’t on purpose. I lost control. I didn’t know what I was. And you ended up…” She gestured helplessly at him.

“You never did anything to hurt me,” he said softly.

A flash of lightning illuminated the room. Brian’s eyes burned into her soul. Claw marks covered his face, and bits of torn flesh hung down revealing the cheekbones and teeth underneath.

Ainsley screamed.

In that instant Brian vanished. Ainsley spun around, scanning every corner of the room, but he was gone. The temperature of the room returned to normal, but the electricity skittering across her skin told her he might not have gone far.

She rushed to the window he’d been gazing out of. Through it she could see nothing but darkness.

She lifted the sash and saw movement in the trees.

A giant black wolf.

Erik.

She knew she should be angry with him for spying on her, but it was actually kind of sweet, and right now, it made her feel safe.

His eyes met hers. Their amber glow was almost hypnotic.

She longed for him to change and come inside.

If he would only come into the house everything would be okay and the universe would make sense again.

Erik’s rich scent filled her nostrils.

Then his velvety form slipped back into the woods.

She stood by the window of her childhood room, her loneliness echoed in his mournful howl.

A
insley woke suddenly
.

Light poured through the bedroom window. She tried to stretch, but the sheets entangled her limbs. She hadn’t been able to make herself close the curtain last night. The idea that Erik was out there somewhere soothed her frazzled nerves. She remembered lying awake, staring at the stick-on stars on the ceiling until they’re glow faded to black, thinking sleep would never come.

She must have drifted off at some point.

Ainsley freed herself from the tangled sheets and tried to clear the cobwebs from her head.

Clean house, clean mind.

She stripped the bed and threw the sheets in the washer. After she put on a fresh set, she paused at her bedroom window.

Had Brian really stood here last night?

Grace and her abuela had warned her about a spirit trying to come through the portal last night. She should call Grace and tell her about what happened. But somehow, in the bright light of the morning sun, it all seemed so unlikely. And it wasn’t like she was really afraid of Brian. He didn’t seem upset with her at all.

Why had he come back?

Ainsley glanced out the window at the spot where she had seen Erik patrolling last night. There was no trace of him at all. He must be good at covering his tracks.

Could he cover his scent?

He wouldn’t even need to. His scent was all over the house when she came home to find the back door open. He had come in looking for her.

At least that’s what he told her.

Could Erik have been behind the break-ins?

No. That was ridiculous.

She thought of his kind eyes and his urge to protect her. She thought of the way his touch sent tiny ripples of excitement coursing through her.

No way. Not him.

Plus his scent was no where near her father’s office.

Who then? Julian?

That had been her first thought, after she caught him snooping. But the more she considered it, the less sense it made. He was careful, methodical, like Ainsley. He wasn’t the type to trash the whole study looking for something. And, warlock or whatever he was, Ainsley could not imagine him being so disrespectful to those books.

Which left…no one.

Ainsley sighed and blew a stray lock of hair from her face.

She hadn’t been back in Tarker’s Hollow for a week and already she’d had a fling, almost turned into a giant wolf, and discovered that her mom was a witch, and maybe she was too. She’d reconnected with her high school best friend and her dead high school boyfriend.

And now, here she was, playing Nancy Drew and the case of the book thief who didn’t steal anything.

A
quick shower
, clean clothes and a strong cup of coffee from the French press brought Ainsley’s focus back. There was a lot happening. But if she could just stick to her goals she would be fine. She wrote them down to make herself feel better:

1)Clean out the house & get it on the market.

2)Seduce Clive Warren.

3)Choose him as alpha.

4)Find out what the hell happened last night and make sure it never happens again.

5)Run at the first opportunity.

Anything that didn’t help her accomplish one of these goals was a time waste and she had to ignore it.

Immediately, the phone rang.

She checked the caller ID.

Grace Kwan-Cortez.

Like she was psychic.

Wait, Grace actually was kind of psychic.

God, this town was messed up.

Either way, Grace could help her figure out the whole magic thing from last night – item number four could be off the list by the end of the call.

“Hello.”

“Ainsley, you sound so…calm.”

“Guess what happened last night after you left?” Ainsley didn’t wait for an answer. “I had a visitor.”

“Who?”

“Brian Swinton.”

There was a long silence. Finally Grace spoke.

“I’m going to stop by. Are you at home?”

“Well, yes,” Ainsley spluttered. A visit was the last thing she wanted.

“I’ll see you in a minute.”

Ainsley hung up and headed to the kitchen. She put together a tray with raspberry lemonade, glasses, and a plate of blueberry scones. She took the tray out to the back section of the wrap-around porch and set it down on the picnic table. Hummingbirds darted in and out of the trumpet flowers climbing over the white picket fence in back. A rabbit scampered into the rose bushes.

She texted to Grace.

I’m out back.

Ainsley stretched and took in the peaceful scene. She couldn’t deny that no matter how successful she was, she could never replicate this in New York.

Grace’s footsteps sounded on the front porch and Ainsley looked up to greet her friend as she came around the corner of the house.

“Are you okay?” Grace asked.

“Of course I am,” Ainsley said lightly.

“I don’t mean physically,” Grace said, sitting across from Ainsley and leaning on the table. Concern marred her beautiful face.

“Grace, if you only knew what I’ve lived with all these years…”

She couldn’t tell her. She just couldn’t.

“I know you really liked him, Ainsley. It was really sad what happened to him. Did he speak to you last night?”

Ainsley poured lemonade for each of them and placed scones on little plates. She would have gladly white-washed the back fence to avoid what was coming.

“He did.”

‘What did he say?”

“I told him that I was sorry. And he told me I’d never done anything to hurt him.”

Grace nodded, like it was old news.

“But then I saw his face. And it was…awful.”

“That’s not his fault, Ainsley.”

“No, that’s not what I mean, Grace. Do you know what actually happened to Brian?”

“He was attacked by a bear,” Grace said.

“Do you believe it?”

“It’s not very common. But there have been bear attacks in Tarker’s Hollow over the years.”

“At that time of year?” Ainsley asked.

“Well, no, usually its in early spring when they’re waking up from hibernation.”

“Didn’t you tell me you had to learn how to write police reports to factor in the special nature of the residents of Tarker’s Hollow?”

Grace’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly as comprehension dawned.

“Ainsley, are you saying…?”

“Do you know why I left Tarker’s Hollow?”

Grace shook her head.

Ainsley sighed.

“I turned for the first time.”

“Were you scared?”

“I didn’t really understand what was happening. First I felt awful and sick. And then it started to happen and I blacked out. I don’t even remember it. And then I woke up, and …”

“That must have been really scary.”

“That’s not the scary part – not at all.”

Grace looked into her eyes with a calm expression and waited. Damn, she was a fantastic cop.

“The scary part is that I was with Brian when it happened.”

“How did he react?”

Here we go. This is where I finally lose my only friend.

“We were making out, Grace. We were in the woods making out. And I turned into a wolf and I killed him.”

Grace didn’t seem fazed by Ainsley’s revelation.

“Do you remember killing him?” she asked, like she was asking Ainsley if she remembered where she got a cute pair of shoes.

Why wasn’t she freaking out?

“Well, no, I blacked out. But the next day they said he’d been killed by a bear. I could connect the dots. My dad must have hushed it up.”

“Have you done anything violent after other transformations?”

“I haven’t changed since that night.”

Grace stared at her in shock, her poker face finally cracking.

“What do you mean you haven’t changed? I thought you had to change.”

Ainsley instinctively shuddered.

She purposely
never
thought of those long, painful nights at the full moon when she sweated and moaned and felt like she had the flu and snake poison at the same time. She told herself that it was like childbirth. Mothers forgot those nights and that was how they ended up having more children.

And Ainsley had to forget the moon after each month’s torture.

“I don’t
have
to change,” she said carefully.

“Does it hurt?” Grace asked.

“You have no idea,” Ainsley said simply.

Grace got up from the picnic table. At first, Ainsley thought she meant to leave, but then Grace walked to her side of the table and wrapped Ainsley in a tight embrace.

Neither of them said a word.

Ainsley felt like someone had removed a truck that had been parked on her chest for ten years.

Finally, Graced pulled back and looked her friend in the eye.

“You didn’t kill anyone, Ainsley.”

“You can’t know that.”

“Of course I can.” Grace waived a dismissive hand in a gesture Ainsley recognized at once. Her abuela had been right about passing things on to Grace. “Why do you think he wanted to talk to you last night?”

“I’m not sure.”

“I think he came back to do just want he did – to tell you it wasn’t your fault. Doesn’t mean it was a bear, but it could have been. Or something else.”

“Another wolf?”

“Maybe. I’ll pull the file. Maybe there is something in there that will shed some light on things.” Grace said. “In the meantime, the portal will close on its own before too long, but he may come to you again. If he does, don’t be shy – ask him what happened that night.”

Ainsley grasped her friend’s hand.

“Thank you, Grace. You’ll never know how good it feels to be able to talk about this.”

“I wish you had talked to me sooner.”

Ainsley smiled. The air was warm and fragrant, the birds were singing, and she was having lemonade with her best friend. Someone who shared all her secrets again.

“Look, the reason I was able to stop by on shift, is that I need to talk to you about the break-ins. And I know you have a lot on your mind, but have you given any thought to who might be responsible?”

“I was thinking about that this morning. My first thought was Julian, of course.”

“That doesn’t feel right,” Grace said. “He would’t need to trash the place to find what he was looking for. Besides, it doesn’t really seem like his style, does it?”

Ainsley was struck again by how good Grace was at being a cop. But why wouldn’t she be? Grace had always been the best at just about anything she set he mind to.

“Still,” Grace said. “I’d like to ask him a few questions. I wasn’t able to find him at Thayer House this morning. I’m going to make some inquiries. You let me know if he tries to contact you.”

Ainsley nodded.

“Thank you, Grace. I wish I knew what he’d been looking for, besides me.”

“We’ll get to the bottom of it, Ainsley. I’ve got to run, but let’s get together tonight after my shift.”

“That sounds- ” Ainsley stopped herself, remembering her plan for tonight.

Christ.

Maybe she wasn’t quite ready to tell Grace everything.

“Do you have plans already?”

“Um, yeah. Maybe we can get together tomorrow?”

“Sounds good. Text me.”

Grace was gone.

Ainsley sat on the porch for a long time, looking at the hummingbirds in the trumpet flowers and trying not to cry.