Alpha Prime: Shiftily Ever After(13)

“Watch your language in front of the cub,” Dakota said indignantly.

“Yeah, watch your damn language in front of me, asswipe,” the scrawny girl said, then turned and ran off, heading out of the town square and behind a thick clump of underbrush.

“You’re welcome!” Dakota yelled after her and, grabbing up her suitcase again, headed off after the scrawny girl at a fast trot.

She pushed her way through the underbrush and found the girl squatting behind the bushes, devouring the sandwich like she hadn’t seen food in weeks.

“Go away,” the girl said around a mouthful of food. “I’m not going to share.”

Was this normal cub behavior up here? Her father would have knocked a cub clear across the room for talking like that, but maybe that was how they behaved in this neck of the woods.

“Where are you staying? Don’t you have a pack to look after you?”

“Mum uff ur biffness.” Her cheeks bulged like a chipmunk’s as she spoke around the mouthful of food. Then she glanced up at Dakota and swallowed the food in her mouth. “You should go get change for that twenty. The cookies and sandwich didn’t cost that much.” Then she scowled again. “Now leave me alone.” She stood up and stuffed the half sandwich into a grimy canvas bag that was slung over her shoulder.

She’d saved it for somebody else, then. For whom? The girl was clearly hungry.

“My name is Dak— Jamie,” she called out to the girl. Dear God. If she lasted a week here without giving herself away, it would be a miracle. “What’s yours?” And why am I trying to help this little brat? she asked herself with annoyance.

“My name is go away!” the girl yelled.

“Really? Your parents must not have liked you very much,” Dakota said, getting irritated by her attitude.

The girl paused for long enough to extend her arm and flip Dakota off, then hurried off into the forest.

Her escape was blocked by a man who quickly stepped out from behind a tree and grabbed her by the collar. He was a wolf shifter – another Alpha Prime.

That was unusual; she’d already met one, and they didn’t generally live in close proximity to one another. Their energy clashed and they ended up fighting.

This guy was good-looking, with his muscular arms and curly, dirty-blond hair, but she didn’t feel that zing of attraction she’d felt with the other Alpha Prime. His face was scarred, which meant he’d had a fight with a wolf shifter and taken some serious damage

As she approached him, she felt the angry energy rolling off him. Here was a guy who didn’t bother dampening his emotions; he didn’t care what anyone thought or felt about him.

“Don’t kill her,” she said quickly.

“Let me go!” the skinny girl wailed, flailing in panic.

“I told you what I’d do if I caught you stealing around here again,” he growled at the girl. “I don’t like thieves.”

“Don’t eat me!” The girl’s voice rose in terror. “I don’t have any meat on my bones! I’d taste terrible!”

Eat her? Surely he’d just said that to scare the girl?

“Look, she was just stealing food,” Dakota pleaded. “Look how skinny she is! She’s hungry!”

“So? A thief’s a thief.”

“And an asshole’s an asshole,” Dakota snapped at him.

She hurled herself against the guy and knocked the kid from his hands, and the skinny teenager landed on the ground. For once, Dakota was happy to be big and bulky; it had taken every ounce of her strength to jar the girl loose.

The girl quickly shifted into wolf form, dropping down to all fours. Her tattered clothes fell off her lean, furry frame, and she ran for her life, ears flattened on her skull and tail between her legs. Her canvas bag and the bag of cookies lay there in the dirt. Dakota picked them up and unzipped her suitcase, stuffing them in. She’d try to find the girl later.

The man turned and glared at her with anger sparking in his eyes. “I don’t usually kill women, but I might be willing to make an exception in your case,” he said coldly.

Dakota met his gaze boldly. “So you bully children and you threaten women. Ever pick on someone your own size?”

His lips quirked in a cruel grin. “On the rare occasion that I run into someone my own size, yes. Then they die.”

He looked her up and down, then said, “You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that. Who knows, you may be a good fit for Greenlands. But if you cross me again, I won’t be as nice. Yes, this is me being nice. My name is Creel. Stay out of the eastern territory.”

“Since you’re there, it will be my pleasure,” she snapped at him as he walked off, strolling into the woods.