ALPHA(17)

He started to lean towards me, and I silently cheered at the thought he was going to kiss me. I didn’t bother to try to figure out why I wanted him to kiss me, when he annoyed me so much. I just went with it and couldn’t wait for him to just do it. I leaned forward eagerly, when the door burst open again, causing us both to spring apart as if electrocuted. Jackson jumped up, and looked at whoever had burst in and ruined our moment.

“Isaac, what’s wrong?”

Isaac was slightly out of breath, with worry in his eyes.

“Intruders. We need to go.”

Jackson looked at me, and I swore I could see regret on his face for a moment, before his mask came back on and he returned to his serious self. Without another word, he walked out of the door and I felt a sense of disappointment at how brief the time was when I saw Jackson’s true personality, and I sincerely hoped it was not the last instance I would experience it.

Isaac hovered in the doorway for a moment, and I worried about what he was going to say to me. He had made no secret of the fact that he didn’t like me, and I could only imagine what he must have thought now after the scare with his niece. He coughed slightly, looking nervous for the first time.

“Look, I was wrong okay? Not saying I trust you completely, but you saved Belle’s life, so you’ve gone up massively in my estimations. I’m sorry for how I’ve treated you.” Leaving it at that, he backed out of the room to follow his brother, while I sat there with my jaw open in shock. I never thought I’d see the day when Isaac apologised, so it had been a day of revelations all round. I heard Jasmine coming up the stairs, and smiled at the thought of getting some food, only just realising how hungry I actually was. It’s not until later that I remember Isaac’s strange words, as he mentioned that there were intruders that Jackson needed to attend to. What did he mean by that? And why did I get the feeling that everyone here was hiding a huge secret?



JACKSON



God, would my heart ever stop beating so fast? I didn’t think I could ever be so scared after hearing that Annabelle had disappeared. Turns out that fear could turn in to heart-stopping terror, as soon as I had seen what had happened to Annabelle and Laura in the stream. I had arrived too late to help rescue Annabelle, but thankfully Laura had managed it all by herself. Her bravery and courage shocked me, and my respect for her had grown ten-fold. My heart faltered when I thought about how close we had been to losing Annabelle, and it was the first time her ability to manoeuvre undetected had actually become dangerous. Jasmine had been beside herself, and it had taken every ounce of my strength to persuade Noah to stay behind and look after her, while we went in search of Annabelle. She had only been missing for about 30 minutes, but it had been the longest 30 minutes of my life. When I had come across a crying Annabelle and an unconscious Laura, I had felt my heart drop in to my stomach, and it had taken a good few seconds for me to calm enough to take charge of the situation. That never happened to me. I was used to seeing violence and anger, and had experienced tragedy, so I presumed I was immune to it all by now and would be able to file my feelings away for another time. I hated to admit it, but Laura was affecting me more than was normal. Jasmine had told me that she had spotted a wolf in the woods, but had chalked it down to being in shock and scared. However, I knew by now all about Laura’s inquisitive nature, and I knew she wouldn’t be kept quiet for long. If she stayed in town, I would have to tell her our secret eventually.



LAURA



The sun was shining and I was bored out of my brain with everyone fussing me, so I decided to take another trip in to town and take a look around. I’d like to say it was because I was interested in getting to know the people and my new home, but to be honest I was being nosy and trying to find out what everyone was hiding from me. The wolf I had seen by the stream kept playing around in my mind, even though I knew that realistically it was all in my head. The wolf had haunted my dreams last night, and I had woken up feeling more confused than before; adamant that the wolf had actually been there. Of course, I could have just asked Annabelle if she’d seen the wolf, but there was something about questioning a child who’d just been through a traumatic experience that just didn’t sit right with me.

I was just hopping out of the car- proud of myself that I had found the way to town all on my own- when a shadow fell across me and I jumped back in fright. I quickly smiled when I saw the gorgeous man leaning on my car like he owned it, throwing me the most beautiful smile full of dimples and everything. He had prominent cheekbones that models would kill for, a black t-shirt and jeans which moulded to his strong body, and messy black hair slightly longer than was usual, but so sexy. I didn’t know what they were putting in the water here, but they’d probably make a load of money using this place as a tourist attraction for horny women.