When The Alpha Chooses A Human

ose. The endless sunsets, the hot, heavy nig

g the inside of my cheek, staring at the sign hammere

y place I'd ever kn

born, it had just be

g about him. His name, his face, his very existence-they wer

gn, I see," my grandma sa

r lives would be over. We were lea

e change would do us good. But I had no des

nds here. And

nd it fit. School was going well. I had a part-time job

s, but they hadn't changed a

new friends. Maybe even find a new boyfrien

me. I didn't want new fac

but he had these clear blue eyes that could disarm me i

said something about him felt off, that her instinc

that wasn't what haunted me. What I feared most was severin

pered, more to mysel

, placing a hand over my heart. "Wherever

ls, the sound of the waves crashing on the shor

cocoa? We could watch the sun d

anket," I answe

ng the sunset over the ocean. For me, the bea

sand before sitting down. The sky was streaked with shades of pin

s again. There were beaches in Texas, sure, but not

tiful," I

ay

hot to my feet. He shouldn't have been here. We'd already s

my grandma. She didn't like him

pulling me into his arms. "The thought of

m back. I was going to miss him so much. These

hispered against his chest.

ms tightening around me. "But I love yo

rough the moment. My gr

sing a tender kiss to my lips before turning and walking a

faintly in the twilight. A promise he'd made six months int

ok my ent

grandma c

, wiping my cheeks wit

a physical ache in my chest, but I h

o finish

lorida. He

.

t no. My grandma wanted to drive, to "m

e gas stops and the fast-food meals we'd scarfed down,

ed with a smile. "We're about half an

t so bad, but it wasn't home. A

on, I made a beeline for the coffee machi

the bell over the door chimed. An in

g mix of alarm and excitement. My heart hamme

ing a deep breath,

o

my throat. But the feeling lingered: a

cks on me. Sighing, I snapped the lids on

the cashier asked

n return. "Regular

and tore it open immedi

aving," I said with an awkward li

. I'm Isla,

plied, takin

new h

p. "Is it t

ement on her face. "You ha

," I sai

of heat washed over me, far too intense for the air-conditioned store. A dull restlessness thrummed under m

t here," Isla said with a

ged. Maybe s

was wrong. I'd felt that strangeness fro

ying to clear it. "I don't know how you eat that

quiet dread had taken ro