The Alpha's Doe

Prologue

I was six years old the day I met Ace.

I was on a cruise with my family in the Bahamas. Back then, it was just me, my mom, and my dad. Joe, my stepdad and all of the kids that came with him, didn't come until much later.

I remember being happy. It was the first vacation we had ever been on and my parents had saved up for a really long time. We didn't have much money so this was a huge luxury.

We were in the pool-laughing, splashing around, and having contests to see who could hold their breath the longest. That was the summer I learned how to swim, so I practiced swimming back and forth from my mom to my dad, basking in how proud they were of me. They were always so busy when we were home-I barely ever got to see them. After school every day, I went straight to daycare and wouldn't see them until late. We got to spend weekends together, but I never had their full attention on me. It wasn't as if they were bad parents, they just had busy lives.

So this vacation was a dream come true.

We had been on the ship for less than a day when Ace and his family came along. We dropped our stuff off in our room, put on our swimsuits, and went straight to the pool.

My parents were tossing me back and forth in the water, throwing me high up in the air so that I landed with a splash. I was giggling so hard my stomach hurt.

My dad had just pulled me into his arms and was getting ready to toss me again when Ace appeared next to us. My dad paused, looking at the little boy who just stood there, staring at me, breathing deeply like he was having some sort of asthma attack or something.

Ace had always been breathtaking-even as a child. There was something about him that just drew you in and made you stop and look no matter where you were or what you were doing. You could just tell he was special.

Ace had short, brown hair and piercing, dark blue eyes-so dark that they almost seemed purple. I remember immediately being captivated by them. They made me feel like I was in a trance, as if he had hypnotized me with just one look. I stared back at him, my breath caught in my throat.

Without saying a word, Ace grabbed my arm and tugged me away from my father. I was too transfixed to do anything. So I allowed him to pull me away. At the time, it didn't seem odd that this stranger was just pulling me away from my parents without explanation. It felt natural almost-like that was what we were meant to be doing. But looking back on it now, I was still confused by the whole situation.

After his startling blue eyes, the next strange thing I noticed about Ace were the sparks. Everywhere he touched me, little pleasurable pops of electricity appeared. I looked down at our interlocked hands in confusion.

"Um, excuse me, young man." My father stepped forward. He put a hand on my shoulder, causing me to take a small step back. Still, Ace didn't let go of me. "Just what do you think you're doing with my daughter?"

Ace's eyes narrowed on my father. "No," he stated. Then he tugged me so hard that my father was forced to let go of me and I went crashing into Ace's chest. Ace wrapped his arms around me and turned his body away from my parents almost as if he were shielding me from them. "Mine."

That was the first of many, many times I would hear Ace say that about me.

My father's brows tugged together. He obviously had no idea what was going on. My mom looked just as worried. I should have felt worried too but I didn't. I was too taken by the boy in front of me.

I put my cheek against his shoulder, wanting to feel the sparks on my face. I giggled when they danced along my skin. They felt funny.

Ace looked down at me. Some emotion I couldn't quite make out sparkled in his eyes.