Alpha's Poison

Chapter 1 - Like Alphas Collide

Seven Years Later

I peered cautiously around the corner, my sweaty hands gripping the wall nervously. Overgrown grass brushed over my toes as I sunk my feet into the earth in anticipation, feeling my heartbeat race with adrenaline. I glanced from side to side before sprinting towards the tree line, knowing I could escape from him in the thick brush. Unfortunately, I only made it halfway across the clearing before I was tackled to the ground, muscled arms entangling me and lifting me up in the air.

                “Found you, Speedy,” Brendan chuckled, amused, in my ear. I rolled my eyes as I laughed, struggling in my best friend’s grip. “Guys, I found her,” the Alpha’s son called out to no one. However, soon after, bodies began making their way out of the forest, each of them with regaled grins playing their lips.

                “How the hell did you find her this time?” David Zimmer questioned, crossing his arms across his broad chest as he strolled up to us while Brendon carefully placed me back on my feet. David’s dark chocolate hair fell messily across his forehead as he stared at the two of us with wild hazel eyes.

                “After seven years of living with the girl, you can eventually predict what she’ll do next,” Brendan laughed, giving me a pointed look, which I returned with my signature eye roll.

                “I think he cheated,” I murmured, elbowing him in the ribs, but he returned the favor, and being much stronger than I, made me stumble a bit.

                “I think you’re being a sore loser,” Jenson Hale teased as he grabbed me into a chokehold and began mussing my hair. Even though my nervous wolf took a step closer to the edge, I growled playfully at him as I escaped his grip and took cover behind Brendan, whom was giving Jenson a soft warning look, telling him to be gentle. Brendan was always like that; making sure everyone was being careful with me as though I was made of paper skin and glass bones.

                “Sore loser my ass,” I smirked from behind Brendan’s perfectly shaped body, my inner animal cautiously taking a step back. “You cheated, I know you did.”

                “How the hell can you cheat in hide n’ seek?”  David gaped just as Michael and Ethan joined us, Michael’s fists hitched onto his hips and giving me a questionable look while Ethan stared quizzically at me through his glasses. I glanced between the five boys, unable to muster up a believable lie.

                “Beta Boy’s it!” I called instead and tapped David’s shoulder, sprinting for the safety of the forest and jumping into the brush before David could even register what I said.

                “Astrid!” Brendan yelled in annoyance yet hinting a chuckle in his voice as they all began lazily jogging after me. I giggled, glancing behind me at the group of abnormally and inhumanly attractive guys that pursued after me, amused and sly grins taking over their lips. A smile snaked its way to my face as a large oak tree appeared in my path, claw marks decorating the bark, claiming it as part of Sanguis Luna Pack territory. Flicking my own lethal claws out, I lunged into the mass of tree branches. Luckily, I grasped a sturdy one and hoisted myself up, climbing higher before perching myself on a branch where I could see the boys perfectly.

                “Astrid! You’re being childish!” Michael said as he prowled through the bushes. Brendan walked just in front of him, his face pinched in agitation. I loved it when the boys got annoyed. Carefully, I stood and leaned casually against another branch, staring down at David who stood just below me, his eyes narrowed as he surveyed the area as though he was hunting prey.