Alpha Vol. 1 (Print)

Alpha Vol. 1 (Print)
Treva Harte
All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2021 Treva Harte
Excerpt from Walk Away

Dek wasn’t normal. Wasn’t safe.

The first time she’d met him, she’d known. Of course, he had made it pretty obvious when he tried to kill her stepfather…

* * *

“I tell you, I saw the little b -- booger turn. I’m bleeding from where he attacked me. Damn it, he’s dangerous.” Rod’s red face turned even redder in the silence that met his words. He swung toward her. “You were there! Tell the cop! Go on, girl.”

She swallowed. She hated his sweaty face. Hated the piggish eyes that glared at her right now. They might be under the same roof, but that didn’t mean she had to like pretending he was kin. She didn’t have to enjoy living with him, listening to him… obeying him.

“Damn you, girl, if you don’t talk up, I swear --”

She took a half-step back. The policeman put his hand on her shoulder, and she tried not to flinch. The eyes under the police cap were all right. They were searching her up and down, but they were human eyes. They might even be kind. She took a deep breath.

“Tell me what you saw… Leila, is it? Don’t be afraid.”

“Yes, sir. That’s me. I-I didn’t see anything. I mean, I came in and I saw Rod -- I mean, my stepdad -- screaming and swearing and bleeding. I didn’t really look at anything else.”

“How the hell did you miss what was going on, you stupid sl -- child?” Fascinated, Leila watched his red face slowly turn purple. She waited for her stepfather’s head to blow off. Instead he whirled and pointed at the one person left in the room who hadn’t said anything. “I tell you, he went for my throat. You think something human went for me like this?”

Leila stared at the bleeding wounds.

“He tried to jump me.” Dek’s voice was whisper-soft. “Rape me. I fought back. What else could I do?”

“You see any of that, Leila?” The policeman sounded safe. But he wasn’t. No one was safe. Leila knew that.

What should she do?

“I… No, sir.” Her voice firmed. “Nothing.”

“Your stepdad ever try to hurt you the way the boy here said?” The cop’s voice hardened.

Jesus. He was smarter than she’d expected. Or else Rod had what he was like written all over him. Written so clear that anyone could see. Except Mom. Mom always believed Rod.

Leila gazed down.

“No, sir.” But she let her voice get more Southern and liquid. Let her lips tremble as she said that final word. She knew what it sounded like with that little catch over the syllable.

The cop’s breath audibly hissed.

“I’m the one who is bleeding here!” Rod’s voice rose. “Arrest that mongrel bastard.”

“I’ll have the authorities take him back to the County. I’m taking you in for questioning.” The policeman didn’t take his eyes off Rod. “Step outside for a minute with me, Mr. Voss.”

“What the f -- hell!”

His voice faded a little as he got outside. Leila shut her eyes, tried to pretend she was alone and everything was all right. She’d made a decision, and now she’d have to live with whatever happened next.

“I owe you.” Dek’s whispery voice cut through her self-protective shell, and she opened her eyes.

She stared at the slight teenager who was maybe a year or two older than her. Her stepdad had brought home a stray kid to abuse and bully, like he did now and then. But this time he’d brought home something that took him on. Who would have thought it?

“You don’t owe me anything, Big Bad Wolf.” Leila crossed her arms. “It was my pleasure. Wish you’d ripped his liver out.”

“I wish I had, too.” Dek smiled, all pointy, big teeth.

“But for now you’d better run out the back door while Rod is keeping the cop busy out there.”

“I already had that in mind.” He hesitated. “What about you?”

“What about me? You’re not concerned about me.”

“You’re wrong. I am.”

“Well, you can’t do anything for me, so you might as well do something for yourself. Go on.”

“Come with me.”

“What?” Leila blinked. She’d planned to escape the second she hit eighteen and no one could drag her back. Three months, one week, and four days from now.

“You heard me.”

Or she could go now. Even if he did get out of trouble with the police, Rod wouldn’t be chasing this particular stray.

“That’s a hell of a big decision to make. Why should I trust you?”

Dek flashed that big smile, looking as trustworthy as any wolf in sheep’s clothing. He didn’t look like just a kid. Why did that make the back of her neck tingle with nerves and… and something else? He was dangerous. But dangerous wasn’t all bad, was it? “You can find out why on the way out of here, kid.”