Part 1 (1/2)

Alpha.

By Natasha Knight.

Acknowledgement.

Alpha is the first book I actually outlined and worked through knowing more about the characters and the scenes than I normally do until the actual writing is finished. I mostly work by the seat of my pants with a general idea of what I want to do on any given day. Not to say I stuck to the outline I'd originally written but it was there and I mostly kept close to it, and for that, I need to give a shout out to my friend and fellow author Livia Grant. She's like a master planner... and when I asked her for some basics on outlining, she didn't just do a quick 'how to', but actually gave me several of the outlines she'd used for some of her books to look through and learn from, answering my questions and just taking the time to lay it all out for me. I really appreciated that, Livia, and I hope you'll see this mention. And for readers, if you haven't already, do check out Livia's books, her Pa.s.sion series is some of my favorite stuff.

Alpha.

Zane.

I knew one day she'd come looking for answers, I just didn't expect that day to be today. h.e.l.l, I wasn't any more ready now than I had been six years ago. But here she was asking questions about something she knew nothing about. About people she knew nothing about.

People.

I used that term loosely. We were monsters, all of us. Killers. And she sought out the most heinous of all: me.

Aria Hale came with questions, questions to which only I had the answers, and she had every right to know the truth. But that didn't mean I'd give it to her. In fact, I'd do whatever it took to keep her from ever finding out what really happened that night.

I could live with blood on my hands, but I couldn't live knowing she hated me.

And if she ever did find out, she would hate me.

Aria.

I guess he thought I'd leave the past alone. Let it die its miserable death. He didn't know me very well though.

Six years had pa.s.sed since the night my life changed forever. The night I lost everything. Six long years since the only man who had any answers at all disappeared.

Zane Von was the key to avenging what had happened that night. To understanding why they died and I didn't. And whether he liked it or not, our lives were bound together irrevocably.

If he thought I'd walk away, turn my back on my past, well, then he was wrong.

Please note: Alpha is a dark paranormal (shapes.h.i.+fter) romance intended for mature readers. It is a complete story. No cliffhanger.

Prologue.

Zane.

Six Years Earlier.

”Stop, Aria. No...”

I meant to say we couldn't do this. I meant to pull back. To be the older, more responsible one. But all I could think, all I could feel, all I could smell, h.e.l.l, all I could taste was her.

Her.

f.u.c.k.

f.u.c.k me.

Because if I f.u.c.ked her tonight, I'd deserve to burn in h.e.l.l.

”We can't.” I barely managed the words, her mouth tasting too good, too sweet.

I was a thief, stealing from her. Taking something I had no right to take, even if she offered it because she had no idea what she was doing, who she was offering it to. If she did, maybe she wouldn't be so eager.

And still, I was powerless to resist her as she dropped down to her knees before me.

You'll hate yourself if you do this.

”Aria, please...we have to stop.” I looked at her, her big, innocent eyes staring up at me, that little pink tongue licking me. It was her first time sucking c.o.c.k. Probably her first time seeing c.o.c.k. And even though I was the one standing, even though I was the one who'd wound her hair tight around my fist, holding her there, keeping her on her knees before me - while those eyes watched me, I was a slave to her.

”We shouldn't, Aria.”

That was convincing. Especially followed by that groan.

I almost stopped then. Almost pulled her off me. But then she closed her mouth over my c.o.c.k and began to suck, and the hand that should have held her at bay pulled her closer, thrusting deeper, making tears stream from the corners of her eyes as I lost myself in the heat of that wet, hot little virgin mouth.

Just another lick. Just one more. Then I'll stop. Then I'll...f.u.c.k...

Chapter One.

Aria.

Six Years Later.

The neon light shone red, flas.h.i.+ng the name of the bar off Highway 43: Irredeemable.

What kind of a name was that for a bar?

I pulled into the parking lot, kicking up dust as I drove off the paved road and onto gravel and dirt, tiny stones crunching beneath the tires of my beat-up, third-hand Mazda Miata. It was vintage, with headlights that flipped up when you put them on, although the one on the right didn't work anymore. I didn't care. It was mine. One of the things I'd bought myself when I left school. It required some work to keep it running, but that was fine. My mechanical skills surprised me, but when you didn't have a ton of money to spend on anything but necessities, you figured things out.

The aging green Miata stood out against the row of mean-looking bikes, all s.h.i.+ny chrome and gleaming paint, all obviously well cared for. In the distance was...nothing. Train tracks, mountains, and woods. Zane's bar was out in the middle of f.u.c.king nowhere. You'd have to know it to come out here, and something about it didn't invite the random car driving this forgotten road to stop. The opposite, in fact.

If the lights in the parking lot had worked once, they didn't anymore, so I sat in my car and surveyed the lot from my headlights, trying to figure out what the h.e.l.l had brought Zane here, why he'd run so far. Part of me screamed it knew the answer to that, but another part, the one that remembered him all those years ago, said no. It couldn't be that. He'd been like family - until that last night at least. And he'd been my brother's best friend.

Reaching over to the floor of the pa.s.senger seat, I picked up the bottle of vodka and swallowed the last sip. Liquid courage. I needed it tonight. My stomach was in knots, and my hands hadn't stopped shaking since I'd found him. Since I'd found Zane Von. It had been six years since I'd seen him. I'd been sixteen then. Would he even recognize me, even though, after that night we'd shared, I'd never forget him?

That had been the night everything had changed, when it had all gone wrong just when things had seemed so f.u.c.king perfect.

Reaching into the glove compartment, I pulled out the worn envelope that held the page from my brother Bryan's notebook. Although anything of a personal nature seemed to have disappeared from his room the day he'd died, I'd found this single sheet of paper, torn and crumpled. It had been under his desk, like he'd meant to throw it away but missed the trash can. Taking out the piece of paper, I read it again, trying to understand what he was talking about, what was going on. But it still made no sense: I don't remember my dad. Aria doesn't either. She searches photographs sometimes, but I can see in her eyes there's no memory. Maybe it's better she doesn't know, doesn't find out.