Free Alpha by Charlene Hartnady

excellent hearing. Even stupid Omegas. I plan on making you scream until
your throat bleeds right along with the rest of you, until you beg me to finish
you.”
    As
if her words hadn’t been enough, the psycho started to hum to the tune of a
fairy tale. Suddenly she was more scared than she’d ever been in her life.
    Ash
was pulled along at an exhausting pace for some time. “Gray will be able to
scent it was you. He’ll kill you Katrina.”
    She
laughed, “No he won’t. All he’ll smell is you. I learned a little trick or two
from those demon skins. Thanks ever so much for getting rid of them for me.”
    “What
little trick?”
    Katrina
smiled. It was one of those twisted smiles of a psychopath. Simultaneously, she
began to bulge and shimmer, like she was made out of molding clay and an
invisible hand was manipulating her. “He can’t smell me because I’m not
allowing it. Enough talk, the time has come for the screaming to begin.”
    ****
    Gray
felt his bones snap and lengthen, felt his muscles rope and thicken, the
transformation took a split second. If he weren’t so anxious about finding Ash,
he might take a few moments to marvel at being able to run on all fours during
daylight hours. Something he’d never experienced before. After finding Ash’s
room empty and her missing trench coat and gun in Katrina’s bedroom, his suspicions
were instantly confirmed. The demon wolf was the killer and she planned on
making Ash her next victim. He had stopped only to let Alisha know what was
happening so that she could send backup.
    What
confused him was that he could only pick up one scent but it didn’t matter, he could
smell the scent of peaches clear as the nose on his snout and would only be
content once he found his Chaser. Alive and well. 
    ****
    Ash
had to find a way to distract the demon wolf. She still had her knife but the
problem was that she’d carelessly shoved it, sheath and all, into her jeans
pocket. If she even managed to get the thing out, she knew she’d only get one
shot, so she best she make it count.
    Also,
the knife was small, she knew from experience, that both skins and wolves
didn’t go down easily and right now she didn’t know exactly what Katrina was.
She would have to sever an artery to slow her down and then go for her weak
spot.
    A
roar sounded. Loud and close. Both angry and deadly.
    Katrina
snarled, “I was hoping to kill you slowly but it looks like we’re out of time.”
    Her
snout elongated as she erupted, a process that would take a few seconds for a
lower ranking female like Katrina. Her opportunity had come. It was act now or
die. Gray was close but not nearly close enough to save her. She could take
care of herself. Just like she had always done in the past. Ash grabbed the
hilt of the knife and pulled, thanking her luck when the tightness of her
pocket freed it from the sheath as well. The demon wolf had turned to look in
the direction of the approaching Alpha and was in the process of turning back
when Ash plunged the knife home. She’d made the mistake before of letting the
knife go, not so this time, she held tight as Katrina pulled away, her muzzle
open wide exposing a mouth full of sharp teeth, in a silent scream. Ash had to
work to keep from falling, but managed to stay upright.
    From
the amount of blood that spouted from the wound, Ash knew she had struck the
jugular. Another lucky break.
    The
demon wolf was only half erupted so her gargled scream ended in a high pitched
snarl. When Katrina’s glowing eyes settled on her, she knew it wasn’t over yet.
Those green shards went from regular garden variety psycho to full blown crazy
psycho bitch in seconds. Ash swore she could see the wolf’s canines elongate as
she lunged forward intent on ripping her throat out.  Last chance, this would
either work or she’d be dead. Using both hands, Ash lifted the knife at an
angle to Katrina’s chest. Anything less than a mortal wound would fail to stop
this wolf, this