Free curse of the alpha - episode 03 & 04 by Tasha Black Page A

head - that was all. She just needed to get back to New York and everything would be right again.
    She pulled her list out of her pocket and crossed off the first half of #1 Clean out the house & get it on the market.
    One and a half items done – only three and a half to go.
    Remembering the time, she hurried to finish cleaning so she could get ready for Clive.
    A stab of anxiety pierced her.
    What was she doing?
    Would Clive find her attractive?
    Could she really go through with this?
    A cool shower and a beautiful new dress would help her feel confident and sexy. She
    hurried to the bathroom to prepare.
    C H A P T E R
    6
    Erik put down his machete and took a long pull off a gallon jug of water. The weather was too hot for taking down bamboo, but he needed to get his mind off Ainsley Connor.
    Her mom would have known just how to get rid of the bamboo forest that was
    encroaching on his house. Mrs. Connor had the best advice for anything to do with plants and trees. He guessed he could go to MacGregor but the new hardware store owner had
    bigger fish to fry.
    Erik shook his head in frustration. MacGregor was a fantastic beta – loyal and smart
    and ready to hand down orders from above. But as a stand-in alpha he was miserable. He couldn’t make a decision to save his life. Erik wasn’t sure how much longer they could hold off the Federation.
    He picked up the machete again and went to work. Bamboo fell to the ground with
    every sweep. If he kept this up every day through the fall, he might be able to see the creek from his house.
    Thoughts of the creek led him back to Ainsley again. He’d told himself he hadn’t
    bought the house just because their childhood hideaway was part of its acreage. But if he was honest with himself, of course he had bought it for the tree fort and the cave and the creek.
    On a whim, he decided to try and slash a path right to the creek. It was slow going.
    He knew it wasn’t a sensible plan and he was wasting energy, but once the idea was in his head he was completely taken with it. It would be cool to have a path to the creek.
    By the time he’d cut a narrow path about two feet deep, he realized it would be easier to just meander though the thinnest parts of the stand. The path would zigzag, but it would go faster. He picked up his pace as he hit newer shoots.
    Two hours later he found himself at the bank of the creek. He put the machete down
    and opened and closed his fists a few times. He knew he’d overdone it, but he’d been
    possessed with a need to see the water as soon as he caught its scent.
    Ribbons of sunlight filtered through the trees and reflected off the creek. The lush
    smell of fresh water filled his nose. On the opposite bank the big sycamore with their old tree fort stretched out its branches to him.
    The fort was actually up a little higher than before. The old tree had grown in twenty years. It was unbelievable that it was still intact at all – they had done a good job on the roof. He guessed their cave hideout below was probably just as they’d left it - plus a few critters.
    Until today, it had been good enough to know it was his – that no one would rip down
    the trees and build townhouses. With the highway coming in, wooded areas like this one would become more rare.
    But thinking of Ainsley always made him think of this place.
    She used to be a tomboy – not a fussy city girl. And she was the first to stick up for another kid, or to help anybody in need.
    What had happened to his Ainsley to change her so much?
    He had emptied the last of his water jug, so he leaned down and scooped a double
    handful of clear water from the creek. It tasted brilliant after the store-bought, plastic flavor of the jug. He kicked off his shoes and stepped into the water.
    The cold water on his skin transported him back to a simpler time.
    He and Ainsley played in the woods night and day with a whole mess of other kids.
    From the beginning, he had been fascinated by her.
    And then