Free Desired by the Alpha (Wolf Destiny Book 1) by Violet Ray Page A

him.  
    But that would be an adventure for another time. Turning back, head held high, he began his first night of working alone, marking his first rite of passage into adulthood.  
    *********
    “Goodnight, Olivia.” The sound of her mother’s voice booming through her bedroom door almost made Olivia jump out of her skin. Diving into bed, she reached out and flicked the switch on her desk lamp.
    “Night, Mom,” she called back, trying to will her to go away. Even though she was fourteen, her mother still insisted on checked in on her every so often as if she was still a child.  
    And somehow Mom always managed to catch her doing something other than sleeping.
    When Olivia heard her mother continue down the hallway, she released the breath she had been holding tight. Even so, she made herself wait until the whole house fell quiet and dark.  
    Unable to hold out any longer, Olivia pushed the covers back, sliding her feet down to the cold floor. She just had to read one of her emails over again, even though she had it pretty much memorized already.  
    Standing up carefully so the old floor wouldn’t betray her by creaking loudly enough that her parents would hear, Olivia crept over to her small desk, opening up her laptop.
    The message was right there waiting for her, just as it had been since it came in at 3:57pm.  

    You have been accepted into the Hewthorn Youth Summer Intensive Dance Program.

    Hundreds of kids applied every year, and Olivia had beaten them out for one of only thirty very coveted spots. She had barely squeaked in under the age limit, her birthday falling only days after she sent in her application.
    And now, she was in. The words were right in front of her face but she still wanted to pinch herself. This was what Olivia had been dreaming about for most of her life.
    Best of all, getting into Hewthorn put her on the right track to be accepted to a big-name dance school when the time came. That meant she had a shot at becoming a real dancer. Her dreams really could come true. Dancing was all Olivia had wanted to do for as long as she could remember.  
    It all started when her mother took her to her first dance class. She had loved every second of it. It was a class for three years olds, and it was the most fun she had ever had moving around to music. Olivia was put with Tiffany as her partner, and she was just as excited to be a dancer as Olivia was.  
    They had been best friends ever since, dancing around when they played together as children to routines that Olivia would make up for them.
    Growing up, they would take dance classes and practice together, counting down the years and then the months before they could try out to get into a real dance school.
    But when the time finally came around, Tiffany wouldn’t go through with it. A few months ago she had stopped coming to after-school classes with Olivia.  
    She had starting dating a new boy. Her parents thought she was too young and wouldn’t allow it, so getting to see him anyway involved a lot of sneaking around.
    “Cover for me, will ya?” Tiffany would say to Olivia after one of their mothers dropped them off at their dance classes.  
    “Why don’t you just see him at school?” Olivia said. “I miss having you in class. There’s no-one fun to talk to during cross-floors.”
    Tiffany grinned widely as the all too-familiar truck pulled up into the lot. “There’s not enough time at school. We don’t have any classes together. How’s my lip gloss look?” She scrunched her lips together, as if she was going to kiss her friend on the lips.
    “Great,” Olivia said, glad Tiffany’s eyes were closed so she couldn’t see her cringe.
    See ya,” Tiffany said, running off before Olivia could say any more, leaving her to head inside by herself once again.  

    Olivia had called her the minute she got the news of her acceptance, but Tiffany hadn’t called back yet. After reading the precious message over several more times to make