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

sure it was all still real, she glanced over at the window.  
    There was no chance she could sleep now. She had been ultra-wired since she got the news, dancing around the living room until even her easy-going mother sent her upstairs to do her homework.
    Pulling on her heaviest sweater, Olivia opened the window and leaned out to grab hold of the closest branch of the nearby tree. Swinging herself onto its solid strength, she climbed down to the frozen ground in a few seconds.
    With a furtive glance back at the dark house, Olivia took off for the woods.
    The bright moon lit her way, but she would have been fine without its guidance. It wasn’t the first time Olivia had snuck into the forest, in spite of the dire warnings of her parents and pretty much every other adult in their small town.  
    “Be careful,” Tiffany’s mother always warned when Olivia was about to leave their place. “Your house is so close to the woods. Stay on the main road, I don’t care if it is shorter to cut along behind.”  
    As a young child, she hadn’t dared go in. No-one did, even though some of the older boys bragged that they would. Somehow there was always an excuse not to, when it came down to actually going through with it.
    A few months ago, Olivia’s curiosity had finally gotten the better of her. And when she couldn’t convince Tiffany to go with her, she went by herself.
    “But you could die,” Tiffany breathed, eyes widening in fear whenever Olivia so much as talked about the possibility. “Remember when we were kids?”  
    Two men from out of town had shown up, having decided this forest would be a good place to hunt. Despite many warnings from the locals, they went in.  
    They were both killed, their bodies mauled and torn apart by wolves. Something stronger than a wolf, Tiffany’s father had said. Something determined to do more than just end their lives. He had been one of the ones to get them out, so he was considered an authority now.  
    Olivia and Tiffany were only eight at the time, but the story had been repeated so often that everyone believed it was true.
    When she actually did it, Olivia hadn’t really been planning on going alone. One day she was on her way back from Tiffany’s. It was summer, early evening and still light out.  
    She was almost home when, without even thinking about it, she detoured down towards the forest, stopping right at the edge of the first thin line of trees. It looked pretty tame to her.
    What was the big deal? She wouldn’t go very far in. Just far enough to have a very quick look around
    Forgetting to breathe, Olivia took a single step forward. And then another. Glancing around, she confirmed what she already knew. She was completely alone. And nothing bad had happened. Olivia went in deeper, but not so far that she couldn’t see out.  
    Disappointed she hadn’t come across a secret witch’s coven or something, she was about to turn back when she glimpsed a clearing just up ahead, right in the middle of a dense area of trees.  
    It didn’t look natural. Even the bushes seemed cut away into a circle. What was that about?
    A twig snapped with a sharp crack. She nearly jumped a mile straight into the air.  
    She took off, running as fast as she could, not stopping until she got home. Flinging the back door open, Olivia whipped her head back, checking behind her. Nothing had followed her out.  
    Heart pounding, she raced up the stairs to her room, diving onto her bed. Already thinking about doing it again when her phone rang, startling her into jumping back up to find it. It was Tiffany.  
    “Hey,” Olivia said, trying to sound normal.  
    “What’s with you? You sound weird,” Tiffany said.
    “Nothing.” Olivia took a deep, shaky breath. “What’s up?”
    Tiffany started asking her about their homework, and Olivia decided right then not to tell her what she had just done. She had always trusted her best friend with all of her secrets, but not this one. Tiffany