Deadly Crush (Deadly Trilogy, Book 1)
Read Deadly Crush (Deadly Trilogy, Book 1) Online
Authors: Ashley Stoyanoff
Deadly Trilogy Book 1
Ashley Stoyanoff
By Ashley Stoyanoff
Published by Ashley Stoyanoff Books
Copyright 2013 Ashley Stoyanoff
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Edited by Kathryn Calvert
Cover design by
Liudmyla
Supynska
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and
incidents are the products of the author's imagination or are used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons,
living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
For my sister,
Jonel
,
because you are awesome!
Deadly Crush owes a
lot to my editor, Kathryn Calvert, so thank you, Kathryn, for having such a
great eye, and for being so invaluable to me and my work.
To my mom, Jo-Anne, and sister, Jonel,
thank you for all your support and for keeping me sane through the writing
process.
A quick shout out to all my awesome
coworkers.
Thank you so much for acting
as my trusted sounding boards, and for vetoing the twists and turns that made
no sense.
You all are the best!
And to my husband, Jordan, thank you.
You are my inspiration.
But most of all, I would like to thank the
readers, reviewers, and bloggers for your support and for sharing your love of
books.
You all are the reason I keep
writing.
The Soul’s Mark Series
The Soul’s Mark: FOUND
The Soul’s Mark: HUNTED
The Soul’s Mark: BROKEN
Waking Dreams, A Soul’s Mark Novella
1
~ JADE ~
I should have taken
my own advice.
It was good advice.
Simple advice.
Advice that I had lived by
for two full years.
All I had to
do was stay clear of the pack.
They were
just a bunch of dogs.
That was it.
Nothing special.
Just dogs with a
superiority complex.
Nothing good
ever happened by getting mixed up with them.
I had seen the proof of their destruction over and over and what had I
done?
I had let one of them help
me.
Stupid.
Stupid.
Stupid.
The thing was
,
it
wasn’t easy to avoid them.
The pack had
been a part of Dog Mountain since, well, forever.
I was pretty sure that the town was even
named after them.
Why else would they
have called it Dog Mountain?
Anyway,
they were everywhere; in school, on the streets, at the stores; you couldn’t go
anywhere without running into one of them.
Everyone knew about them.
In most
towns, that would have freaked people out, but not here.
Here, the werewolves were welcomed by
everyone, well, everyone but me.
Personally, I couldn’t stand them.
They walked around as if they owned
everything.
I guessed they kind of did,
or their families did.
But that wasn’t
the point.
They were possessive,
territorial, and a serious pain in the butt.
Especially the
she
wolves.
The
she wolves
were the worst.
And it was because of one of those nasty
she wolves
that I was trapped in the
girls’ locker room in my underwear.
I should have figured something like this
would have happened.
Erika and her
little gang of dogs had been on my back ever since Dominic — the alpha’s beta —
drove me home last week.
It had been
completely innocent.
It had been pouring
rain, my car had broken down, and he had stopped to help.
That was it.
But Erika, well, Erika wanted him all to herself, and she couldn’t seem
to get it through her thick head that it had only been a ride home.
I opened up another locker in the long line
of metal doors and slammed it shut.
Empty.
They were all empty.
Why did
gym have to be my last class of the day?
Frustrated, I plopped down onto the cold
bench and pulled my knees to my chest, hugging them closely.
They didn’t even leave my backpack, and, of
course, that’s where my phone was.
How could I have been so stupid?
I had Mr. Townsend for gym this year, and gym
with Mr. Townsend meant running laps.
Only laps.
He thought running was
the only kind of fitness anyone ever needed.
Personally, I thought that that mentality had to be a werewolf thing,
because, well, running laps sucked.
And
yes, my gym teacher was a werewolf.
Needless to say, by the time class ended, I was all sweaty and gross.
I had planned on going shopping after school,
just to kill some time before Marcy, my best friend and practically sister, got
home, so understandably, I had decided to grab a quick shower.
Clearly, leaving my clothes unattended was a
big mistake.
I glanced at my watch, 3:30.
Another hour or so before the after school
clubs would finish.
Maybe I could make a dash for my locker then, and grab my extra set of
gym clothes?
The idea of running
around school almost naked made my stomach roll.
For years, I had managed to avoid those …
those … dogs.
And now, I couldn’t get
away from them.
I didn’t even understand
why Erika cared so much.
Dominic hadn’t
spoken to me since that day.
And
honestly, I didn’t even know why he had stopped to help me in the first place.
Since he had become one of them, he had
barely glanced my way.
I’m
going to throttle that she wolf!
The pack had always made their presence
known in everyday Dog Mountain life.
They prowled the streets, taking what they wanted when they wanted
it.
Well, maybe not really
taking.
Most of the residents of Dog Mountain willingly
gave whatever it was that one of those stupid dogs wanted, but that wasn’t the
point.
The point was that they never
actually worked for anything; they just took.
What happened to the days when werewolves had kept hidden?
The time ticked by slowly.
I was starving, but then, I was always
starving, and since I had just finished gym, I was extra-starving.
My stomach rumbled and I was starting to get
a headache.
I could feel it at my
temples, radiating in circles through my head.
What a fan-freakin-tastic way to
end the first week back at school.
“Jade, you in here?”
Dominic.
His deep voice rumbled
through the door, as he pushed it open a crack.
My heart jumped in my throat, and I was pretty sure my whole body
flushed.
I felt it like a flash
fever.
Hot and sticky.
“Go away, Dominic,” I yelped, scrambling
from my seat.
I whipped open one of the
lockers and hid behind the metal door.
“Don’t come in here.”
“Why not?” he
asked,
and I could hear the laughter in his voice.
“It’s not like I haven’t seen you in your underwear before.”
“Just stay out!” I hissed at him.
He didn’t open the door any more than a
crack.
“I’m sorry,
Jade
.
Erika …” He paused, sighing long and loud,
and then his hand slid through the small opening.
“Look, I have your clothes.
I’ll just leave them here at the door, okay?”
I didn’t say anything and he didn’t
either.
He just stood there, only his
hand visible for a long moment.
My
stomach was twisted in tender knots and my heart beat loudly in my ears.
The door inched open a bit further, and I couldn’t
stop the squeal that rushed from my lips.
Jeez, he’s going to come in!
My brain was certain of it.
I frantically searched around for
something, anything to hide my body.
But
there was nothing.
Not even a
towel.
Those darn wolves probably would
have stolen my bra and underwear, too, if they hadn’t been in the stall with
me.
But then, Dominic sighed again and
thankfully, he dropped my clothes onto the floor, and pulled the door shut.
~ AIDAN ~
I slinked behind an
oak tree, pressing myself tightly against the rough bark, and held still as
Dominic stomped out of the school.
He
walked by, without even a glance in my direction, and he was muttering
something about
‘Jade being impossible.’
Who
Jade
was, I
didn’t have a clue, and what he was doing here when he was supposed to be
meeting me, seriously had me annoyed.
I
may not have been the alpha for that long, but I was still the alpha — his
alpha.
I had been tailing him all day and so far,
it had been a disappointment.
The pack
(or I guess it was
my
pack now) liked
Dominic.
I had been banking on the fact
that it was only because he was a better option than Ray, the last alpha, if
only slightly.
But so far, following him
around had only shown me that they actually liked him and what was worse, they
trusted him.
The problem was that I had
a gut feeling that I couldn’t trust him.
Dominic was power hungry.
I could
see it, feel it, and I was sure that he would be my biggest threat at the
ceremony tonight.
He had been Ray’s
beta, and now he was mine by default.
Sure, I could choose someone else, and I wanted to, but as I said, the
pack liked him.
Stripping him of his
title could lead to something I didn’t want to face — yet.
I was beginning to feel a bit foolish,
though, hiding behind a tree and stalking my beta.
It didn’t feel very alpha-ish.
But then, I had never meant for this to
happen.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to
be the alpha.
I did, and I was sure I’d
be good at it, but that didn’t change the fact that I hadn’t meant to take out
the last alpha.
I peeked around the tree trunk, and scanned
the parking lot for Dominic.
He was
leaning against his car, arms crossed, and, by the look of it, he was still
muttering about something.
This was the
first time in the last twelve hours that I had seen his cool persona
ruffled.
And right then, as I watched
him, I didn’t know whether to be happy (or even more disappointed) that maybe I
had been right about him.
He had been there when I had
disposed
of
Ray last night, or I guess it was this morning, and he hadn’t done
much to stop it.
Although it would have
been against pack rules for him to step in, but still, he didn’t seem to care
that much that Ray was gone.
I figured
that that was a good thing, seeing as the only reason I challenged the jerk in
the first place was because I had found him beating his mate.
Just thinking about it made my stomach
roll.
Tammy had been covered in blood
and barely breathing, huddled at Ray’s feet, when I had walked into the bar.
I had scented the pack at the border of
this little hick town, and I had come close to just driving straight
through.
The last thing I wanted to deal
with was a pack that I didn’t know.
And
if I hadn’t been so exhausted, I would have kept going.
I’d been driving for thirteen hours straight,
trying to put as much distance between me and my father as I could.
After checking into a motel, I went in
search for the pack and found them easily enough at a little hole-in-the-wall
bar in the center of town.
My plan had
been to let the alpha know I was in town and just passing through.
This was purely out of respect for the pack,
but when I saw him kicking the girl over and over, and not a single one of the
pack members were doing a thing to stop him, I kind of lost it.
He was a big guy, dressed like a biker with
a leather jacket and a green bandana wrapped around his head, and by the way
the others were watching him, I knew right away that he was the alpha.
They were all cowering back, clearly afraid
to interfere.
I shot them all disbelieving
looks.
They were all pack members; even
the bartender had a distinctive wolf scent.
Fury raged through me, and I started toward the alpha, and was about to
pull him off the girl when Dominic had stepped in front of me.
“Leave it alone.
She’s the alpha female.”
“The alpha female deserves more respect
than this,” I growled, staring him down.
The alpha was still kicking her, oblivious to us, and for the first time
in my life, I actually channeled my father.
I shifted, recalling everything the man had
taught me about showing dominance.
My
legs were stiff and tall.
My ears were
erect and forward.
My
tail, vertical and curled.
The hair on my back bristled and I growled
long and low.
I stared at Dominic,
advancing slowly.
It didn’t take long
for him to drop his human gaze and shrink away from me, submitting.
It was then that I knew he had to be the
beta.
The rest of the pack members
followed him, moving back, hunching their shoulders, and making
themselves
look smaller.
Not a single one of them shifted.
I let out a low warning growl and the alpha
stopped, motionless.
The copper scent of
blood was stronger in my wolf form, calling to me, reminding me of the thrill
of the hunt.
I took slow and sure steps
toward her, baring my teeth, curling my lips, and claiming the prey as
mine.
If the alpha hadn’t shifted, I
don’t know what I would have done.
In
that moment, all I saw was easy food.
He snarled at me, his fur bristled, and he
crouched, ready to attack, guarding his food.
The silver-white light of his alpha’s imprint shone through his
chocolate-brown fur as he gathered his scent, giving me a silent warning to
back off.
I growled again, and all at
once, his scent blasted at me with a staggering force.
The pungent, bitter scent overwhelmed me, reminding
me of the days I’d spent locked away while my father tortured me — taught me — to
ignore the call of an alpha with his own alpha scent.
It was crippling, demanding me to give
in.
Submit.
He channeled his scent again, pushing it
out at me in a steady stream.
I tried to
shake it off just as my father had shown me, and I pushed my own scent at
him.
He cocked his head to the side,
confused for a moment, but without the imprint to enhance the power of my
scent, his confusion was short lived.
I kept my dominant posture, my lips curled
even further, exposing my gums, and right then he launched at me.
For half a second, I almost submitted to
him.
I was exhausted and hungry and I
couldn’t think straight, but then his teeth sank into my shoulder and rage
rushed through me, again.
Hotter and deadlier.
Swift clarity came back to me in a
rush.
An image of the girl curled on the
floor bleeding while Ray kicked her over and over surged through my brain.
I twisted, biting back.
My teeth sank into his side, and then his
legs, and in less than a second, he was pinned under me, his vulnerable neck
exposed.
The years of training under my
father had paid off, making him an easy target, but he didn’t submit.
He snarled and kicked up, trying to throw me
off of him.
He snapped out at my neck,
his teeth grazing my fur.
I could feel the rest of the pack
watching.
Their tension and unease was
palpable and my inner-wolf responded to it.
They had submitted and he would, too.
I pinned his neck down with my teeth, not biting, only holding him on
the ground, but still he fought, bucking and twitching under me.
He snarled again, and a chorus of whimpers
rang out behind me.
“End it,” Dominic growled.
“He will not submit.”
And I did.
My teeth found purchase in his neck, and I tasted his blood, seeping
into my mouth.
And then, he stopped
moving, stopped fighting, stopped breathing, and I let go.
I couldn’t say how long I stood over the
dead alpha, staring at him, waiting for him to take a breath, before I had
shifted back.
I remember thinking that
my father would have been proud if he knew that I had found my own pack and
claimed the alpha rank.
I had followed
in his footsteps, just as he wanted.
I
could hear his words as if he was standing right beside me,
‘You can run, but alpha is in your scent.
You can’t hide from it, Son.
’
And I also remember thinking that I didn’t
know how I felt about it.
I didn’t reach for my clothes which were
piled behind me, marking the place that I had become a wolf.
I was too stunned that I had won to realize
that I stood in the middle of the bar stark naked.
From the corner of my eye, I saw the beta
pull the girl to her feet, and I noticed that she wouldn’t lift her head.
She kept her body curled, staying small and
passive, and all I could think was,
How
had that girl won
the challenge?
How many females had
she beaten to become the alpha’s mate?
And what had he done to her to break her so badly?
“The new alpha pair,” Dominic said, once
she was firmly on her feet, and standing in front of me.
He waved a hand at us as if he was introducing
us to the world.
The words shocked
me.
I hadn’t considered everything
before I challenged him and the reality of my actions was slowly sinking
in.
Alphas do not lose their status if
one of them passes on.
What was his was
now mine, and I was now hers.
We were
the new alpha pair.
“No,” she whispered.
“Please.
I just want to go.
Let me
leave.
I don’t want the rank.
I don’t want the pack.”
She looked up at me; her eyes were full of
tears, pleading with me to let her walk away.
I slid my thumb across her cheek, wiping
some of the blood away, and she cringed at my touch.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
I needed to know if she understood what she
was doing.
If she stepped down, there would
no longer be a place for her in this pack.
She would be ostracized, marked as weak, and, in time, killed or run out
of town.
She didn’t hesitate and said, “Yes, please
take a new mate.
Please.
I’ll leave town.”
Her voice was weak, and she dropped her gaze
back to the ground.
She quivered,
shrinking closer to the floor with every passing second.
I should have felt sorry for her.
An alpha female should never show fear, not
like this, and I couldn’t even begin to imagine how broken she must have
been.
But right then, I had no sympathy
for her.
I only felt relief.
I would not have to babysit a mate that I did
not want, and clearly, she did not want me either.
“Go,” I said.
Just that.
A simple command I had heard my father use
countless times.
She let out a shaky pent-up breath and
whispered, “Thank you,” still refusing to meet my eyes, and she scurried from
the bar, without
so
much as a backward glance.
In all my nineteen years, I had never seen
a pack like this.
Werewolves were
supposed to be a protective bunch.
It
was ingrained in us.
In
our blood — our bones.
But this
pack … whatever Ray (and I was certain it was because of Ray) had done, had
ruined them.
Right now, though, my
biggest worry was how close Dominic really had been to his old alpha.
I needed to be sure he was with me.
Tonight could change everything and if he
wasn’t backing me … I didn’t even want to think of the chaos that could happen.
My phone began to vibrate against my hip,
jerking me from my thoughts, and I fished it out of my pocket.
Dominic.
His name flashed on the screen.
I
tapped the flashing call button, and brought the phone to my ear.