Saved by the Alpha (Paranormal BBW Erotic Romance, Alpha Wolf Mate) (2 page)

It won’t be too much longer
,
I kept telling myself. But I hated being like this – tired, drunk, and just
wanting to be someplace quiet and warm. A New York City subway station was the
absolute last place on earth I wanted to be right now.

Fortunately, when the train showed up a few minutes
later it wasn’t crowded. At the very least I would have a seat and plenty of
space to myself for the last twenty minutes or so. I boarded with everyone else
and slid onto a bench at the far end of the subway car, hoping that no one
would sit down and try to talk to me.

Soon we were moving again. Because it was a local
train, we made every single stop along the route. That’s why it was so much
slower than the express. At each stop, more and more people got off, leaving
the car emptier and emptier. That was alright with me; the more people left,
the quieter it got. Soon it was just myself and a few silent others, listening
to the pulsing rhythm of the train working its way down the track.

I yawned, taking out my phone to check the time. It
was past 1 AM by now. I was about three stops away from my destination. That’s
when I made the mistake of closing my tired eyes.

The next time I opened them I found myself alone in
the train car. I was groggy at first, but as soon as I realized where I was I
snapped back to total consciousness. The car was stopped on the track in the
middle of a station
Absolutely
no one was around. I
got up to look for some indication of where I was along the train route.

New Lots Ave. The last stop on the “3” train.

Impulsively, I reached for my phone to check what
time it was. That’s when I realized I didn’t have my purse anymore. Some thief
must have snatched it while I’d been dosing in the subway car.
Dammit
.

If you aren’t familiar with New York, then you don’t
know how dire the situation was at this moment. New Lots is deep in Brooklyn,
and I mean
deep
. It’s in a neighborhood known as East New York, hands
down one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the five boroughs. In all my
time living in NYC, I’d never ventured this far into the outer boroughs. There
was simply no reason to be here, plagued as it was by crime of all kinds. Now
it was no surprise at all that I’d had my purse stolen.

I had a crucial decision to make at this point.
Should I risk walking out into the streets to attempt to find a cab, or stay in
the station and wait for the train to move? There was no way of knowing what
time it was, but if it was as late as I thought, this train would be stuck at
the station for another hour or two before being operational again. If I stayed
here, I’d be a sitting duck for any type of miscreant who happened to stumble
upon me. As it was, I felt lucky to get away with having my purse stolen and
nothing more heinous.

I decided to take my chances walking out into the
city streets. The only consolation was that it was no longer raining outside.
It was still cold, and the pavement glistened under the street lights, but the
stinging rain had stopped. The roads were essentially abandoned. I wasn’t sure
if that was a good thing or not. On the one hand, I didn’t seem to be under
threat, but if one should arise, I had no idea where to turn to for help.

If I screamed, would anyone here me?
I pondered this question as I walked along, my senses heightened, completely
alert so as to spot any potential danger as quickly as possible. If only I had
my phone, I’d have some idea of where I was, what time it was, and how I might
get home. For the time being, I was completely alone and vulnerable to whoever
might stumble upon me wandering these unfamiliar streets.

I saw a light on in a convenience store up ahead and
picked my pace up to a slight jog. When I tried the door to go inside, it was
locked. Instead, a man looked out at me from a window, his face protected
behind bulletproof glass. That wasn’t a good sign.

He indicated that I should come over to the window.
Anything I needed, he could pass to me through the slot after I’d paid. I’d
never seen anything like this before, and it made me wonder just how dangerous
these streets were. I asked him through the slot if he could call me a cab. He
shook his head and pointed to a payphone.

“Please, I don’t have any money. My purse was
stolen. Can you please call me a cab?” I begged.

The man shrugged and pulled a cellphone out of his
pocket.

“What’s da
numba
?” he
asked in a thick accent.

“I don’t know. Any cab, any cab company. I don’t
care. You have a phonebook don’t you?”

The man looked completely exasperated with me and I wasn’t
sure why. It’s not like he had anything else to do at this hour. Reluctantly,
he pulled out the phone book and flipped it open, trying the first number he
could find.

I watched as the phone rang several times on the
other end, finally the man spoke into the phone, and just as soon as the call
began, it ended.

“No cabs out here. Cabs won’t come out dis far. Not
worth da money.”

“Are you serious? Try another one,” I said, wrapping
my arms around myself.

I was starting to get colder now. The man tried another
number and shook his head.

“No cabs,” he said again.

I asked him to try another, but he refused.

“Well, call the police then,” I said, frustrated and
desperate.

The man scowled at me.

“No police,” he said, and shut the slot closed on
me. I guess it was just that type of neighborhood.

I pleaded with him through the glass, gesturing
wildly, trying to get him to help me, but he shook his head negative. Tears
were welling up in my eyes at this point. Was I bound to spend my night in the
streets? I would have started walking, but without my phone I had no idea what
direction to head in. For all I knew I would be walking into an even shadier
part of the city.

I looked at the clock in the convenience store
before I left. It was past 3:00 AM.

***

Without many other options, I decided to head back
to the train station. The train should be running again by around 4:30 AM. I
had almost an hour and half to get through, but at least I knew that was a
valid way of getting home. Fortunately, I still had my apartment keys. That was
the one saving grace.

I walked up into the train station and for the first
time I noticed all the signs posted throughout: a flyer indicating a service
disruption over the weekend.
Trains are running on a delayed schedule
.
The first train out would be at 5:45 AM.
Dammit
. I pounded my fists
against the wall of the station as tears streamed down my face. Utter
desperation, complete helplessness.
Why was this happening to me? Why
tonight? Hadn’t I been through enough?

I was jarred out of my self-pity by the sound of
heavy footsteps. I saw three persons come into the station at the far entrance.
They began walking towards me. I didn’t know whether to stand still or run.
Running might provoke them to chase after me and I didn’t want to go back down
into those streets. So I stayed, holding my ground and pretending not to notice
them.

When the men got closer, I kept my eyes trained on
the ground, hoping that they would just walk by and carry on their way. But I
could see their shadows darkening the ground by my feet. I looked up
hesitantly, saying a silent prayer for protection.

“What do we have here?” said the apparent leader of
the group. “Looks like someone’s lost her way.”

“She not from around dis area. That’s
fo
sho
.”

“Where you from, girl?” asked the first man.

“Park Slope.”

“Aww man, you a long way from home. Don’t you know
not to come out to this neighborhood? It’s not a good place for people who
ain’t
from here,” he said, leaning closer, a note of threat
entering his voice.

“I fell asleep on the train,” I said, my lips
trembling.

For some reason I felt the need to explain myself.

“Big mistake,” said the leader, drawing closer to me
and touching a lock of my hair with his finger, before running his hand down my
cheek. “You sure are a pretty girl. A little fat, maybe.”

I shivered. The others laughed as a sinister smile
crossed his face. I flinched at his touch, but stayed silent, too scared to say
anything, afraid of what I might provoke in these men.

“Baby, there’s no need to be scared. We not
gonna
hurt a pretty girl like you. Come on, how about you
let us give you a ride home?”

“I’ll wait for the train,” I said. “Thanks.”

“Train
ain’t
coming,” said
the leader. “You don’t want to offend me by turning down my offer to help you,
do you?”

“I really appreciate it, but I’m
gonna
wait. Thanks, really, but I’m fine here,” I said, my voice shaky and small.

“You sure about that? I wouldn’t be so sure if I was
you. This is a bad neighborhood, I don’t know what might happen to you if you
don’t come with us.”

It was a veiled threat. If I didn’t go with them,
something bad would happen to me. But it looked like something bad would happen
either way. The two other men took me by the arms as their apparent leader walked
out in front, scouting the way.

Suddenly, I had that feeling again like I was being
watched. It’s strange, but given the circumstances, it didn’t bother me. It was
almost like comfort, a familiarity that provided a calmness.

“What da fuck was that?” said one of the men at my
side.

“What?” said their leader angrily, turning around to
face
us.

“Did you see that thing?” asked the man on my left.
“Like, I don’t know what it was.”

“Some kind of dog or something,” said the man on my
right. “Real big. Huge dog, like a Rottweiler.”

“You crazy. That thing wasn’t no Rottweiler. Way
bigger than that.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” said their
leader, grabbing one of the men by the collar of his jacket.

“Man, we’re telling you we saw something at the end
of the station.”

“Well, where is it?” asked the leader. “I don’t see
anything.”

“It ran into the train,” said the man on my right.

“Let’s turn around and go out the other way.”

“No, that’s bullshit. Don’t be a pussy,” said the
leader, turning around to walk in the direction we’d been heading.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” said the man on
my left.

“Shut the fuck up and follow me.”

We walked forward, the two men holding my arms
tightly, not allowing me any space to maneuver. I felt a strange mixture of fear
and anticipation –
and those eyes still watching me
. Behind it all there
was an odd sort of serenity. I was afraid for my life, but somehow felt
protected.

We came closer to the car and the leader ordered the
two men at my side to let go of me.

“Go check what’s in the car,” he said, pulling a
knife out from his pocket. “I’ll watch the girl.”

“Man, I
ain’t
doing that.
I’m not fucking with a dog that big.”

“Fine, be a bitch about it. I’ll go gut it myself.”

He walked into the train, looking both ways quickly,
trying to get his bearings in case there really was something inside.

“There’s nothing in here,” he said, turning around
to walk back out of the car. “You’re paranoid. Now let’s take this bitch back
to the spot.”

The two men took hold of my sides and then stopped.
They both watched in fear as a dark shadow started gathering behind their
leader. He closed the knife and put it back in his pocket, looking up at us in
a pissed of manner.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Bring her down,” he
said.

We watched as a form took shape behind him and two
glowing blue eyes pierced through the darkness. The two men were frozen to the
spot, unable to say a word of warning to their leader. With one slash of a
gigantic paw, the man was smashed, launched into the air in a screaming tumble.
His body flew twenty feet into the concrete wall of the station.

The two men at my side drew knives and ran to help
their leader. Suddenly, I was free to escape. But escape to where? As I ran, I
heard horrific screams behind me, the sound of men groaning in tremendous pain.
I turned back at the far end of the station to see a gigantic wolf knock one of
the men onto the rails of the subway. At the exit to the station, I hid behind
a column, watching as the leader got up from the ground and charged at the
terrifying beast. He was laid to waste just as quickly as the others.

The wolf looked up. Even from the far end of the
station it seemed to be staring directly into my eyes. The feeling of being
watched magnified, intensified beyond the vague unease of before. I felt
trapped by the gaze.

As the animal began to run towards me, I turned to
run, but tripped and fell. I struggled to get up as it neared, but even as I
began running again I knew it was too late. I felt its hot breath behind me,
heard it growl as it opened its mouth. I glanced back over my shoulder and saw
saliva dripping from its fangs.