Shift

The Alpha

Dried leaves and broken twigs scraped against Scarlet's bare body. She curled into a ball, moving closer to the warm figure next to her, feeling smooth skin and hard muscles. A strong arm draped over her, pulling her close as she inhaled the smell of cool, crisp morning air. Her eyes remained closed, her face pressed against the arm that served as her pillow. She could hear birds chirping in the trees, insects burrowing through the dirt below her, and small rodents rustling here and there. Her nostrils were filled with all kinds of different scents, things she'd smelled before, but not like this. The smell of damp soil and dew on grass, the decay of leaves and dry, crumbling wood, salty sweat, and something bitter, metallic... like blood.

Scarlet's eyes popped open and she jumped to her feet. She looked down at Peter laying there in the dirt, completely naked, stretching his body as he laughed at her.

"Oh shit," she said. She darted behind a tree to hide her own naked body from him, surveying the streaks of dried blood and dirt covering her skin.

Peter laughed again. "You don't need to hide from me."

Scarlet's head buzzed as memories of the previous night came flooding back to her. She remembered everything, from beginning to end, from sweating and crying, to running and howling. She remembered the feeling of warm blood as it spattered her face when she sank her teeth into the deer's neck. She remembered the euphoric, explosive feeling of power and freedom she'd felt, remembered the way it felt to run through the woods next to Peter, and to roll around in the grass with him as she painlessly shifted back to her human form.

"Did we...?"

"You really don't think too highly of me at all, do you?"

"Oh god."

"Relax," he said, chuckling, all too pleased with himself. "We didn't. I'm not a total monster."

"Where's Adrian?" she asked, ignoring his lewd comment. "What did you do to him?"

"I was with you all night." Peter shrugged. "I'm sure your friend is safe with Fiona, I told her not to hurt him."

"Who's Fiona?"

"We can get to that later."

Scarlet peeked out from behind the tree to see Peter sitting casually as if he weren't bare ass naked in broad daylight.

"I need clothes," she said.

"Good luck with that," he replied.

Scarlet's hands pressed against the sides of her head as she looked around, trying to figure out where she was. Every sound was louder than it should be. The birds, the insects, the wind. Everything sounded like it was echoing in stereo inside her head.

"You've got to calm down," Peter said. He stood and came toward her.

She started to back away, but he caught her by the wrist and pulled her to him. She pushed him away.

"Don't touch me," she said, "ever." She turned around, positioning her body behind another tree, and glared at Peter from the corner of her eye.

He stared up at the sky, smiling at the last whisper of the moon that blended into the cloudless white-blue canvas. Scarlet watched him, unsure of how to feel. She thought she should be afraid of him, but she wasn't. Somehow, she knew he wouldn't hurt her. As he turned toward her, she admired the lines of his face, his strong jaw, and the trail of tiny moles and freckles that dripped down his neck. Her eyes stopped on his shoulders, where there were four long, deep lines carved into his body. They were scars; white, jagged lines drawn over the tanned skin of his back. She reached up and touched the spot where her own shoulder connected with her throat, frowning at the absence of the bite marks that should have been there.