Curse of the Alpha: Episodes 1 & 2: A Tarker’s Hollow Serial by Tasha Black Page B

just that she drew his alpha?
    Clearly Cressida was more his type. Come to think of it, the nicest guys usually were under the thumb of a mean skinny blonde.
    Though Cressida hadn’t been as mean as she could have been.
    Ainsley blushed a little at the memory of whatever had happened with Cressida. She had never had those feelings about a woman before. She wondered what it could mean. It had to be part of the whole wolf thing. Maybe her call to Erik had been strong enough to affect her as well.
    Thinking about Erik with Cressida was horrible and exciting at the same time. Ainsley firmly pushed her thoughts away from it.
    Could Erik be right about the town?
    Once again she wished she had taken advantage of her parents’ information while she’d had the chance. It seemed outlandish that an underground wolf organization existed that was powerful enough to destroy a whole town.
    But if it were true, which would be worse – to let them take the town, or to surrender to her wolf and become a bloodthirsty murderer at every full moon?
    Ainsley thought again of last night’s dream and repressed a shudder. The water beat down to rinse away every bubble. She imagined the thoughts of the previous night swirling down the drain alongside the lather, and felt a little more normal.
    It was natural to have weird crazy dreams at a time like this, wasn’t it?
    She had lost her parents, slept with a new guy, found giant sexy wolves in her childhood home, and discovered her father’s book collection ransacked.
    If she wasn’t allowed a super weird dream last night then really, who should have those dreams?
    She smoothed on her honeysuckle lotion. Somehow the only underwear she had brought was sexy stuff, so a layer of thin satin and lace went on under her old jeans and t-shirt.
    She dried her hair, then brushed it until it shone and put it into a pony tail. Once her diamond studs slid into her ears she was feeling like herself again.
    Ainsley’s skin had always blessedly clear. Her large, dark eyes and dark hair gave enough contrast that a bit of sheer powder and tinted lip-gloss were enough for a day of shopping.
    It was odd to lock doors for a daytime trip. Ainsley walked all around the house, securing the porch and patio as well as the back door.
    As Ainsley considered that each window onto the porch was large enough for a person to walk through and none had working locks, she realized she ought to call the police to establish that someone had been in the house.
    She sighed and looked at her watch. It was already 9:30. Who knew how long it would take to file a police report?
    But it had to be done.
    The tiny police station picked up on the first ring.
    “Tarker’s Hollow Police, Fire & Ambulance. What’s your emergency?”
    “Hi there. This is Ainsley Connor. It’s not an emergency, but someone has been in my house.”
    “Ainsley, is that you?”
    “Um, yes.”
    “It’s me, Dale. Are you okay, honey? Did they take anything? I’ll send someone right over!”
    “Yes, I’m fine, Dale. Thank you.”
    “I hope you don’t mind me saying so, but I don’t know if you should be staying by yourself these days. Does Margie have a room to let?”
    Dale was an elderly man. It was odd to realize that he must be a wolf. Ainsley wondered fleetingly if Margie was a wolf too. She was the proprietor of one of Tarker’s Hollow’s two bed and breakfasts.
    “I’m fine, Dale. Really. Tell Lana I said hello.”
    There was a loud chirp-chirp outside as a police car pulled up out front. Ainsley winced. She wished they hadn’t done that. No need for Sadie Epstein-Walker to have a reason to come bang on the door.
    “Sounds like help is at your doorstep, honey. Stop by the house if you have a minute to visit.”
    She hung up with a little smile. It was such a small town.
    Footsteps on the front porch reached the door just as she did. Ainsley smoothed down her ponytail and grabbed the handle as the bell rang.
    The door swung open to frame a