The Alpha In The Pines
m or whisper or crea
ho cracked through the pines like a warning shot. Lex laughed from the driver's side an
ow, and winced. Whiskey. Cheap. Fa
er hiking pack. "Yeah, and you left.
s half-joked was cursed. No trail markers, no campsites, no safety rails. Just tree
s. What she didn't believe in was the kind of thing people whispered about in bar corner
onfidence, as if daring the dark to try something. Ava followed slowe
d her out of the wreckage, broken but breathing, and told her she was the only one who made it. She still heard
brakes too late. Everything still looked the sam
her had died years ago. Her father had vanished w
e branch out past the old quarry. The
eted the ground like rusted velvet. "This is
ere the Skin-Taker lives? Or the B
. "All of them. Or none. Depends on who you ask
nd the edges of the bite scar on her collarbone, an
said. "Big, bad, and
. "You remember
d away. "Not really. Just his boots. He used to take them off
rt m
hey talked. N
and watched the trees. No animals calle
" she said. "Why he
mes. It popped violently. "Because
inked.
romantic. It wasn't. He went to take a leak and never came back. I f
nd had started ag
ld've tol
reached into her bag and pulled out a small cloth bundle. Unw
anything in a b
It burned col
g moved. A branch sna
flashlight. Ava step
whispered
gnore
ere. Between the trunk
e firelight an
glo
they we
ized she was holding her breath. Lex was already backing toward
ed again. Clo
eliberate exhale. Like somethin
," Lex said, almos
d but did
ness in the air. Like standing t
it gr
t started in the earth an
stuttered.
sa
like something trying not to scrape the sky. Black fur matted with rain.
snarl. Did
st wa
sm
scre
fire
kne
second growl answered t
more than one