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At last.
“Thank you,” I murmur, and with a short nod, I turn and flee down the steps.
My ghost celebrates as my feet pound the cracked sidewalk, relief flooding my body with each breath I suck into my greedy lungs.
I’m never leaving the Sage House again, I tell myself as I reach the corner and turn down an isolated gravel path that leads up Sage Hill.
I’ll never argue with Cleo and Beth about who gets to go into town to run errands. I’ll stay in the house and do all the tasks that they don’t want to do. Just so that I never have to—
“Oh!” My thoughts are interrupted as I trip and fall to the ground, my hands and knees banging painfully into the sharp gravel.
I whimper as the stinging pain travels up my limbs. Lifting my hands, I see they’re speckled with blood, rocks, and dirt. Although, I think my heavy skirt mostly protected my knees…
Before I have time to gather my bearings, a strong hand reaches down and pulls me up by the arm. I gasp and wobble in place as the same hand grasps my shoulders, holding me up.
When I look up, it’s straight into the muddy brown eyes of the alpha who’d been flirting with Joanna and Sylvia on Dogwood Street.
I try to pull back, but he holds onto me tighter. He’s looking at me differently than he did earlier. He’s not smiling, for one, and his eyes are darker, more threatening.
What did I trip on, anyway? All I see is the gravel on the path and his large boot-clad feet.
Before I can think more about it, he finally lets go of me roughly, and I stumble backward. I straighten my body and find him staring at me curiously. Quickly, I duck my head submissively.
“I’m so sorry, alpha.” A siren buzzes between my ears as I fix my eyes on the gravel.
I expect him to do what any Goldenrod alpha would do if a beta fell in front of him.
Huff.
Sneer.
Keep walking.
But he doesn’t move or make a noise. When I glance up, I see him staring at me curiously—like he’s trying to figure me out.
“What’s your name?” he finally asks in his twangy, musical accent.
My heart sinks, and I shake my head quickly before blurting out, “I’m a beta.”
He clicks his tongue and steps closer to me. “That’s not what I asked…”
His eyes are intense and probing, stripping away my layers until only my ghost is left standing … and she’s scared.
“My name’s Hetty,” I say, loud and fast as I stagger backward.
He hums and looks me up and down. “I’m Cass.”
“Oh.”
The seconds tick by, heavy and awkward, before his face finally breaks into a knowing smile.
“I’ll see you again, Hetty the beta,” he promises with a wink before turning and walking away.
I stare at his back as he slips his hands in his pockets and saunters down the narrow path, an eerie whistle floating through the hot air behind him. It’s low and slow. A tune I’ve never heard before.
My limbs are frozen in terror until he turns the corner toward Spruce Street and disappears.
Then, I do the only thing I can—run home like there’s fire nipping at my heels.
