Page 52 of Rocked By the Alpha
It’s pitch black, the streetlamps long ago extinguished and the houses silent and still. The talk show tonight had been a late night one and then Tanya had convinced them all to go to hers for drinks. Ruby rubs at her forehead, hazy from the alcohol.
“It’s so late, my neighbour might not even answer the door,” she tells him.
“Just try for me. I’m on my way but it’s going to take a bit of time. I don’t want you hanging outside on your own.”
She reaches the door. The house is dark, but another security light flicks on as she reaches forward to press the buzzer.
She waits and when there’s no answer, she presses again, longer this time. An upstairs window lights up and then an irritated voice sounds out on the intercom.
“Hello? Who’s that?”
“It’s me, Ruby, Mrs Joseph. I’m sorry to disturb you but I think there’s someone in my house.”
Another pause stretches out and the intercom crackles.
“Are you alone?”
“Yes.”
She hears muffled voices and then Mrs Joseph again. “Ricardo’s coming to let you in.”
The intercom switches off and Ruby lifts the phone back to her ear. “It’s okay, they’re letting me in.”
“I’ve called the cops. Stay in the house. Don’t go anywhere until I get there. Do you want me to stay on the line?”
The door opens and Mrs Joseph’s husband peers into the darkness, his face worn with sleep.
“It’s fine,” she says. “I’ll see you in a bit.” She slides her phone back into her pocket. “I’m so sorry for waking you.”
“You want me to go check the house?” he asks, stepping onto the porch and staring over at her house.
“No. It might not be safe. The cops are coming.”
Mrs Joseph appears behind her husband, dressed in a pale pink nightgown that skims her calves.
“Can you see anything, Ricardo?”
“No, let’s go inside.”
Mrs Joseph grips Ruby’s arm. “You poor thing — what a shock! What happened?”
Ruby lets herself be guided through to the kitchen and placed in a chair around the table.
“I could smell someone in there. I didn’t go in after that.”
Mrs Joseph’s hand hovers above the kettle. “Smell?”
“A scent in the house,” she swallows, screwing up her eyes. The scent lingers in her nose. She wants to blow it away, to smother it in West’s scent instead. “An Alpha.”
“Oh my,” Mrs Joseph says, laying a palm against her chest, before clicking on the water to boil. “Let me make you a cocoa. I’m sure the cops will be here soon and can sort this all out.” She looks at Ruby. “You’re shaking,” she says and Ruby peers down at her lap, her hands trembling against her legs. “Ricardo, go fetch her a blanket.”
He nods and slopes off, and Mrs Joseph busies herself preparing hot drinks, muttering to herself as she does.
Ruby closes her eyes and concentrates on her breathing.
She’d called him, called West. It had been instinctual. Not something conscious at all. Her fingers had found his name before her brain knew what she was doing. But she’s glad of it. She wants him. His deep voice in her ear, his strong arms wrapped around her body, her nose pressed against his neck sucking in his comforting scent.
A heavy weight lands on her shoulder and she jolts, eyes springing open.
