My Jealous Alpha Stepbrother
Chapter 129

Tarryn

I leave Alex the next morning to buy groceries. Vegetables would be good for him to eat. He has a cold and spent the entire night blowing his nose and shivering. It’s strange. I’ve never seen a werewolf get sick before, but I bet it’s all related to the change in his body.

Alex is transforming into something new, and I put every vegetable I can find into my cart, hoping the nutrients will help him. He seemed to be in tremendous pain during the night. The twitching wouldn’t stop, and neither would the g****s.

At one point, Alex gripped me and crushed me to his chest. He said things like, “Please, don’t leave me! I don’t want to be alone! I hate this world… no… no more fighting…” Then he passed out again. So he is definitely having nightmares too.

I throw a bunch of vitamins in my cart as I pass them. I remember Alex telling me he likes cookies, so I grab a few oreo packages. I have a bunch of stuff when I make it to the counter. Even the female cashier seems surprised by the number of snacks but doesn’t say anything.

I pay for my stuff and pack my items, freezing when I notice a group of young people looking me over. They are all wearing hoods, and I frown. They don’t smell human but don’t carry my pack’s scent either.

Who are those people?

Unable to help myself, I assess them while packing. They are all young. Some of them tattoed. One is pierced everywhere, and another is wearing white contact lenses… are they in a rock band?

My staring contest gets interrupted by the next customer wanting to pack their stuff, and I lift my bag from the iron thingie for loading at the end of the conveyor belt.

I leave the store, head for my car, and open the trunk. I’m at a store on the outskirts of the city. The prices are good here, and it’s surrounded by woods. But I realize it was a mistake coming here when the gang from inside the store head for my car.

“Hey, sweetcheeks, what do you have over there?” A voice shouts, probably the leader of the group. All the others laugh behind him like mindless creeps.

“None of your business,” I respond, trying to make out their scents again. They aren’t human, but I can’t tell what they are… werewolves? If so, it’s not from my pack. No. That scent is—

I widen my eyes. This is what the Howler pack smells like. Why didn’t I realize that sooner?! How could I have been so stupid as not to immediately recognize it!

“None of my business, huh?” The leader of the group grins. He is pierced in the eyebrow and in his ear. His head is bald, and he wears white contact lenses, making him appear more daunting.

Since this is bad and I don’t want to start a fight, I avert my gaze. I have places to be. If I can get into my car and speed away from here, I can inform Misha about the Howler pack being on our territory.

I put the other bag in the trunk, close it and unlock the passenger door, only to shriek when I’m pulled back by my shirt collar. The car key is dropped from my hand, and I hear laughter as I’m yanked into the bald guy’s broad chest. His leering face tip to meet my eyes.

“Well, hello, there. Have you figured out we are from the enemy pack yet, sweetcheeks? Have you realized what will happen now?” He presses his disgusting l*p to my ear, chuckling. “You smell good, sweetcheeks. I’m going to enjoy the hell out of rutting you.”

Rutting?!

What the hell!

I try to break free from the bald freak, snarling. “Let me go! I’m not your sweetcheeks and don’t want to be rutted! Whatever the f**k that means!”

The bald guy laughs and turns around to the others. “Did you hear that? The dirty little Grimgang slut thinks she has a choice!”

Laughter fills my ears, and then I’m hoisted off the ground. Did this guy just pick me up?! Gah! I kick with my legs, but when that doesn’t work, I shape-shift on the guy’s shoulder. My fingernails turn into claws that s***h at his back at the same time I bite him.

“Motherfuc—”

I manage to slip down from the guy’s back and land on the asphalt. The Howler pack gang stares at me, but my survival instincts kick in, and I run away from the scene as fast as possible. Forget about the car—I must leave it to survive!

In a panic, I run past my car. The oreo package is on the ground, dropped by the wheels, and I grip it in my mouth. I’m not sure why I do that. Probably because I’m shocked and not thinking straight. My head is spinning a mile per hour, but thinking about Alex and how happy he will be when I give him these cookies makes me less afraid.

Thinking about my mate makes me brave. I will survive and escape from the mutts behind me.

“What are you waiting for?!” The bald guy yells. “Chase her! Don’t let her get away from here!”

My heart beats frantically in my chest when I hear the Howler pack groaning and shifting in the parking lot. I’m not a fast runner and unsure if I can get away from them.

But maybe I don’t have to?

Shouldn’t there be pack members in the forest keeping guard? Or wait… was it Mary’s turn today to keep a watch? Goddamn it! She is probably f*****g her goddamn mate!

Frustration courses through my veins. It’s mixed with fear. The enemy werewolves are closing in on me. I hear their pants and snarls behind me as I run past pine trees and bushes into the forest.

Will I make it home? I don’t think so. There are too many of them—seven, while I’m alone and far away from home. Why did I stare at them inside the grocery store? I should have minded my own business!

I keep running with this thought, angry at myself and terribly afraid that I won’t see my family and Alex again. I’m doing my best to escape… but I’m not fast enough. A large grey wolf jumps over me, tackling me to the ground and pinning me under its large paws.

I see angry, black eyes and feel teeth digging into my neck. Grabbing on and trashing about, ripping the fluff off my skin. It hurts, and I cry out into the night, wishing I was faster. Wishing I was stronger.

Why aren’t I stronger?!

Josie would never get into trouble like this. She would fight. So would Becky. Why am I this weak? How did I even get into this? All I wanted was to make Alex happy!

If wolves could cry, I would be sobbing right now. Pain eats me alive, and b***d trickles down my neck and face. The grey wolf keeps mistreating me until the winds shift in the forest, and a deafening snarl comes from somewhere deeper within it.

What was that? Surely my enemies must have heard it too? It sounded like a monster not from this world, and the grey wolf over me must have heard it too because he lifts his head from me, listening. Even the other wolves have gone eerie silent.

In the distance, branches break, and then there is a screech. Far away at first, but then it comes nearer and nearer until the grey wolf is grabbed by something—GRABBED!

My eyes widen in terror. I can hardly see due to all the b***d on my face, but above me, something rises. It casts a shadow over me, and I freeze in motion at the grotesque monster above me.

It looks like a distorted werewolf mixed with a fox, but it’s mind-bogglingly huge. It has to be over twenty feet tall, and all its legs are twisting at weird angles.

Even its face isn’t normal. It’s human-like, but at the same time, not. Teeth jut out from its monstrous mouth, and instead of a normal set of eyes, there are plenty of eyes on its face. All white and glowing.

I think I’m going to be sick… what is that? Not even its fur is a normal color. It’s red and bloody looking. The monster also has nine tails—wait. It couldn’t be… could it?!

Alex?!

The other werewolves are whimpering and howling, scattering in every direction from the monster. Not a single one is attempting to fight Alex because it’s painfully obvious it wouldn’t be much of a battle.

Even now, Alex is ignoring the other werewolves. He is set on the one in his hand-like paw, staring at it with his mouth twisting into a smile. It’s distorted and unnatural. Foxes shouldn’t have a flat human face, but he does while the rest of him is shaped like an enormous fox—minus the fact that his arms and legs are too long and twisting.

He is… so damn scary.

My bones are rattling with fear, especially when Alex tilts his head and gives off a dark, ominous demonic sound. I feel sick when I realize it’s aimed at the werewolf in his hand—Alex is laughing at it. And not before long, he crushes it in his palm.

It’s just an easy splat. B***d coats his fingers, and then he turns his head, focusing on the other werewolves attempting to run away. Big mistake.

Alex stretches his impossibly large arms, plucking them up one after one and ending their lives within seconds. It’s like a scene taken from a horror movie, and Alex is the murdering bad guy.

The most disturbing part is that he seems to enjoy it, splattering bodies and spraying b***d all over the forest and under his massive paws.

I witness him pick up one werewolf and pretend to struggle with keeping it in his hand. He acts like a cat. Alex is playing with his prey, letting the werewolf think it has a chance before he throws it on the ground and stomps it like a cigarette.

I can’t keep watching Alex. I shape-shift back into a human in time to puke on the ground. My stomach is turning on itself, and goosebumps are prickling over my skin.

Alex lets out a terrifying roar above me, inhuman and purely demonic. I’ve never heard anything like it. The sky turns red, and as my eyes flicker around us, I notice the place has changed.

Instead of the familiar trees back home, we are now surrounded by the wasteland desert. There are no clouds in the sky, only a creepy red color and lightning bolts. Did Alex teleport us somewhere?

I don’t have time to think about that. My eyes settle on the werewolf bodies all around me. Some shape-shifted back into humans before their death, and more bile rise to my throat.

Alex didn’t leave anyone alive. They are all dead. I’m the last man standing, and I have no clue why. What is Alex going to do with me? Will I be flung like a rag doll too?

Everything shakes as Alex approaches me. I tremble violently when his paws stop in front of my eyes. The pounding of my heart is so loud it’s almost shielding my ears from Alex’s dreadful whines. Almost.

No matter what, I can’t ignore the huge creature, and I lift my chin, staring at the glowing, white eyes blinking at me.

Oh my god.

If this thing is Alex, I never want him to shape-shift into it again. It’s terrifying. Grotesque. Nightmare-inducing.

I exhale and push myself to stand on shaky legs. A voice inside my head tells me to distance myself from the unearthly creature.

Alex, however, has different plans. His whole body shifts and creaks, and then his awfully long neck bends down until his face is level with me. It’s terrible, looking directly into those glowing, white eyes.

“Ta—Tarr—”

I hold my breath when Alex struggles to speak. His voice is too loud and deep. Monstrous.

He pushes his head forward until his nose is inches from me, and I stumble back, panicking. I don’t want him to touch me. I just witnessed him kill people and laugh!

“Tarryyyyn,” his voice comes out disturbed. Demonic and impossibly loud for my ears. “Tarryn… mate… not… hurt…”

I turn into stone at those words, unsure of what to do. Alex stares at me with his ugly face and opens his mouth again.

“Tarryn… not… hurt… don’t… scared…”

Easy for him to say.

Alex didn’t just witness me murder a gang of werewolves and splat them like pancakes. I know this is Alex now. I have confirmation, but how am I supposed not to fear him?