Alpha Next Door (Wolves Hollow Book 1) Read online

  ALPHA NEXT DOOR

  By

  Natalie Kristen

  WOLVES HOLLOW

  ALPHA NEXT DOOR (Book 1)

  Copyright © 2016 Natalie Kristen

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the author's written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the author's written permission.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are used fictitiously or are the products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual locales, events, establishments or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  About this Book

  After going through two messy divorces, Hayley Winters just wants to get away from all the drama, heartache and lies.

  She moves into a little house in the quiet town of Wolves Hollow and tries to settle into her new life. But she can't seem to shake the feeling that there are secrets that the small town is hiding.

  The first time she sees her next door neighbor, he is in the center of a storm of wolves. Tall, sexy and dangerous, Grayson Edge is a complication she doesn't need. But the more she gets to know her handsome, protective next door neighbor, the more uncertain her life becomes.

  Falling for a powerful, dangerous alpha wolf was never part of her plan...

  Wolves Hollow is a town of beasts, and Grayson is careful to steer his pack away from the bloodshed and violence of shifter politics.

  When Grayson saves a sweet, innocent human from the unstable, savage alpha of a larger pack, he realizes that there is a darker evil lurking in Wolves Hollow.

  Grayson can't keep his mind off that curvy, human beauty but he knows that Wolves Hollow is no place for a vulnerable human woman.

  She should leave and get as far away from Wolves Hollow as possible.

  The problem is—Grayson can't let Hayley go.

  But can he keep her safe in a town full of monsters?

  * * * * *

  CHAPTER ONE

  Hayley Winters crept out of bed and checked all her doors and windows again. She'd been tossing and turning in her bed for hours but she just couldn't fall asleep.

  Everything still felt so new and strange to her. She'd just moved to Wolves Hollow a week ago and she was still finding her way around.

  The small town of Wolves Hollow was barely a dot on the map. It was surrounded by dense forest and rolling hills and had a very small population. People kept to themselves in this town, she noticed. They weren't unfriendly, but they weren't warm and welcoming either.

  She'd been here only a week, but doubts, questions and—God forbid, regrets!—were beginning to surface in her mind. Nope, she would have no regrets whatsoever. Whatever happened, she wasn't going to regret purchasing this house, quitting her dead-end job, putting her past firmly behind her and moving here.

  Hayley looked around her little house with pride. She was a homeowner, and no one was going to take her home away from her. She had a roof over her head and she wasn't going to depend on anyone. It had taken her two failed marriages to wise up. But wise up she did. She was never, ever going to let a man use her, lie to her and cheat on her again.

  Blowing out a breath, Hayley padded across her small living room to the kitchen. This tiny one-bedroom house in Wolves Hollow was the cheapest on the market, and the only one she could afford with her limited funds after her divorce. It was in surprisingly good condition, and Hayley thought it was a steal. She had been so proud of herself. It seemed like it was the only good decision she'd made so far. One that she was sure she wouldn't regret.

  But now, she wasn't so sure. She had driven out to Wolves Hollow to see the house before the purchase, and the small town had looked so peaceful and picturesque. She should have explored more and dug deeper. Wolves Hollow was a tiny town, and she realized now that she had only seen the nicer, safer, brighter part of the town.

  At night, Wolves Hollow seemed to change from a bright, scenic, idyllic small town to a more menacing, sinister place. The darkness permeated every corner and the wind seemed to howl through the trees.

  Hayley shook her head hard. This was her home now. And she would make a life for herself here.

  She would have no doubts and no regrets. No sirree!

  But there was just something about Wolves Hollow that she couldn't quite put her finger on. By day, it was a beautiful, picturesque, peaceful town. The people were quiet and polite. They weren't chatty and nosy and they tended to mind their own business. Which was fine. But...there just seemed to be something else that the town was hiding.

  Pulling the sash of her robe tightly around her waist, Hayley shivered as she went to the kitchen and heated up some milk on the stove. As she stared at the moving shadows outside her kitchen window, Hayley gulped and stared stoically into the swirling darkness. She told herself that there was nothing out there, nothing but the wind and the trees. She simply refused to allow her imagination to run wild.

  There weren't many houses on her street, and the houses were all spaced pretty far apart. She knew that an elderly woman lived alone in the house on her right. The house was almost completely hidden by the overgrown shrubs, thorny brambles and bushes in the garden. Hayley had seen a silver-haired woman in a billowing black cape hurrying out of the house one evening. Her neighbor appeared to have been doing some spring-cleaning and forgotten that she was still wielding her broomstick. But before Hayley could call out to her, the old woman had disappeared down the street with her big broomstick.

  Hayley glanced over at her neighbor's messy, overgrown garden. The gnarled, twisting branches seemed to be moving silently in the darkness, casting misshapen shadows that slithered and shifted in the moonlight.

  Hayley blinked and stared again. As if they knew that they were being watched, the towering, thorny plants stopped moving and stood perfectly still.

  Hayley turned away and caught a movement at the corner of her eye. A vine was surreptitiously sliding over the fence, twisting its way towards her house.

  When she gasped and pressed her nose to the window, the vine froze, its thorns and tiny leaves quivering ever so slightly in the still night air.

  Hayley jumped when she heard a howl in the distance.

  “T-that's just the wind,” she whispered to herself.

  She heard the howl again. This time it sounded much nearer.

  With a gulp, Hayley repeated in a stronger voice, “It's just the wind.”

  It wasn't. But she was good at lying to herself.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Cradling her mug of warm milk in her hands, Hayley went to the living room but she didn't switch on the lights. She sat quietly in the dark and looked out the window.

  There was nothing wrong with this town. Nothing at all. She shouldn't let her imagination and paranoia get the better of her.

  This was just an ordinary, sleepy little town. The town probably didn't see many visitors and tourists, and any newcomers were regarded with curiosity and suspicion. Wolves Hollow wasn't situated along any major highways or roads, so not many people passed through the town.

  She hadn't really gotten to know anyone in Wolves Hollow, not even her neighbors. She would have liked to know more people in town, but so far, she'd only gotten to know the family living across the street from her.

  When she first moved in, she'd seen two kids
playing in front of the house across the street and she had walked over to introduce herself. The two little girls had stared at her with surprise and apprehension, then flung their bikes on the ground and raced into the house. Their parents appeared at the door in a heartbeat, the dad pushing his young family behind him.

  When Hayley stuttered a greeting and an apology, the aggression and hostility in the man's eyes faded but his manner was still aloof and wary. Even though they didn't roll out the welcome mat for her, Hayley thought that the Sullivans were honest, decent folks. She would be suspicious of strangers too if she had young children of her own to protect.

  Hayley winced at the sharp pang in her heart. It seemed she wasn't destined to have a family of her own. Her two marriages had ended in heartbreak and divorce. She wasn't going to risk her heart and her future again. She'd been a fool not once but twice.

  “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me,” she said sternly to her reflection in the window. She would repeat this constantly to herself until it stuck. She was never going to let a man trample all over her and bleed her dry again.

  Shaking away all thoughts of her exes, Hayley sipped her milk and turned her attention to the house on the other side of her. On her right lived the old lady with the broomstick and her bizarre plants which seemed to come alive at night. On her left was the largest, nicest, grandest house on the entire street. It was a spacious double-story house with a long driveway that could park five or six cars.

  A few days ago, she'd seen many people coming and going from the house, but they all seemed to be visitors. She had no idea who lived in that impressive, enormous house.

  Maybe it was a lovely, young family with plenty of kids, Hayley mused. But she didn't think so. She didn't see any kids running in and out of the house, or hear any high-pitched squeals and giggles. Children always had a way of making their presence known. They filled a house with so much joy and laughter, and a child's bright, smiling face was simply the most beautiful, precious sight to behold.

  Hayley sighed. She had no man and she would probably never have a child of her own.

  It just wasn't meant to be.

  Hayley finished her milk in one long gulp and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She turned away and gazed around her neat, sparsely furnished little house. She might never have a family of her own, but she had her house, her health, her future. She would just live the rest of her life alone, in peace and quiet. She'd had quite enough of tears, drama and heartache throughout her two marriages, thank you very much.

  A lone howl sounded again. Hayley tensed and glanced at her bolted door. There was no way she could continue pretending that it was just the wind.

  When she turned back to the window to draw the curtains, she gasped and stifled a cry. Her cup slipped from her hand and thudded onto the carpet.

  Hayley froze, her eyes widening in shock and disbelief at the incredible sight outside her window.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The street was filled with wolves. Large, ferocious, white wolves with glowing eyes and gleaming teeth and claws. Hayley had never seen so many wolves in her entire life. They moved swiftly and silently, running down her street in an unstoppable white wave.

  All the wolves seemed to be heading towards...her next door neighbor's house!

  The wolves all ran together in a single direction, closing in on that stately double-story house next to hers.

  Two white wolves stopped in front of her house. One of the wolves turned and Hayley met the wolf's intelligent, blue eyes. The wolf narrowed its eyes and gave a subtle shake of its head. The wolf was warning her to stay quiet and stay hidden.

  “Wolf shifters,” she whispered.

  Wolves Hollow was a shifter town. But it wasn't registered as one. A new law had just been passed that any town which had shifters making up more than fifty per cent of its population had to be registered as a shifter town. There were some shifter towns that obeyed human laws and were considered human-friendly. But there were towns that were ruled by one or two powerful shifter packs and these packs enforced their own laws in the town.

  Hayley ducked behind the curtains and tried to peek out the window. What the hell was going on? Oddly, she wasn't as scared as she thought she should be.

  She was really more curious than afraid. She knew that the two white wolves in front of her house weren't here to harm her. They were here to guard her. She craned her neck and looked down the street.

  In front of every house, two white wolves stood guard.

  “What do they want?” Hayley muttered under her breath. “The white wolves seem harmless, but...I'm not so sure about those gray wolves.”

  About thirty gray wolves were crowded in front of her next door neighbor's house. They stood at attention and appeared to be waiting for something or someone.

  A majestic white wolf stood on the front steps of the double-story house and raised its head. Its howl was echoed by all the white wolves.

  Hayley held her breath, not daring to breathe. The howl sent tingles down her body. It was a rich, powerful yet poignant sound.

  The white wolf straightened up and Hayley thought she saw the image of a man superimposed on the wolf. When she blinked again, the wolf was gone.

  A tall, tanned man wearing only a pair of ripped jeans and nothing else stood in front of the house. His toned, muscular torso was covered with wounds and bruises, but even as Hayley stared, those wounds seemed to be healing right in front of her eyes.

  Hayley swallowed and sidled closer to the window. She was nervous but she didn't feel threatened by these wolves. Somehow she knew that the white wolves would protect her. They seemed to be protecting all the houses down her street.

  Hayley stared at the handsome, dangerous-looking man. The man's blond hair was matted and his blue eyes looked hard and cold. He had angular, chiseled features, and every solid inch of him was pure, hard muscle.

  Was this her next door neighbor?

  The man raised his arm and pointed. His lips moved but Hayley couldn't hear the words. Three gray wolves stepped forward and shifted into three gorgeous, fierce-looking women. Their jeans and tank tops showed off their tall, lean frames to full advantage.

  The man yanked one of the women to him and crushed his mouth savagely over hers. Releasing the woman roughly, he turned to the other two women and shredded their tops with his claws.

  The half naked women followed him into the house and the door slammed.

  “Three,” Hayley breathed in disbelief. She might not be a shifter, but she was a grown woman who had been married twice. She knew they weren't going into the house to have a cup of tea or watch TV together.

  She recognized the look on a man's face when he was going to have sex with a woman.

  Her next door neighbor wasn't just taking one woman. He was taking all three women at once. But strangely, he didn't look pleased about it at all.

  “Three!” Hayley spluttered again.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Hayley backed away from the window and stumbled to her bedroom. She locked the bedroom door and tunneled under the covers.

  Covering her head with a pillow, Hayley squeezed her eyes shut and willed herself to sleep. What else could she do? This was her bed. She had made her bed and she would have to sleep in it. Literally and figuratively.

  Wolves Hollow was a shifter town. She had plonked down what was left of her hard-earned money for her house here, and she couldn't afford to sell her house in a hurry at a loss and move away. She would have to get used to scenes like this. Wolves outside her door. Her next door neighbor bringing scores of she-wolves home for an orgy.

  Shifters had high sex drives and they enjoyed flaunting their sexual prowess. That she knew. She'd dated a few shifters before she got married. She had been pretty adventurous and daring when she was younger, but two failed marriages had stamped out the fi
re in her belly.

  A female cry shattered the silence. “Yes! Oh yes, yes, YES!”

  Hayley glared at the small crack in her bedroom window. She had pasted a piece of paper over the crack but it seemed glass and paper couldn't keep out the sounds of ecstasy coming from her neighbor's bedroom.

  Another voice. It was a different woman this time. “Don't stop, oh don't stop...I'm coming!”

  Hayley sat up in bed and threw back the covers. Was this for real? How long were they going to go on like this?

  “Oh yes, oh yes, yes! Grayson! Grayson!”

  Hayley couldn't help rolling her eyes.

  Fine, so now she knew her next door neighbor's name.

  And it was soooooo obvious what Grayson's intent was. Her next door neighbor was making those women scream for him so the whole neighborhood would know what a powerful, formidable, fearsome stud he was.

  “What a prick,” Hayley mumbled. He probably had a huge one, but she bet his ego was way bigger than his dick.

  Judging from the wolves gathered in silence in front of his house, she guessed that Grayson was the Alpha of these wolves. She'd heard that Alphas were cocky, arrogant and showy. They always had something to prove. To the pack, to the world.

  Maybe Grayson had to prove his prowess to his wolves, but did he have to announce how awesome and skilful he was in bed to the whole neighborhood?

  Apparently so. He had left his bedroom window open on purpose.

  Finally, the screams and howls subsided. Hayley went to the window and looked out. She saw all the lights come on in Grayson's house. The front door opened wide and Grayson strode out.

  He was barefoot, bare-bodied, clad only in a pair of track pants. The blood that she had seen on his body was gone. And all his wounds had healed completely.