Pack Silverthorn (Alphas & Omegas #1)

Chapter 1

Chapter

One

Adira

“Hey hooker,” the voice from my Wrangler’s sound system says.

“Hey sis,” I respond, smiling.

“Are you almost home?”

I grin, excited to break the news. “No, but for good reason. After the last session of the convention, I snagged a one-on-one with Tarot Ink.”

“No way!” she squeals.

We’ve been wanting their product line in our spell shop for awhile now, but their licensed partnerships are very exclusive.

“It went really well, their rep was a rabbit shifter, they were super sweet. They want to come down to Monroe next week and visit.”

“That’s amazing,” Myla says, voice tinny. “Nice work! Did you bang them?”

“Bitch, no,” I laugh.

“Too bad, you need to get laid. So when will you be home?”

I tap the screen to bring up the map. “Looking around midnight.” I sigh. Six more hours. Oh well, worth it if we land this partnership.

“Text me when you’re at your place.”

“Will do. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

I tap the screen and go back to my hipster cocktail hour playlist. This road is gorgeous, I’ll give it that. On the way up to the convention, construction had caused my route to be changed to this little state highway instead of the usual easy freeway.

I had never taken this state highway before. The road winds in and out of the forest, offering the occasional glance of the Pacific. The tall pines are old and spaced out enough for a well-developed understory.

I had hoped I’d get out of the conference right after lunch.

If I had, I’d have been able to stop and have a little picnic somewhere in the woods on the drive home.

But not now. It’s too late to be cavorting in an unknown woods, unless I was an earth witch, maybe.

But the license will be worth it, for sure.

I fan at my face, suddenly warm. My eyes flick to the temperature reading on the dash. Weird. It’s fall; it’s not even warm this evening. I roll the windows down, enjoying the breeze on my face and the scent of the forest.

An hour or so later, and the light is fading fast. I’m well within the dead zone for a cell signal I had noticed on my way up.

My stomach flips over unexpectedly.

Ugh, I knew I should have stopped at that last gas station. I use my knee to hold the wheel as I tie my hair up off my sweaty neck.

Tapping the screen, I see I’m not far from a town named Elmway. It’s not directly on the state highway so I didn’t notice it last time. I reroute to head there.

A few seconds of loading, given the poor signal, and the path lights up on the map.

I blink, looking harder. “Really, Wrangler?” I ask my Jeep. Alright, I think, looking at the twisting, tiny road on the map.

I take the next left onto a dirt road. Shit, maybe this town won’t have a gas station if it’s off a little dirt road like this.

Pain zaps through me oddly. Let’s hope they do.