Alpha Initiation (Alpha Blood #1) (Werewolf Romance) Read Online Free

up. I'd have better luck with the boarded up windows, so I went back into the large room and took another look at those ones. The railroad spikes stared back at me, mocking me with their strength, but there were ways to get past them. They weren't screwed in, at least not as far as I could tell, so maybe I could pry them loose bit by bit.
    My fingers danced over the rough edges of the boards looking for a handhold, but they were nailed too close together. I'd need something thin and tough to wedge between them if I was going to pry the boards loose. I glanced over my shoulder and my eyes fell on the tray that man Alistair had brought in. That looked sturdy enough, and it was the only thing in sight to help me. I dashed over, quietly removed the remains of food and dishes, and ran back to the window. The tray was made of some sort of sturdy metal, and thin enough I could slip it between a few of the wider gaps between the boards.
    When it was securely wedged at the height of my chest, I put my hands on the tray and pressed down with all my weight and strength. The tray creaked and the wood groaned, and little by little, inch by inch freedom appeared behind the board. In a few minutes, and after a few breaks, I managed to loosen the board enough that I could pry my fingers into the hole and yank on the wood. In an hour my hard work was rewarded when the board and its stubborn nails came off in my hands. Victory was accompanied by a loud wrenching noise when the wood pulled from the wall, and I froze with the board tightly gripped in my hands. I listened for sounds of footsteps and voices, but nothing came to my ears.
    I softly set aside the board and glanced at the hole. There was only a glass window, and beyond that was the world. Unfortunately, it wasn't any world I knew. The forest of city buildings was replaced by a forest of tall trees, and the streets were now an expansive lawn that stopped at the edge of those trees forty feet beyond the house in which I was trapped. I didn't see any road or driveway, so I guessed my room was at at the back of the house. That would make escape easier.
    There was a drop of thirteen feet from my window to the ground, but I noticed a thick layer of vine peeked out around the edge of the left-hand panes. I could climb down those and run away, but then I ran into another problem. Which direction was I supposed to go? The sun was out and I knew which ways were east and west, but I didn't know if any of those ways would lead me back home. There was also the problem with the sun being there in the first place. I'd be spotted a lot faster during a day escape than at night, so with a heavy heart I put back the board. When night came I could make my escape, and until then I'd use their bathroom to clean myself up and act like the perfect prisoner.
    Being a perfect prisoner was easier than I thought. Nobody came to check on me except when Alistair arrived with a new tray and took away the old one. I'd tossed the older tray against the wall, and when he picked it up he noticed the bent edges on one side where I'd shoved it between the boards. When he glanced questioningly at me, I scowled back. "I tossed it against a wall," I told him. That was the truth so he wouldn't suspect I was lying.
    He raised an eyebrow and those old, crafty eyes drilled into me like two steady snipers zeroing in on their target. "I see," he drawled. "Would you care for anything else, miss?"
    "Yeah, I want to get out of here," I quipped.
    Alistair shook his head. "I'm afraid that's quite beyond my abilities. The master appreciates your company, and would like you to stay."
    What he'd said about being powerless made me angry, and my hands clenched at my side. "But I don't appreciate his company, and it is in your 'abilities' to get me out of here. You've got a key to the door and know your way around here, so don't give me that bullshit about being some loyal servant. You're just as guilty as he is with keeping me