The Guardian Alpha: A Paranormal Werewolf Romance (Nameless Sentinels Book 3) by Evelyn Glass Page A

Jay. “Do I detect bitterness in your voice?”
     
    “Do you?” Jay raised an eyebrow, his lips thinning into a scowl. Mayor Stone didn't want to hear what he found. She continually refused, even after weeks of his pestering. Finally, he gave up. The mayor didn't think Crystal Ridge would alter their course, why should she even try? Marie and Thad reminded him why, as did his night with Kristi. Mayor Stone's inaction was almost as bad as Crystal Ridge's reaction. So, perhaps there was a little bit of bitterness on Jay's part.
     
    “You could have run away, like any number of others,” Mayor Stone replied, airily.
     
    Jay pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes. What was the mayor getting at? “I could have.”
     
    “ Nineteen seconds, eighteen seconds… ” The recording echoed over the town as the sky bled from orange to purple. A chill sifted through the air. People below Thorn Hill drew quieter, as if less noise would delay the inevitable.
     
    The mayor seemed to worry her bottom lip for a breath. Her eyes trained on the forest, but he had the feeling Mayor Stone wasn't really seeing the trees. Jay was beginning to wonder if she would reply when, finally, she asked, “Why didn't you?”
     
    “I have a job here, Mayor Stone.” The answer lay on Jay's lips, ready and willing. Conviction stood behind his words, even as rue dotted his brow. The bitterness roused in his voice, deepening his tone to a dissatisfied baritone, “People are going to die, thanks to your sense of futility and the Crystal Ridge pack's rage. I need to subside that as much as I can.”
     
    Mayor Stone turned her head, eyebrows cocked. “Why you?”
     
    “Because I'm expendable.” Even as Jay said it, he realized how much of a lie it was. Kristi's face wavered before his gaze, pain and regret shot through his heart. This time, it was Jay who refused to meet the mayor's gaze. “Who else is going to, anyway?”
     
    The mayor fell silent. Her fingers clenched and relaxed at her sides and her eyes returned to the horizon. Her lips twisted into a scowl as her eyebrows dipped into a 'v.' An inner battle played out along her cranium. Jay could only guess what was going on in the mayor's head. A quick glance to the descending sun sent warning bells off in his head. “You better leave, mayor, before the pack gets here.”
     
    “I'm not leaving,” Mayor Stone replied with biting cool.
     
    Jay's eyes widened a little bit, his gaze snapping to the mayor's face. “What?”
     
    “There are two alphas in Crystal Ridge. You are one leader,” breathed Mayor Stone. Finally, their gazes met. Jay swallowed as the mayor's expression of solid determination dropped into his stomach. “It only makes sense that I should stay.”
     
    This was wrong. The town relied on the mayor. She couldn't run willy-nilly into a bloodbath. He opened his mouth to vocalize his protest, even as he knew it was far too late. “Mayor Stone–”
     
    “I have a job, Mr. Ward.” The words slammed into Jay's head as Mayor Stone crossed her arms. Her lips twisted into a frown and she glared off into the distance. “I failed Goldbridge once already.”
     
    “ Three, two, one… ” A siren whooped through the air, a last call for people to take their positions. The sun's last rays dissipated as the celestial body sunk under the horizon, like a child hiding from monsters under a blanket. The bluish tint of twilight consumed their part of the world. Jay turned to stare out over the forest. The mayor had made her choice and he couldn't convince her otherwise. It was too late, anyway.
     
    A gale whipped up around Thorn Hill, shifting Jay's hair. Everything fell deathly silent. He strained to hear something, anything – a twig snapping, the shifting of underbrush, the ghost of a whisper. Nothing graced his sense of sound.
     
    He narrowed his gaze against the stretched shadows of the forest. Together, they waited. Five minutes, ten, an hour. Jay wasn't sure. Time seemed