The Alphas And Their Human Girl

PROLOGUE

5 years earlier.

Lola: 16 years old.

The ground was painted red. The blood ran in a stream down the cracks and into the river. Little red clouds formed under the water, and she stared with tear-filled eyes at the bodies from which the blood was escaping. Her hands held the lives she had just taken, and her mind held the sounds of their screams. Their eyes were still wide open as they stared at their faith, she who had ended them all, she who nobody could escape.

With shaky hands, she pulled their bodies to the river and placed them down. The last one was particularly difficult to let go of, her hands refusing to open as she held him under the water. The life had drained from his eyes, his heart had stopped beating, and his body hadn't moved for minutes. Yet, she couldn't part from him.

Closing her eyes and filling her lungs with air, her fingers slowly spread. She watched as her father went with the stream.

*Chapter 1.

"Lola!"

Lola turned her heavy head to look at Melissa, finally seeing another face apart from all those that haunted her in the university hallways. She put away her books and swung her bag over her shoulder. Lola walked to the dining hall, where all the students had already been seated. The smell of food and judgmental gazes filled the air like they did every day.

"She's so weird, look at her- she barely talks." The whispers and comments were as normal as the breaths she took. It didn't bother her, she barely noticed them anymore.

"Come on." Melissa pulled her arm.

They went to sit at the table in the corner, which had become their little spot away from the masses ever since they started at Lilac University.

"Don't mind them," Melissa said and scowled at everyone around them who was staring. She removed her reading glasses and put them in the pink bejeweled case she had in her bag.

"You know I never do," Lola said and looked down into her pasta.

"Are you okay? You look a little pale."

Lola shook her head and smiled-a smile she had perfected but that would occasionally betray her.

"I'm fine, just a little tired. I haven't slept well lately," Lola said.

Melissa pulled her bag and started running her hands on the bottom of it. Eventually, she grabbed a rustling bottle and pulled it out with a proud smile.

"Here, try these. They help me when I can't sleep or I'm too stressed out."

Lola grabbed the bottle and looked at the label. Sleeping pills, perhaps she should try them.

"Thank you."

"But just take one. Seeing as you're not used to them, there's probably no need to take more than that."Melissa winced and wrapped the clip around her thick brown curls. They sat quietly and ate but out of nowhere, it was like Melissa had a fit and arched her back as she leaned in to whisper.

"By the way, did you hear about the new guy?"

Lola looked up with a shake of her head.

"They won't say his name but according to the whisper vine- he comes from one of those families that they write about in history books."

"I can only imagine the attack on the pore bastard tomorrow," Lola grinned as she placed the bottle in her bag and closed it up. The idea of a full night's sleep seemed like fiction by now. Those sleepless nights and shadows that lurked in the corners of her home had all become so familiar that she wondered how it would be if it stopped. The feeling of being watched every time she was awake- that particular feeling had gotten stronger over the last few months.

* * *

She walked with her head held down to her locker after class and quickly grabbed her things. Melissa came running up beside her, and they walked together to the coffee shop where Lola worked.

"Are you closing again tonight?" Melissa asked.

Lola nodded with a sigh.

"You know you don't have to work every night, right? If you need money, I'll give it to you," Melissa said and opened the door for them.

"You know I don't want you to give me money," Lola said and grabbed her apron from the locker room. She went behind the counter and started making a latte for Melissa who jumped up on the high chair.

"I'm just saying that I can-"

Lola gave her friend a stern gaze and raised her eyebrows, "I like working here- it's calm and fun, and it pays the bills. Bills that need to be paid or else I'm homeless," Lola said and put the cup on the counter.

"You'd never be homeless," Melissa said and hunched her brows.

Lola knew that Melissa would help her. Her family owned estates in LA, New York, and some in the English countryside as well. Her father owned a tech company, and her mother worked in fashion- having created her own brand fifteen years ago. When her parents moved to the small town of Wild Cliff to wind down, they offered to buy Melissa her own apartment. Regardless of this, Lola didn't want any charity, and she knew that she needed to be able to take care of herself.

The job helped keep her mind off things, things she didn't want to remember but that kept showing up wherever she looked. She couldn't escape it, but she could try to live with it. She had to.

The bell rang over the door, and three men stepped inside. Everyone turned their heads, the air shifted noticeably and they gawked at the three strangers who causally strode in. In a small town like Wild Cliff, new people stood out like snow in July- especially when they looked like that, rugged and big with a confidence that sat around them like an aura.

Two of them were dressed in jeans and white button-downs. One of them had a black T-shirt with a gold necklace. Lola was wiping the counter and putting away some cups in the sink, so she didn't get a good look at the customers.

"Hi, what can I get you?" she asked and took a shaky breath when she turned to face them.

The men stared at Lola. Their gazes seemingly scanned her, searching her eyes and looking around the coffee shop for something.

"Three black coffees, please."

She turned around and held her breath. Looking over her shoulder, she could see the men looking focused and tense. Three black coffees was a great order, in Lola's opinion. It meant they could take their cups and go sit down, and she could take a proper breath.