Racing The Alpha (Dirt Track Dogs #1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

resting on the countertop. Maybe he was right. “My… my daddy said my mother died in that same fire. But I never knew her. I was too young to remember.”
    Drake went still, and she glanced up at him. His brow was furrowed, his eyes searching her so intently she wondered if he’d be able to read her mind.
    “Your mom lived in the mountains?”
    Ella nodded. “Closer to Milton than Cedar Valley. We all did. But then after her death, daddy moved us into town.”
    Drake stood suddenly, planting his hands on the counter and staring at the wall behind her head.
    “Freeman… Freeman…” he muttered. His gaze snapped to her. “Charles. Your father is Charles Freeman.”
    Ella took a step back. “You know my daddy?” He couldn’t. Daddy talked about Drake and the Dirt Track Dogs, but only in the way of a diehard racing fan. He didn’t actually know them.
    Drake shook his head, the foreboding look on his face freezing her to her spot on the floor and making her stomach cramp in warning.
    “No.” His breath rushed out, and he stared at her in that way one does when they think they’ve seen a ghost. “No, but I know someone who does.”

Chapter Five
    Drake was looking into a dark tunnel and a whole lot of ‘oh shit’ was chugging up the tracks. This was unbelievable. And if he’d had an inkling of doubt before about whether or not Ella belonged in their pack, it was long gone. Flying in the fucking wind above Utah by now. Or hell, maybe it was already in another continent.
    Damn. How was he supposed to tell her this? Rip the band-aid off, or lather that fucker with Vaseline first?
    “I think you’d better tell me what you mean by that.” Her voice shook, but her face was stoic.
    Drake sighed. Fast and hard was always his way. No reason to go and change things up now.
    “Your daddy was mated to Blister’s sister. Your mother. That makes Blister your uncle. Weird, I know, but there was a ten year age gap between them.” As if the age discrepancy was the strangest part of this equation. “When everything burned, your cabin was leveled. They found the body of your mother but never yours or Charlie’s. You were both assumed dead. But Blister was the only survivor of your pack so—”
    “Stop!”
    Drake obeyed, taking in her furious expression. Several of the bar patrons turned their gazes in his direction, and an employee with jet black hair and a pierced… well, everything, glared at him.
    “What the hell is this?” Ella hissed. “Are you messing with me so I’ll leave? Is that it?”
    Oh, no. No, that was definitely not it. After what Surge told them last night, Ella wasn’t going anywhere. Not that Drake would’ve parted with her anyway. He’d be stuck on her like a tick on a deer for the rest of forever as far as he was concerned. But all these details just falling into place solidified that decision.
    Ella belonged here, with him. With the club.
    He shook his head, pegging her with his eyes. “No, Ella. I’m telling you the hand-to-heart truth. If you are the daughter of Charles Freeman, then you are also the niece of my friend Blister. It’s a small, small world, baby. Gets smaller everyday.”
    She was shaking, her face turning a shade of red that had him worried for her health. Except…
    Surge had explained her strange, yet familiar scent. Ella was a shade. A shifter who’d been raised as a human and somehow never changed into their animal form as they should have when they grew from a young. They were rare, so Drake had had his doubts.
    But if anyone could recognize the scent it would be Surge, since he was also a shade. Was being the operative word. He’d transitioned into a full blown shifter years ago. But not before it drove him a little crazy. He was lucky though. His random outbursts of laughter were nothing compared to the stories of psychotic shades that were passed down to Drake as a young. Back then, he would’ve bet the stories were made up to scare people. Now, he knew