Page 55 of Moonlit Alexandrite

“We were supposed to all be together, but fucking Tase hated me. He laughed at my lure. Then with her, he couldn’t commit fast enough. You never stood a chance against a full-blooded succubus, don’t you understand? With her gone, we can all be together. Why does she get to have what I worked so hard for? Why does she get to have all of you? No! I fixed it, and now I’ll keep you.”

She was insane. Ren had filled me in on what Tase found at her house on the drive to Crafty Seductions, but the reality of the situation seemed so much clearer in this moment. We needed to hand her over to the authorities so she could get the help she clearly needed.

“I think I’d better call Stone,” I muttered, retrieving my cell from my pocket and powering it on. I had a notification of a missed call from Mikey — why had Mikey called me? — and I thumbed quickly through my contacts.

“You’re angry, I get that. I’ll let you cool off a bit, and we can talk later.”

She had the audacity to flip her hair in my face as she sauntered past me, lopsided, thanks to her missing shoe.

Stone answered his cell with an official sounding grunt, as Tammilyn slid into a BMW that looked completely impractical for the uneven streets of Moonlit Falls. I spoke quickly and made a spur-of-the-moment decision to step in front of the vehicle and keep her from leaving as Stone confirmed he was on his way.

“You’re not going anywhere, Tammilyn. You have terrorized my mate, fucked with my family, and now you’re going to answer for it.”

She narrowed her eyes in challenge and pressed the starter button.

The headlights flared to life, blinding me as a scream tore through the night air. In confusion, I stepped out of the white beams and witnessed an arc of pink glitter streaming out of the open driver’s side door.

I started laughing.

When Stone arrived a couple of minutes later, it was to find me howling uncontrollably while Tammilyn sat, frozen in shock, looking like a giant sparkling troll dildo I saw once in this weird shop called The Magical Rooster.

Fuck, I loved Tase in that moment.

Epilogue

Lex

A warm hand on my cheek woke me from the weirdest dream. Dancing pink trolls threw flaming balls around me in circles while I filled an order of cock warmers for last winter.

I tried to roll over, drowsiness settling in my bones and urging me to find more rest. The pressure on my cheek stopped my movement, forcing me to return to the world. I opened my eyes and flinched at the view of Newt’s face inches from mine.

“Hi,” he said with a grin, sitting back on his heels to give me space.

I was lying on the floor.

Why was I lying on the floor?

With a deep groan, I sat up and surveyed the blackened bones of my shop.

“Well, shit,” I said without thinking.

“We’re not supposed to say swears, but I won’t tell,” Newt said with a beautiful, shy kind of grin.

“Thank you, baby,” I said, brushing a palm down his cheek in gratitude.

Wait...

“Newt, how are you in here right now? Look at this place, I should be ashes by now.”

“I fixed it,” Newt said simply. “No one hurts herd, not even my mother.”

He tried to hide the pain the statement caused him, but it was there in his face, in his voice. Without thinking, I pulled him into the biggest cuddle I could manage.

“You know, my birth parents didn’t want me. The people who raised me didn’t really know what to do with me either. Would you like to know what I learned from all that?”

Newt watched me with round eyes as he nodded enthusiastically.

“Family is who you choose. Your uncles, Tase and Dion, chose you, and so did I. Our herd is strong because we want to be together, no matter who tries to tear us apart. I’m sorry she isn’t who you need her to be, but if you’ll let me, I’d love to give it a shot.”

---