Page 131 of Monsters in Love

THE DEN

ATLAS ROSE

They came for me in the middle of the day when I was sick in bed. Five savage Demons invaded Crown city, ripping our homes apart, until they found what they were looking for…

Me.

I kicked and screamed, fighting the fever and them. But I was no match for their strength and their sheer numbers.

These weren’t just beasts…they were monsters.

Glowing red eyes. Midnight black fur. Bigger than any man I’d ever seen.

They put me in chains and threw me over their backs before taking me from my home.

And bought me to a place of darkness. A place where they call…home.

But thisdenis not a home.It’s a prison.Myprison.

There is no Alpha to bargain with, no weakness I can find.

They told me I was theirs now.

Only I didn’t know what that meant.

Now I do.

“You look like hell,” Lia muttered, leaning in a little too close. “Christ, don’t tell me you have some fatal fucking disease. I swear, A. You infect me with a zombie illness, I’m gonna come back and haunt the fuck out of you.”

I winced at the sound of her voice and waved her away. “It’s just a bug,” I slurred.

“You said that yesterday.” She straightened and took a step backwards. “And the day before that…and, come to think of it, the day before that. But fuck, you didn’t look this bad.”

I swallowed, nodded, and felt a sledgehammer go to town inside my head. “I’m fine.” A trickle of sweat ran down my back as I whispered. “It’s just so fucking hot.” I yanked the collar of my shirt and looked at my best friend until she blurred. “Aren’t you hot?”

“It’s the middle of winter,” she answered, wrapping her thick, knitted cardigan tighter around her. “And Corden’s a cheap fucking bastard, so he won’t turn up the heat.”

“I heard that!”our manager called from his office in the back room.

“I wish you would!” Lia snapped, jerking her gaze upwards. “We’re freezing our tits off here!”

I winced, and I didn’t know if it was from her crassness or her deafening tone. I wrapped my arms around my stomach. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

“You need to go to the doctor,” Lia snapped.

The thud of Corden’s footsteps was deafening as he came closer. “Lia.” He glared at her. “I’m warning you, one more comment and I’ll write you up.”

“Write this up,” she said, flipping him the bird, then stabbed a finger my way. “Andsheneeds to go home.”

He shook his head. “No, she’s fine. We need that schedule by midday or it’s my ass on the line.”

“Then it’syourass, isn’t it?” she snapped, turning away.

Corden leaned in, peering at me, and grimaced. “Did you eat something bad?”

I swallowed, my throat clenching at the thought. “No. I…I can’t eat anything.”

“Not a thing?”

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