Page 18 of Cruel Alpha Beast
On the other hand, though, his apology could be sincere, and maybe I’m just too damaged to accept it. Maybe this is my head and my heart colluding, telling me that I can’t just let him in again. That if I fall for his charms, it will only allow him to hurt me so deeply, so irrevocably, all over again.
My heart aches in my chest as we approach the entrance to the coven’s village. I consider warning Sawyer that he may not receive a warm welcome, but he’s a tough, powerful alpha. He can handle it.
I lead him through the thinning trees, and finally, the bones of a small village appear in the distance. Women of all ages wander around, taking care of themselves, but it’s a young woman with strawberry blonde hair who comes up to greet us.
“Lacey?” she says, colder than I was expecting.
“Violet, hi—”
“You brought amanto our sacred coven?” Violet cuts me off venomously, sniffing the air for who knows what. “What are you thinking?”
“Violet, it’s fine. I can vouch for him,” I splutter. “It’s me.”
“I thought you were a lot smarter than this,” Violet says. “He’s aman. And even worse, awolf. We have rules, Lacey. I know you didn’t grow up here like some of us did, but you should know better.”
At my side, I can feel Sawyer tensing up. I reach back and grab his arm, hoping he’ll sense that I can handle this myself. Besides, if he’s smart, then he’ll know that him making a scene is only going to make things worse here.
“Violet, we need to find the twins,” I say calmly. “Sawyer isn’t moving in. We just need to talk to Danielle and Monroe,maybeeven to Penelope, and then we’ll be out of your hair.”
“I still don’t think we should let you in,” Violet sneers, folding her arms across her chest. “You’ve clearly lost all sense of judgment.”
“Lacey!”
I glance away from Violet’s piercing eyes and see Monroe rushing over toward us, her honey-colored hair flowing behind her. When she gets close enough, she throws her arms around me and gives me a warm hug.
“I didn’t expect to see you so soon,” Monroe says. Then, as if just noticing Sawyer, she pulls back and stares at him. “You’ve brought a guest.”
“Awolf,” Violet hisses.
Monroe gulps, then grabs onto my hand protectively. “Penelope always says we should treat our guests with respect, Violet. And if this man has Lacey’s stamp of approval, then that’s good enough for me.”
I’m not sure if I would give Sawyer my “stamp of approval,” but if Monroe’s statement helps me get the answers I need, then so be it. I’ll go along with anything. I stare into Violet’s narrowing eyes and nod my head.
Violet finally wheels around and stomps off.
“It’s so good to see you, Monroe,” I say to my friend.
But her smile has faded some, now that Violet is out of earshot. “Lacey, I love you, but this might not have been the best idea. You know how we feel about shifters here.”
A heavy breath falls from my lips. “You know as well as I do that even though I don’t shift, I’m still a wolf at my core. I’ve lived here for five years and have given no one a reason to doubt my intentions. Please, don’t start now. Especially not you.”
Monroe chews on her bottom lip, her eyes casting downward.
“This man, Sawyer,” I continue, gesturing toward him. “He’s my husband.”
Her mouth suddenly falls open. “What?”
“He—” I cut myself off from telling her the cold, hard truth. That I was coerced into becoming his wife. It won’t help our case any. “Wegot married last night.”
Monroe looks back and forth, from Sawyer to me, several times. “O-okay. I guess that’s… That’s good enough. Come on in, guys.”
As we walk further into the village, it feels like things are back to how they were before I ran away from the valley. People stare judgmentally, whispering to their neighbors. I should have thought about bringing Sawyer here a little more, I guess.
“So, I’m the only man here?” Sawyer murmurs into my ear as we follow Monroe. “How does that work?”
“A lot of women come here on their own,” I tell him. “Sometimes it’s after they become a widow, sometimes it’s after a divorce. Some women here were orphans whom our leader, Penelope, adopted and raised. Sometimes, our witches will go out and find lovers, but most come back here alone. Or with their daughters.”
Sawyer nods and then quiets himself down. The rest of our walk is silent as Monroe leads us to the house where she and her sister took me in. She opens the door for us, and I’m brought back to the cozy living room I’ve spent countless hours in. I see some of Shea’s toys still put away in the corner, which fills my heart with sadness.
