Page 35 of Depraved
“Luna, take my coat.” Something heavy is thrown over my shoulders, and I turn to see Engine standing on my other side, her fire-red hair wild and down. She wears a pale yellow pantsuit and a strangely smug expression.
My mother pulls Engine’s leather bomber jacket from my shoulders. “She said she was fine. But thank you.”
“You sure?” Engine grabs the coat from my mother and offers it to me.
I feel like I’m the flag in the middle of a child’s game of tug-of-war. Both alpha women are trying to yank me over to their side and prove their strength.
“And I thought alpha male pissing contests were bad,” I can’t stop myself from saying it. I used up all the resistance I had on Arm-Breaker.
Eyebrows rise all around me, and any goodwill I might have had from these women evaporates. Competition is who they are, how they define themselves constantly, and I just insulted it.
I toss yet another thankful thought up to the moon goddess that I didn’t join their ranks. That’s a fucking exhausting existence.
Since Black abandoned me here on the gazebo after the short human-approved funeral ceremony to go talk with a few of his elites before the shifter part of the ceremony begins, I can’t turn to him for assistance. I get to deal with this awkwardness all by myself. Happy happy joy joy. I can’t believe I’m thinking this, but I can’t wait for our flight, which leaves right after the funeral.
“Thank you both, but I’m just fine.” I toss on a saccharine smile and try to imitate one of the nicer airheads from my college classes, a girl who was sincerely nice about everything but about as deep as a drop of water on a round rock.
Engine smiles back at me. My mother’s eyes narrow because she knows me too well to believe my crap. But she uses the moment to step up beside me and square off against Engine.
“I’m sure Alpha Maddox will give my daughter anything she needs. She doesn’t need your help.” Mom puts her hand possessively on my shoulder so that she can steer me away from Engine and into the crowd.
I’m about to pull away from Mom’s strange bout of possessiveness when Engine calls out, “Yes, well, at least your daughter found a mate strong enough to keep her.”
I glance at Mom and watch her struggle to control her features. Her teeth elongate slightly as she weaves us through clumps of alpha women, who all seem to be taller and bulkier than the two of us. But she doesn’t say anything.
Did that Engine woman just take a swipe at Mom for Dad’s death? Immediately, the redhead goes to second place on my shit list, right after Thomas Stone.
Several alphas look at me with open contempt as we walk down the steps. One woman with cropped hair asks, “Is she the one who was seeing a beta before her wolf came in?”
“An omega and beta, can you imagine?” her friend whispers back—either unaware I can hear her or certain I can’t do a damn thing about it if I can.
“They’d be torn apart in under a second,” the first shakes her head.
“She’s lucky Black found her; she should be kissing his boots.”
“Actually, I hear she’s a mouthy one.”
“I’m sure he’ll put her in her place.” Their laughter is dark and cruel.
The arrogance … it’s like I’m surrounded by fifty Blacks, only they’re even worse because male overconfidence is terrible but female disdain is downright vengeful. It’s far more dangerous.
I bite my tongue as we move past the alphas and a group of wolves running a perimeter patrol. Mom heads over to the tables that have been set up with refreshments and grabs an iced tea.
I grab a plastic cup of water, just for the excuse of holding something in my hand.
Someone else walks up, a young beta male based on scent, and bows his head respectfully towards me, looking awkward in his ill-fitting suit. “Luna.” He quickly grabs a sandwich triangle and disappears before I can respond.
“So … you’re marrying Black soon.” Mom has to say the one thing that’s certain to make me freeze like a deer in headlights, only unlike the deer, I’m not just dazed. I wish a truck would smash right into me and end this conversation. I gulp down the entire glass of water.
“What’s up with you and Engine?” I try to change the subject as I toss the cup into a nearby trash can, but my attempt is a failure because just then, a human woman walks up with a wide, fake smile. Her lips are painted the most perfect crimson, a shade that exactly matches the shirt she’s wearing underneath her black skirt suit. She’s one of the few in the crowd not in pale yellow.
“Elena!” She opens her arms wide and dives in for a hug like we’re friends, not near-strangers at a funeral. Her massive cloud of hair engulfs me in the scent of hairspray that has an undertone of baby powder. It smells even worse than I do and makes my skin crawl. Am I supposed to know her?
“I’m so sorry for your loss—” she says perfunctorily before adding, “But I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am about planning this wedding. You and Alpha Maddox–it’s like a shifter fairytale come to life!“ She leans back, and I can see her wrinkles stretch.
God. She’s the wedding planner Jonah mentioned.
I want to vomit. Actually, I get the obscene urge to vomit and then scoop my own vomit up and throw it in her face before I run screaming from this field. The very idea of marriage makes me feel like iron bars are falling down from the sky, piercing the ground around me and creating a ten-story prison.
