Page 29 of Brutal Alpha Beast
Once I’m far enough away, I let my tears fall.
Chapter 8 - Ellis
My house is big enough for Danielle and me to move past each other most of the time, and we mainly do, except for when it’s dinner or breakfast.
Given that I’ve been living alone for a while, I’ve grown accustomed to cooking. When my pack mates make meals, they’ll often bring me spare food—but I can cook when they don’t.
Sometimes Danielle cooks—and it’s an unspoken rule that we share what we’ve made with each other.
Tonight, I’ve cooked, and I’m waiting for her to come home.
We don’t usually eat together; the house is big enough not to do that, but given our initial misunderstanding and subsequent progress last night, I want to extend an olive branch.
I don’t know why I felt comfortable opening up to her; it must have been because we were in that spot, but I’ve never shared anything about the girl from my dreams with anyone before.
I’m waiting by the table, the food kept warm on the stove as I watch the clock strike nine-thirty.
A few moments later, she walks through the door.
“Ellis?”
She looks startled, and then uncomfortable.
I clear my throat. While my immediate reaction is distrustful, I suppress whatever negative emotions I may have toward her being a witch and think about Danielle from the night before.
She was understanding, a good listener, and kind. There’s no reason that I should be suspicious of her coming home later than I’d expected—we’re not in a real marriage, and she doesn’t owe me anything at all.
“Hey,” I say, holding her gaze as I try to decipher her reaction. “I cooked some food.”
“Oh,” she responds, looking away. “I ate at the coven tonight. I didn’t think you’d be up.”
“At nine-thirty?”
“Well, I thought you’d be upstairs.”
There’s a strange coldness to her now that wasn’t there before. Did I say something wrong last night?
“Okay,” I say. “We can talk over some strategy stuff for tomorrow, if you want. There are some things I wanted to talk to you about.”
She continues, avoiding my gaze. “I’m actually pretty tired. Some other witches are going to take over tomorrow. You can talk to them.”
Her tone is so icy, I almost ask if something is wrong.
“Okay,” I say. “Sounds good.”
She passes through the room, and I watch as her curls tumble below her neck. She’s dressed in a simple blue dress that hugs the edges of her perfect curves.
I look away, decide to get up, and fill my plate with food.
It’s strange. The kitchen feels quieter and more empty with Danielle in the house and upstairs than it did when I was alone.
***
I tell everyone that I’m taking a more hands-off approach to the running of the pack over the next week in order to ‘observe’ how our new alliance is going.
It’s partly true. While things are going well, I still don’t fully trust the witches, and I know they don’t trust us.
Especially, for some reason, not Danielle.
