Page 58 of Brutal Alpha Beast
For that, I owe him nothing.
I extend my hand one more time and try, but all I get are more mini spurts. I give up.
My stomach is howling, and I realize that I haven’t eaten anything today when I get a whiff of the communal breakfast coming from the dining hall.
There’s less of that in the coven. The wolves love eating together; it’s a pack thing, and if I wasn’t so scarred by them all, I see how it could maybe be nice.
I decide that I’ll pop in. I tell myself it’s because I don’t want to waste time heading over to the coven and sorting out food when, in reality, it’s because a nagging part of me wants to see him.
I’m just curious about what he’s up to. Is he feeling as blocked as I am?
Yes, because his memories have been wiped, but probably not, because I know how good Alphas are at compartmentalizing their feelings.
Must be nice.
As I head into the dining hall, I’m greeted by the scent of bacon, eggs, waffles, sweet, salt, and grease. My stomach turns.
As I head for the buffet stations, I look around. Lots of pack members are here, eating, laughing, and talking. There’s a general buzz of uplifting chatter, but still no Ellis.
I check around for him again as I grab a plate and wait in line to serve myself breakfast.
“Hey,” an elderly she-wolf says, who’s standing next to me in line. I believe her name is Doris. It’s always strange pretending like I’m meeting people I know for the first time.
“Hi,” I respond nervously. “I’m Danielle.”
She smiles. “Doris.”
I nod.
“Breakfast looks good, doesn’t it?”
“Yes,” she says. “Don’t miss out on the waffles. On a day like today, they’re the best.”
Again, this is something I know that I have to convincingly pretend I don’t.
“Oh, nice,” I say. “Thanks.”
Given that Doris is making conversation, I seize my chance to ask her a question that’ll save me a lot of time.
“Hey, do you know where Ellis has gone off to at this hour? He forgot to let me know.”
Doris looks unconvinced by my ‘he forgot to let me know.’
“He’s with the witches,” she pauses. “Well, with your coven. I think they’re in the forest.”
“Ah,” I murmur casually. “I see, thanks.”
It’s our time to load up on food, and I eye the heavenly golden waffles. I’d willfully forgotten about these waffles over the years—I’d associated them with my trauma.
But now I realize that I missed them. A lot.
“Oh, Danielle,” Doris says. “One more thing.”
“Yep?”
I’m digging around with the serving spoon for crispy bacon.
“I administer things around the library here.”
