Page 8 of Brutal Alpha Beast
***
I met up with Penelope several times after that initial meeting, and as expected, she made me work for it.
She wasn’t going to give in easily, and all I could do was respect her for that.
But finally, after our last meeting, she agreed. “Come back again tomorrow,” she said, “I’ll have my coven around this time, too, and we’ll go over the details of how this is going to work.”
As I enter the coven’s meeting spot, I notice that the flowers on the creepy-ass altar are pink instead of red. Thereare witches hanging around, talking, eating, and drinking. They look at me with the same distrustful glances, although they seem somewhat more open.
Penelope greets me, “I want them to get used to you here,” she explains.
“Perfect,” I tell her, unsure what to do with my hands or where to look.
“Give me just a moment,” she says. “Then we’ll go over everything we need to.”
I nod.
As I look around at all the witches, I consider going to talk to some of them, when suddenly I feel a force that draws my gaze to the far left.
That woman. Thatwitch. The one I’d met before when helping them save the valley, the one who lived with Lacey at the coven-Danielle.
She’s chatting idly with some of her fellow coven mates, her curly hair bouncing gently past her shoulders, and her curves protruding subtly beneath her tight green dress.
She’s beautiful, and although it’s hard for me to admit, I’ve seen her using her magic firsthand. She’s powerful. Strong.
The combination of beauty and strength would be intriguing to anyone, but there’s something more—an actual pull. I feel my heart beating, as though the rest of the world is fading out.
Why do I want to talk to her?
Just as I’m about to go over, she slinks off through the trees, bidding her friends goodbye.
I let out a breath, realizing my whole body has turned ridiculously tense. Is that sweat I feel dripping down my forehead?
With her gone, I shake it off. It must have just been the energy of all these witches floating around, I tell myself.
But that, along with this new alliance, is something I’m going to have to get used to.
I’m going to have to be around these creatures a lot.
Chapter 3 - Danielle
Penelope is being very cryptic as of late. She’s been busy, which is what you’d typically expect of a coven leader responsible for looking after a village full of witches.
It’s not the busyness that has changed but the fact that she’s been acting more mysterious than usual about what she’s been up to.
She’s been taking multiple private meetings and ‘brainstorming’ sessions during which she needs to be alone, away from the coven, to really ‘think’.
“Willow isn’t possessing you, is she?” I asked her one day.
“No, do you feel like she’s been possessing you?”
“No.”
“Good.”
And then she was off again with that same pensive look on her face.
Then there have been the sporadic questions, coming at random times during the day, about how we feel about shifter werewolves. She doesn’t ask me those, because, well, she knows my past—but she asks the others.
