Page 113 of Brutal Alpha Beast
“Not even a mocktail one?”
“Ugh, no—sugar.”
Monroe is officially back on her feet and has moved back into the coven after spending around a month with me and Ellis. Unfortunately, her magic still hasn’t come through.
At the moment, she has it in her head that if she stays healthy, maybe it will. She also says she’s trying to ward off ‘evil energy’ by keeping her body pure.
To me, it makes no sense, but I’m just happy she’s feeling better than she was before.
“I’m craving sugar,” I say, as we reach Lacey and the others. “Like every second.”
“Hey, baby,” Ellis murmurs, kissing me on the cheek.
“Hey.”
Ellis looks at Monroe. “What, Monroe, no reaction?”
She laughs. “Hey, I’ve lived with you both for a month now, I’ve seen it all.”
“Guys,” Lacey says, a cup of the pink drink in hand. “I want you to meet Tara.”
Sitting next to Lacey is a striking woman with long black hair, pale skin, and hazel eyes. She smiles at me, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say she’s...
“She’s human,” Lacey adds. “She’s going to be staying with us for a while.”
“Oh, my goodness!” I exclaim. “Hey, human, nice to meet you, I’m Danielle.”
“Hi, Danielle,” she smiles softly.
Monroe chimes in. “I’m Monroe. Nice to meet you. What brings you to the pack of wolves?”
She laughs. “Nice to meet you. I’m a friend of Lacey’s; we’ve known each other for a little while, and she was kind enough to let me come here.”
I look at Lacey, puzzled.
“We made friends when I moved to the coven,” she explains. “Given that she was human, I didn’t want to say anything in case it got me into trouble. But now things are doing a little better in the valley, well, it seemed like the perfect time to have Tara come stay.”
I don’t ask why Tara would want to come stay, or why she would need to—although I am curious—it doesn’t feel like good party talk.
“Well,” I smile. “A friend of Lacey’s is a friend of ours.”
“Just FYI,” Monroe adds. “The coven is much cooler than this.”
Sawyer scoffs. “But we throw better parties.”
“To be fair,” Ellis butts in. “We wouldn’t know that, as we’ve never been invited to one.”
“Yes, well, female-only, I’m afraid,” Lacey says. “Unless that’s changed?”
“Female-only,” Penelope sings, walking by us with a pink cocktail in hand.
There’s a pause before we all laugh. Somehow, Penelope always manages to sneak in at the right place and time.
“I’m having what she’s having,” I say, before slinking off toward the table of sugary goodness. “You’ll get used to things here, Tara. I promise we can be normal.”
Once I’m by the table, I feel Ellis creeping up behind me. His arms are around my waist, and I sink into him.
“I’ve missed you,” he murmurs into my ear.
