Page 4 of Brutal Alpha Beast (Roseville Alphas #2)

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.

“Do you think you could ever trust one with your life if they hadn’t yet proven they’d save you from death?”

I asked Lacey if anything was going on with our coven’s alliance with Sawyer, to which she replied that she couldn't think of anything. Given that Sawyer is her husband, surely, she’d know.

When a couple of the girls told me that a few weeks back, they saw that shifter with copper hair and burgundy eyes standing at the entrance of our village, talking to Penelope, my stomach dropped.

Oh, that shifter.

Ten years ago, which honestly feels like a lifetime ago now, I remember running away from him—yes, the whole pack, but mainly him, for he was the one keeping me there in the first place.

With my bags packed, accompanied by Monroe, we set our sights on human territory.

We would have found refuge with the humans had we not bumped into a small coven. The coven I’ve been living in for the past ten years.

They welcomed us with open arms, and while it was still a little close to our old home, I couldn’t bring myself to leave. They felt right, like family. I finally felt like I could be part of a community that would accept Monroe and me for who we were.

We haven’t looked back since.

“Danielle,” Monroe calls from the other room.

“Yes,” I respond absentmindedly. I’m focused on finding a spell that can be used to safeguard the nature in our valley.

We have plenty of healing spells in our arsenal, which we use all the time, but one morning during meditation, the thought occurred to me: why can't we use something that’s preventive instead? A shield of some kind?

I’m buried in a large magic book, flicking rapidly through the pages while sitting at our kitchen table. I like being busy.

I like working with Sawyer’s pack to find ways to protect our valley from the threat of the curse. While I’m busy, I don’t think about the past; I don’t think about things like why Penelope is acting so strange.

Monroe calls me again, and this time, I’m too engrossed in deciphering the meaning of an ancient spell to respond.

“Danielle,” she says. “What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to focus,” I say.

“Well, Penelope wants us to go to the meeting spot, like, now.”

I pause, a shaky feeling settling in my chest. If Penelope wants us to go to the meeting spot, then that means there’s someone she wants us to observe.

“Are you sure that includes us?” I ask her.

“Yep,” she nods. “She said she wants everyone there.”

As soon as Monroe and I approach the clearing, I feel his presence seeping into my bones.

When I decided to leave the pack and come to the coven, Penelope was kind enough to cast a memory spell that made Ellis and the rest of the pack forget that we ever existed, and made me forget about them.

Spells like this are a big deal. Not only do they take a lot of effort to perform, but they’re serious—they’re only to be used if absolutely necessary.

When she asked me why, I told her the truth, or part of it at least. I told her that the pack never accepted me, that they bullied me, and I could never tell them who Monroe and I truly were, in fear that we would be persecuted or attacked.

I told her that if I’m going to have to live close to them, I want them to forget about me, and I forget about them, too.

When she pressed me on this, I told her it could be dangerous for us and for the coven as a whole. I told her it’s the only way I can move on.

I missed out the part about Ellis. It felt too shameful, too fresh.

While the memory spell worked on me for a little while, eventually all the memories came pouring back. Albeit slightly less intense, but still there.

I’ve always wondered whether the reason it didn’t work had something to do with the intense feelings I had for Ellis. This was a thought I didn’t share with anyone else.

When I told her I was remembering things, Penelope said that sometimes spells can have loopholes that are hard to figure out. So that was that—at least we were able to confirm that the spell was still working on their side.

And while Ellis is always going to hold a complicated place in my heart, I truly thought that I’d never have to see him again.

Witches and wolves hate each other; we’re never going to have to be in the same place at the same time, right?

But with Lacey and Sawyer, all that changed.

When I saw him again while helping defeat Willow’s curse, it was just easier to be snappy, to focus on hate, but now... Penelope wants to ally with him?

We’re at the meeting spot surrounded by an array of chatting witches, I try my best to focus on all the details that aren’t him. The blue sky, the stone altar, my friends, smells, sounds, noises—but it's like there’s something wrong with my brain.

“Danielle, what’s wrong?” Monroe asks.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see him. I feel his presence—his copper hair is like a fire that burns my chest.

“Oh,” she says gravely. “That’s that Ellis guy. Danielle...”

I’ve never gotten into much detail, but as my twin, Monroe sort of knows.

“I’ll be fine,” I whisper. “It’s no big deal.”

But Monroe also knows when I’m lying, and she places her hand on my back as she watches me with deeply concerned eyes.

“It’s fine,” she says. “I’ll report back if anything happens, but seriously, you should go.”

A few friends come by to chat with us, and everyone’s bubbling with expectation about what this all means. I’m pretty confident, I know.

Penelope must want to work with him on something, team up somehow, probably for the protection of the valley. My best guess is that she requested we all come here to feel out his energy, to delve into the realm of intuition and spirituality, to figure out whether his intentions are pure.

But I’m not touching that realm with a ten-foot pole, not when it's directed at him.

I stay quiet, listening to everyone talk for a little while, before I find the perfect moment to slink off.

It still feels crazy that even after all this time, even with such a happy life filled with good friends, magic, acceptance, and purpose, a wound that struck me ten years ago can still feel as though it had just been cut.

***

Spending an afternoon with Lacey and her perfect daughter, Shea, feels good. I miss them living with us, but it’s also nice to escape into another reality when I need to.

It’s refreshing to be in a different environment, especially when there’s the Alpha who stamped on my heart and tore it to pieces hanging around my coven.

“Did you figure out what’s been going on with Penelope?” Lacey asks me as Shea is preoccupied on the floor playing with dolls.

I sigh. “Who knows what that crazy witch is up to.”

Lacey laughs, “I’m glad you came to see me today. You’re so close, yet so far!”

“Aww, I know,” I say. “And I’ve been busy too, I’m trying to figure out what we can do to prevent another tragic situation, instead of just reacting to one, you know?”

“Shea, baby,” she says, as she lies across the couch—Lacey looks the most relaxed I’ve ever seen her. “Auntie Danielle works too hard, don’t you think?”

I roll my eyes and smile. “Oh, hush.”

“What do you think, Shea?”

Shea turns, a broad smile plastered across her face, which is sweet enough to melt anyone's heart, almost sweet enough to make me forget about this morning’s events.

“Yeah, you should play with dolls instead!”

Lacey shrugs, her lips upturned into a cool, effortless smile. “Shea has spoken.”

I raise an eyebrow before rushing over to Shea and scooping her up into my arms. She giggles as I nudge my head toward her face. “Is that so, huh? Maybe I should be playing with dolls all day.”

“Let’s play now!”

I gently drop her, and just as I’m about to take one of the dolls, my phone buzzes. I already know it’s Monroe.

“Hey, what’s up?”

My chest is tightening again. I feel tense, too tense, like my body knows something that my mind hasn’t been made aware of yet.

“You gotta come back,” she tells me, her tone primarily neutral but laced with a hint of urgency. “Penelope has called an official coven meeting.”

***

As we gather around a large bonfire that’s been lit in the center of our village, I stare up at the clear, twinkling night sky to calm myself down.

Holding a coven meeting outside in the open air is a big deal.

It means that there’s something important to be announced, and Penelope wants us close to the healing powers of nature so that we can approach whatever she’s going to say with a clear, open mind.

Everyone is talking around me, expectantly discussing with hushed tones about what they think is going on.

As Penelope rises, the fire reflecting its shadows off her cool face, we fall silent. Monroe squeezes my hand.

“My sisters, thank you for gathering. As I’m sure you will all expect, I have a very important announcement to make.”

Penelope looks around the fire.

“The protection of our coven, of course, will always be my number one concern. I know we’ve all been working hard to ensure the protection of our land, but as we’ve recently discovered, it doesn’t hurt to have help.

That’s why I would like to announce to you all our official alliance with Alpha Ellis’ pack. ”

I hold my breath and grip even tighter onto Monroe. Even though I sort of expected this, I still feel as though the ground is falling out from under me.

Sure, my old pack doesn't remember me or Monroe due to the spell, but I ran away all those years ago to get away, to never see them again. Now we’re allied. What will this mean?

“We’ve decided that in order to make this alliance smoother, we will need to facilitate an arranged marriage between one of ours and one of theirs.”

The silence of the night is replaced by a couple of gasps of shock. No one would dare speak while Penelope is talking, but a werewolf-witch marriage is a big deal—it’s hard for everyone to contain their responses.

“And we’ve decided that Danielle will be the perfect choice. Danielle, since you’ve lived under that pack before, I believe that you’ll be able to relate to them the most. You’ll understand the rules, the expectations—the union will be smoother.”

I freeze as a bunch of my coven sisters look at me now. I can tell they’re relieved they haven’t been chosen.

I can barely register what’s going on. My heart is beating ferociously, my ears are ringing, and my face is piping hot.

“We won’t force you,” Penelope announces. “Danielle, the choice is still yours.”

Dread pulses through my blood and my veins, and I’m speechless. The thing is, my coven, Penelope included, doesn't know the extent of what my life was like there. They don’t know that I was a loner, or that Ellis broke my heart.

When I came to them, and when Penelope crafted that memory spell, all they knew was that I was upset and wanted to move on, as is any witch who shows up at the coven’s door.

They don’t know how I’m probably an awful choice for this marriage, but how can I refuse them when they’ve given me so much? I’ve always wanted to find a way to repay Penelope, and now is my chance.

I just wish it didn’t have to be this way.

“I’ll give you some time to think,” Penelope says. “For now, sisters, let’s enjoy the outdoors.”

Everyone resumes chatting, and before anyone can talk to me, sensing my shock, Monroe takes me off to the side. I’m hardly in my body as she leads me to a quiet area behind some cabins.

“It’s worse than I thought,” she says. “Oh, Danielle, how can you-”

“I know,” I say, snapping out of my trance and gazing back at her familiar green eyes. They’re the same color as my own, just a different shape. “But if Penelope thinks it’s best...”

“But she doesn’t know the...”

“Yes, but she saved us. I owe her a lifetime for what she’s done.”

We’re doing that thing where we talk with disjointed sentences and words, and our minds are already intercepting what the other is thinking. It’s like we're communicating telepathically, our deep emotional understanding of one another, stronger than our words.

“Are you sure about this?” She asks. “Penelope did say you could still say no.”

I shake my head. “I want to help the coven, and she’s right, technically, we know more about the pack than anyone else.”

“Do you want me to take your place?” Monroe asks. “Maybe I could suggest-”

“No,” I interrupt. “I was chosen for a reason. You can’t protect yourself without your powers there alone.”

“Okay,” she murmurs. “But I’m worried about you, Danielle.”

“It’s fine,” I tell her. “I’ll be fine.”

I gaze bravely at the fire. So what if I have to marry some wolf who will probably hate me? So what if I’ll have to live under Ellis, the only man I’ve ever loved, the one who’s hurt me the most.

I have to do it for my coven.

I’ll just have to avoid him, I guess.