Page 9 of Cruel Alpha Beast (Roseville Alphas #1)

The twin I’ve come to know as Danielle swallows hard across from me. She curls the scroll back up, her hands shaking. My own chest is tight after looking at the etching.

“It’s clear to me that there are two sides to this story,” I say in a low voice. “But it appears neither of us knows the full scope of either.”

“Monroe and I will do some more research on our own,” Danielle says. She glances at her sister and pats her on the back.

“You can’t just do some spells or make some potions to figure this out?” I ask. It comes out gruffer than I mean for it to, and Lacey glares at me from the other side of the couch.

Monroe purses her lips and shuffles on her feet uncomfortably. Danielle eyes her carefully before turning to me.

“No, we’re too busy killing virgins and using their blood to make our skin look younger,” she says coldly. “Magic has its place in this investigation, but at this point, research is the most important thing we can do right now.”

I catch Danielle rubbing a circle into her twin’s shoulder blade. I seem to have struck a nerve, but I don’t know what exactly it is.

“I promise I’m not just saying this,” Danielle says, “but it’s really in your best interest to get out of here. Most of the women in the coven aren’t quite as trusting as we are.

“But Lacey,” she turns to my wife, “you know you will always be welcome in this space. Bringing him, though… That was a risky decision on your part.”

“I made her bring me along,” I say quickly, trying to help get the heat off of Lacey as much as I can.

I reach for her hand, taking it in mine.

“Like I told you earlier, she and Shea are my highest priorities. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to Lacey out in the woods. I can’t let her out of my sight.”

Stunned, it takes Lacey a moment before she wrenches her hand free. The warmth of her skin beneath mine cools swiftly, and soon all I have is the memory.

“I understand,” Danielle says in a low voice. “Lacey is our best friend. She’s amazing. And if anything happened to her, I would raise absolute hell.”

I stand up and reach a hand out to her. “Glad we can agree on something.”

Danielle hesitates before shaking my hand. She nods, and when she lets go, I turn to Monroe, who gives me the limpiest handshake I’ve ever received in my life.

The twins exchange glances again, and I wonder just how strong their twin telepathy is, or if they’re just telepathic because they are witches. Either way, they seem to come to a silent consensus and look both Lacey and me in the eye.

“We’ll walk you out,” Danielle says.

And so, we leave the cozy house and find ourselves being gawked at yet again.

I now think I understand what Lacey must have gone through while growing up in the valley.

My stomach twists and turns with guilt, but I keep my mouth shut.

The last thing I need to do is attract more attention in enemy territory.

“We aren’t going to make life harder for you two, are we?” Lacey whispers to Monroe as we walk past a glowering Violet.

“Yours and Shea’s safety is far more important to me than wondering if people are mad at us,” Monroe replies.

“Yeah, but you can’t really defend yourself,” Lacey adds.

“You don’t have powers either, and you lasted eighteen years in the valley,” Monroe points out. “I’ll be fine. And even if I didn’t have Danielle to protect me, Penelope loves me.”

I chew on the inside of my lip. I don’t want to pry, but it seems like this witch might be in the same boat as Lacey. Being a part of a community, but lacking its most defining feature. Lacey can’t shift. And Monroe can’t do magic.

No wonder my question about spells and potions was given such an icy reception.

Finally, we breach the treeline. I half-expect Danielle and Monroe to stop right there, but they walk with us down the path. I find myself traveling by myself, and when I turn over my shoulder, I see the twins flanking Lacey, continuing to whisper to each other so I can’t hear what they’re saying.

I set my jaw, worrying that I’ve ruined Lacey and Shea’s reputation in the coven. Although it seems like the only problem was my presence. Still, I can’t bear to let Lacey out of my sight. The witches will simply have to accept me for all that I am.

As we get closer to the path Lacey and I strode through less than an hour earlier, I see two unexpected shapes up ahead. A few steps closer, I realize that they’re two large wolves. And after another few steps, I know exactly who they are.

I could recognize Ellis’s copper coat and Jasper’s dark blonde fur anywhere. They shift back into their human forms, Ellis standing tall and Jasper holding onto his hips.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, hearing the three sets of footsteps coming to a stop behind me.

“I think the more important question is, what are you doing, walking around the forest with witches ?” Ellis asks poisonously.

“And what’s the problem with that?” Danielle cuts in unexpectedly.

“You didn’t do any mind-control on him, did you?” Ellis steps forward. “Because I’ll rip out your throat with my fangs.”

“Oh, what a surprise. A wolf who can’t solve any problems without violence.” Danielle scoffs. “Go scratch your fleas.”

“Who do you think you’re talking to?” Ellis growls. “I’m an alpha—”

“ Enough ,” I seethe, pressing a hand into Ellis’s chest as he prepares to blow past me. I turn over to Danielle and throw her a look, too. “We’re not going to solve anything if all we do is throw insults and threats toward each other.”

I catch Lacey’s glistening eyes as she hooks her arm around Danielle’s. For a moment, I think I can see that she’s thankful that I’ve stepped in like this. I give her a tight-lipped smile and turn back to Ellis, who’s reluctantly backing away from my hand.

“To answer your initial question,” Jasper pipes up, “we came looking for you after you didn’t show up. We were supposed to have a meeting this morning, remember?”

“Shit,” I sigh. “Right, I’m sorry, guys. I must have forgotten, with everything that happened yesterday.”

“Well, we sort of figured you might have gotten carried away with your new wife,” Jasper says, gesturing to Lacey behind me.

“We were going to knock on your door and see if you were still asleep, but the closer we got to your house, the more your scent disappeared. We were able to trace you over here to the edge of the woods, but we didn’t dare go in. ”

Danielle snickers behind me. “Brave enough to admit you traced his smell, but too cowardly to walk into a forest.”

“ Dani ,” Monroe hisses to her.

“Interesting new friends you have here, Sawyer,” Ellis retorts pointedly.

“They’re not my friends,” I correct. “But they’ve offered to help us find out some information that might save the valley. Is that alright with you?”

A muscle in Ellis’s jaw twitches, but he backs off. “As long as you trust them.”

“Lacey trusts them,” I tell him. “That’s good enough for me.”

I glance over my shoulder and watch Lacey hug each of the twins.

They murmur to each other too quietly for me to hear, and then the sisters disappear back into the woods.

Lacey reluctantly steps closer to me. I notice both Ellis and Jasper staring at her more carefully than usual.

It’s like instead of just thinking she’s a little odd, now they’re looking at her like she might raze the valley to the ground.

Rage burning up inside of me at this lack of trust, I protectively reach my arm around her shoulders and pull her in closer. Instead of retracting from me again, like she did when I held her hand, she merely goes rigid against me, but makes no steps to leave.

Progress, I suppose.

“We can have our meeting later today,” I tell the other two alphas. “I’ll call you.”

Jasper nods his head, but Ellis just stares at me. Lacey still at my side, I lead her back down the path, taking a turn that will get us back into town.

“Where are we going?” Lacey asks.

I relinquish my arm from around her and put my hands in the pockets of my jeans. “I was going to walk you to Greg’s. Thought you could pick up Shea and get her ready to go home.”

Lacey nods solemnly. “I’d like that a lot.”

“Home…being our house,” I say, just in case.

“I know,” she mutters. “If I go back to the coven, I’ll be exiled forever.”

My gut twists. It sounds so cruel when she says it like that.

The paved streets are quieter than usual this morning, making the silence between us thicker. There are still so many things I need and want to say to her, but I just can’t do it.

“Um, Sawyer?” she says in a small voice.

“Yeah?” I respond.

Looking down at her, she has a contemplative, sorrowful look in her eye—one that breaks my heart to gaze at.

“When you told Danielle and Monroe that keeping Shea and me safe was your biggest priority…” she starts. “Were you telling the truth? Or were you just telling them what you thought they wanted to hear?”

Her question breaks my heart even further. I knew I left a bad taste in her mouth, but maybe this is worse than I thought.

I look her directly in the eye. “It’s the truth, Lacey. I’m not the same Sawyer you knew five years ago. Being an alpha has made me grow up a lot. I look back on a lot of my past decisions, and I wish I could change them. But all I can do is be better going forward.”

“Good.” Lacey nods in contemplation as we approach Greg’s doorstep. “I have noticed a change in you. I want you to know…”

“Thanks,” I say, resting one foot on the bottom step.

“But you have miles to go if you really want to make things up to me,” she tells me.

I nod my head, fully ready to take that on. “I promise you, Lacey, I will do everything I can to prove myself to you.”