Page 108 of Monsterland Mayhem

“And that’s how the hunt begins?”

No, the figment returns.Growls.

“Growls?” I repeat. “Alpha… growls?”

Yes.

I’m not sure what that means exactly, but I suspect I’m going to find out. Assuming any of this works. And that I haven’t completely lost my mind.

But it’s Monsterland.

Embrace the madness,I think.Experience the mayhem.

I huff a laugh. “I’ve gone absolutely mad.”

Good, the figment replies.You’re ready.

I gape at the mirror. “Okay…”

I shake my head and step into the shower.

I’ll clean up, don the dress, and pretend to be the obedient little Omega Baroness Clarice expects me to be.

Then I’ll run the moment I find the courtyard. If I see it, anyway.

After that…I’ll beg.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

AILSA

The momentI step out of the basement, it becomes clear to me that we’re in some sort of illusion. One I don’t quite understand.How is Heart doing this?I wonder, glancing at the woman I know as Baroness Clarice.

She arches a brow, likely expecting me to bow as I normally would.

I nearly defy her, my urge to stare straight at her hitting me square in the gut.

But I grit my teeth and curtsy the way she anticipates, pretending to play this game.

Find the courtyard, I tell myself.How am I going to do that if I can’t see through this illusion?

“Stop stalling,” she snaps, her heels already clacking.

Bitch, I think, standing.

Her demeanor isn’t different. She’s always been this way. But I… I feel different. Maybe it’s the ability to notice her Alpha traits, or my instincts that tell me she’s not who she seems. Perhaps it’s related to the elixir awakening my inner Omega, or being exposed to my intended mate-circle.

Regardless, I can feel the change, sense that nothing here is right.

Because it’s not real.

At least, not in the way it should be.

The hallways all resemble the manor I spent the last nine years of my life in, but the scents are not right. The general feel is all wrong, too.

This isn’t Baroness Clarice’s home.

It’s not my home either.