Page 49 of Craving Carla

I start to get up, but Ackley moves faster, sliding out of his side of the booth and stepping right in front of me. He plants a hand on me and pushes me back down into my seat. I fall hard, hitting my head against the wall of the booth, wincing at the sharp pain that blooms at the base of my skull.

“You are making a mistake,” I warn him, my voice low. “My children can feel when something is happening to me.”

Ackley smiles at that, the expression cruel and mocking. “Good, maybe they’ll listen to me, because you are too stupid to see what I’m offering. Peace of fucking mind. Your own goddoesn’t give a shit about you. You have no fated scent. You’re the reject of Wintermoon.”

I wince, sitting up and grabbing the back of my head, but it’s not so much from the pain of my injury—it’s from the sting of his words, the truth in them.

I am the reject of Wintermoon.

He places his hands in his pockets and starts to pace, adjusting his glasses every so often.

“I can be a good man. Give you what you need. We share a lot of common ground, and frankly, I can’t get a human woman to put up with my obsession with arachnids. Not until you. Not until I saw just how big they get.”

My head shifts when the door opens and a woman enters, wearing an outfit that screams money. Her caramel skin is flawless, her makeup perfect, and her curves are emphasized by a form-fitting dress that probably costs more than everything I own. Her hair falls in loose waves around her shoulders, and her dark eyes scan the diner with an air of ownership. Behind her stands a large man—at least six and a half feet tall, with shoulders like a linebacker and a perpetual scowl. He glares at me, and I stiffen under his gaze.

This is what Damon was trying to warn me about. How I don’t have access to my powers enough to defend myself.

“Alexis,” Ackley says, and she grins, planting a kiss on his cheek. He smooths his hand over her in a gesture that’s all too familiar. The woman—Alexis—looks down at me, sizing me up like I’m something she scraped off her designer heel.

“This is the spider queen?” she asks, then smirks and chuckles, walking around Ackley. “She could have picked a better outfit for your date. Classy.”

I frown at that, looking down at my black dress—the one Amari bought for me. It’s beautiful, but now I feel like a child playing dress-up.

“What do you want?” I finally spit out.

“I’m Alexis Blackburn of Brookstone and Blackburn Enterprises. I’m here to make you an offer.” Alexis slides into the booth, sitting across from me and making herself comfortable. She looks to Ackley, who grows visibly nervous under her gaze.

“I’ll—I’ll go get you a lemon water,” he stammers. Alexis smiles at that, watching him scramble away before turning her attention back to me.

She sighs dramatically. “It must suck to be shunned by your own kind. But that just goes to show supernaturals are not that much different from humans.”

“What the fuck does you or your sleazy corporation want?” I ask, trying to sound tough despite the fear crawling up inside me.

Alexis beams a smile at me, all perfect white teeth and cold eyes. “I’m in the process of rebuilding my board of members. And I could use another supernatural on my side. Brookstone and Blackburn Enterprises won’t make you feel like an outsider. You and your children will have a true home that doesn’t consist of hiding in the shadows.”

She leans forward, lowering her voice as if sharing a secret. “Would you like to know what it feels like to actually fit in? To not be looked at like you’re a pest to your own community? I can change everything for you.”

Ackley returns with the glass and sets it down on the table. Alexis doesn’t acknowledge him; her eyes fixed on me.

“You can go on trips, shop without being rushed out of the store,” she continues, painting a picture that tugs at the loneliest parts of me. “And your children would be surrounded by humans who give a damn about you.”

“You want me to turn my children into lab rats,” I say, my voice flat.

Alexis shrugs and takes a sip of her lemon water. “It’s a small price, but they’ll thrive and be happy.”

“They are happy on Wintermoon,” I insist, though the words sound hollow even to my own ears.

“Are they?” Alexis laughs, the sound like shattering glass. “I bet they’re just as miserable as their mother. Wearing a tacky nightclub dress to get attention from a human man. You’re the Queen of Spiders. Men should be falling into your silk-robed webs, eager to be captured. But you... you’re acting like a desperate little bitch.”

“Fuck you!” I snap back, and Alexis laughs louder.

“I’m not joining you. No. Wintermoon is my home.”

Alexis shrugs. “I expected you to decline the first offer.” She digs into her expensive tote bag and pulls out a syringe, placing it on the table with a small click. “Which is why I’ll take a blood sample for the time being.”

She winks at me. I start to get up to run, but the moment I slide out of the booth and stand, Ackley sucker punches me hard in the face. The impact sends me reeling back, blood pooling in my mouth and starting to trickle from my nose. My body goes into shock, the sting of the punch making my vision blur temporarily. Stars dance at the edges of my sight, and a sharp, metallic taste fills my mouth.

“You don’t know what’s good for you, Carla. But I do,” Ackley says, grabbing the syringe from the table and then my arm. He pulls the cap off with his teeth, then jabs the needle into my arm. I feel a sharp pinch as he begins to draw my blood.

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