Page 6 of Brutal Alpha Beast
Penelope is there waiting for me at the border of the witches’ village. She’s exactly how I remembered, although she looks a little healthier since the last time I saw her—there haven’t been any curse-possessed witches trying to destroy us all as of late, at least not any I’ve heard of.
She’s draped in a pink silk covering that shimmers beneath the sunlight, and her gray locks flow loosely past her shoulders. While she looks healthier and relaxed, she doesn’t exactly look overjoyed to see me.
There’s some trust there, but not enough yet.
“Ellis,” she says. “You came.”
I got Sawyer to organize this meeting for us. He’s a lot tighter with the coven leader than I am, given that they fought off curse-born shadow demons together. I can’t say I fully understand the monsters we’re up against, but I know better than to be unprepared or to believe that they’ve simply just ‘gone away.’
“Of course,” I smile. “Thank you for hosting me, Penelope. It’s a pleasure to be in your coven.”
She smiles back briefly, before evening her expression. “I’m sure it is,” she says. “Shall we go somewhere a little more private?”
Looking around, I see an array of witches, some young, some old, all watching me with the same expression as they busy themselves with other tasks. Although some are cleaning up, walking with their children, or holding their phones, they all stare at me, openly, with a mixture of distrust and disdain.
They do nothing to hide it, like my men did nothing to hide their reluctance toward this alliance in our council meeting. I understand it completely. Who would want some random, foreign Alpha male waltzing into their village and disrupting their pleasant Sunday morning?
I nod. “Please, lead the way.”
I follow Penelope promptly as she guides me away from their headquarters and toward a small, shrouded area on the outskirts of their town. The area is home to a couple of conjoined cottages and a tall rock altar with scattered red roses at its base.
The altar is also surrounded by a ring of large, jagged rocks. I eye them carefully, trying to figure out what it means.
The place isso witchy, and although Penelope weaves around the curious structure, I can’t help but feel like I’m a sacrificial lamb being led to its slaughter.
It’s quiet here, far away from all the village’s noise. If Penelope wanted to sacrifice me, it would be the perfect spot.
I shake off the thoughts.
“What are the rocks for?” I ask her.
She sighs, then shoots me a suspicious smile. “Not afraid, are you, Alpha?”
I chuckle and cross my arms. “Should I be?”
I like Penelope; if she weren’t a witch, I’d like her more. A good leader recognizes when they’re in the presence of another good leader, regardless of who and what they are.
She shakes her head and leads me inside one of the cottages. The scent of incense is what hits me first, and the place is cozy, filled with cushions, tapestries painted with imagery that I’m sure means something to the witches, but nothing to me.
I appreciate the way it looks, even if the representation of magic puts me a little on edge. The cottage is also covered with trinkets, crystals, little altars—I wonder whether she’s testing me. Whether she wants to see how I’ll react to all the witchy stuff, as though that’ll tell her whether I actually come in peace.
But isn’t there some spell for that? Maybe not.
I recognize what she’s doing because I’ve done it before. If there’s someone I distrust, I invite them closer into my sphere and observe how they react. Micro expressions say it all.
But Penelope isn’t looking at me too intently.
She sits down on one of the cushions and invites me to sit opposite. “Please,” she says. “Get comfortable.”
Slowly, I sit. I remind myself why I’m here, and like a good negotiator, I wait for Penelope to speak first.
“So,” she says. “I understand from Sawyer that you would like to ally with our coven.”
“That’s right,” I say. “Your coven is powerful, and so is my pack. It would benefit us both.”
She nods. “Lacey, Sawyer’s wife, is very dear to us—and Sawyer proved himself when he saved my life, when he helpedsave us all. He proved himself through the way he treats Lacey. We trust Sawyer and Lacey very much.”
I feel a spike of guilt about the way I used to treat Lacey. As a wolf who couldn’t shift, and a previous outcast in Sawyer’s pack, we were harsh to her, cold. I’ve behaved in ways I wasn’t proud of, but I’ve grown since then.
