Page 21 of Beauty and Her Beasts (Dirty Paranormal Fairytale Haremlan 1)

“Nor does she belong to you,” I retorted.

“She’s not even King’s,” Declan said. He stood from me. “You know what? I’m done with this plan. She deserves to know. She deserves to make her own choice.”

Declan turned his back to me and started to walk away.

“Not before she meets King,” I growled out.

Declan whirled around and spat as he said, “Then make it happen. Otherwise, the next time she wants to crawl into my bed, I’m not stopping her.”

He turned his back to me once again and stormed off. Moon barked and followed Declan deep into the woods surrounding the hotel.

I sighed as his form faded into the shadows. Anger still coursed through me and my bear was at unease. The fight wasn’t nearly as satisfying as I wanted it to be. I stood from the ground and brushed bits of grass, herb, and other plant life from my pants and then settled my gaze on the direction Declan disappeared in.

I might have bitten off more than I could chew with this plan of mine. I certainly underestimated Declan’s resistance to people, including beautiful women. King needed to get his ass into gear. Otherwise, we’re all doomed. He had to have found the letter I had left him by now.

The only thing I could do now was hope he listened.

We were running out of time, and with Declan and I at odds, it was only a matter of time before things fell even further into disrepair.

9

ALLANA

The last thing I wanted to do was spend another sleepless night trying to satisfy the burn Declan and Gunnar put me through. I had to get answers on what was going on and fast. I was going to tolerate no more of the crap they couldn’t tell me. I was caught in the middle of something that was going to inevitably drive me crazy.

It was time for an ultimatum. Tell me what was going on or I was going home for good.

There was no middle ground here. Besides, they owed me a reasonable explanation. And it was high time I got one.

It was late when I left my room. I couldn’t sleep again. So, I headed to the front desk, intending to have one of the concierges call for both of them. The name on his badge was Bastian. He had dark brown eyes and a turned-up nose with thin lips and an attitude that he was better than everyone around him. It was a crappy attitude to have for customer service, but considering the hotel was hard up on getting business, we couldn’t afford to hire a replacement.

So, he stayed. Regretfully.

He eyed me as I rounded the corner. I continued toward my office as I said, “Would you be amazing and page for Gunnar and Declan please?”

“I can’t. I’m busy,” he said.

I stopped just inches from my door and turned to face him. He wasn’t busy. I knew that better than most. He always stood at the desk and acted like he couldn’t be bothered with anything, especially his duties.

“Doing what, exactly?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

He shrugged. “My job.”

“Your job is what I tell you it is. Page them. Now.” I was not in the mood to deal with his insubordination. He was probably pissy because his manager was a woman. Sucks to be him, but I didn’t give a damn about his beliefs.

“I’ll go fetch them for you miss,” a maid said as she rounded the corner. “I’m done with my dusting and could use the break.”

“Thank you,” I said graciously then returned my attention to Bastian. “If you keep on with this attitude, we’re going to have to talk about your position in this company.”

“Very well,” he said and continued doing the nothing he was doing before when he told me he was busy doing his job.

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head, as I turned and headed into my office. I took a seat at my desk and waited for them to show up. And waited… and waited… and waited.

After an hour, which I felt was plenty of time to get to the office, I went searching for the maid. I didn’t bother asking Bastian. He had proved himself to be less than helpful already and I was frustrated enough as it was.

As I searched for the maid, I poked my head into the kitchen to see if Gunnar was there. The room was empty. I frowned. I didn’t honestly believe he would be there, but he was the majority of the time.

I continued my little hunt.

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