Page 64 of Monsters Within (The Creatures We Crave 1)
Alexandra
My incredible dream of being shared between my monsters was disturbed by the smell of something delicious tempting me awake.
“Wakey, wakey,” Alora chirped as I opened my eyes, vision bleary still as I took in the scene.
A steaming mug was shoved into my face. “I promise this is going to bring you to the dark side.”
I hadn’t thought she would actually follow through on her promise last night to make me a new kind of coffee every morning until she found the one that made me an addict, in her words, but here she was.
Sitting up, I grabbed the mug and eyed the light, creamy looking liquid before bringing it to my lips and gingerly sipping. I couldn’t control the pucker that took over my face instantly with how sugary it was, but thankfully the reaction didn’t seem to put me on Alora’s shit list.
“Oh, you’re a bitter coffee kind of gal,” she murmured from her spot next to my bed, watching me like I was a science project. “I should have known.”
Nabbing the mug from my hands, she sashayed towards my door, and I noticed she was already ready to go for the day. Taking in her outfit, which consisted of leather pants that hugged her hips and legs, a loose white shirt, and black combat boots, she looked ready to kick ass and take names.
As she glanced over her shoulder, I saw how flawless her makeup looked, and I was instantly envious of her skills. Now that her hair was out of its bun and curled, I also got to see how damn long it was, falling all the way to just above her ass. “Hey, we need to go in like five minutes,” she tossed out, making me shriek.
Why did it seem like I was always running late and rushing to get ready? Maybe I needed to accept that this was just who I was.
“Shit,” I muttered, throwing the covers off and rushing to my closet. "What is a student expected to wear here, do you think?” I called out, hoping she was still nearby to answer.
I was really hoping not everyone was expected to look flawless like the professors had yesterday and how Alora looked now. I was more of a leggings, hoodie, and ran my fingers through my hair type person, which also might be because of my perpetually late timing.
“Whatever the hell you want,” she offered, sounding like she was still in my door frame.
“That doesn’t help me at all!” I responded while flipping through the hangers, seeing if anything would catch my eye. My lips curled back in distaste as I flicked through the sparkly bright tops I had threatened to give away but Alora demanded I keep for her in case she raided my closet.
“Demons are competitive by nature, even with us all being ‘united’ now. I say wear something that makes you feel confident so they don’t see you as someone they can walk all over. It also needs to be something comfortable enough to fight in.”
Now that was helpful advice and thankfully lined up with what I wore every day. Black was my comfort zone, and I knew I rocked it with my fair complexion.
Soon enough I was dressed in stretchy black jeans, boots that actually matched Alora’s, and a black crop top t-shirt. All I had time to do was run a brush through my hair, brush my teeth, and throw some mascara on as Alora yelled, letting me know the guys were waiting outside.
Giving myself one last look in the mirror, I nodded my head. “You’ve got this, bitch.”
As we met the guys at the end of the path, I groaned, seeing that Kylo had a piece of fucking toast stabbed with his claw. Holding it out to me, he looked at Alora and asked, “She didn’t eat this morning, I’m assuming?”
Knowing it would probably be rude to have PDA in front of Alora, or at least until we got to know her better, I held off on giving my monsters a kiss. But I blew air kisses and chirped ‘good morning’ at each of them, loving that they were going to class in this form. I’d wondered last night which they would choose, and if I had to guess, they wanted to ensure no one fucked around with me or them, and this look was a lot more menacing.
“Noooope,” she all but sang back to him, dragging the word out and popping her lips on the ‘p’.
Snatching the toast off of his claw, knowing I wouldn’t win this battle, I glowered at Alora. “You traitor. I thought we had something.”
It was going to take a lot of time to fix my terrible eating habits, and despite my grumbling, it really did make my heart feel good when he made sure I was taken care of like this. Some might have found it domineering, but it really did come from a kind place.
Tossing her arm casually around my shoulder and steering us down the path to our classes, she shook me a bit. “Don’t be like that, bestie boo. It’s important to eat when you’re going to burn energy with magic today.”
Bestie boo?That was new, but I wasn’t complaining. It felt so natural to fall into this easy banter with her.
“So, what did you ladies do all night?” Lucien asked innocently from my left side, but I could practically feel him vibrating with curiosity. A large part of me had expected him to crash the party last night, or at least my bed, so I was sure he was going to be glued to me today to make up for it.
“Obviously we talked about boys and had a naked pillow fight,” Alora retorted like the answer should have been obvious, somehow keeping a straight face and not wavering at all as she said it so seriously.
Lucien choked—on what, I wasn’t sure seeing as he was shadows—before spluttering, “I was not expecting that. Did Alexandra at least say good things about me?”
He was totally fishing, and I cackled at the same time Alora did. “I’m just kidding, Lucien. We just drank some fae wine and talked about our lives up until getting to the academy.”
It really had been so laid back and enjoyable. We connected like two peas in a pod despite having polar opposite upbringings. However, she had made me tear up a bit when she told me that her parents would be more than happy to take us into their home on school breaks after I broke the news to her about neither me nor my guys having parents.
