Sold to the Alpha (Alma Venus Shifter Brides 1)

“Hah! You’re either more clever than I thought and you see my point and agree with me, in which case, yeah, there’s nothing you could say right now. Or, you’re so stupid that you can’t even come up with something decent to defend yourself.” The she-wolf threw her another disgusted look and went past her, down the stairs. “Just make sure you dig a hole and crawl into it every time you see me around, and we won’t have any problems,” she screamed before disappearing in a blur.

Avelyn unclenched her fists and massaged the white marks her fingernails had left in her palms. “What’s her deal? Bitch…” A faint noise came from somewhere to her right, and she figured it must have been Daniel, lurking there, unseen. “Oh, great. She’s just insulted me and belittled me in front of one of Max’s wolves. How am I ever going to earn their respect?” Then, she mentally smacked herself over the head. “This place is messing with my mind. Respect? They can all bite me. I’ll be out of here soon.” Well, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to be bitten by werewolves, but Avelyn didn’t have time to ponder on her uninspired pun. She climbed the next two flights of stairs two steps at a time, and reached the mahogany door of the library.

***

“So, have you seen her?”

“Not yet. I just got here two hours ago with Jocelyn and was busy unpacking and organizing my room. Josie says we’ll be at the Schloss at least until after the Seed Moon.”

“But she was in the courtyard the whole morning.”

“Might’ve been lunch hour. What’s she like?”

“Different…”

“Different how? Is she at least pretty?”

“Not by my standards. I had no idea Max liked… big women.”

“Big? How big? Wasn’t he screwing Lacey?”

“Yeah, also Amanda from your pack, and Shelly. Remember a couple of months ago when he went to London almost every weekend? I don’t think he always had business with Karl. He went to see her.”

“Yeah, you’re right. So, how does he like big girls? Lacey, Amanda and Shelly are all lean and athletic.”

“Might be just a phase. I’m telling you, she’ll end up just like the other one.”

“He wouldn’t have bought a bride if it were only a phase. There are enough ways of getting an exotic girl in London if you get tired of your she-wolves.”

“Trust me, she’s not exotic. And to end like the other one, she’d have to be a bride, not a whore.”

“I can’t believe you’re talking like that about your Alpha.”

“Hey! The truth is still the truth. Alpha, no Alpha, he’s got issues.”

“I’d be more careful if I were you. What if a Crescent hears you?”

“Ha! Almost all of us think the same. Don’t the Moon Children?”

“I don’t know… Jocelyn would break our bones if she heard anything.”

“Josie loves her brother too much. The wrong brother.”

“Okay, stop. This is not a good subject. Better tell me more about the bride.”

Avelyn squeezed the open book in her hands so hard that the tips of her fingers turned white. She had been scanning the Table of Contents when she heard the two she-wolves talk about her, and she couldn’t help getting closer so she could hear better. They had probably entered the library after her. Could it be that they simply didn’t recognize her smell yet, or did they know she was there, listening to them, and they actually wanted her to overhear the conversation? She was becoming paranoid. She couldn’t hide behind the shelf anymore. She felt like a coward. Like she was too weak to go out there, confront them, and demand to be shown some respect. She put the book on a random shelf, took a deep breath and went around the row of books, not allowing herself any extra moment to think or try to come up with something to say, least she would change her mind and back down.

“Hi,” she said in a cheerful, artificial voice. Her smile was fake. Could they tell?

The two girls jumped in surprise, eyes wide, mouths agape. “Wow! So, werewolves can really be taken by surprise,” Avelyn thought. She took a moment to study them, trying to guess which one was the Crescent and which one was the Moon Child. They were both as tall as she was. One of them had shoulder-length raspberry blond hair, huge doll eyes, and a lean body with nicely-shaped curves. The other one was thinner, with well-defined muscles. Her brown hair was carefully braided in a fish tail.

“I’m Avelyn,” she offered when she saw that none of them intended to say anything. “You know… the bride.” The artificial smile never left her face. It was starting to hurt.

“Rosanna,” said the blonde one, offering Avelyn her hand. Avelyn gave it a good squeeze and shook it. It was said one could tell a person’s character by a handshake.

“Nice to meet you, Rosanna.”

“Val,” said the other one, but skipped the handshake.