Sold to the Alpha (Alma Venus Shifter Brides 1)

“Wow! How can someone who was badmouthing me a minute ago do a complete 180? This girl is dangerous,” thought Avelyn. “Awesome,” she said instead.

“Well, well. well… I see you’re already making friends,” Max’s deep, pleasant voice startled all three of them. Avelyn turned around, and smiled brightly when she saw him closing the library door behind him and strolling towards them between the tall rows filled with leather bound books. She ran to him and landed in his awaiting arms. Max placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Do you like the library? I’m sorry I didn’t have time to show it to you myself.”

“It’s perfect! You know, when Christine brought me here this morning, the first thing that came to my mind was that it looks so much like the library from “Beauty and the Beast”. Don’t you think?” Avelyn turned around in his arms, her back pressed against his chest and looked at the endless rows of books. At the right side of the room, there was a small staircase that led to the second floor of the library, which was much smaller than the first one, but looked cozier and more intimate. “Except… in the movie the inside staircase was bigger and in the middle of the room.”

“So, if you’re the Beauty, does that make me the Beast?” asked Max, amusement evident in his voice.

“Oh, no! No, no, no!” Avelyn turned back to face him. “Stupid. I’m so stupid,” she chastised herself silently. She lifted herself onto her tiptoes to kiss his smirk away. His lips met her half-way, soft and hungry. His tongue engaged hers in a playful battle, and Avelyn felt arousal building between her legs. A soft cough from behind Avelyn interrupted their passionate kiss. It must have been Val, because Rosanna was watching them with interest, one eyebrow raised so high that it disappeared under her fringe.

“I’d better go,” said Val. “You never know when Jocelyn might need me.”

“Sure, Val,” said Max. “It was nice seeing you. Welcome back home, by the way.”

“Yeah, thanks. It’s nice to be home.” She nodded towards Avelyn and went past them, heading towards the door.

“She’s such a dim wit,” said Rosanna after Val had closed the door behind her. “I recommended her three books and she left without taking any of them.”

It was then that Avelyn noticed Rosanna was holding three books. Avelyn got closer to read the titles.

“Hey, I’ll take this one. I think I’ve read almost everything by Philippa Gregory, but “The Boleyn Inheritance” was never available at Alma Venus. I think one of the students took it at some point and forgot to return it to the library.”

Rosanna’s pretty, round eyes lit with enthusiasm. “Finally, someone who appreciates historical fiction! I’ve been trying to convince Val to give Philippa Gregory a try since… forever. Maybe that’s why she left without taking a book. Idiot. She could have just refused me again. It’s not like I’m not used to it.”

Avelyn rolled her eyes. So, Rosanna was one of those people who shoved something down your throat no matter how many times you said “no”. Lovely.

“Maybe we two can have tea one of these days and talk about the book,” the girl continued. “What do you say?”

“That sounds awesome!” No, it really didn’t, but Avelyn wasn’t about to miss the chance to get Rosanna on her side and try to find out more things about Max and… the other one. She was gossipy enough to spit things out without thinking, of that she was sure.

“Great! Tomorrow? How about tomorrow?”

“I’m not sure I can read the book that fast.” Avelyn sent Max a quick glance. He was still behind her, waiting for them to finish. She could tell he was genuinely happy she was interacting so well with one of the members of his pack. If only he knew what Rosanna had told Val some minutes ago. If Rosanna wasn’t exaggerating and the Crescents truly had a bad opinion about him, then it meant things were not going well in his pack. She wondered if Daniel had overhead them too.

“We can talk about the chapters you manage to get through today. I promise I won’t spoil it for you.”

“You know,” said Max. “You can ask Christine to prepare the gazebo for you two. She could take some pillows there tomorrow, make sure everything is nice and comfy, and prepare you one of her famous tea recipes.”

“There are tea recipes?” asked Avelyn confused.

“Oh, yes,” said Rosanna. “Christine has a thing for mixing various herbs and flowers. It’s like magic.”

“Well, then, it’s a date,” said Avelyn, smiling.

“A date? Hah! You’re so funny.” Rosanna went to the nearest table and set the other two books down. “Talking about dates, I’ll leave you two alone.” She winked at Avelyn. “See you tomorrow.” She was out of the library in a blur, her werewolf speed making Avelyn’s knee-length pleated skirt rise a bit, revealing her white thighs. She hurried to smooth it back down.

“Damn, you’re sexy,” said Max. He was next to her in a fraction of a second, his quick movement making Avelyn blink in confusion.

“You guys are starting to give me headaches. You’re all moving so fast that sometimes I think I see double.”

“Come with me.” Max took her hand and guided her up the stairs to the second floor of the library. Here, the corridors were much narrower. He took her to the far end of the rows to their right, where there was a small wooden table, strategically positioned under a tall, antique lamp shade. Avelyn thought the spot was perfect for reading and doing research without fearing someone would pop up behind her and sneak a glance over her shoulder. Actually, she had intended to use it earlier, before overhearing the conversation between Rosanna and Val, but she never got the chance. She had browsed through most of the library in search of any book that might have been relevant to her plan, but couldn’t find anything. Except that empty spot in which she was sure at least three books could have fit. Of course, someone could have taken whatever books had been there to read them, but the shelf was on the second floor, in the section which she figured was dedicated to the history of the clan. Otherwise, why would there be one huge book on the genealogy of the Blackmanes, and countless smaller ones that contained records of various clan disputes and legends that went as far back as 5 AD, before the Roman Empire even tried to conquer the Germanic tribes east of the Rhine?

But Max had other things in mind, and none of them involved research. He lifted Avelyn off the ground and sat her down on the table. The wooden legs squeaked under her weight, and Avelyn cringed at the sound.

“Maybe that’s not a good idea.” She tried to be still.

Max set himself between her legs and his hands sneaked under her skirt to caress her thighs. “Don’t worry, the table is pretty solid. It will hold your sexy ass just fine.”

“Sexy? You mean big. Seriously, this is uncomfortable.” The table was definitely not as solid as the one in their room, on which they used to eat.