Beauty and the Alpha Beast

ex

n a female white-tail quite so large. I wish I could get a little closer so I could see her markings more clearly, but she's hidden well behind the leaves of the trees, and it's clear she's spotted me. If

f piles that litter the ground. It's nearly winter; we should be having our first sno

y when I hear the crackle of a thousand leaves dying excruciating second deaths. Letting

over with her arms wide open. "Your

oved to Luna Hollow almost a year ago. Her golden blonde hair catches the sun's light, creating a halo around her pretty face. She's beautiful in a traditional way, with bright blue eyes and perfectly

ucky in that r

cloak. I do the same to my dark green one. I try to blend into the trees the best I can when I c

?" she asks, looking

how rare they've been lately. Before that, I saw a squirrel with a

y animal investigations are. Instead, she just changes the subject. "You should be at home pl

o insist on continuing my investigations when she doesn't like it. We almost always do something Fiona likes to do, bu

cres. It's a nice house-two-stories with four bedrooms and indoor plumbing-and since most of the yard is covered in forest, I like it a lot more than I did our tiny apartment in

ing a long brown braid over my shoulder. I've never like

t your home on your birthday or if you'll be summoned to the castle." A c

of such a thing until I moved here. It all sounds so ridiculous to me. Why would some king who lives in a secluded castle at the top of a hill so high it's prac

ure I will not be getting one of the infamous re

just a month ago. She was gone all night, and when sh

-like the legends about the witches in Hexeton. While plenty of old timers like to scare the kids by saying w

ll not fear him. "I intend to celebrate my birthda

yards from the back of the house. The bridge is only about four feet long, but I've always though

ink that's it. In my opinion, my stepfather simply doesn't care for me, and I suppose I can't blame him. After all, I was almost twenty years old when we met, a grown woman, and he'd gone his whole life without being a fath

erything he can t

s ever seen the person from the castle who brings them out," Fiona explains. "My friend Marcy knows someone who stayed up all night staring at her mailbox to see i

n. "I was just thinking I shouldn't waste my tim

d marches up the steps toward my back

her inside, and we hang up our coats. My mother absolutely ad

as she comes over to greet both of us and give us a hug.

breath and savoring the delicious smel

he possibility of being summoned to the

friend squeals with delight and plucks out a chocolate chip cookie, taking a bite before

It's not like her to agree with such silly notions. She was always quick to di

and folds her hands, my forehead furrows. "I think we sh

in color and shape, and I don't blink for a few

e says it does happen. Over the past seven years, quite a few young women who live in this village have gotten a letter from the king to appear in his cas

I don't say anything at all

it. If I cared a smidge about my appearance, I might be jealous of her for that. "The girls who get the letter stay overnight," she says, her expla

ve been examined by a physician afterward, and there's never anything physically wrong w

't like to talk about that sort of thing with her. I swal

r how they got them." She turns and looks at me, her blue eyes piercing.

one hand at her. "That has to be the ki

to think that there are a few different ways it ca

ask with

ains. "Don't ask me, dear. But you should plan on celebrating your b

ats her eyelashes at me pr

reath, I say,