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#Chapter 9 The Shift
Today's dinner was even richer than yesterday's. The pasta alone was enough to have me rolling out the door, but the clams, oysters, deveined shrimp, and unidentifiable but luxurious garnishing made it all the more unbearable. After years of subsisting on little better than plain sandwiches, my stomach couldn't handle things like this.
Not that I would ever admit it. The last thing I wanted to do was sound ungrateful. Evan had mistaken my innocent question for being bratty earlier, and if it happened again, I didn't know if I could bear it.
Besides, being pampered and fed to death was a lot better than being slapped, insulted and threatened day after day.
But Evan's appetite wasn't that good either. The only thing he was partaking in was the wine, and he'd already had four glasses.
I recalled seeing him that first night. He'd smelled of alcohol then, too. Was he an alcoholic?
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Alpha's Hybrid Cinderella #Chapter 10 The Invitation
"Claudia." Evan's voice. But I couldn't open my eyes. So tired. "You're a little white wolf, Claudia," he said softly. So it was true. I'd shifted... I had really shifted. Cassiel had found me in my dreams the other night, and now she had even come out into the world. But the thought had only just formed in my sluggish mind when my body twitched, the shifting energy dissipating within it like smoke. Wait, not yet... I didn't want to turn back yet. I was stronger in this form, and I wanted to keep it. I wanted to stay. But it was impossible. My body was already changing back. Claws became soft fingertips; paws turned to bare hands and feet. The warmth of my fur faded bit by bit, and the chill of the air came over bare skin. I was turning human again. And I couldn't stop it. Strong arms lifted my upper half from the ground and cradled me within them. Something wra
Alpha's Hybrid Cinderella #Chapter 11 The Party
I couldn't give him an answer right away. Class was about to start, and the professor was sending us impatient looks as she shuffled through her lecture notes. Ken had no choice but to leave, but he promised to show up after my class finished to continue our conversation. I couldn't stop thinking about it. A party? On Friday night? He had explained it was going to be held on grounds and hosted in one of the buildings that offered venues for just such occasions. It wouldn't be one of the rowdy house parties that I'd initially thought he was inviting me to, but almost like a school dance. It was for both current students who could afford the pricey tickets as well as past graduates, a chance to donate to the university and indulge in some nostalgic fun. Would Alpha Evan be going, I wondered. If it was to honor donors and sponsors, surely he would be invited and more than welcome. He obviously wasn't a current s
Alpha's Hybrid Cinderella #Chapter 12 Dancing
“Evan, Claudia's my date tonight.” Ken's voice. It brought me out of my stunned reverie, and I glanced between both men. I might as well have not been there. The challenge in their eyes gleamed bright under the lights, and it didn't take much to sense there was something more than good-natured ribbing or jealousy behind Ken's words, or the stare Evan fixed on him. "Then lend me your dance partner for a while. I came all this way, you could be more generous." He didn't let Ken reply. He grabbed my hand since I hadn't taken the initiative to accept his, and he pulled me to the dance floor where dozens of others had been rocking to the beat only seconds ago, before he made his entrance. But as soon as he joined them and pulled me into position, it was as if a switch flipped. I had to wonder if he had mind-linked with several of them to warn them them to start dancing again, with how abrupt and s
Alpha's Hybrid Cinderella #Chapter 13 His Body
I was drowsy all day Saturday. We had gotten back reasonably early all things considered, but I was so accustomed to waking up before the crack of dawn in Dark Moon that I couldn't rid myself of the habit here. I suspected it would stay with me all my life. Some things just couldn't be fixed, the same way some scars remained engraved in flesh for life. I had my share of both. What must Elly and Maria be thinking now, I wondered as I looked out my window. I didn't miss them at all, but there was no doubt in my mind they missed my presence. For all the insults they had hurled at me all my life, they had been so dependent on my service that they couldn't get by on their own for even a single day. And yet I couldn't even be glad for it. I wished we'd never encountered each other, but if I couldn't have that, I wished I could magically forget everything I had ever unwillingly learned in Dark Moon. The punctuality and industriousness that mark
Alpha's Hybrid Cinderella #Chapter 14 The Spectators
Evan was gone all of Sunday, which meant I didn't have to avoid him all the next day while I frantically buried myself in my studies to keep my mind occupied. I was not going to spend his entire absence dwelling on the sight from last night. He had been generous this week about giving me nearly all the space and privacy I wanted; how stupid would it be to end up distracting myself? But Sunday had to come to an end too, which meant as I lay in bed that night, I had to come up with a game plan to make sure my inevitable next encounter with him tomorrow over breakfast would be as natural and un-awkward as ever. No big deal. I could handle it. Or I couldn't, and I would panic and drive to campus an hour early just to avoid running into him on Monday morning. It scarcely felt like a single hour had passed since I saw him naked in the kitchen. There was no way I was going to be able to do anything but stutter and stare a
Alpha's Hybrid Cinderella #Chapter 15 First Kiss
I sat on the curb, desperately willing away the last traces of alcohol lingering in my system. Please, I thought. Don't let this be happening. But prayers or no prayers, it was what it was. I watched helplessly as Leon -- who turned out to be the brown wolf who came first -- pulled away the half-crying, half-fighting Raf without a goodbye, no doubt to take her home. The last thing I heard of his thoughts before he left the range of my mind-reading was a cursing complaint about how the two of us could be so reckless as to get targeted by a band of creeps. I wanted to shout at his back that maybe if he hadn't gotten into a fight with Raf, she wouldn't have felt the need to do this at all. But that wasn't fair. I didn't know the whole story. But what would be completely justified was telling him off for blaming Raf when a woman should have every right to expect men to be decent and not try to rape her on the street just because they could.
Alpha's Hybrid Cinderella #CHAPTER 16 Flicka
He didn't move away. I leaned closer and closer until the scent of him hit me, the faintest wisps of tobacco mixed in with stronger mint. Did he smoke? I'd never noticed. Or maybe he had been around someone who smoked earlier today, and the acrid tang had clung to him until now. It didn't matter. It was him. I was so close that now I knew the scent of him, and I didn't care why or how. Don't reject me, I thought, but the words remained in my head, failing to find my tongue. It didn't matter. I had come this far. I couldn't stop now. The scratch of his day's-end stubble brushed against my fingertips. When had I moved my hand? And why couldn't I stop it? But I didn't want to. His breath caught when I skimmed my nails over the slight scruff, and my heart soared like someone had taken it out of my chest and tossed it high into the air. (Shouldn't...) a distant thought in his voice murmur
Alpha's Hybrid Cinderella #CHAPTER 17 The Trip
"I see the hybrid is still slinking around..." Flicka had meant for me to hear that as she entered the manor, and unlike the venomous glare she had just shot me, her voice was gloating and self-assured, as arrogant as ever. I wanted to turn and follow her back inside so I could slap her senseless, but that would only show her how easily she affected me. I forced myself to walk down the steps with my head level and my posture calm, as if nothing she said could bother me. But it didn't last. The door closed, and a moment later when I turned the bend around the stone path that led to the forest, I broke into a fierce run so abrupt my side cramped with sudden stitches. But I didn't stop. The pain was nothing compared to the frustration of hearing the smugness in Flicka's voice as she entered the manor, as if she were taking my place. I didn't want to remember it. If a few cramps could take my mind off of her even a lit
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