The Demon Alpha: A Paranormal Romance

by Belle Kayce

  “How much will you make though? Minimum wage?” Bo snorts a little. “You can just work at our restaurant near this place.”

  Uh, I do not want to work at a place that Lance owns. I think it defeats the purpose

  “Which bookstore is it?” Lance asks and I’m glad it seems like he’s taking an interest on it.

  “Books for Peeps,” I answer.

  Lance nods.

  “Beth is doing a great job. Maybe I’ll visit you sometime,” Lance says.

  “I won’t,” Bo speaks up.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  When I told Bo about wanting to join the pack, he was all cheers and dancing. Julia also thought that me joining my “rightful pack” was the thing that I should’ve done a long time ago. My decision is mainly due to the big scary alpha meeting that is about to happen. I know Lance probably doesn’t care that his luna is still not initiated into his pack, but other wolves do. I don’t care what others think, but I want Lance and I to have a strong front. I mean, yeah, I don’t know how to be a luna or anything, but I would feel comfortable if Lance will be there with me.

  “I’ll be with you the entire time, and so will Lance,” Bo says after he beat me in a race.

  “What if the pack hates me?” I jog up to him.

  “You’re good with the pups,” Bo reminds me.

  I smile as I think about Gwen, Wendy, and Cindy. I think they do like me.

  “Raquel, Carter, all the people in training,” Bo lists off some people. “But maybe not Grace.”

  I frown automatically.

  “She’s been setting her eyes on being luna for a while now, and you kind of ruined her hopes and aspirations.”

  I wonder out loud, “Who actually aspires to be a luna?”

  “Me,” the sickly-sweet voice says.

  Bo’s eyes widen, as do mine. We both give each other ”oh crap” looks because let’s be real here. If Grace wants to kick my butt, she totally can.

  “Grace,” my voice is in high pitch and sounds totally fake.

  Her eyes narrow at me like she knows, and I take a gulp.

  “So, you’re finally going to take the position of luna,” she says and she kind of circles me.

  “Sorry,” I say. “It’s just—”

  “Cut it, Ava,” Grace snaps while literally snapping her fingers. “Don’t ever be sorry that you are blessed with the title of being a luna and that someone like you gets to be mates with Lance.”

  My nose scrunches up. Blessed? Who? Me?

  Homegirl isn’t finished yet however.

  “I thought you were going to be the biggest failure of a luna ever known to our kind.”

  “Ouch,” Bo whispers to me, but he’s struggling hard not to laugh.

  “But,” Grace sighs, “you saved me that night with the rogues, and I want to thank you for it.”

  I blink at her. Did Grace just . . . insult me and then maybe compliment me?

  “Don’t get any ideas. What you did for me was brave, I guess. Whatever. But thanks. I can see a very small potential in you for being a luna. Good luck with life.”

  “I’m still going to see you,” I manage to say.

  “Right.” Grace clears her throat and then walks into the pack house.

  Bo starts laughing then.

  ***

  Lance is downstairs, in his own miniature gym he has for himself. I note that he’s wearing a shirt as he takes a sip of water.

  “Hi,” I say to him when our eyes lock. I know he can smell me before I even enter a room, but he doesn’t get weird about and just greets me normally.

  “Hi,” he greets, sounding pleased. “What brings you here? Do you want to use the gym?”

  “Ha, I’d probably drop the dumbbells on my face,” I answer him. I rock my heel backward. “I actually wanted to talk to you about something.”

  Lance raises an eyebrow. “Talk or give out an order?”

  My face heats a little because of the whole job predicament. I kind of just went to him and said I’m getting a job. Period.

  But from the way Lance’s eyes are glinting, I can tell he’s teasing me.

  “Definitely another order.” I’m nervous now.

  Lance puts the water bottle back in the small mini fridge.

  “I love those,” he tells me, still teasing.

  Just say it. Just tell him. “I want to join the pack.”

  Lance’s eyebrows shoot up. “Really?”

  “Yes. Like now.”

  “Now?”

  “Now.” Before I may change my mind and chicken out.

  “Ava . . .” His voice is tender. The way he says my name sounds like I’m an answer to his prayer. “Thank you.”

  I can tell that it means a lot to him for me to join his pack. No matter how much he had told me before that it didn’t matter, it mattered to him deep down. Just his smallest thank you meant the world to me.

  “Well, what do I have to do?” This is the part that I fear the most.

  ***

  We’re at the training fields. Bo, Cole, Meg, and Julia are all next to me, looking at Lance, who is on a makeshift gray platform. The rest of the werewolves surround the platform.

  When I said “now”, I didn’t think wolves of about three hundred can all come together in one place so quickly. Bo tells me they’re very well organized that way, which makes me impressed of Lance’s pack.

  It’s really loud and Bo leans in to whisper to me, “You’ll do great.”

  Once Lance starts to talk, the buzz in the crowd dies down.

  “I know no one likes a pack meeting, but this is important, especially to me. I want to say for those who do not know already, I already found my mate.” His gaze zeroes in on me, as do everyone else’s.

  Whispers.

  “She’s his mate?”

  “I thought he couldn’t have a mate?”

  “Grace would have been a good luna.”

  Julia squeezes my clammy hand in support.

  Lance’s voice is full of authority and command as he continues. “If anyone doubts this, if anyone has anything bad to say about it, then you will not have only disrespected your luna, but you have done the same to me as well. You can take it up with me because she is your luna regardless of her membership. If anyone is thinking of hurting my luna, your Luna, let it be known that I will be the first to defend her.” He gestures out his hand towards me. “Please come to the platform, Ava, and commence the process.”

  This is the hard part.

  In fact, Bo wrote the words out for me.

  “Ego tibi iuraveris, Alpha, esse Pack nec secutus est quisquam.” (I swear an oath to you, Alpha, to be loyal to the pack.)

  That is going to be my speech. Then there’s the blood thing, but who’s scared of that? Not me. So not me. Way not me. I’m totally fine.

  The pack members make room for me as I make my way to the platform. Lance’s eyes never leave mine, and I hope that I don’t trip as I walk towards him and up the platform. I slowly climb the three steps and come face to face with my breathtakingly beautiful mate.

  Lance is holding out a knife. It’s a small one, thankfully, and he murmurs to me as I get closer, “Just a sting.”

  He cut the palm of his own hand, dripping his blood. I swallow when he positions the knife on top of my palm. I can tell he’s trying to not cut too deep. The cut happens too fast, too soon that I just feel a tiny sting, but blood still drips from my palm.

  The crumpled paper is on my other palm. All we have to do now is just join hands, mix our blood, and we’ll be done.

  Without breaking his gaze from mine, Lance recites the response.

  “Et iuramentum indicitur debitori ad te, et custodiat te serve meus, ut regina semper.” (I swear an oath to you, my queen, to serve and protect you always.)

  I had no idea he would do this. He nods slightly at me, signaling me to recite my part. I’ll figure out what Lance had said later on. For now, I should focus on my part. His unwavering gaze builds a lit
tle courage inside of me. I know he’s supporting me, and even if I run away right now, he’ll stand by my side. I remind myself that this is why I’m doing it. This if for Lance, for my mate.

  Taking a huge breath, I look at the piece of paper and recite what’s on it. Afterwards, I shakily bring my bloodied palm to his bloodied palm.

  “Long live, luna!” one werewolf from the crowd cries out. More of them join, and then in a matter of seconds, everyone else does too. I smile at the crowd and see that my friends are smiling at me too.

  Just like that, I’m officially the luna of the pack.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  The wolves in my pack all look at me in a weird way. It’s as if they’re trying to size me up, trying to see if I’m worthy of their alpha. Truth be told, I don’t think so, and I don’t blame them at all. I can respect them for trying to see if their alpha has a worthy mate. That means they care. All of them have their heads bowed slightly, and I have to tell them to not do that.

  “I can mind-link you, yo!” Bo is all too happy at this. ”We can make fun of everyone in secret now.”

  It has taken three hours for Bo, Cole, Meg, and Lance to get my mind link under control. I’m still practicing how to mind link, so I will not be airing out my private thoughts to the entire pack.

  “We can talk about how Cole is a huge meanie,” I tell Bo.

  “I hear you.” Meg chuckles.

  Well, I do still need to practice.

  “You need to practice still,” Bo says. ”We can’t have anyone knowing we’re making fun of them.”

  I chuckle. ”Yeah, Cole would beat you up.”

  “Beat who up?” Cole asks.

  ***

  It’s 7:00 a.m. and I’m in front of Bo’s room because he’s taking me to work today, except this little turd isn’t waking up. I woke up at six to get dressed and then I realized something. What the heck is the dress code? I just opted for a white polo, black skinny jeans, and white Keds. It took me at least thirty minutes to choose my outfit, but I make a mental note to ask Beth for the proper attire.

  “Bo, I will break your door!” I shout and turn the doorknob again as if it will magically unlock. Does he really need to lock it? No one would even want to go inside his room.

  “I can take you, luna.”

  I look to my right and see seeing and attractive male wolf. He is tall, with dark hair and mocha-colored skin. He looks young, maybe a few years older than me.

  “Uh . . . do you know where Books for Keeps is?” I ask him dumbly. I would have rather asked Cole or Meg—someone I know—but it’s late. Beggars can’t be choosers.

  “I sure do,” he says cheerfully. “What time do you need to get there?”

  I look at my phone which reads 7:42 a.m.

  It’s my first day of work.

  “Forty minutes ago,” I grumble.

  “Then let’s not waste any more time. Let’s go!” The wolf grabs my hand, and I find myself following him outside of the pack house, past the driveway, and into this parking lot. “Here’s my car.”

  We stop in front of a Honda. This guy is a total stranger, but he is a pack member, right? “I—”

  “I’m not some serial killer.” He laughs. “I’m Tomas and you are Luna Ava. I’m just a simple tracker wolf in the pack.”

  “Nice to meet you, Tomas.”

  “It would have been more ideal if you’re not running late here.” Tomas motions to the car. I open the door, and get in. He turns to me. “Don’t worry. I drive fast.” Tomas reverses the car like he’s auditioning for a Fast and Furious movie, then zips out of the parking lot.

  After a couple of moments of silence, he asks, “So, what do you need in Books for Keeps?”

  “I work there,” I tell him.

  His eyebrows lift way up.

  “You what? A luna, working? Has a . . . job? Did our alpha agree to this?”

  “He doesn’t need to agree to anything I do.” I almost snap but try to contain myself.

  “Sorry. I just . . . it’s not really right.”

  I frown as I try to decide if I should hit this guy or not for saying that.

  “If Lance is working, I can too.” Hopefully, this sounds logical enough for this narrow-minded buffoon.

  “I mean the alpha is working and is already rich. Why do you have to work at some lowly bookstore?”

  “I need to start somewhere,” I tell him, now fully annoyed. “Don’t tell me you think that lunas should just be caring and nurturing?” It’s fine that we do nurture, but we could do so much more. That shouldn’t be the only thing that are allowed to do. And why can’t alphas be nurturing too? Besides, luckily, Lance thinks I’m above him. I don’t see it that way, but Lance truly does. I can do whatever I want, and Lance will probably be fine with it.

  Tomas clears his throat as he parks in front of the bookstore. “I mean, well, yeah.”

  “If your alpha doesn’t have a problem with it, I don’t think you should either.” With that, I hop out the car and call out to him. “Thanks!” Really, I just want to slap some logic into him.

  ***

  Beth is such a sweetheart, honestly. It’s not even the southern accent or charm that she has. She tells me it’s not a problem that I’m late. If I need a ride, I can just call her anytime. I tell her that me being late is never going to happen again.

  Right now, I’m assigned to arrange a new order of books in alphabetical order. An old woman walks through the door and comes to me.

  She smiles up at me, touching my face. I don’t know what to make of this, so I just freeze up. She speaks, “Ah, Lance’s mate, are you now?”

  “Y-yes,” I stutter. I really need to know the members of my pack.

  “I knew he would always have one even if it looked impossible.”

  Impossible.

  That was the first word Lance had spoken to me. At that time, I thought it was some kind of rejection. Now, I understand why he said that to me. His horrible father made him truly believe that, made him think it was impossible for him to have a mate.

  “Thanks for believing in that.” I smile at her. She chuckles and looks around to find some books.

  ***

  I make sure Cole is the one to pick me up from a long, tiring day of work, so I don’t have to encounter any weirdo pack members named Tomas.

  “Do you know a guy named Tomas?” I ask Cole.

  Cole mulls it over for a second. “Tomas? Yes. Why do you ask?”

  “He drove me to work,” I reply.

  Cole nods slightly.

  “Well, I want to ask you what you think of lunas working?”

  Cole shrugs. “It’s completely fine. My mate did.”

  Cole never really talks about his mate that poisoned him and betrayed him with that ugly murderer Alpha Steven. I see why he doesn’t. I wouldn’t.

  “Cool. Were you for it?”

  Cold nods. “I suggested a place for her, and she loved it.”

  “Well, Tomas doesn’t think it’s a good idea. I don’t know. He gives off weird vibes,” I tell him.

  “A lot of wolves think like that,” Cole says. “You just have to educate him about how you can do both, and it’s none of his concern.” Cole casts me a sidelong glance. “Want me to talk to him?”

  Cole will one hundred percent scare that guy to death.

  “I will educate him the next time I see him.”

  When we arrive home, I almost make Cole carry me to my room because my feet hurt. I spent eight hours on my feet, only getting a thirty-minute break.

  Barely making it to my bed, I lay on my back and remind myself why I’m doing this. The credit card Lance had given me from the beginning is on my nightstand, where I will not be tempted to use it. He wants me to use it, but why do I feel so guilty and a complete and total free-loading bum when I do?! However, the minimum wage I get from my job isn’t going to help with anything. Some money is better than no money and maybe I can use it if ever I need to run away.

 
; I can also save it for a car . . .

  “Arghhhh!” I grab the pillow next to me and throw it mindlessly near my door. I freeze when it hits Lance’s face as he opens my door. The sight of Lance just standing there, looking a little stunned, makes me actually chuckle a little.

  “Isn’t this how you broke your previous phone? By throwing it?” Lance asks, a hint of humor clear in his tone. I don’t care if it’s childish, I stick out my tongue at him. Lance makes his way towards me. “Are you alright?”

  “No!” I say honestly, then groan at how much my feet hurt.

  “I know you want this job,” Lance says. “I’m not going to force you to give it up but what hurts?”

  “My feet,” I grumble, covering my face with my forearm. I feel a dip near the edge of my bed, and I peek under my arm.

  “What shoes did you wear?” he asks me.

  “My ugly Keds,” I answer as I continue to lay on my back. Let’s be real. Keds are ugly.

  “Hmm. That’s why they hurt. I can massage them.”

  I perk up a little. “You don’t have to . . .”

  The tone of my voice gives away what I really want. Lance puts my feet on his lap, then kneads them expertly. I almost groan embarrassingly from the feeling of complete bliss

  “Maybe you should get yourself something more comfortable to wear, something that has memory foam underneath. I can buy it for you tomorrow morning before you go to work,” Lance says.

  That’s so thoughtful of him. “Thank you.”

  “Anything for you,” Lance says, his hands rubbing my feet in circular motions.

  I take a deep breath and close my eyes. I try to reflect if my job is really worth the foot pain. I will prosper, however. I can do this. Here I am trying to not be dependent, but who was I kidding? Why am I trying to do this? I know I can’t be overly dependent, but will I be paying rent? Does Lance pay rent? I’m pretty sure he owns this pack-house-mansion-place.

  “You’re thinking too hard on this job thing,” Lance tells me gently as if he can read my mind.