Seduced by Darkness by Alex Lux Read Free Book Online Page B

reminded me of that."
    "I'm learning pretty fast, aren't I?"
    Beleth let the rabbit run free, and his smile disappeared. "Don't get cocky. Tonight, we fight again."

T HIRTEEN
     
Strongly Loves
     
R OSE
     

     
     
    Who dotes, yet doubts, suspects, yet strongly loves!
    — William Shakespeare, Othello
     
     
    I LEFT MY shifting class with Talon, excited that I came closer to 'getting it.' With thoughts split between the computer design class I was about to teach and the shifting I'd been working so hard at, I didn't hear Ocean walk up behind me and pull my ponytail.
    "Ouch!" I turned and smacked her arm. "Bitch."
    She grinned, her copper hair gleaming in the sun, green eyes mischievous as always.
    I hugged her hard. "I've missed you. Seems like I haven't seen or talked to you in forever."
    She frowned, linking arms with me as we walked back to the mansion. "I know. I'm sorry. I've been working with IPI."
    "How is it? Still trying to decide if you want to take up their offer to join?"
    "Yeah. I'm not sure. I love the idea, but it's so… rigid, with all these rules and shit. Not sure it's my thing."
    "What will you do instead? Stay here?" A girl could hope.
    She pinched my arm. "Nah, this place isn't for me either. But we're family. I'll always come back."
    We passed Derek's martial arts class, which had doubled in size with Bishop Alaric and Paul teaching half of it. "When did Alaric start working with the kids?" Seeing him sparring and taking time to work one-on-one with students was… shocking.
    "I don't know. That man surprises me sometimes."
    I waved to Derek, who smiled at me. We weren't fighting anymore, not really, but we still hadn't had time to talk.
    "Uh-oh, trouble in paradise?" Ocean always could read my moods.
    I told her about Ryder.
    She whistled under her breath. "That's intense. But Rose, I gotta say, you married an Alpha. Literally. You can't try to tame him. He's going to have different values than you."
    It surprised and irritated me that she took his side in this. "But murder? This isn't like the toilet paper debate or whether he replaces the cap on the toothpaste," neither of which we ever fought over.
    "No, but it's not like he's out there killing kittens and babies. Ryder nearly killed Drake, and he's certainly killed others in the past, likely other innocents. I may not have done what he did, but I get it."
    We entered the mansion and Ocean walked me to my class, which was already full of mostly eager students. I turned to her before entering. "I'll think about what you said. Don't be a stranger, okay?"
    She kissed my cheek. "Promise. Now, I gotta jam, I have double guard duty today."
    Throughout the class my mind kept drifting to my shifting, to the morality of Derek taking a life, to the threat of the Beast—so many major life stresses that teaching design seemed silly. At least Derek was teaching the kids something that could really help protect them.
    I knew this scattered mind of mine was keeping me from being effective in my shifting, so after class I found a spot under a tree to meditate and quiet it, but I didn't get much time alone before Sam sat next to me, staring up at the sky as I finished my meditation.
    She smiled when I opened my eyes. "Sorry to disturb you, but I was hoping to catch you alone."
    "Sure, what's up?"
    "I wanted to thank you for saving my life. It's always been frustrating to have such a passive ability when it comes to fights and conflict. This isn't the first time I've felt useless in a fight."
    "I didn't exactly use my powers to help much. I couldn't. I don't even know why the Beast left, but it likely had nothing to do with me."
    "Still, you put yourself in between me and the Beast. That you couldn't shift made it even more significant of a sacrifice." She fidgeted on the ground and frowned. "Since I became a mother, everything has been about Ana. I don't want to die, of course, but now, I have to live. I can't leave her alone in this world."
    I couldn't imagine