Gypsy Freak (All The Pretty Monsters #2)(22)

“How did you end up in the middle of a vampire and wolf fight?” Emit asks me.

“It’s been a long night,” I say again. “I think I’ll hang with the girls while you guys chat vampire stuff. Maybe you can fill him in on the date and how to get me out of it without any of your wolves dying,” I add.

Vance reaches for me too late, because I’m already scurrying out of the room, determined not to talk, in case the memories fade again. I can already feel some of them have faded just from what little bit I’ve almost said.

I’m not actually trying to find the other women. In fact, I’m searching for another door to get out of here and back home, when one of the shortest women actually finds me.

“Here,” she says, startling me as she thrusts out some clothes. “I’m a lot shorter than you, but the blood on that…sheet…is keeping him from calming down,” she goes on.

“I can just go if you’ll show me the escape hatch, and there will be no blood and no more me here to bother anyone,” I say hopefully.

She looks amused, which, I’ve learned, never bodes well for me.

“Your Marta’s niece, right?”

“By marriage,” I tell her, wondering if she also smells my blood.

“You should eat more bitter things. Your blood smells really sweet and probably confuses some of the monsters around here,” she goes on. “Change clothes and join us.”

“Us?” I ask.

“Us. The weak and unimportant,” she explains, causing my eyebrows to go up. “We’re the omegas.”

“Oh, right. Makes sense. But I’m not a wolf,” I remind her.

She snorts derisively. “Clearly. You’re even weaker than us. Get dressed. They’ll be a while.” Her face turns more serious. “And if you have any sway at all with Arion, I can assure you the safest wolves you’ll find are in this house. You’re going to need friends, Violet Carmine. Even weak friends are good to have.”

With that, she turns and walks down a hallway, leaving me with the clothes and a new friend request.

“Maybe monsters should just use Facebook instead of bullying people into weird, suspicious friendships that don’t sound optional,” I mutter petulantly.

I swear I hear her snort.





Chapter 9





VIOLET


The shirt is way too short, and the jeans look like capris. Also, my ass is bigger than hers, so I’m jammed into the clothes the petite woman brought me when I step into the room full of she-wolves…who may or may not try to eat my face.

The massive room is decorated very girly, and I start wondering if this is their room, considering the numerous beds in here.

Emit has a harem.

Did not see that coming.

Blinking out of my surprise, I glance around the room again, spotting the girl who gave me clothes as she waves me over.

Another woman is suddenly right behind me, sniffing my hair. She even lifts it to her nose to sniff it better, and then growls when I try to move.

“Play nice, Tiara. She’s already wary of us,” the petite girl says in annoyance. Then she directs her attention to me. “But if you’re going to be around wolves, the first thing you need to learn is how to tell if a growl is instructional, sexy, or menacing in tone.”

What does one say to something like that?

“So…this is your room?” I ask instead.

She grins. “We stay here because we’re safest here.” Her smile steadily falls. “Wolves aren’t always the nicest males. Omegas…get mistreated if they’re in the wrong circles.”

The girl behind me circles me, taking me in like she’s sizing me up.

“Should I be concerned?”

“In Alpha’s home? Never,” my friendship-extender tells me vaguely. “I’m Leiza, by the way. Tiara is just behind you. Then you have Lemon, Fay, and Mary. Ingrid is hiding.” She points to each woman as she introduces them and gestures around the room on the last name, since one is missing. “She doesn’t like new people, but she’ll warm up if you’re around enough.”

“You saved a lot of wolves tonight. Arion doesn’t handle attacks very well, but Ian wouldn’t have it any other way. And Emit went out of his mind when he caught Arion’s scent,” Tiara tells me as she starts sniffing my hands, lifting them up one at a time. “We’re going to end up in another war if they don’t leave the past in the past.”

Leiza pats the seat beside her, and I carefully extract my hands from Tiara while clearing my throat, and go to sit down. The button on the jeans goes flying off when I do sit, and Leiza snorts, along with a couple of the others.

“Sorry,” Leiza tells me, sounding sincere even through her humor.

“Fits better than some of the things I’ve created, so no worries,” I tell her absently, pulling Damien’s jacket tighter around me to hide my midriff.

Usually it’s mostly flat, but in these jeans, it looks like my belly button has turned into an ass crack.

“Vampires and werewolves fighting is a bit cliché, isn’t it?” I ask, hoping no one gets offended.

One of the women groans. “You have no idea. The wars ended centuries ago, but some of the newer betas missed those days and don’t understand why it would be foolish to ever return,” Mary answers.