Always Choose Dare

Chapter 6 - Read a Book

Marek and I found the library where the clerk from the gentlemen’s clothing shop had instructed us to go. Only having an hour before it closed for the night, I asked the librarian where one might find books about the Moon Goddess. To my surprise, she smirked, then giggled as though I were the fool of a king’s court! I know the humans are not followers of the Goddess, but the disrespect was astounding!

Sure enough, the librarian gathered approximately ten books, made an account for me with a card, and told me that I must return the books within a fortnight. It amazed me how quickly she managed to find texts regarding the Moon Goddess, given her initial reaction to my request! Overall, it pleased me that my idea of finding a library ended up benefiting us. With this many texts, I’m sure one will direct us to the nearest temple. I couldn’t help but feel a bit smug at my immediate success!

Before leaving, I inquired about a place to stay. The librarian directed me to a hotel in another section of the city, which I’ve come to learn is called Roystonea. As we neared the hotel, the air carried the smell of salt and the sound of waves crashing ashore in the distance. The clerks at the hotel were pleasant and helpful, setting up a room for Marek and me. We stopped at the shop in the hotel to gather other essentials for our stay.

The next morning, Marek and I woke early to begin reading the books we borrowed from the library. After eating the free breakfast provided by the hotel, we each grabbed five books and sat on the lounges outside by the hotel’s pool to read. As I skim the covers of my books, I nearly blush at the risqué portraits of humans and wolves on them.

The first two books are written by the same writer, Star Knightly. Her portrait on the back cover is of her sitting at a desk, her back facing the lens with her profile showing as she looks over her shoulder at the photographer. The light on the desk behind her face makes it challenging to see any real details. Books surround her desk, suggesting she is well-educated.

I open the first book and begin reading. It doesn’t take me long to discover that this book is not one for research; rather, it’s a fictionalized romance s********e of the information is fairly close to the reality of lycans, but the vast majority of it is not. Yet somehow, I find myself continuing to read, wondering what might happen next in this…

“Alpha,” Marek calls out.

My head snaps up so quickly, I’m nearly blinded by the sunlight! I feel heat rushing to my cheeks, wondering if he knew what kind of book mine was.

“Yes, Marek?”

“I think that the keeper of the library may have giggled at you because she thought you were asking for books about mating with werewolves. In my opinion, I believe these may be written for women’s amusement,” he states.

While his motion was covert, I noticed his need to adjust his position, probably fighting arousal at the descriptions of s*x given in these books. I’m having the same issue. Honestly, I have to applaud the man who was involved with this author because these descriptions are damn near enough to get me off completely! It’s obvious that she’s actually experienced them.

“Well, if nothing else, they help us know what humans think about lycans, or as this book calls us, ‘werewolves’. This one even has fae in it,” I share. “What I don’t understand is why the facts are not given. Are these written in mockery? Or do they really not know the realities of our world?”

“Well, the author of my book is named H. O. Tass. If that is his or her real name, then mockery is part of the humans’ lifestyle. And remember, according to The Realms Manual, humans don’t know of the existence of other realms or of their inhabitants,” Marek states.

He’s right. We learned long ago that the gods felt it best that the humans not learn of us since they were the ones who suffered so greatly at the hands of the power-hungry. As they are without innate magic, it only made sense that they’d flourish without knowledge of magical beings. Additionally, the gods stopped making them the fated mates of any magical beings. But if they didn’t know about us, how were the few correct details included in these books?

“I think it would be best to return to the library to see if there are any books that reference the Moon Goddess that are not fictional stories,” I say as I place the book I’d been reading atop the other four.

Standing, I reach my arms above my head to stretch.

“Uh…Daire?” Marek’s voice sounds almost amused.

I look over at him and realize his eyes are much lower on my physique. I glance down and realize that the slight arousal I’d felt earlier had developed into a full-blown erection. f**k!

I look around for a private area only to see a young woman approaching the pool, eyebrows raised and a flirtatious smile present as she takes in my current state of being, no doubt believing it is in response to her micro-bikini. Realizing that I need to put an end to this quickly, I turn to Marek and kiss him square on the lips! This should take care of both issues at hand: the woman no longer believing I find her attractive, and my erection is no longer present after kissing a man that I’ve seen go to bed without flossing his teeth. I shudder in response to that thought!

“Right. To the library, then?” Marek’s bewildered voice grabs my attention.

I see he is rubbing the back of his head with his hand and blushing in embarrassment.

“Yes, come along.”

I curl my finger at him seductively to uphold the appearance of our coupling in front of the now aghast woman. Quickly, I lead us toward the roadway that we had walked the night before.

“Was all of that really necessary?” Marek asks vexedly.

“So now that we have been stuck here for just one day together, you think you should be questioning your alpha?” I raise my voice, pretending to be angry.

“Sorry, Alpha,” he mumbles, scuffing his feet a bit.

I am stuck in the human realm with a child!

“I’m just fuckin’ with you, Marek,” I reassure him. “Look, we’ve known each other for years, trained together, been on missions together, saved each other’s lives. You’re free to question me if you feel it’s necessary! I respect you, Marek.

“Now, enough of this lovey-dovey s**t. Let’s return these books and see if we can find a way home,” I say as I bump my shoulder against his. “And yes, it was totally necessary. That woman looked like my manhood was her choice of breakfast!”

Marek laughs heartily. Somehow, the sound reassures me that we’ll find our way out of this, and that all will work out in the end; because if we can laugh in the midst of struggle, then we’ve already overcome the difficulty.

As we take the next turn along the road, we’re faced with a large crowd. There seems to be a gathering of humans outside one of the large businesses in the city. We can either bypass this road and hope we find another route, or we can do our best to make our way through these humans. Something in me tells me to stay on this path, that I need to be here now.

I lead us close to the buildings, keeping an eye on the crowd as we approach. Once we’re close enough, it is evident that the crowd is primarily women. As we approach the building in front of which they' are standing, we’re battered by angry glances thrown our way from the crowd.

Just as I’m about to ask a way through, a man opens the door and motions for me to enter. I glance back at Marek, who only shrugs in reply. We enter the building, and I quickly discern that it’s a bookstore, but there are no patrons inside.

“Are you two the additional security we asked for? I thought MacMasters said he didn’t have anyone available,” asks the man who let us in, his bulky arms crossed in front of his chest.

“Yeah. We’re security specialists, actually,” I say, feeling my cocky smirk light up my face.

Marek huffs out a quiet laugh in response to what I’ve said.

“Well, we only need you for about an hour. I need one of you at the front door to make sure no nutjob superfans come in carrying weapons. The other will be at the cash registers. If the person buys Ms. Knightly’s book, you will direct them to the roped off area. Make sure that only the first one hundred buyers go to the table! The cashier will hand them a numbered ticket, so it should be easy, but someone might get their book signed and then pass off that ticket to someone else. Accidents happen, but I want none today. Any questions?”

I look over at my beta, who looks utterly confused. “I’ll take the registers. Marek can take the front door to make sure no one comes in carrying weapons,” I volunteer.

“Good. Gig pays cash, fifty an hour. You’ll get paid at the end. Like I said, it probably won’t take more than an hour. This crowd really surprised us! Glad you two could make it,” the man says, relieved.

“And what was your name again?” I ask.

“Johan. We open in three minutes, so you need to get to your posts,” he says before turning toward the back of the store, where there is a section roped off.

For some reason, I feel like I need to go back there.

“Alpha, what the f**k are we doing?” Marek hisses under his breath.

“I don’t know. I feel like I need to be here; not just here, but I feel I need to be back there,” I say, nodding my head toward the area where Johan had walked off.

“What’s with you holding your pendant like that?” Marek asks, his brows furrowed and eyes concerned.

I look down and see my hand is gripping my pendant tightly, as if it were a lifeline and I would be in danger if I were to let go.

“I don’t know.” Trying to brush it off, I shrug my shoulders and release the pendant. “I guess after holding it to guide me twice, I’ve just become accustomed to holding onto it now. We better get in our places. We’ll leave as soon as we do this security thing.”

Marek turns away, but throws me a quick glance out of the side of his eye. It’s obvious he’s reading through my bullshit. I walk over to the area Johan where had directed me, nodding at the ladies behind the desk - cashiers, Johan had called them. This seriously can’t be all too difficult a task to perform!

Almost an hour later, I’m worn out! There are so many women here hoping to be one of the first one hundred to buy this new book by Star Knightly! Some women are wearing fake wolf ears, others are shaking in nervous excitement - it’s as if this Star Knightly is their very own Moon Goddess! I haven’t seen this many women this excited since…well, since the day I turned twenty-five and my father had hosted a celebration, hoping my mate would be in attendance. I don’t know if their excitement is contagious, or if it’s something else, but I have to fight my own body to not follow these women back to the roped off area.

“Excuse me,” one of the cashiers calls out.

I glance up and realize that she is talking to me.

“I only have 98 tickets given out. Two are missing. Could you and your partner go to the back and double check each person’s ticket? These two buyers will stay here with me until we’ve found them.”

Will I go back there? Hell yes, I will! I am almost giddy at the thought.

“Yes, we’ll handle this quickly,” I say, trying my best to sound as professional and respectful as possible without letting my excitement show.

When I make eye contact with Marek, though, I can see that he’s on to me. We both start our walk to the roped off area of the grand store.

“What has gotten into you? Have you forgotten that we need to find a way home and a way to defeat Sid?” Marek whispers.

Just the mention of that name causes my blood to chill.

Sid.

Did any of my team survive? Has he entered another realm? I need to just get these two tickets like I vowed to the cashier, then we need to find our way home.

If only it were that simple!

As we passed a tall shelf of books, the floor opened up to expose the entirety of the roped off area. Then, with one glance at the most stunning set of eyes I had ever seen, my entire existence came into question. My feet stopped and my body went rigid. Marek is saying something, but my ears have chosen to blur his words into mere background noise. All I can hear is my heartbeat. All I can smell is the seductive scent of her pheromones. My eyes absorb every detail of her face, her hair, her body. My hand instinctively finds my pendant and grips it, desperately hoping that it will give me the stability I need because my world has changed in a matter of only a second.

In the center of the roped off area sat the one and only thing that could derail everything: my mate!