Monster in My Bed

Chapter Thirty-Four | Dead People Smell

My eyes were fixated on the smoldering fire just feet in front of me. I flinched every so often when it would make a loud crack as if it were my own skin being melted away by the flames. The smell of burning flesh prevented me from smelling anything else. To most people, the smell alone would have been enough to make a person nauseated. For me, I couldn't stop thinking about how this could be my fate if Adrian Rache gets his hands on me. That's what sent my stomach into total knots.

I'm sure the thought of me burning in Hell just wouldn't be enough for him.

"Come on, Alpha. It's not good to breathe all this in for too long," one of Matteo's pack members said, patting me on the shoulder. His name was Jared. Matteo put him in charge of burning the bodies of the two wolves that attacked us. Jack's mate, who we still had yet to put a name to, was being held in a holding cell. If it were up to Matteo and I, she too would be in that burning pile of bodies. Jack made it very clear that we would have to throw him into that pile, as well, if that were to happen, though. Therefore, she has now become our new pet.

Matteo was supposed to be the one to assist Jared with the cremation, but I told him that I was more than capable of doing so. He had more important things to deal with than babysitting dead people.

Besides, Jared was a pretty cool guy. He talked a lot about his kids. It's nice to know some fathers care about their children.

"What if the flames spread?" I asked, already knowing how difficult it is to put out a spreading fire. This was certainly not my first rodeo.

"They won't. Come on." He patted my shoulder lightly before turning around, making his way toward the pack house. I sighed, allowing my gaze to reside on the two corpses for a moment longer before following Jared.

"What now?" I asked, jogging to catch up to him. He shrugged his shoulders carelessly.

"Lunch."

The fingers on my right hand drummed on the table while my left hand swirled the bright red liquid inside of my glass. My attention was focused on a sporadic arrangement of letters all slammed together in a square on a newspaper that I had found.

Mine now.

"Elbow...elbow..." I chanted to myself repeatedly as I searched through the letters for what felt like the hundredth time in the past half hour. I wasn't great at word searches, but that didn't stop me from trying. "Where the hell is elbow?" I growled lowly in irritation.

"Your elbow is that pointy thing in the middle of your arm, genius," a voice chided causing my fingers to cease their movements. I raised my head from my puzzle and glared at the tall blonde at the entrance of the kitchen.

"I'm doing a puzzle," I noted, taking a quick drink of my fruit punch. Without a word, Daniella walked over to me, leaned over the table, and within seconds pointed to a row of letters.

"Elbow."

I about flipped the entire table.

"F—k!" In anger, I picked up my pen and scribbled aggressively over the entire puzzle to the point that the letters were no longer visible. Once I felt accomplished, I pushed the paper away to the other end of the table and threw the pen down with it. "I f—king hate puzzles."

"Mmhm. I can see," Daniella hummed with her brows raised. She took in a deep breath, looking as if she was going to turn around and leave, but froze. Her eyes narrowed on me, leaning closer. "You smell weird." My brows drew themselves together in confusion.

"Well," I drug out slowly, thinking of a reason why, "I did just assist in the burning of two corpses, so yea, I probably got the dead people smell." Daniella shook her head, still seeming confused.