Page 56 of Psycho Shifters

“Wow, that was a lot.” A shaggy blue head popped around the curtain next to me.

I jumped and guiltily shoved my hand into my sweatshirt. My heart beat erratically, as I was terrified that I had been caught doing something I shouldn’t have.

I had a feeling Cobra didn’t know I had one of his snakes, and I didn’t want to have to give the little guy up.

“The alphas were growling and staring at you with such intensity that it made me overwhelmed, and I was in the sickbed next to you.” The boyish-looking beta grinned at me, and I couldn’t help but grin back.

He was all lanky limbs. Atop his head, he had electric-blue hair. I had never seen such a color in my life.

Physically, he was my polar opposite. Where I was golden with white hair, he was pale with aqua hair. I was built small and compact, and he was built lanky with long legs. His aqua-blue eyes were startling, like a crisp lake at the bottom of a mountain.

In contrast, I had been told my red eyes were horrifying. Like staring into the rumored hell realm.

I tried to live up to that analogy, but it was hard to be a badass all the time.

“They are a lot. Like I’m completely fine, but Jax still dragged me here like a caveman.” There was something about the beta that immediately put me at ease. I wanted to share things with him. Which was weird for me.

He whistled and came around the curtain.

Up close, he was about a head taller than me, with long skinny muscles. His frame was narrow.

He was the leanest beta I had ever seen. In general, most betas were built wide and bulky. Alphas were even larger and bulkier. Except for me.

“I’m Sadie.” I tried to cough to clear the roughness from my throat. As I held out my right hand, the shadow snake zinged around my left one. I was glad it stayed hidden.

“I’m Aran, a recently discovered beta.” He shook my hand firmly, like he was trying to impress me with his handshake.

Between him shaking my hand like I was some important person and the snake zipping around my arm with joy, I smiled and barely swallowed a giggle.

As we shook for an unnecessarily long time, I noticed that Aran’s hand was thin but rough, and covered in calluses. He might have been a new beta, but he hadn’t lived an easy life.

“I just wanted to thank you for what you did during the battle. If you hadn’t gone after it, we would have failed. Rumor has it we get punished for every fae creature we fail to apprehend,” Aran whispered conspiratorially.

“Really?” Leave it to the oligarchy to punish people after they’d just fought for them in a war. They really were pussies.

Aran perched himself on the end of my bed and whispered like he was sharing a big secret, “I’m not…big on the war.”

He was feeling as out of place as I did. All the alphas took everything so seriously. It was nice to find someone who had similar energy.

I didn’t know if it was the shocking aqua mop on his head, his smaller stature, or the feminine softness of his features, but I found myself wanting to trust him.

“I’m not into it either. Something is going on with the oligarchy, and I’m not sure I believe their story about the fae,” I whispered so quietly that only he could hear.

I thought back to the battle. The spider thing had definitely been violent, but it hadn’t gone out of its way to kill any of us. In fact, it had acted more like it wanted to kidnap Ascher than attack us.

Aran looked up at me with an expression close to awe on his face. “I feel exactly the same way. Thank the sun god I came over to talk to you.” His brilliant white teeth made him seem even younger.

“So how has the shifter realm hurt you?” I asked him.

Instead of sadness like I had expected, Aran’s turquoise eyes danced with humor.

Some people were broken by bad circumstances. Others embraced their shitty lots and used it to terrorize the world. He was definitely in the latter category, and I aspired to be like that.

“Awful null parents worked me like a dog on a farm and tried to exploit me when I turned into a beta.” He grimaced when he said “parents,” his eyes clouding over with hate. However, he shook off the emotions and rolled his eyes dramatically. “How about you?”

“Orphaned and raised by a beta innkeeper that used me as his own personal whipping post. Also, I just found out I’m the first female alpha and can turn into a saber-toothed tiger, which you saw.”

Aran’s eyes rounded with horror, and silently I cursed myself. I had never told anyone about the beatings or scars. Now he would treat me like I was broken.