ALICE

  Rosalie gred at Alice, her anger radiating through the room. She was moments away from pulling Isabel's clothes off when Alice barged in, uninvited.

  Alice stood frozen, her back pressed against the wall, wide-eyed and pale. She couldn’t prehend what she was seeing—Isabel, with her otherworldly beauty and eerie ess, Isabel was unlike anything Alice had ever seen before. What is she, a monster or some type of supernatural being? Regret hit her instantly. She shouldn’t have barged into the room without knog.

  Meanwhile, Isabel was rexed, her sharp features soft with amusement. Rosalie’s anger sparked something deep within her—a thrill that only made her love Rosalie even more, as impossible as that seemed. A mischievous smirk spread across Isabel’s lips. She made a mental o see if she could make Rosalie angry ter.

  “I’m waiting, Alice,” Rosalie snapped, her voice slig through the tense silence. “What’s so important that you couldn’t knock or wait until you see me?”

  Alice stammered, her words caught ihroat as her gaze kept darting to Isabel. “I—I—I…”

  “Hey, Alice,” Rosalie tried again, trying to break Alice’s daze. Beside her, Isabel chuckled—a low, sultry sound that sent shivers down Alice’s spine. Isabel hadn’t met ahis terrified of her in ages and it was exg to see.

  Rosalie sighed, exasperated. She turo Isabel, her annoyaempered by affe. “Im going to talk to Alice, please give me a moment.”

  “ I at least take a limb or two first?” Isabel asked, her tone half-joking, half-serious.

  “What?!” Alice gasped, her horror palpable.

  Rosalie shook her head at her mate, suppressing a smile. “I’ll be right outside,” she said, grabbing Alice’s arm and leading her out of the room. She shut the door firmly behind them.

  “Okay, Alice, talk,” Rosalie demanded, her anger renewed.

  Alice sighed, casting a nervous g the closed door, she was trembling, which caught Rosalie's eyes. “What is Isabel?” she asked quietly.

  Rosalie’s expression softened for the first time as she noticed how terrified her sister was. Gently, she pced a f hand on Alice’s trembling shoulder. “Oh, Alice…” Rosalie murmured, pulling her sister into a tight hug.

  “She might look…different,” Rosalie tinued, her toient. “But she’s a good person once you get to know her. Isabel is a demon, but she’s not a bloodthirsty killer.”

  “Does she eat souls?” Alice whispered, her head resting against Rosalie’s chest.

  Rosalie burst into ughter. “No, she doesn’t! At least…” She paused, suddenly thoughtful. “You know, I haven’t asked her. It didn’t y mind. But even if she did, it wouldn’t matter. I’ve accepted her for who and what she is—just as she’s accepted me.”

  Rosalie stepped back, ending the hug. “Now, Alice, what did you want to tell me?”

  Alice fidgeted nervously, wringing her hands. “Well, I wao ask if you’d go shopping with me.”

  Rosalie raised an eyebrow. “That’s what was so important?”

  “I didn’t get to pack all my clothes,” Alice expined quickly. “And I thought you might need some, too. So, I came to ask.”

  “You mean to tell me,” Rosalie hissed, her voice low and dangerous, “that you barged into my mate’s room to ask if I could go shopping?”

  Alice squeaked under Rosalie’s gre. “Well…yes. And it was important!”

  Rosalie took a threatening step forward, and Alistinctively stepped back. Then Rosalie stopped, taking a calming breath. She reminded herself that this was Alice—her eternally excitable sister, who lost all sense of reason whenever shopping was involved.

  “Alice,” Rosalie said with forced patience, “I’ll go shopping with you tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?” Alice protested.

  Rosalie’s gre sharpened.

  “Okay, okay! Tomorrow,” Alice ceded, her hands raised defensively. “And I’m…sorry for interrupting you and your mate.”

  “Just don’t do it again,” Rosalie said firmly as she opehe door.

  “What if it’s important?” Alice asked, testing the waters.

  “Alice,” Rosalie said sternly.

  “Okay, okay! I’m leaving!” Alice excimed, disappearing downstairs in a blur.

  Rosalie stepped bato the room and closed the door behind her, log it this time.

  “Yes, I eat souls,” Isabel said, her voice casual.

  Rosalie blinked in surprise. “You heard that?”

  “My hearing surpasses even a vampire’s,” Isabel replied smoothly.

  Rosalie smiled, walking toward her mate. She stood ooes and ed her arms around Isabel’s neck, their eyes meeting.

  “Then you know I don’t care that you eat souls,” Rosalie said softly. “You’re my mate, and I love you.”

  “I love you too,” Isabel replied, pulling Rosalie into a deep kiss.