Bitten: Dominated By His Inner Beast Read Online Free Page B

of my staff. See if any of
the guests have seen anything, or perhaps have lost an exotic pet. We
have strict rules about not introducing anything nonindigenous into
the wildlife but that doesn’t mean guests don’t try to
circumvent the rules because they just can’t be parted from
their pets. I will hopefully have an answer for the two of you
shortly.”
    “Thank you,” Alexa said, mostly meaning it as she
slumped forward on the counter. The nearest hospital was over two
fucking hours away and depending on how Seth’s condition
progressed, trapping herself in a car with him could turn deadly
really fucking fast. He hadn’t shown any actual desire for
human flesh, but the scenting thing was nearly as concerning. With
his fever, he had become more unhinged, his muscles noticeably
larger, his expression strangely fierce. It was unsettling to see on
her normally goofy friend and she could only assume that whatever was
pumping through his veins had some sort of animalistic properties to
it.
    The same way a cursed werewolf could turn a human raving mad with
just a bite, there were an assortment of magical beings out there
that could do the same. The only saving grace being the effect was to
lesser degrees and lacked a transformation versus a cursed bite.
There was no way it had been a werewolf—even transformed, the
fuckers were huge. But something small and the equivalent of
magically rabid—She would stake Seth’s life on her belief
that he had come across such a being and it had infected him with one
damn bite.
    “You don’t have any magic users in the area, do you?”
Alexa asked, forcing herself away from her gloomy thoughts. “Maybe
a guild library with healing texts?”
    “I’m afraid we don’t have any with the magical
gift living here—Well, none that practice,” Mr. Baristone
added with a grim smile.
    Alexa nodded, understanding completely. Magic was a rich person’s
privilege. Sure, there were more than a few people with latent
abilities but they would never have access to the spell books and
instruments available to those that hoarded them like precious
jewels. Some, if they were charismatic or willing to whore themselves
to the highest bidder, could get themselves a patron to pay for their
magical schooling, but they were always owned from that moment, their
magic at their patron’s beck and call no matter how terrible
the deeds may be asked of them. Because of it, magic and the spells
that crafted it, were guarded fiercely. Alexa wouldn’t be
finding anything of actual use on the Internet.
    “If you like, I can have someone help you get Mr. Steven’s
up to your room. Tomorrow morning we can have one of the company vans
take you. Just in case he’s uncooperative.”
    Alexa glanced again over her shoulder, then back. Instead of
pitching her voice low to match the manager’s, she spoke up,
directing her question to her friend. “Seth, you going to kill
me in my sleep?”
    Seth, for his part, considered it a long moment. “I’m
not feeling violent. Dizzy. A whole lot of dizzy.”
    The manager gave her a stern look. “If he’s already
infected, you cannot full trust—”
    “It’s fine. Seth would kill himself before he ever let
himself hurt me,” Alexa said flatly. “Just get him
upstairs and I’ll see you in the morning.”
    Sighing in defeat, Mr. Baristone nodded and picked up the phone.
“Will you at least allow me to set up a blood alarm in the
room?”
    Alexa raised a brow, glancing back again at where Seth was
resting, the boy’s large hands clutching at a pillow. His
muscles were definitely looking larger, although thankfully no sign
of claws or fangs. Still, some transformations took longer than
others…
    “Fine. Just in case.”
    If it wasn’t used for her because her best friend had gone
psycho from the bite, it might save Seth if he started bleeding out
in the middle of the night. Alexa could only hope that they wouldn’t
need it at all.

Chapter Three

    They decided a