Twice Bitten (New Moon #1)

by Belle Harper

“Let me introduce the boys. This is Joshua.” Grayson pointed to the little boy clinging to me. “And the other two rascals are Harry and Jaxon.” They looked like they could be brothers, real ones. Harry had dark red curls, a sprinkling of freckles across his nose, and big blue eyes, whereas Jaxon had a more auburn-colored curls and hazel eyes. They didn’t smile, and you could see in their body language that they wanted to be as far away as they could from Raff. When no one said anything, Jack leaned over and took Joshua’s hand from my arm. Finally, I was able to get some bacon, eggs, and toast onto my plate. I could hear Joshua sniffle again. “Are you okay?” I asked. He gave me a puzzled look and turned to Jack. “She don’t smell like no shi—” Jack’s hand was over his mouth before he could finish. I slid away from them, and the sudden movement had my heart racing and my hands shaking. Was he going to say I smelled like shit? I know my jeans weren’t the best, but I showered. Jack removed his hand just as fast as he put it there, and he looked like he was in shock that he had reacted that way “Oh, Alexis. It’s not what it looks like. He just… He forgot his manners, is all.” I could see him look down to Joshua as he apologized, but that still made me uneasy. There was a tense silence in the room. I looked out the window into the backyard, trying to distract myself from what just happened. The sky was gray, and there was a forest that backed onto their yard. The trees swayed gen...