Mated to the Alpha and His Beta (Lanie Stanton) novel Chapter 475

Chapter 475
Stella

I could hardly hold back my giggles as I raced down the hallway toward my bedroom. I dodged a few of the house staff who gave me odd looks, but they didn’t try to stop me. By the time I got upstairs, I was out of breath.

I was still getting used to having my own room that wasn’t joined to my parents’ or my siblings’ or grandma’s. My room was small but precious for being so private, tucked up away in an attic space with sloping ceilings and a view that took my breath away. Now I flew through the door and tossed myself on the bed, mindful of the bottle of wine I kept gripped in one hand.

I rolled onto my back and let out another long string of giggles as I felt myself shift back into Stella’s shape. Papa had looked right at me without guessing who I really was. A hot flood of guilt washed over me, but I felt good, too. If my Papa didn’t recognize me, nobody else was going to.

I sat up and looked at the bottle of wine. I had been planning to try some before going out later. I didn’t want my first time drinking to be alone in a bar, just in case my body couldn’t tolerate it. I was going to be in an entire different body shape, which would be hard enough to handle without also being unexpectedly hammered. Of course, I knew I didn’t have to drink at all…but I wanted to.

Now that I knew this face and body could fool even one of my fathers, I wanted to try everything that life could offer me. Drinking, dancing, flirting with strangers. All of it.

First, though, a glass of wine. Just one, while I freshened up my hair and makeup. I’d already looked up the bars in town to make sure they were close enough that I could get there easily without needing to ask my parents to borrow a car.

I didn’t even know how to drive.

“Stella?”

I jumped up and off the bed at the knock on my door. The bottle of wine in my hand suddenly felt very heavy. I set it on the desk with a thump. “Come in!”

My mom poked her head around the doorframe. “Just checking in on you.”

“I’m fine.”

She frowned. “You look a little flushed. Are you—”

“I’m fine,” I said again, more firmly this time. I cleared my throat and softened my tone as her eyebrows raised. “Sorry. I just…I’m really okay.”