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Thank you for readingFeisty Firebirds. An expanded version of the story will be released in July 2024. Be on the lookout for bonus scenes and epilogues in future newsletters.
For more stories set in the Avalon Vale world, check outMaid for Her Snow Beastand the companion series,Greetings From Monster Town.
If you want to read more monster romances, check outA Cherry on Top(https://books2read.com/monstrousappetites1) which is part of the Monstrous Appetites, a slice of life, date night with bite series.
Keep reading for an excerpt fromMaid for Her Snow Beast…
Maid for her snow beast
Chapter 1
Valiana Seitta
I don’t recognizethe person looking back at me in the mirror. My pin straight black hair is gone. Instead, it falls in waves around my shoulders in long layers with highlights that the stylist calls a balayage.
Except it just looks streaky to me.
The teeny-bopper standing behind my chair tousles my hair, so it ripples in the light. “What do you think?”
That I look like a try-hard, pick-me reliving her high school “Asian Baby Girl” phase. “It looks a little lighter than we agreed upon, don’t you think?” Instead of the soft caramel look I chose from her many swatches, my hair is various shades of blonde—from spun gold at my root to the ash-silver tips on my ends.
What’s worse is there are darker sections of hair in my under layers peeking through. Great. I’ll match my brindled mastiff’s coat.
That’s what I get when I opt to go to the beauty academy rather than fork over hundreds for the luxe salon my boss uses.
“Oh, for sure it’s lighter, but this works so much better for the look you’re going for. And if you totally don’t dig it, then we can always warm it up.”
“And how long will that take?” I ask.
“Oh, just another hour or two. Do you want me to get started mixing more colors?”
It took two days to double process my naturally jet black hair because I couldn’t spend an entire day just on my hair. I would be tempted to shave my entire head and opt for wigs if I stay here much longer.
I put on my brightest smile. “Oh no, I was just curious. For the future.”
She nods. “I get it. See? Didn’t I say that once you start coloring your hair, you won’t go back?”
You got the “won’t go back,” part right. “You did say that.”
“Do you want me to curl your hair?”
I vigorously shake my head no. “I have to get going to work anyway, so it’ll be wasted.”
“That makes sense. I’ll add a bit of shine serum to protect your ends and we’ll be good to go.”
I at least let her do that. It’s like arguing with my mom. It’s easier to just agree with her and do my own thing later rather than try to fight it in the moment.
She rings up my transaction, continuing to gush over my hair with some of the other girls there. I give her a tip, for which she hugs me and hands over a bag full of samples. By the time I get into my car, I’m worn out.
I flip down my visor and check myself out in the mirror. In natural light, it doesn’t look that bad. I at least don’t look as sallow and washed out as I did in the salon’s lighting. Besides, I wanted to be unrecognizable, and that’s exactly what she delivered.
I gather my hair and finger comb it up into a high ponytail. With a few twists, it becomes a no-nonsense bun balanced on the crown of my head.
I take my planner out of my tote bag and open it up to my vision board page. Pictures of beautiful mountain cabins, forests, lakes plaster the double page spread. I trace the words “Avalon Vale” and “Welcome to Your New Home” that I painstakingly scrapbooked and mod podged onto the page.
On the back, I have an image of a savings jar with the amounts I’ve deposited into my savings account for nearly a year. Soon, I’ll have enough for a down payment on a home. As soon as someone in the Avalon Vale Chamber of Commerce reads my application, they’ll accept me. I know it.
