Page 114 of The Alpha's Fated Destiny

I open my eyes and come face-to-face with Tina, Elsa’s daughter. The same girl broke Sophia’s heart by betraying her and putting her mother in a coma.

“You!”

I would have sounded more menacing if my voice wasn’t so hoarse.

“You can thank me later,” Tina sneers at me. “We have to get out of here. Those guards are going to wake up any minute.”

I look in the direction she’s pointing and see a couple of unconscious shifters on the ground. I can smell their blood, but they're beginning to stir.

Tina scrambles to her feet and begins running. I have no choice but to follow after her. I don’t know where I am, but there is something about this place that bothers me.

My strength is beginning to return, and I shift. Grabbing her by the back of her shirt, I toss the witch in the air, and she falls on my back. I ignore her cry of pain and keep running. Her fingers dig into my fur for dear life, and I want to recoil from disgust. As I run through the forest, I begin to recognize this area, and I come to a halt.

No.

I know this place. This is…

I’m standing at the edge of an abandoned town. I thought Karina had developed this place.

I begin heading into the town, ignoring Tina’s protests. When I come to a stop, she rolls off my back. I then shift into my human form, looking around, bewildered.

My hometown. Karina seized this land and always told me how she built a resort here. She never did anything to this place.

“Why are you stopping here?” Tina demands. “Karina’s men will be following us!”

“Shut up!” I say roughly, my eyes on a building in the distance. I know the urgency of the situation, but I walk toward it, my steps uneven.

The door of the house is broken. As I walk in, I recognize the burn marks on the furniture.

My childhood home.

No wonder Karina was convinced nobody would find me here.

I can’t help myself.

I head to my parents’ bedroom, and a thick ball of emotion gets stuck in my throat as I see a familiar ratty-looking blanket hanging off the bed. I used to climb under it at night when I wanted to sleep with them.

The room has been destroyed. It’s not the destruction that comes from years of abandonment, but the kind that is the result ofmalicious destruction. Everything is shattered and broken. I see something sticking out from under the bed and I crouch down to pick it up.

It’s a photograph.

The frame is cracked and layered with dust.

I wipe it with my hands, and I see my parents smiling at each other, their hands on my shoulders.

My legs nearly buckle.

This is the first photograph I’ve seen of my parents ever since they died. Karina destroyed all the other photographs, but she forgot this one. I leave it there, tucking it back under the bed. I’ll come back for it.

My room is untouched, but as I head outside, Tina following me, I see the garden. Everything has rotted away over the years. The ground that had once been lush and green is burned and dead. If I close my eyes, I can see my parents and my uncle standing here watching me and smiling. I can hear their voices in my head.

Overcome with grief, I turn on my heel, walking away.

“What? What the hell was that all about?” Tina demands, trailing after me. “I’m telling you we don’t have time…”

“Do you ever shut up?” I raise my voice at her.

Tina blocks my path, her eyes flashing. “I just saved your life! You don’t get to speak to me in that tone! You owe me!”

---