Page 39 of Cruel Alpha Beast
Sawyer makes a humming noise in his throat. “Then what does this mean for me?”
“We just received a message from Penelope. She said she’ll request a meeting with you to discuss the incident. I think she told us so we could warn you in advance. Maybe that’s a sign that she’s on our side?”
“Thank you, Danielle,” Sawyer says.
Before another word can be spoken, there’s a loud gust of wind. It’s so powerful that it lifts open one of the living room windows, and in blows a scroll of parchment directly into Sawyer’s hands.
“There it is,” I say. “Danielle, promise me you and Monroe will stay safe tonight?”
“I promise. We’ve been throwing back coffee like you wouldn’t believe.”
There’s a click and then silence on the other line. I tuck my phone back into the pocket of my bathrobe and look at Sawyer, who’s staring cautiously at the scroll in his grasp.
“It’s okay,” I tell him. “Just open it.”
He nods, then unfurls the scroll before him. The inky letters lift slowly from the page, disintegrating before his eyes, and then a familiar woman’s voice begins speaking.
“Sawyer of the Valley, you are hereby summoned to the thicket. Meet me there posthaste. There are many questions that need many answers.”
“That’s Penelope’s voice, alright,” I mutter, my brow furrowing. “But what was she talking about?”
Sawyer heaves a great sigh, then cracks his neck. “After whatever divided the witches and the wolves all those years ago, the alphas and coven leaders designated an area in the woods as a neutral meeting spot in the forest, just in case they needed to speak to each other. Jasper, Ellis, and I were all told where it was when we were sworn in as alphas. I’m sure this Penelope of yours was as well when she took over the coven.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” I say, pulling out my phone again. “Let me call Greg and see if he can babysit while Shea sleeps. I’ll get dressed, and then we can go, okay?”
“No, Lacey,” my husband tells me. “As much as I would love to have you by my side, by decree, I must get to the thicket as soon as I possibly can. I can’t wait for Greg to get here, and I can’t walk as a human. I have to run as a wolf, and I have to go now.”
My heart feels heavy. If only I weren’t so defective. If only I could shift like him.
I could be with him. I could see Penelope.
And now that my heart is beating for Sawyer again, being apart from him in a time like this is going to hurt. Deeply. But I have to be strong. I’m an alpha’s wife, damn it.
“Okay,” I murmur in response. I lean forward and kiss him on his scruffy cheek. “Be safe, Sawyer.”
He nods. “I will.”
“Penelope is firm,” I add, not quite as much a warning as it was an expectation set. “She’s firm, but she’s also fair. I’m sure everything will be okay. But good luck.”
Sawyer nods his head once again. There’s something I want to tell him, but I just can’t let it leave my mouth. So, instead, I follow him into the kitchen and open the front door for him. He kisses my lips before shifting into his large, chestnut-brown wolf form and darts off into the darkness, slipping away outside of the streetlamp’s light.
Chapter 16 - Sawyer
Wind whips at my fur as I hurtle through the forest. Though I’ve only been to this thicket once, taken there by my father as he passed the torch over to me, the directions are seared into my brain.
A left at the rock that looks like the state of Michigan.
A right at the tree with the eagle carved into its side.
Going straight down the middle of the paths, shaped like a pitchfork.
Finally, I reach the thicket. A vast array of sticks and shrubbery guards the entrance, but I know it’s only an illusion. I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and then step through. The magic lightly hums in my ears, warmth tickling my fur, and then, nothing. I open my eyes and find myself inside a small, earthy dome, lit only by a few candles, sitting on a round table.
Two spindly chairs rest on either side of the table, but one is already occupied when I get there. An old woman sits, draped in layers of shimmering silk. Her silver hair has been pulled into a neat bun at the back of her head, and with her pinched face, she looks incredibly severe.
Until she smiles down at me. “Hello,” she says, her voice reminding me of my grandmother, who has long since passed.
I shift back to my human form, coming to stand on my two feet, then nod my head back at her.
