Page 59 of Cruel Alpha Beast
“Not that I could see,” I tell him through gritted teeth. “It’s only temporary. We’ll see how it goes in the future. And, I’ll have you know, that granddaughter that you love so much, up until quite recently, was raised in that coven. With Penelope, who, by the way, thinks the world of you. So, maybe you should open your mind a little, huh?”
Clearly not expecting me to snap at him like that, I watch my father get taken aback. He grits his teeth and takes in a heavy sigh. “I trust your judgment, son. You’re a damn good leader. Better than I could ever be.”
I shake my head. “I don’t know about that just yet. We’ll see what the history books say, if we don’t get burned to the ground or all drown in our own blood.”
“Grandpa, Grandpa!” she hollers, rushing into the empty hallway that leads to the door, a piece of paper in her grasp. When she sees me peering over my father’s shoulder, she stops in her tracks, her mouth open wide, her fingers almost releasing the paper in her hand. “Daddy?”
“Hi, sweetheart,” I say, my heart filling as she passes by my father and runs right into my waiting hands.
I lift her up and feel her throw her arms around me. Once she’s nearly squeezed the life out of me with her tiny little biceps, she shows me the piece of paper in her hand.
“I drew you and Mommy. Look!” she says.
And there we are, I with my crown and my triangular shoulders, except now my cape is bigger and flows in the wind like I’m a flying superhero. Beside me, Lacey is also floating in the middle of the paper, and there’s a big red heart—this one more discernible than the last drawing—flying out of her chest and in between us.
“I didn’t get to draw me yet,” She tells me sadly, going limp in my arms. “I wanted to draw myself with the biggest heart because I love you so, so, so much!”
I almost burst into tears right then and there. I don’t think I’ve done much right in my past, but I must have done at least one good thing to deserve a daughter like Shea.
“I love you so, so, so,somuch,” I tell her, my voice breaking more than I’d like to admit.
In my head, I return to the days when I was drawn to that patch of dirt at the edge of town. That must have been my little girl calling me toward her, toward her mother.
“I’ve always loved you,” I whisper out loud. Even when I didn’t know you existed, I merely keep inside.
Shea squirms out of my arms and runs back off into the depths of my father’s house. The man in the tutu grabs my shoulder, understanding the gravity of the situation much more than my daughter does.
“I’m proud of you, son,” he says, with more emotion in his voice than I’ve ever heard. “And I love you very much.”
I nod back, pulling him into a hug, hoping it won’t be the last. “I love you too, Dad.”
***
When I arrive home, I find the door locked and the lights all dim. I know what Lacey and I have to do, and I know that with this fire burning in my chest, especially after what occurred at the town meeting.
Lacey loves me. Shelovesme.
I reach for the keyring in my pants pocket and go to unlock the door, but out in the distance, I hear something that makes me stop in my tracks.
A woman. Screaming.
I know the patrols are out there, but the screaming is so loud and visceral that I have to move. Ourdesirecan wait. I have to save this woman, or I’m not the alpha I was sworn in to be.
Shifting into my wolf form, I barrel down the steps, into the streets, and down to the paths that lead toward the scream.
It’s a horrific howling, different from the shadow monsters that attacked that night in the thicket. This is a woman yelling for help. Yellingmyname, the closer I get to it.
“Sawyer! Help!”
I’m coming. Whoever you are, I’m coming.
There are over two hundred feet between the two patrols on either side of the screams, but neither party seems to have heard the woman. My footsteps falter, and for a moment, I wonder if maybe I’m being tricked. Either that, or these patrol units have been frozen by some of Violet’s lackeys.
I have a creeping feeling inside that I should turn back and just find Lacey to get this ritual thing over and done with.
But just as I’m about to follow this gut instinct, I hear the screaming again. It’s so loud, I don’t know how no one else is hearing it.
“Please, Sawyer! They’re killing me!”
