Page 60 of Cruel Alpha Beast
That’s it. I have to go. Even if it is a trick, well, then at least my conscience will be clean.
I carry on through the trees, following the yelling woman. I don’t recognize her voice, but it’s hard to tell with screaming. She could be a witch who knows my name. Or she could be one of my brave omegas, fighting for her life against those ferocious shadow monsters.
I grit my fangs and pound my paws into the earth below.
There’s something familiar about the trees in this area, or maybe it’s how they’re laid out. I feel like I’ve been here before, even though I’ve hardly spent time in the forest at all.
It’s only when I finally find the source of the screaming that I realize what exactly has happened and why I know these trees so well.
In the middle of a large, clear space, sits a foreboding, ancient willow tree. Each leaf is burning, though not crumbling to ash. And at the tree’s base, a young woman sits lazily, her strawberry blonde hair pulled into a braid that hangs over herright shoulder. When she sees me enter the vicinity, her lips pull into a twisted smile.
Violet rises to her feet and casually swings the large knife in her hand as she steps closer. “Oh, Sawyer,” she cries mockingly, her voice just like the screams before. “Thank you for saving me, my powerful alpha!”
There’s no denying it. I have been tricked. And I am a fool.
Chapter 25 - Lacey
I sit in the living room, poring over Monroe’s tome with only some electric candlelight guiding my way. I’ve gone around the house, locking every door and window, turning off most of the lights as well. For all of us who are not joining in the fray, it’s been suggested we keep a very low profile in town, just in case our patrols are overpowered and Violet’s evil army makes it through.
I don’t know what I expect to find in this tome, but it helps me feel like I’m doing something more to stop this blight on the valley. I know Sawyer will be here soon, so we can try the mating ritual once more—and now that I’ve decided to admit to him and myself that I do, in fact, love him, this connection we share has finally manifested to its full capacity.
It’s crazy to me how much I can justfeelSawyer right now. It’s like he’s everywhere I go, like he’s a part of me. Well, more than he already is as the father of my child and my husband.
I wonder if this feeling, this connection, is stronger now, especially after so many years simply repressing it.
As I sit in the living room, scanning each page of the tome, I suddenly sense something deep within my core. It’s like there’s a hunger there, but it isn’t mine. It takes a moment until I realize that the hunger that is causing my knees to feel weak actually belongs to Sawyer.
He must be getting ready for the ritual, I realize. And soon, his hunger becomes one with mine.
I hope he’ll be here any minute now, ready to come take this bitch in the woods down, and feel really good while doing it. A true win-win scenario for both of us.
I consider going upstairs and finding my slinkiest nightgown to change into while I wait. The hunger builds and builds, and soon, my face is hotter than I’ve ever felt before. A heat of my own grows, and I wonder if I should wait for him in the kitchen instead of here.
He’s getting closer. I can hear his feet on the sidewalk outside our house. His footsteps on the front porch are so slow that I worry I’m going to shrivel up and die if he doesn’t get in here right now.
And just as his keys start to jingle, I hear it. A faint, horrible scream, and suddenly, Sawyer’s hunger disappears in an instant, removing it from me as well.
Now, it’s fear. I can feel it plain as day. Sawyer is scared, and that fear hits me just as hard.
The connection between us starts fading quickly. I run to the kitchen and look out of the window just in time to see a dark wolf running toward the forest. There are all of those patrols out there. I don’t understand why he has to be the one to chase after this phantom scream.
When I realize, however, that all Sawyer is doing, however, is trying to help someone in need, it makes my heart swell. But still, I fear for his safety. There’s something about this that feels sort of fishy, and it’s not just because I’m bitter that he’s not here to ravish me right now.
Another scream rings out, and I’m certain that something is not quite what it seems. My blood starts rushing in my ears, instinct directing me to cram my feet into the nearest, easiest pair of shoes I can find, and run out after him.
I’m not a good runner, nor am I very fast. It’s going to take me much longer to get to the source of this screaming than it will for him, especially when he runs in his wolf form. Butwhen my feet hit the pavement, it’s like my muscles and my lungs agree that this is the time to allow me to sprint.
Adrenaline is a hell of a thing, isn’t it?
Though I’m still not nearly as fast as a wolf, I’m able to follow the screams still ringing through the air. With the forest’s edge in sight, I hear one last scream, and I can tell that she’s actively yelling his name out specifically.
That’s when I really start feeling like something is up. And the yelling, it sounds too familiar to ignore.
I approach the path my waning connection with Sawyer led me to. The two patrols on either side are eerily still, and I worry something bad might have happened to them. I saw Danielle practice a freezing spell on Monroe once when I first moved in, and it was a little scary when we thought her sister would never thaw out again.
I breach the treeline and find myself in the darkened forest. Kicking myself, I realize that I don’t have my phone, and therefore have no flashlight. All I have is the moon above my head, and the canopy of the trees is blocking a lot of it.
I have to trust this connection inside of me. Tapping into it, I’m able to follow what must have been Sawyer’s exact footpath, and soon the connection only grows stronger. He must be near, but I can’t hear anything other than my own breath and my heavy footfalls.
