Page 106 of Brutal Alpha Beast
Ellis’ voice is a mixture of urgency and joy.
“Which way do we go?” He asks.
I look around at the glowing vines that pulsate beneath the earth. They’re spreading in all different directions. It could take hours to figure it out.
My heart is thumping.
“We’re going to need help.”
***
The vines revealed themselves a little around sunset, and now that it’s nightfall, the forest looks beautiful. The whole floor is lit up with the weaving map of glowing paths.
Ellis recruited some coven sisters and shifters from our pack.
“Wow,” Aaron says. “This is insane.”
“Where should we go?” One of my coven sisters asks me, eager to get moving.
“Let’s split off in different directions,” I say. “I don’t know which path we have to follow. Wolves, if you find anything, howl. Witches, you know how to send me a message. Let’s be quick, I don’t know how long this is going to hold for.”
Everyone splits off, and Ellis joins me as we follow one of the paths Eastward.
I move carefully; my eyes peeled for any signs of movement or life. Ellis shifts and prowls beside me.
My body is tense; the energy of the spell is testing my strength, but I push through, using everything I have to hold on. The pulsation is apparently only audible to me. But it’s getting fainter. I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing.
After we walk for a while, I begin to lose hope. The path keeps stretching on—it looks like they’re going on until infinity.
We could end up walking all night. And that pulse becomes no louder than a faint whisper.
I look at Ellis’ wolf, who shakes its head. No word from the shifters, and I haven’t gotten anything from my witches.
I pause, and Ellis shifts back.
“What is it?” He asks.
“The pulsation, it’s getting quieter this way.”
“Can you follow the sound?” He asks, “To where it’s louder?”
I nod. I close my eyes because staring at the glowing paths is a distraction, and I take a couple of deep breaths, tuning into the sound of the pulse.
“Right,” I say.
Ellis guides me, as I keep my eyes closed. We move for a while through the trees, deeper into the forest, me directing him where to go with my words.
It gets louder, so loud that it feels like I’m in an echo chamber.
I open my eyes.
“Come,” I tell him. We move further and further; it’s easy to follow now. Eventually, as we move, and the sound is nearly unbearable, I see something strange.
There, glowing on the forest floor, is what appears to be a piece of a human heart. It's beating—pumping wildly, and it’s connected to all the converging, glowing roots.
I bring my hand to my lips.
Ellis and I exchange a wide-eyed glance before I edge closer.
