Page 60 of Brutal Alpha Beast
Ellis’s arms are crossed. He doesn’t move an inch.
Sandra’s sway becomes uneven; her head tilts, and then, suddenly, her knees buckle, and she collapses to the floor.
Instinctively, I lurch forward—but in a split-second, Ellis lunges, catching her before her whole body falls.
“Whoa—Sandra!”
I gasp, stepping back behind the tree.
“Hey, stay with me. Come on…” Ellis soothes. Her eyes are barely open, and he leads her to sit on a nearby rock.
Sandra groans, her eyelids fluttering but still not quite opening.
The other witches rush over. “What happened?”
“Sandra?” One of them crouches. “What’s wrong?”
“I told her not to push too far,” Ellis mutters. There’s a softness to his tone, a deep concern there.
“Sandra?” A witch says louder this time.
“I’m fine,” she murmurs, slowly coming to.
I notice that Ellis is still supporting her, one arm braced around her back, and he’s watching her, his eyes unmovable, his jaw tense.
“She was doing a sourcing spell,” Ellis says. “I asked her to do it a little further, I didn’t think...”
“It’s fine,” Sandra croaks. “It’s my fault. I should have grounded myself, I didn’t know.”
“Should we take her to the infirmary?” Ellis asks the witches.
“No,” one of them says. “This is a magic problem; the infirmary won’t help.”
He nods, and then she looks him up and down. “Thanks, though.”
Sandra chuckles. “Good thing, I had this big, strong wolf here to protect me.”
Ellis laughs, too, relief spreading across his face. “Hey, anytime.”
I slowly release the tense breath that I was holding. Everything is okay again. Because of Ellis. He cares, I see that, and my sisters have accepted him; they evidently trust him a lot more than they did before.
Has Ellis actually changed?
I walk away from the scene, frowning, deep in thought. Only time will tell. I still won’t trust him yet.
I hear the faint echo of Ellis, Sandra, and the others' laughter as I walk away.
Ican’ttrust him yet.
Right?
***
After observing Ellis over the past few days, here’s what I know: Even if he has a late night, he’ll never miss a morning meeting (unless there’s something urgent to take care of). Ellis, although sometimes silent and grouchy, is always present in every situation, listening and making sure he knows what’s going on.
These are things that he’s developed since I knew him. He wasn’t always this responsible.
Another thing I noticed is that he always makes a concerted, genuine effort to make the wolves and witches getalong. In situations when they don’t need to be together—at lunch, for example, he makes sure that every wolf is seated next to at least one witch.
