Page 79 of Brutal Alpha Beast
“That’s tough,” she says with a soft tone, almost absentmindedly.
“Yeah,” I respond, nodding as I look up at the ceiling. I squint my eyes to stop the tears. “What do you think I should do?”
“I’m not sure,” she says.
I don’t know why I was expecting her to have answers. But I needsomething.
“Look,” she says. “I’m sorry, can we talk another time? Right now isn’t great.”
“Oh,” I murmur, feeling as though I’ve just been slapped. I don’t know what I was expecting, but something feels off. I just told her I was pregnant, and she wants to hang up?
I feel angry, upset, but I bite those emotions down, and then I just feel genuinely confused.
“Are you okay?” I ask her. “Has something happened? Is something wrong?”
“Fine,” she says shortly, taking a deep breath as though she’s going to say something else important. But then she stops.
“Talk soon,” she says quickly.
My phone beeps, and then she’s gone.
Strange.
I stare at my phone, speechless and confused. Then I put it down and stare at my reflection in the mirror, hardly recognizable. ,
I stare at my stomach, which looks the same, but feels so much more precious now.
I shake my head.
Why is Monroe not here for me when I need her? Does she feel like she’s been abandoned?
It’s as though the world is crashing around me.
All of this is completely insane.
Chapter 20 - Ellis
“Tightening around your heart,” I repeat. “Hmm.”
I’m waiting for Danielle to get ready; she’s in the bathroom, and I’m leaning against the wall nearby.
We’re strangely domestic, comfortable like old times.
“Yeah,” she responds. “It was weird, I’ve never felt that before. Like strings pulling around them, or vines.”
Vines.
“And it happened a little after the shadow monsters came, right?”
“Yeah, but I don’t think it was because of them.”
“No,” I say. It has to be related to the vines, right? In the second image on the tapestry, the vines are supposed to be leading somewhere.
Something clicks. What if that, somewhere, relates to Danielle. To her heart?
“You sound like you’ve thought of something?” Her voice questions. Although I can’t see her, I know how she looks.
That cute, suspicious face she makes when she thinks something is wrong.
