Page 40 of Curvy Alpha Bride
In the six months I lived here by myself, the place was weird but not creepy. It was only after Mabel arrived that I started to get spooky feelings, and the behavior of the others notched up to outright freaky.
It was seeing Mabel this morning that flipped them all out, too. Is it her? Something about Mabel specifically?
My arms tighten around her, and a low growl echoes in my throat. I’ll never let anyone harm her, no matter what freaky rituals they live by out here.
Clues dance around in my mind, tantalizingly close to knitting together, but not quite enough to bring me to a conclusion.
It must have something to do with having a luna—and how my mother died.
A cold rush of fear chills my blood, swiftly followed by shame.
I brought Mabel here! I’m just as bad as those wicked elders!
I try to convince myself I’m not, because I didn’t know. But on some level, I did. I knew it wasn’t safe here, and the way the energy of the place changed when Mabel arrived should have warned me.
Now we’re in danger, locked up in this fucking cabin, at their mercy! What the hell are we going to do?
I loosen my arms around Mabel, intending to go to the door and yell at Ivan for a bit. Mabel clings to me, her breath shuddering in and out as tears flow down her cheeks.
“Don’t let me go, Xavier—please!” she begs.
“Okay,” I murmur, stroking her hair. “I won’t.”
“What’s happening? Why are they doing this?”
“I don’t know.”
Mabel trembles violently, laying her cheek against my chest. Slowly, her breathing evens out, and I feel her body relax.
“Do you want to sit down?” I ask.
She nods, and I hold her hand as we walk over to the couch. Ivan and Hector are in clear view through both windows, and she glares at them.
“I thought the windows were double-plated to keep the heat in,” she says. “And it didn’t surprise me that they couldn’t be opened. This is the coldest part of the Range, and I never thought twice about it.”
“It’s not like either of us would have guessed it’s a prison,” I mutter. “But now that we’re locked in here, it all makes sense. There are no gaps in security, anywhere.”
“I don’t think it’s designed to keep people in,” she says. “I think it’s to keep something out. Didn’t you say your dad lived up here alone?”
“Yeah, he did. He’s written a lot of journals and stuff that I haven’t had a chance to go through.”
“Do you know what they’re about?”
“I’ve only seen some personal observations on weather, star charts, and seasons so far. Nothing relevant to this.”
Mabel looks out the window, where Ivan has turned his back on us. “Poor Dove,” she whispers. “What happened?”
“I don’t know,” I answer. “I heard screaming, and I went to chase it down. I got halfway across the clearing when the others caught up to me.”
For a moment, I wonder if I should tell Mabel about the other sounds I heard. Then I decide she doesn’t really need to know about those.
I’m not even really sure what I heard. Did something really eat Dove, or was I just keyed up and imagining things?
“Did you see it?” Mabel asks.
I shake my head. “No. There was a horrible smell, like blood-soaked fur that had been rotting for months. I didn’t see paw prints or tracks, and I heard some sounds, but they didn’t add up to any animal I’ve ever heard before.”
“And you tried to follow?”
