Page 56 of Curvy Alpha Bride
“Shh,” Finnah soothes, rubbing my shoulders. “I don’t know what you mean by that, but all I can tell you is that done is done, and we need to prepare for tonight. You’re our alpha, and you said you would stay and help us. Now you have to do it.”
Even though my heart feels like it’s in ruins, I know she’s right. I turn around and straighten up, seeing the elders watching me. All of them look hopeful, except for Serra, who has her eyes narrowed at me as if she’s trying to look into my soul.
I don’t trust that bitch, and I don’t think I ever will.
“What happens next?” I ask, and all the elders look to Serra.
We’ll have to put a stop to that. It’s me they should follow now.
“Back to town,” she says. “We need to stock the bunkers and fortify.”
“Are we going back underground?” Ninette asks, shocked.
“Maybe,” Serra answers. “Have you got a better idea?”
“Dad’s journals,” I say suddenly. “He has a lot of information in them about the witch—times when she’s most active, how plant and animal life react to her. I’m sure we could find some information in there that would help us fight her.”
“Fight her?” Serra repeats. “No one can fight her. She can suck the life force out of a person with a glance, shred flesh, and crush bone at will. You don’t really think you can fight her, do you?”
“I think we should try,” I answer, stepping up to the edge of the porch. As I come out into the light, I feel the shadow fall behind me, and all the elders seem to look at me with a little more faith.
“The journals are locked up for now,” Finnah says. “Even if they could help, it’s up to Mabel.”
My heart twists so violently, it feels like it might rip itself in two. But in a way, I welcome the pain.
It proves I still have a heart, and that it can be mended. If I have faith, I can heal Mabel’s heart, too.
“Okay,” I say firmly. “Take me back to town. Show me how all this is done.”
On the drive back, the mood lifts from heavy defeat to cautious optimism. Everyone except Serra shares their hopes with me and their ideas for a better future.
Even though I have no fucking clue what I’m doing, I’ve inspired them. Maybe they’re just going crazy at the idea of being locked underground again… or maybe, they actually believe in me.
The idea is terrifying because I have absolutely no idea how to proceed. I remember the sick, horrifying sounds of thatthing consuming Dove. The stench of it, the dread that stalked my dreams.
I don’t trust Serra, but what if she’s right? She might be the sanest one here.
We pull into the town square, and the pack is gathered there, waiting for us. Misery hangs above the crowd, an aura of doom that has nothing to do with the witch.
These people have no hope left in them. Over their years of fighting, they stood strong in the promise of victory—but that victory was false. It was taken from them, leaving them worse off than they had been before.
“Thank you for gathering together,” Serra calls out, getting out of the truck. “We need to prep the bunkers. I expect all the young women to be down there already—”
“Wait,” I say. “How do we know the bunkers will protect them? The witch is gathering her strength now, biding her time until she is at her strongest late tonight. Is there any chance she could get in?”
The elders look around at each other, sharing looks of true fear.
“It’s possible,” Serra admits. “The creature will be desperate now, more so than before. She will put all her effort into this fight.”
“My father’s journals suggested that she was fully focused on him, and that might be the only reason she left the bunkers alone,” I say.
“And by the time she realized she couldn’t draw him out, she was too weak to break into a bunker,” Ivan mutters.
“So, where is the only safe place?” I ask, pretty sure I already know.
“The cabin,” Serra says. “It protected Allan for twenty years—it’s heavily warded. It’s the only place the beast can’t break into.”
“Okay.” I turn to Finnah, taking her hand. “You and the young women go to the cabin and ask Mabel to shelter you. I know she’ll open the door for you once she understands. You’ll be safe there.”
