Page 41 of Curvy Alpha Bride
“Yeah. The elders caught up to me and convinced me to go back. They weren’t acting too weird at that stage, but theywere far too calm. Then we got back, and it looked like some of the townsfolk were getting ready to go after the thing, but the elders put a stop to it.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Mabel lowers her head, chewing her lip in thought. “They didn’t fully wig out until I showed up, did they?”
“No.”
“That’s interesting,” Mabel replies, her voice trembling a little. I can tell she’s trying to understand the facts, but she is feeling so personally attacked by the situation, it’s clouding her judgment.
“It’s going to be okay,” I say confidently.
She looks up at me, chuckling. “What’s your evidence for that, tough guy? It looks like a pretty ridiculous statement from where I’m sitting.”
“I agree,” I reply with a sigh. “There’s nothing I can really say to comfort you, but I want you to know I’ll fight to my last breath to protect you.”
Something changes in her face, a softening of her eyes and mouth. Red creeps into her cheeks, and she looks away again.
“It’s hard, being here with you,” she admits.
“I know,” I agree. “It’s bizarre, being locked in my own house, not knowing what’s going to happen next. They might be planning to feed us to that thing.”
“What the fuck?” Mabel exclaims. “Are you serious?”
“No, I’m not,” I say quickly, taking her hands and squeezing them gently. “I think you’re right, and the cabin is sosecure to keep the thing—whatever it is—out. I just don’t trust any of the villagers.”
“Nor do I. God, poor Dove. I just can’t stand it. Are you sure she’s dead?”
Mabel looks up at me with so much hope. I really want to give her some. In most situations, there would always be a chance of finding a fallen pack member alive. Werewolves are tough and can recover from terrible, even life-threatening injuries.
With a sinking feeling, I remember Dove’s cries. I know, beyond any doubt, I heard her die.
Alone, terrified, and in horrible pain. Abandoned, betrayed, ripped apart.
“No,” I mutter. “There’s no way she can be alive.”
Mabel looks down and gulps, tightening her hands on mine. “I told her she was safe,” Mabel whispers, her voice strained.
“I know,” I answer, feeling like an absolute failure.
“Do you have a plan?” she asks as she meets my eyes again.
“Not right now. I was going to hammer on the door, see if I could get one of them to answer me, and try to talk some sense into them. I was also going to have a look around the cabin for any weak spots. But I went over it already when I first moved in, and I don’t think I’ll find anything new.”
“Xavier,” Mabel’s voice is soft, trembling with an edge of fear, “I think I’m losing it. I’ve always been tough, but this shit—”
“I know,” I say, holding her again. “It’s not every day you get locked up like a prisoner.”
“Not just that,” she says. “Poor Dove dying, the weird ways these locals have, and—”
Mabel cuts off mid-sentence, and I’m left wondering what she was going to say.
Is she having nightmares and spooky feelings, too?
“Don’t leave me, Xavier,” she whispers against my chest. “Please don’t leave me.”
“I won’t,” I answer, hugging her tightly. “I swear I won’t.”
