Page 52 of Curvy Alpha Bride
“We all prayed so,” Serra answers. “Your father made the ultimate sacrifice, and everything was so quiet, we really believed the threat had passed. Especially since you were safe here for six months.”
“Something has changed, then!” I exclaim. “If she was so weak, how was she able to attack Dove?”
“She’s been watching us,” Serra replies. “I’ve been a fool. We relaxed the rules; we allowed the young women to be out after dark, and aboveground on a new moon. Also, a fresh, young alpha would be enough to draw her out… and then, you took a luna. We haven’t had one for so long, she must have been saving the last of her strength for this moment, hoping that one day, we’d let our guard down.”
“So, she’s stronger than you thought,” I say. “Now that she’s fed, she’s gaining strength… and if she gets Mabel, she can break free from the valley?”
“I believe so, yes,” Serra says with finality.
“I have to get Mabel out of here! Everything you’ve just told me makes it even more important to get her to safety!”
“It can’t be done,” Serra snaps. “Even if you leave right now, in broad daylight, she will come for you. She won’t let an alpha or a luna go. Not now, when she’s so close.”
“But she can’t fight us all! Why don’t we just form up and leave together? We can create a shield around Mabel.”
Serra looks right into my eyes, a piercing, ice-cold gaze. “She is weakened in the light, but she can still move around in it. She would bear this pain to stop us from leaving. If she wants to consume someone, it only takes her seconds to shred them topieces—there is nothing left of them but a splash of blood. So far, she has only consumed young women for their vitality, but there is no reason she can’t kill young men as well.”
“She can’t get all of us,” I counter. “If we lose a few, but get free into the Range, isn’t it worth it?”
Serra sighs. “Would you tell members of your pack to sacrifice their families just to get you and the luna out safely? You’re also forgetting that she can enchant alphas. Imagine if she could brainwash you and turn you against us.”
That thought is so ugly, my mind shrinks away from it in revulsion. I turn to Aunt Finnah. “You got out—with me! There must be a way.”
Finnah shakes her head. “That took every last scrap of magic we had in this town. The witch was still glutted from feeding, and focused on enchanting your father. There was chaos in town as everyone headed for the bunkers. Your father gave you to me and ordered me to use the last of the magic to conceal us as we fled the valley. It can’t be done again.”
I take a step away from them and glare at the ground, clenching my fists. Inside me, a terrible fury is raging, but I can’t let it out. I have no target.
I promised Mabel I’d get her out. Now I can’t!
When I turn back to the others, all of them wear dull, resigned expressions.
They’re ready to go back underground! It’s the only way to starve the witch!
In that moment, I realize that even if I could get Mabel out, I’d be leaving my pack vulnerable to the witch. Ivarra would be trapped in the valley, without the strength to take on the Range, but she would completely destroy Valentine Creek.
Whether she outright killed them or kept them underground until they died, it’s all the same. If I leave, this pack is dead.
“I understand,” I say. “And I’m not giving up. We will stand against this evil! I won’t let her take anything more from this town.”
“There is no way to fight her!” Finnah cries.
“So far there isn’t,” I say. “But I will find one. I’m not going to leave you alone here. We’ll stay, and we’ll fight—and suffer the isolation, if that’s what it takes. I swear, as your alpha, I won’t leave you.”
There is a soft gasp behind me, and I turn to see Mabel standing in the open doorway of the cottage. My heart sinks as I realize she heard everything I just said.
Another promise broken… surely now, I can never be forgiven.
Chapter 19 - Mabel
When I hear raised voices outside, my first thought is that we’re under attack again. I’m almost ready to burrow under the blankets when I realize Xavier’s gone, and if there is danger, he’s probably outside right in the thick of it.
As I get up, I look out the window and see Xavier facing off against the entire council. Relief floods through me. He must be telling them that we’re getting out of here and there’s absolutely nothing they can do about it.
I’m so excited to be leaving that at first, Xavier’s actual words don’t register. When they finally sink in, I stand in the doorway, frozen with shock. The world wavers around me, and I have to hold on to the wall for balance.
What? He’s staying?
The small bloom of hope that began in my chest last night is torn to shreds, pulled out by the roots, poisoned, and turned to ash. Fury, driven by fear, floods my heart and makes my temples pound.
