Page 64 of Curvy Alpha Bride
As if brought to life by my words, a wailing scream sounds from the town line to the south. Another scream from the east splits the air, and Mabel grabs my hand.
“Is it Ivarra?” she whispers.
“No,” I growl, fury making my voice harsh. “It’s my sentries!”
Mabel gasps. “I have to—”
“Stay right here!” I roar. “That’s the only thing you have to do. Do not leave this hall, and get underground with the other women if anything else happens.”
Mabel’s tear-filled eyes rip at my heart, but I don’t stop. I turn and shift, running for the town line to the south. My scouts had been sent into the forest, and I also had sentries watching them, ready to take information from runners to relay back to me.
Around me, other pack members run towards the sound. Terror is so thick in the air, it’s like a living force, something you can touch and taste.
As we come to the edge of town, I see someone down on the ground, a many-armed shadow I can’t immediately make out.
Is it the witch?
I get closer and see there is a body on the ground, and the other person—my sentry, Luke—is crouched over them.
“What happened?” I roar, shifting the second I reach them. Luke cries pitifully, holding on to the shoulders of the person on the ground. The body is so torn up and covered in blood, it takes me a moment to realize who it is.
“Shaw,” I mutter. “Oh, God, no.”
“His body was thrown down here, out of the air,” Luke cries. “I was watching for him and the other scouts, like you said. I saw nothing, I felt nothing, and then his body dropped out of the sky right in front of me.”
I’m trying to absorb the information when a runner comes towards us from the east, trembling with fear as he recounts the same story. I catch Serra’s eye, and both of us look stricken.
And guilty.
“We made a terrible mistake,” Serra says. “She’s hunting in the moonlight, right now. Ivarra is changing the rules.”
“We’re all in danger!” I yell, suddenly realizing all of us are out in the open. “Get back to town now!”
Then the full force of the situation rams into me, making my blood run cold.
Mabel! She’s outside, and none of them know what’s coming!
I shift, throwing back my head to howl at the moon with every shred of strength left in me. I send a warning and a call to arms, then turn tail and race for the center of town as fast as my paws will carry me.
Chapter 23 - Mabel
“Mabel, you have to get inside now!” Finnah screams, trying to drag me into the hall.
“No!” I yell back. “I’m not going anywhere until I know Xavier’s okay! What the fuck is going on out there?”
“I don’t know,” Finnah answers. “But it’s bad.”
“We can’t just leave them out there! They need help.”
“Mabel,” Finnah says frantically, “we can’t help them. Especially not you. If we don’t get you to safety, all is lost.”
“The only truly safe place is the cabin,” I say, hearing my voice unravel. “I’m not going back there without Xavier!”
“Honey, we don’t even know if he’s still alive.”
“Don’t say that!” I scream at her. “Don’t you dare fucking say that! I just heard him howl—he’s coming for me!”
Finnah’s eyes fill with tears, and she throws her arms around me, squeezing me as hard as she can. Her body heaves with sobs as she finally begins to lose control.
