Page 142 of A Chance at Love for the Twin Alphas

“No, baby… no…” I whimper.

The guards just laugh.

Horror settles in as I cradle her in my arms. “Don’t leave me,” I beg. “You are everything. You are my second chance. I can’t survive without you. Please, baby.”

Dalila reaches out her hand, touching my cheek. “I love you,” she mutters before a shiver goes through her body. “It’s so cold.”

“Please hang in there,” I beg.

“I’m tired, so tired…”

I feel my lungs constricting and my heart breaking as her breath evens out and she falls limp in my arms. My vision gets blurry from the tears I’m shedding.

“Now, how about”—The guard approaches me, and before I can react, he sprays something into my face—“we keep you in this cycle.”

I’m not sure what he means when I realize I’m standing again in the same position as a few moments before. The guards are in front of me and holding Dalila. Again, he stabs her and pushes her into my arms. She dies in my arms again. And repeat. The next time I try to lunge at them, just to have them stab Dalila to death instantly, without even allowing me the moment of holding her in my arms.

One time, she begs for me to save her, to not let her become Corinne.

But it’s in vain, and she dies again.

I’ve failed her.

I cradle her lifeless body in my arms, hitting the ground over and over again with my fist as I sob into her hair. I just found her. Why do I have to lose her again? Why? What use is there to continue without her?

One of the guards has dropped the bloody knife next to me when he tossed Dalila towards my arms. I grab it now, twisting it between my fingers.

It’s silver.

What use is there to continue without her?

*HENRY*

Tony was just there a moment ago, peeking into a corridor. I use the time to look at one of the adjacent rooms, but when I return, he isn’t anywhere to be seen. I try reaching him via mind link and through our transmitters, but there is no answer.

Arlo is blocked, too, and I can’t fucking understand why.

My wolf senses still work. Maybe this is what Uncle Elden meant when he said we should be mentally prepared with everything? Maybe something is playing with our connection? But how can my connection to my wolf be gone, then?

I close my eyes, trying to reach out to the depths of my mind. It feels like there is something, but I can’t reach it. “Fuck it,” I curse under my breath. Freaking out now is not an option either, or Elodie will feel it and she certainly doesn’t need my panic now.

Okay, breathe, Henry, breathe. My hands glide into my pockets, searching for the soft ball Elodie gifted me with. It normally calms me down when I use it. But it’s gone. Fuck, I must have lost it on our way here or maybe forgot it at home.

My fingers twitch slightly as I tug at the hem of my shirt.

Don’t step onto the lines, Henry, just full tiles. Something terrible will happen if you do. One step on a tile, no lines crossed. If you do, something might happen to Elodie. Something will happen to Tony. Don’t step onto the lines.

I shake my head, trying to will my intrusive thoughts down.

A shadow passes me, and I shift around. Hopefully, it’s Tony! The quietness around me makes me almost lose my mind! I rush after the shadow, seeing how it disappears through a door. Following it, I find myself in a library. “Wait,” I whisper towards the figure, but they jump when they hear me, bumping against one of the shelves, and a few rows of books drop down. I halt my breath, scared that someone might have heard it, but there is nothing… no sound coming from anywhere. When I turn my gaze back, the shadow is gone, and the books are lying all over the ground.

I swallow thickly.

Just ignore it, Henry, just ignore it.

But my intrusive thoughts keep nagging at me. They are out of order. It’s chaos. The books are out of order. When things are out of order, bad stuff is going to happen. I take a step forward, trying not to step on any of the books and… notes… there are sheets of paper lying on the floor, too.

Sweat starts to form on my head.

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