Page 120 of Alpha's Redemption

Moments pass, which feels like hours, before I see his knee bend the wrong way. His shin pops and fur runs along his busted leg. The scream of agony that tears from him makes me want to throw up when his femur finally snaps and his leg twists and shifts with him just as Dion and I reach him.

We reach him at the same time and I start to tackle him, but instead, I hit the cold, wet ground with a thud when he takes off running for the forest surrounding the mountain. Dion grabs my arm, yanking me up, and I curse, looking at the forest to see Tatum disappear into the long grass and trees.

“Shit!”

“What do you wanna do, Alpha?” Dion asks.

“Get back in your cars. I won't risk anyone else,” I tell him. I hate it, but Tatum is on his own out there. This place is full of forsaken, and I have to look out for my men. Marcus said the other side had been scoped out pretty well and they hadn't seen any forsaken. On this side, however, we have no idea what’s out there.

We race back to our cars, and I shake my head, cursing myself for being so stupid and allowing him into the mind-link. Yet, I never expected him to jump from a moving car!

ChapterFifty-Four

Macey

I stare at Carter's body for Goddess knows how long before I come back to my senses. I glance around the room, and it suddenly looks a lot different. It was depressing before, but now it’s as cold and dead as I feel inside.

My nose still hasn't stopped bleeding, and vertigo washes over me as I stand up. I stagger, moving toward the bag Carter had brought back with him. Undoing the zip, I rummage through it, looking for the key to the padlock before remembering it’s around his neck, and I glance at his body, tucked in bed as if he were sleeping.

Hesitantly, I move toward him and pull the blanket back. My hand shakes as I reach forward, grab the chain around his neck, and yank it. The gold links snap, and I quickly shove the blanket back up to cover him. Tears spill over, and I blink and wipe my eyes, trying to clear them before my vision turns red. I rub at them furiously, only to vaguely manage to see my hands come back bloody, making me gape at them. I knew it would be harmful to kill a mate, yet I didn't consider myself dying beside him.

I don't want to die here! I want to see my little girl one last time—to at least tell her I love her, to see her face one more time. However, looking at my hands, I don't want her to remember me this way.

Something feels like it’s decaying me from the inside out; as if my soul is rotting as quickly as my body. I feel sickly, and I know this is the consequence of me killing my mate.

I choke back a sob and undo the chain around my ankle as a crack of thunder makes the world seem like it's ending. The cabin rattles and the floor shakes with its violent tremor. It’s pouring with rain now, and I know I’ll be walking blindly out there, especially since I’m not sure I can shift.

But I have to try.

I may not be able to go home and see Taylor, but I need to get somewhere my body can be found. I don't want her to grow up not knowing if I abandoned her or if I’m dead. No, I will at least give her a body to bury.

Glancing at Carter, so much anger suddenly boils within me.

“I HATE YOU!” I scream at him before collapsing to the floor.

I punch the ground, my fist slamming into the shitty wood as I scream my anguish, frustration, and pain. My knuckles bleed as they split, and I clutch my hair, ripping at it. I want to hurt something, anything—myself—for feeling so weak.

I hate him. Hate him. The man took everything from me. Everything and everyone he touched was destroyed. He destroyed Zoe. He destroyed me.

But more than anything else, I hate him for destroying my baby, because she will have to grow up without the one person who loves her most.

I know Everly and Zoe will look after her, and I know they won't stop looking until they find what’s left of me. I won’t be able to raise her—they will for me.

But no one could ever love her the way I do.

I choke on a sob, cursing at how fucked up this is. How cruel life is that I not only lost a mate but my daughter too.

That saying, 'you don't know what you have until you lose it,' seems to laugh at me, because I never pictured finding my mate and losing him. Never pictured having my daughter and not being able to raise her. Never thought I would die without watching her become the woman she is destined to be. I would have been content to be mateless as long as I served my purpose—to see her through to adulthood when she didn't need me anymore.

That was my life's purpose, to raise my baby, and now the only part of that purpose I have left is to get to a road so my body can be found, so she has something to bury. I can’t die peacefully knowing she’ll always wonder if I left her, abandoned her.

When I’m done destroying myself, I look at the handfuls of hair and my bloody fists. Numbness spreads over me, cold and uncaring, as I inhale a shaky breath. The air thickens with the storm as it pelts the tin roof.

All my fight is gone. It’s empty. And I’m as dead inside as the bond I shared with him.

Deep down, I know I have to move, I need to get up.

Dragging myself to my feet, I stare at the door, swallowing down my sadness as I take a step toward it just as it bursts open, making me jump.

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