Page 143 of Alpha's Impostor Bride

Her scream of agony is satisfying. I scramble away with what little strength I have left.

I have to get to Finn! Surely, Cedric is okay! He has to be! He’s the strongest shifter I know! He’s not going to die easily. He’s alive.

I have to believe that.

“I’m going to kill you!” Vivian’s enraged scream makes me look back at her, and she’s holding the same knife I just stabbed her with. She lifts it over her head, her eye bleeding, the scalpel aimed at my heart.

I slump to the ground. That’s it. I don’t have any energy left.

She’s really going to kill me, I think dazedly, my vision blurring.

As she brings down the scalpel, a foot comes out of nowhere and kicks her in the chest, sending her flying into the air. She crashes against the cabinets at the other end of the room.

I try to look up, and I feel myself being gathered in somebody’s arms. The scent is familiar, but my eyes are too hazy to see.

Has help arrived?

“S–Save Cedric. Help him.”

With that, my body goes limp. Darkness consumes me, the last bit of my strength finally fading.

Someone’s calling my name, but it’s too late. My eyes close.

I draw my last breath, dimly hearing the death rattle in my lungs.

There is a strange warmth by my side. Almost like something warm and furry is curled up on my hand.

I want to pet it, but I have no energy. Then I feel an odd, wet sensation, as if a small tongue is licking my hand. My fingers twitch.

I hear a cry in the distance, and then the heat is gone.

I fade away once again, missing the warmth.

Someone is stroking my hair.

Soft words are being spoken to me. I want to open my eyes, but my body feels too heavy.

I can feel the love in the voice, a woman’s voice.

I stir once again.

The voice vanishes, and my heart quivers at the loss.

I’m floating in the dark, empty, alone.

It feels like an eternity. I have no sense of self. I just exist in this place, my thoughts and hopes and dreams empty.

There’s a pulse, one of warmth.

I must have imagined it.

But there it is again, a desperate call, a yearning.

In the darkness, I see a thread. It’s dull, but it looks like it’s trying to glow.

Like a switch.

On and off.

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