Page 134 of Cost of Courting

“I’m going now. I need to get distance between us before he finds out what I did,” Octavia says and edges backwards.

“Where’s my pack?” I snarl at her.

She shakes her head. “Forget them. Alphas, all alphas should be shot.”

“Octavia! Where are my alphas!”

“Dead.”

My heart stops. No, they aren’t dead, I think as she disappears out of my house. They aren’t dead, I would feel it.

I don’t want to leave Luna, but she needs more help than I can give her.

“Shit!” I shout and jump up, racing out the back for the fence. I slip through, ignoring the pain as I scrape my upper arm. I glance down and find a line of blood.

But on the other side of the fence, I stop, uncertain.

A single bird whistles, and then everything goes silent.

When there’s something wrong, sometimes it’s not so much a thing that’s out of place but a whole vibe. Something in the air, maybe it’s a scent, maybe it’s a long forgotten instinct that we’ve evolved enough to almost not feel anymore. But between the three steps into her yard and the fence, something became painfully, obviously, clearly wrong.

I listen intently to the silence. I watch the stillness. There is no movement, no strange sounds, but that in and of itself is the freakiest part.

My hairs lift, and I debate going back, but Dot has saved me over and over. I owe her. Plus, she’s the closest thing to a friend I’ve ever had. She’s the one who got me on birth control, who helped me suppress the symptoms of my non-existent heats. She patched me up, took care of me. Laughed with me. Respected me. Was my sounding board and the person who gave me a verbal slap when I needed it.

She’s the closest thing to a friend I’d allowed myself to have after they left.

My stomach drops violently, and I find myself moving carelessly, almost as if I’m drunk. It takes me forever to cross the backyard. Her back door is open, the floral curtain is flapping wildly. The sound is so weird that I can almost hear her telling me to close the damn door. I push it aside and move into her house.

I can smell the blood, the violence. The stench of alphas has filled and invaded every corner of the house. It’s so wrong in this space. The untouched backyard is at odds withher destroyed home. Why didn’t I hear anything? This place is a mess, and I wasn’t here. I was so close, I could have saved her.

Oh, god.

I swipe at my cheek and brush the tears away.

I creep in, following the trail of destruction down to the bedroom. My breathing is so loud, but I feel like I’m miles away.Please don’t let her be in there. Please, oh, please don’t let this be what I think it is. Let me be wrong.There are bloody handprints on the wall, her lamp is broken and lying on the floor.

The light in the bedroom is on and shining out into the hallway. My hand trembles as I reach out.

I push the door open and let out a low, agonised moan. She’s lying spread eagle on the bed, her eyes wide and staring. Dot is naked, covered in bruises. Blood pools dark red on the white sheets under her.

Everything in me wants to go to her, to check and make sure, but I don’t need to, her skin is waxy, and her colour is gone; besides, no one could survive that much blood loss.

I choke as my legs give way, dumping me on the floor. A sob breaks out of me despite my best efforts.

I spoke to her last night.

Did I miss something? Did she signal she needed help? Why didn’t I hear anything?

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” I whimper and pull myself up.

With deep reluctance, I walk to the side of the bed. The blood splatters are so offensive on her white lace bedding. She looks so small lying there and so old and frail.

I hate that she ended like this. It’s not fair. This isn’t supposed to happen to people like her.

“I’m sorry my friend. Forgive me. I will see you again. I won’t forget. Any of it. I promise.” My whispers are broken up with gasps as I try to hold myself together.

I bite my cheek to stop myself from crying and step back, unable to look away from her until I’m in the hallway. My whole body is shaking, but Luna needs me.

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