Page 33 of Brutal Alpha Beast
From her hand, she zaps a stream of white glow that fires behind me. I turn to follow its journey, and my eyes widen with shock. The zap punctures the side of some deranged, shadowy beast. It’s real but somehow looks as though it is made of white smoke.
The zap isn’t enough, though, and it growls wildly as it comes chasing toward us.
“Stay back,” I order, stepping in front of Danielle, with an outstretched protective arm. She may be a witch, but this creature is a beast, and I know how to fight those.
I howl deeply, the sound rattling my throat, before I roll my shoulders back and shift. With my jaws spread wide, I meet the beast mid-air, hooking my teeth into its neck.
It’s hard to grasp, but I manage to do some damage—the creature wails loudly and tumbles to the ground.
My heart thuds as I land with a heavy thump.
The creature is up, racing toward me, growling. I crouch on my hind legs, ready to spring into motion, and suddenly I notice another zap.
A stream of glowing magic flows through the air, this time for longer, and I can tell, with more force. The creature is suspended in the air, writhing and whimpering as the glow eventually causes its body to disintegrate into a cloud of smoke.
My heart is still pounding. I take a breath and shift back. I turn to Danielle, thankful, but still confused. “What the fuck was that thing?”
She’s trembling, that same look spreads across her face, the one of horror she had before. Once again, she’s looking behind me.
“Whatever it was,” she stammers, “there’s a whole lot more.”
Chapter 9 - Danielle
“This way!” Ellis yells as we run. He’s taking us in the opposite direction of where I thought we were going to go. We’re not headed toward the pack or the coven for support. It's as though he’s trying to lead us out of the valley.
“Where are we going?” I scream.
My legs are aching, my heart racing, and I can barely catch my breath. I can feel the monsters gaining on us.
We could have tried to fight them, but Ellis didn’t give us that option. I’m waiting for a moment of strength to hurl another zap.
“Just keep moving forward!” He yells. “We need to lead them away.”
It doesn’t help that it’s raining. I can barely see.
But Ellis hasn’t shifted, which means he’s not leaving me to fend for myself. Maybe he should—we’re not going to outrun them at this pace.
He leads me around a bend, and all I see is mud and trees. I become frantic. Even in his human form, he’s much faster than me.
I look back, and notice five or more shadow monsters still following—gaining on me, too close.
I turn, stopping abruptly, and raise my hands above my head. I try to steady my heart rate, focusing on producing a glow.
“Danielle!” I hear Ellis yell. “What are you…come on!”
My hands become shaky, little sparks form, and I take a deep breath as I stare those creatures right into their soulless, empty black eyes.
Before they reach me, I feel Ellis yank me. It all happens so fast, a bright flash that covers my vision, it’s my magic, but somehow, it's completely out of my control.
I don’t even have time to scream before I fall to the ground.
***
Somehow, Ellis and I have ended up somewhere completely different. We’re in a forest, but there are no shadow monsters, and we’ve been walking for what feels like miles and still haven’t found the route back home.
“I would transport us back if I could,” I say, gazing around at the unfamiliar trees. “But I don’t know how I did this. I’ve never done a transportation spell before.”
The rain has come to a drizzle, but I still shiver from the cold.
