Page 95 of Brutal Alpha Beast
I sprint further into the trees, my heart racing as mud splashes up my legs.
“Danielle!” I yell louder this time, voice cracking. “Where are you?”
Nothing but the rustling leaves responds. But I know she’s here, I can scent her.
I veer left, zigzagging through the trees, and then I notice something. A flash of red. Danielle’s dress. I skid to a halt and fall to my knees beside her.
“Danielle.”
She’s crumpled against the base of a tree, one arm limp against her stomach, and her cheek pressed against the damp earth. Her lips are pale.
I lift her into my arms. “Danielle, come on, wake up. I’m here.”
She doesn’t stir.
I shake her in my arms. “Come on, Danielle. You gotta wake up.”
But her eyes don’t open. Her body moves lifelessly like a doll’s.
“What’s happening?” Penelope’s familiar voice asks.
“She won’t wake up,” I yell.
Suddenly, there’s commotion around me. More and more witches flock through the trees, gathering around us, but I barely register them as I frown hopelessly at Danielle’s lifeless eyelids.
“What can we do?” I ask them frantically. “We need a spell.”
Penelope crouches down beside us. She brings two fingers to Danielle’s pale neck.
My heart is plummeting. I’m hanging on to every second, desperately, waiting for answers.
Penelope swallows, her face grave and still. “She has no pulse.”
I freeze.
The words don’t register at first.
No pulse.
My brain rejects them before they can land.
“No,” I bark, gripping Danielle tighter. “You’re wrong. She’s breathing. I heard her breathing—”
Penelope pulls back slightly, her expression shifting from concern to caution. “Ellis—”
“No!” I shout. “Check again. You’re wrong!”
I press my hand against Danielle’s chest, searching for that rhythm. A sign of life. Anything.
But the silence is deafening.
“No, no, no—come on.” My hands tremble as I press on her chest. “Danielle, wake up.”
The commotion of the witches talking around me fades away, I’m swept up into panic.This can’t be happening.
I kiss her cheek, close my eyes, and strain. “Come on, baby, you can’t do this to me. You have to be here. Come on.”
My heart feels as though it's being ripped from my chest.
