Page 97 of Brutal Alpha Beast
Ellis told me everything. I have no idea how I’m still alive.
“I know it’s not her fault,” Ellis says, taking me into his arms and kissing my forehead. “Nothing is going to happen to Monroe, I promise, we’ll figure this out.”
I nod. It feels good to be in his embrace. He’s so warm.
“This was premeditated,” I say. “She was trying to get rid of us both, which means, if she’s possessed by Willow, we’re the key somehow.”
“Okay,” Ellis says. “She’s corrupting Monroe to get to us, to stop us from finding the source. Hopefully, that means we’re getting close.”
I run through theories in my mind, and all of them are disjointed and confused, to say the least.
“If my heart isn’t the key, and Monroe’s isn’t either since she’s being corrupted, then what is?”
“Maybe the vines are physical like we thought,” Ellis suggests. “Maybe we were getting closer to it through searching, and Willow decided to ramp up her efforts to get us to stop.”
I nod. My head hurts. Everything hurts. Monroe hit me hard. Not Monroe, I remind myself. But Willow.
“But,” I stutter. “I just don’t understand. We’ve searched; we’ve found nothing. The tapestry is so unclear. I don’t understand...”
“It’s okay,” Ellis says. “We don’t need to understand it completely now. I’m just glad that you’re alive, okay. Let’s go back to the pack, let’s settle for a second. You’ve been through a lot.”
He’s holding me, but I turn back to look at the cabin. I can still hear Monroe’s screams.
“But Monroe-”
“It’s for her own good,” Ellis says.
Penelope shows up, her eyes wide with concern, strolling toward us, a bag over her shoulder that’s full to the brim.
“How are you?” She asks me.
“Fine,” I say quickly. “But Monroe-”
She nods, looking at me in the way she often does when she’s trying to show that she has a situation under control.
Is she as worried as I am? Is she just better at masking it?
“Get some rest,” she tells me, but she looks at Ellis as she says this. “You’ve both had a long day. We’ll make sure Monroe is taken care of here.”
“Will she be okay?” I whisper.
I’m looking for reassurance where I know there is none. But I keep thinking back to Violet’s fate, and how I wasn’t breathing only minutes ago.
Things can change so quickly. People can be here one second, and then gone the next.
“We’ll keep her chained,” Penelope responds. “For her own good. I’m going to make sure she stays alive, and I’m going to see what I can do about getting Willow out of her, but…well... All we can do is our best.”
I swallow, nodding twice as Ellis continues to soothe my back. Thank God for Ellis and thank God for Penelope. I don’t know what I’d do without them here.
“Please,” Penelope says, bringing her soft hand to my forearm. “Try to rest.”
“She will,” Ellis responds. “I’ll take it from here.”
***
As I bathe, I scrub myself with extra force to try to wash off everything that happened today. While we all knew that something like this was coming, it didn’t prepare me for how it would feel.
Ellis doesn’t realize that he saved not one but two lives by reviving me. He saved his child, and I still have no idea how he did it.
