Page 78 of Her Arranged Alpha
Before I could even soak in her words, take in the moment, the voice echoed around us like a ghost. It sent a shiver down my spine knowing we weren't safe.
Chapter 24 - Jillian
I stared at Maddox, soaking in the softness in his eyes. He looked himself, and I knew he was okay. We were going to be okay until we weren't.
"You will all pay," the voice spoke loudly around us, and Maddox pulled me closer to him. I looked around, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. I knew it wasn't in my head like last time. It was louder, and it was bouncing around like an echo.
The guys all looked around, confused, seeming unsure of what they were supposed to do. "Maddox, what do we do?"
Maddox's hold on me didn't soften. It tightened. No matter what, I knew he was going to protect me.
The voices then stopped, and we all froze in place. But we knew it wasn't over. Then the one closest to us fumbled over, looking in pain. He screamed as he grabbed his head, covering his ears.
"Shit, Ethan!"
Maddox pulled back and pulled me behind him as he stepped towards Ethan. The other two guys walked with him when Ethan pulled himself up. His once soft eyes were now hard, and the guys all stopped.
"Shit," Maddox said.
Before any of them could think, Ethan lunged at them. Suddenly, they were all trying to pin him down and get control of the situation, but there was no end. It seemed that once one of us got hold of ourselves, someone else would be subject to being the next puppet. Where did it end? We would soon grow tired.
Maybe that was the point. Tire us out until we couldn't fight for our lives anymore. Really, it was a genius idea.
"Ethan, get a hold of yourself," Maddox yelled at Ethan as they had him pinned to the ground. Maddox was holding his head while the other held his body. Ethan didn't stop moving, trying to get himself free.
I ran my hand through my hair, trying to think of what we could do, how we could win, but nothing came to mind. There was no winning.
I heard footsteps and turned. My eyes widened when I spotted Hope and Jessie coming through the woods. Before I could say anything, Hope opened her bag and started pouring something around all of us in a circle.
I could hear Ethan louder, screaming at the top of his lungs now. I covered my ears, dropping down and squeezing my eyes shut. It was all too much.
And then silence.
I pulled my hands free and looked over at Hope and Jessie. I watched their shoulders drop in relief. I looked over at Ethan, who had gone limp in the guy's arm.
"Is everyone in control of their bodies?" Hope asked.
Everyone slowly nodded their head as we all told them we were. Hope sighed heavily, and I stood up. I looked around, seeing she'd drawn a circle around us. "What is this?"
"A protective barrier. It blocks him from getting to you guys."
A million questions went through my head. What the hell had just happened? How did they even know we were out here? What would have happened if they hadn't arrived?
"How did you know we were here?" Maddox asked, running a hand over his face.
"We felt something was off," Jessie said. "And Jillian was supposed to drop off the herbs we needed."
"Is everyone okay?" Hope asked.
"No, I'm not okay," Ethan snapped angrily. "I just lost my fucking mind! Do you have any idea how that feels?"
A shiver ran through my body, knowing all too well what he was talking about. "How long do we need to stay here?" Maddox asked, his eyes looking out of the circle.
Hope turned and looked into the woods. "Considering I'm sure he knows that we are here, he will likely move on."
"You sure about that? Because it worked past Jillian's bracelets." Maddox said, sounding angry.
Hope looked at me, her face falling a little paler. She looked at Maddox. "The bracelet is only so strong, Maddox. None of this is foolproof."
