23. Bexley

23

BEXLEY

“Here, I got her for a bit,” Dom said as he wrangled the little girl out of my grasp, “you’re sweating up a storm.”

I shrugged him off. “I got it.”

Ashley cried against my chest as Dom wrapped around us, halting me in my tracks. “Bexley, I insist.”

Beads of sweat dripped down my brow. My heart slammed against my chest a million miles a second. I had to admit, I was fucking exhausted. Ashley clung to me as she soaked my shirt with her tears. I looked at Dom’s outstretched arms as healers and shifters alike rushed into a singular home there on the stretch of the compound where everyone lived.

I finally relented, handing Ashley over to Dom as he cradled her softly.

“I got her,” he said as he smoothed her hair out of her crying face, “you go check on her mother.”

I watched Dom dote on that little girl, and I wondered if he had any children of his own.

Because he was very good with them.

Without another word spoken, I reached over and kissed Ashley’s cheek softly. The salty wetness of her tears broke my heart as I rubbed her arm softly.

“Stay here with Dom, okay? I’m gonna go check on Mama,” I whispered.

Ashley sniffled hard. “O-O-O—okay.”

I kissed her one last time before Dom shooed me off, and away I went. I stormed into the house where everyone had gathered and the chaos resumed. Voss barked orders while Merida shouted demands at women and men alike rushing around in dark red robes. I saw Ashley lying there on the couch, groaning and holding her stomach as she gagged and dry-heaved. Her brow was filled with sweat. Her gaze, wide and tired. She groaned in pain as they tried to get her to sprawl out on her back, but they couldn’t get her to uncurl away from her stomach.

“What’s happened?” I asked. “What’s going on with her?”

Ronyn dragged a man toward me and stopped him at my side. “Speak.”

The man’s mouth moved a million miles a second. “Lieutenant Reggie Davidson, ma’am.”

Voss snarled. “What was that?”

The lieutenant cleared his throat. “Sorry, ma’am. I mean, Alpha. Sorry, Alpha.”

Wait, the guys were going to help keep my cover? Since when?

I stuffed the thought down and tilted my head. “What happened, lieutenant?”

He shook his head quickly. “Honest to God, your guess is as good as mine. We were all tucked in and sleeping. Angela, over there, was particularly tired. We told her we’d watch her little girl, Ashley, so she could get to sleep a little earlier.”

“Then…?” I urged as Angela shivered helplessly on the couch.

“Then,” the lieutenant said with a shrug, “she woke up screaming, broke out in a cold sweat, and she’s been like this ever since.”

“Oh, goooood,” Angela groaned out into the room.

I rushed to her side and parted the healers. I shoved the red head out of the way and crouched down beside the woman of my pack. I gazed upon Angela’s pale face. The tears rushed down her cheeks. The way her hair seemed to grow limp, even though I know that sounds stupid as fuck. I don’t know, she just looked like all of the energy was being zapped from her bones. Right in front of us.

I reached up to brush some sweat off her forehead, but someone grabbed my wrist before I could.

And when I looked up, I saw Voss yanking me off the couch before the healers filled my spot back in.

“What in the?—?”

Voss spun me around and placed his hands on my shoulders. “Just watch.”

I watched the redhead work a million miles a second. Her orders became hushed as the healers gathered around her, blocking Angela from our view. I stood on my tiptoes, trying to see the crying woman as her sobs escalated. They grew from a whimper into almost a fever-pitched scream, and I heard Ashley yelling for her mother outside.

“I can’t do this,” I whispered breathlessly as I made my way out of the house.

“Good idea,” a voice said as I made my way out onto the porch, “everyone who isn’t a healer, out!”

Shifters were shuffled out of the house as we all poured out onto the grass. I rushed over to Ashely and peeled her away from Dom’s grasp. I cradled her softly as she laid her head on my shoulder, stroking my fingers mindlessly through her hair. And as I bounced her softly, I did my best to reassure the little girl that everything was going to be all right.

Then, a resounding crack soared through the air before a woman wailed in pain.

“What was that?” Ashley whimpered as she curled deeper against me.

Another shatter rose up from the house as Angela shrieked. I mean, just a blood-curdling scream. I winced and closed my eyes. I crouched down and covered Ashley’s ears as her tears poured helplessly down my face. I covered her away from the world. I shielded her body with mine as the little girl shivered against me.

“What’s… happening, Alpha?” Ashley choked out through her tears.

I shook my head as her mother’s screaming filled the air around us. “I don’t know. I’m so sorry, but trust that the healers have it. Trust that they’ll find a way to help her.”

“Come, come,” Dom said in a cool and collected voice. I felt him scoop Ashley off the ground before he rubbed my back, coaxing me up from my crouched position.

The sounds coming from the house were absolutely nightmarish.

“Aaaaaaaaaah!” Angela cried out as another thunderous crack pierced the night.

“Why don’t we go get a snack?” Dom asked as he reached down and grabbed my arm.

I stood to my feet and reached for Ashley, but she turned away softly. My outstretched hands kept making their way for her, though, before someone reached for them out of thin air. A pair of thick, callused, scarred hands came into view, with exposed forearms that were riddled with geometric tattoos. The large hands encompassed mine, turning me to face the brutish figure as I found myself gazing up into Ronyn’s face.

He squeezed my hands before he dropped them, and I couldn’t help the question that fell from my face.

“What in the hell is happening, Ronyn?” I asked breathlessly.

Someone’s hand came down onto my shoulder and squeezed before Voss’s voice echoed from behind me.

“Bexley, just take a breath,” he urged.

I whipped around and shrugged off his touch. “No more breaths. No more relaxing.”

Another pop. Another shriek. Another crying fit.

I pointed to the house and swallowed hard. “What are they doing to her?”

Voss placed his hands on my shoulders and crouched down to level his gaze with me. “Bexley, she was bitten in the attack.”

My heart stilled. My soul froze. My eyes widened as the sounds immediately dissipated. No more screaming. No more shrieking. No more cracking and breaking of whatever the fuck it was they were doing in there. All I heard was Dom coaxing Ashley down from her fever-pitched high. And as the weight of Voss’s statement dawned upon me, I shook my head.

“You can’t kill her,” I said breathlessly as I turned and faced Ronyn. “She’s the only other parent?—”

“We don’t have a choice,” Ronyn said.

I spat the words at him. “Of course, you’d think that.”

Voss stepped in front of Ronyn, obscuring my vision of him. “A vampire in the ranks is a threat to the entire pack. Yours, and mine. You know this.”

I shook my head and stumbled backward. “You’re both insane, you know that? There has to be a cure. You have healers here, so I know there’s?—”

I walked backward into a soft structure, and when I spun around, I saw that the redheaded healer stood behind me.

“Merida,” I whispered as I gripped her upper arms, “tell me you have good news.”

Her face filled with sadness. “Angela’s asking for you, but you need to hurry. She doesn’t have much time.”

I shoved my way past everyone. I moved Merida out of my way and sprinted back toward the house. Everyone leapt out of the way as I vaulted over obstacles and jumped over their heads. I didn’t use the porch steps to get to the front door. Instead, I used the momentum of my moving body to heave myself over the railing.

I practically somersaulted into the fucking room.

But, when my stare fell onto Angela lying crookedly on the couch, I paused.

Her skin had grown pale. Her curves were gone. It was as if her body was eating itself, growing thinner and deader by the second. Her eyes looked sunken in. I heard something crack before Angela’s back bowed, and even though her jaw unhinged, no sound came out.

“She’s lost her voice,” Merida whispered in my ear.

Dear fucking God, the sounds stopped because she couldn’t physically scream any longer.

“Alpha?” Angela croaks out as her back hits the couch.

She panted for air helplessly as her hand tumbled toward me. I looked over at Merida and she nodded, urging me toward the woman. So, I scrambled and dipped down next to her before I took her ice-cold hand in mine.

“I’m right here, Ange,” I said in as soothing of a voice as I could muster. “I’m right here.”

“Alpha?” she croaked out.

Her gaze grew unfocused, like she could see me, but not really. I smoothed some hair away from her forehead, and I watched as a chunk came out in my hand. My eyes widened as I looked at it. As I saw the patch of hair cling to my skin before sliding out of my grasp.

“Listen,” Angela said breathlessly.

I turned my attention back to her as something else popped. Angela’s jaw dropped open, and the breathy scream she let out shattered my soul. So long as I lived, I’d never forget it. Even with the lives I had taken and the blood I spilled and the people I psychologically tortured in the name of the U.S. government, I’d never forget the sheer fear in that woman’s face as she screamed without sound.

Then, when her back collapsed to the couch again, she turned her sweating face to see me.

“Take care of my little girl,” she choked out.

My lower lip quivered as I cupped her hand to my warm cheek. I wanted to warm her up so badly. “Of course, of course. You don’t ever have to worry about that with me.”

Her tears dried up, even though her eyes were still red and puffy from crying. I had no clue what that meant, but I knew it wasn’t good.

“One…one more thing,” Angela grunted out in pain.

“Anything,” I whispered. “What do you need, Ange?”

She tugged my hands to her, which yanked me down on top of her. And as she lifted her head up, her jaw unhinged. Another crack resounded throughout the house, making my stomach turn as her eyes widened. Fear rushed over her face as she held me close to her, silently screaming into the abyss.

I’d never forget those eyes so long as I lived.

“Kill me before… it finishes,” Ange choked out before she licked her lips. “Let me… let me die a… a… a shifter. With… with honor.”

Merida rushed beside me, her voice soft and calm as she perched next to me. “Are you sure?”

“Angela,” I said sternly as I captured her gaze back, “are you sure this is what you want?”

That woman stared me down as if dying were her last official task on earth. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. Don’t let my daughter see, please. Don’t let her see me like this.”

Merida started talking. “Well, we can certainly?—”

I was done with the talking, though. I had my orders. And if someone from my pack needed something, as their Alpha, I’d always provide. It was the promise that I made them when we first met, and it’s a promise I intended to see through. No matter what it brought us.

“Well, you sure as fuck aren’t dying here,” I grunted as I scooped Angela into my arms.

“What are you doing? Where are you taking her?” Merida asked.

I shot the healer a look. “Get the kids back into their houses so we can get out of here. If dying is what’s about to happen, she’s at least going to have a good view to go with it.”

Merida went to open her mouth, but I pinned her with a look.

“Now,” I commanded.

And with a nod of her head, she rushed out the door and barked orders to get everyone back into their homes.

While I cradled a silently screaming Angela in my arms and did my best not to think about the excruciating pain she was in.