Page 24 of Cruel Alpha Beast (Roseville Alphas #1)

It’s been some time since I’ve been to regular town meetings in the valley, but I remember that most of these meetings are usually filled with a small level of tension here.

Even if all they’re about is contesting whose lawns are getting too high, or maybe even a bored older woman will bring up drama that doesn’t need to be addressed before the greater public, there’s always a sense of trouble looming over our heads.

Well, this particular meeting has tension in spades.

And that’s saying something because there is a significant portion of our town residents missing from this meeting tonight.

I heard whispers upon my own entry of other residents falling to the plague earlier today.

The infirmary’s halls are filling up rather quickly, and some believe they’ll have to call in help from shifter medics across the country.

My legs are still quivering, but I’m unsure if that’s from the passionate mating session that Sawyer and I just engaged in, or if it’s coming from the abject horrors that had been occurring outside of our door while we were in our own little worlds.

How frightening it was to know that that was happening mere feet away.

I can’t stop thinking about the conversation Sawyer and I had earlier, as well. I cried. A lot. I realized the depths of my lingering trauma were not as shallow as I’d thought they were. And I told Sawyer how I really felt inside, even though I was just learning it myself right then and there.

He was heartbroken, that much was obvious, but instead of merely apologizing and expecting that to be the band-aid over my emotional bullet hole, he told me that he would prove himself to me for the rest of his life. I could see in his eyes, hear in his words, just how much he really loves me.

We accomplished my original goal when I dragged him back home after our meeting on the outskirts of town, or so I hoped.

Neither one of us felt like there was power burgeoning within us, strong enough to free Violet from Willow’s influence, trap her back within her burning tree, and extinguish her for however long we could.

Meanwhile, a man from our town fell from the plague just outside our door. And a full-on brawl was waging across the street, much bloodier than the fight I saw for myself days ago.

I close my eyes as Sawyer gives his speech to the crowd, hoping against all hope that he and I will be able to end this before somebody dies, whether from the plague itself or the growing violence I have foreseen in my visions.

“…Ellis, Jasper, and I are working together with a small team to remove this curse befalling Roseville,” Sawyer announces from the dais at the front of the meeting hall. “With some outside help, we have made headway, but we are still—”

“Outside help?” someone yells out from the middle of the relatively sparse crowd. “From who?”

I can see that Sawyer is setting his jaw even from where I stand at the back of the hall. He sucks in a large breath, filling his chest as wide as he can before exhaling deeply. I think he’s going to tell them the truth, but I worry it won’t be received very well.

“We have created a tentative alliance with the witches of the woods,” Sawyer tells them.

And just as expected, all hell broke loose.

People start yelling at my husband, saying both terrible things about him as a leader, as well as the witches who took me in.

My eyes fill with tears yet again today as a woman standing near me spits on the ground and accuses the coven of sacrificing young children.

“ Silence !” Sawyer yells out, and fortunately, it still works.

“We have an infirmary full of sick members of our community. The nature surrounding the valley is rotting before our very eyes. And I have broken up far too many vicious arguments over nothing . Arguments that have led to bodily harm to myself and others. So, if anyone has a better solution to breaking this curse before it breaks us, I’ll open the floor. ”

For a moment, the hall goes silent. I breathe out through my nose, feeling like a heavy load has been taken off my chest.

Until…

“So, the witches started this curse?” a man calls out aggressively.

“ A witch,” Sawyer corrects. “An ancient one who has possessed others to do her evil bidding so she can take over the forest.”

“Well, then I say we kill them all,” the man suggests, answering Sawyer’s rhetorical question from earlier. “Seems like the easiest, quickest way to get this shit done.”

I don’t know whose face falls quicker, Sawyer’s or my own. The weight returns to my chest, and this time, it’s much heavier. Considering how angry this crowd can get, I fear that something terrible will happen to my friends if this witch-hatred issue isn’t quashed as soon as possible.

“Enough, enough !” Sawyer calls out. “ One witch has started this. She does not speak for the rest of them, and so we will not be killing a whole community of innocent people.

“Our people have lived side by side so quietly that for the last several generations, very few even knew they were out there still. I didn’t even realize just how close they really were to our valley.

“Besides, the witches have their reservations about working with us, as well,” he continues.

“I have had to build trust in our tentative allies, as they have had to do for me, and we are working together to find a solution to this. You may not respect this choice from me right now, but I think you’ll find that living to see where I’m coming from is a far better option than dying thinking I’m wrong. ”

I’m proud of Sawyer for standing up to his people like this. It can’t be easy, especially when this town has known nothing but peace and boring suburban life for over a century.

I see the unfounded hatred for witches bubbling up even more in the crowd, and soon Sawyer’s cries for silence are unheeded. I know he can hold his own, but I have this nagging feeling that I should step in. Right now.

Pushing past the angry crowd in the meeting hall, I climb onto the dais and stand at Sawyer’s side. He puts his arm around me protectively, and soon, the vision of me standing there is enough to distract the yelling residents for a moment.

“What is she doing back here?” someone asks.

“ She is Lacey,” Sawyer snaps. “And she is my wife.”

My heart flutters at this. I want to reach out and kiss him for finally sharing our relationship with the public.

And doing it with pride.

But the crowd is as quiet as they have been in the last several minutes, and I need to take advantage of this to help them see reason.

“There is true evil in this forest, and in order to defeat it, we must put trust in each other,” I say gravely. “Even if that means putting trust in the witches of the coven. Our kinds once lived together in harmony, and we can do it once again.

“I’ve been doing research into the curse,” I add while I still can. “For all I’ve seen, the key to our survival…is love .”

Sawyer stares at me, his eyes examining my every expression as I speak.

“Love of all kinds. Love for each other. Love for the strangers willing to help so we can all be safe. And most importantly, the kind of love that I have for my husband ,” I say, making sure to catch his eye.

Sawyer wells up with tears, but I can tell he’s trying to keep on a brave face in front of his people.

“And aside from love, there is so much power in forgiveness,” I say, realizing this for myself at that very moment.

“Sometimes the people who have hurt us the most, or the people we’ve been conditioned to hate for reasons we don’t even know, can surprise us.

Change is a beautiful thing, and anyone can do it.

Including you. I beg for you all to turn the other cheek to your inherent biases and come together to help us break this curse instead of actively fighting against us. ”

The silence is thick in the meeting hall. Sawyer is staring at me like he’s never seen me before. I squeeze his back, my little way of telling him that I meant everything that I said.

Everything.

Just then, I hear a small gust of wind, and a shimmering figure appears on the dais beside us. Sawyer pulls me closer, but I know exactly what this is. Penelope has astrally projected herself here, but it seems I’m the only one impressed with this feat.

“What the fuck is that?” someone yells.

“Is that a witch?” another calls.

While it seemed for a moment that my message had been received—or, at the very least, been considered—it clearly didn’t last for long.

“Quiet now; I don’t have very long,” Penelope says, her voice just that little bit off from its normal self, like she’s speaking through an intercom.

“The witches of the resistance have taken a vote. We put forward a temporary alliance to cull the evil uprising blackening the forest we share. With our magic and your force, this is the best chance we have to end this before it has devastating consequences.”

Before anyone can argue, Sawyer steps closer to the projection. “Speaking on behalf of my town, I agree— and if anyone has a problem with that ,” he calls over the cries from the audience, “ then they are free to go into the forest and die on their own terms .”

This quiets the angry people. No one leaves the hall. And Sawyer turns to Penelope’s astral form.

“I’ll speak to the others,” he promises. “I’ll make them see reason.”

Penelope nods, then fades from the dais. And for the first time since I’ve come back to the valley, it seems like there’s hope for us, yet.