Page 27 of Cruel Alpha Beast (Roseville Alphas #1)

The light dances around the willow tree, whose limbs only serve to burn hotter against my face, and then the white energy returns to both Lacey and me. It enters our chests, and I swear I can hear a man’s distant voice speaking to me in my head.

“ Sawyer, you are ready. Use this power to fight against Willow when she returns. You can do this. You were meant to do this as much as I was. When the willow is afire, wash it down with your desire. ”

I look at Lacey, the object of said desire, and realize that she must be listening to a similar message in her head. I wonder if it’s the same man in my head, but there are more pressing matters to attend to.

I can ask her all of the questions I want once Willow and Violet are taken care of.

“We need to find her,” Lacey says suddenly. I go to stand up, to search for her, but then Lacey holds me down. “You need to rest. You were literally just dead.”

“Lacey, I’m fine,” I assure her. But yet again, she holds me back from standing up. “Hey, we need to take care of Violet!”

“I know,” she says. “But I have an idea.”

I watch as she closes her eyes and concentrates for a moment. I keep my eyes on the lookout, just in case Violet comes back to finish the job. I can’t imagine she’d be happy to find me still breathing.

Next thing I know, I hear the sound of running water, and when I turn my head, I see a stream coming from Lacey’s chest, which then turns into a large ball, just as Danielle had created when Violet tried to set me on fire all those days ago.

Opening her eyes, Lacey uses her hands to direct the water up in the air.

Then, as if she’s throwing a plastic beach ball to her friend, she thrusts her hands toward the willow tree’s expanding flames, dousing most of it in one fell swoop.

Before she can even think of creating another ball of water, a loud, inhuman roar comes from within the tree’s trunk, and then the sky above us turns from inky blue to a menacing shade of red.

In a blink, Violet reappears before us, her face screwed up in anger. She looks rough as hell, like she’s actually been thrown off a cliff this time.

“What are you doing?” she hisses through her teeth, glancing back at the half-soaking wet, half-still burning tree. “This isn’t how it was supposed to be!”

“Violet, please, if you’re still in there,” Lacey says carefully. “Please! We’ve been able to weaken her! If you can escape Willow, now is your chance!”

“ There is no Violet !” the woman in front of us shrieks, and suddenly, her hair turns dark, her body more shapely. She’s stunning, despite the fact that she looks like she’s been hit by a semi-truck. “There is only Willow now!”

“Give it up!” I scream at her. “We’re more powerful than you!”

Willow rounds on me, her eyes wide, her lips pulled into a horrifying smile. “Oh, I don’t think so. My power was strong enough to escape from this tree every hundred years or so. And with that wretched girl’s raw, untapped power, I can defeat you with ease!”

I look to my side and see that Lacey is looking at me. I grab her hand and squeeze tightly, hoping that the legend my great-grandfather told me will be enough.

“An alpha unsure of himself after years of planning parties instead of fighting ,” Willow continues. “And a shiftless wolf who sees pictures in her head? I can do this in my sleep.”

“Then why haven’t you done anything yet?” Lacey calls her bluff. “Oh, right, because you know damn well that a shiftless wolf and an alpha like us sealed your fate all those years ago!”

Willow takes several steps backward, unable to fake the confidence she once had any longer. I squeeze Lacey’s hand, and we both stand across from the ancient witch.

“ When the willow is afire, wash it down with your desire ,” I recite.

The woman screams out, clearly trying to intimidate us, even though it’s clear we have her over a barrel. I could feel sorry for her, if only she weren’t a murderous witch trying to destroy mine and Lacey’s kinds.

Just as Willow lunges forward toward us, she stumbles forward, falling forward as if she’d tripped on a hole in the ground.

When she steadies herself, I see that Willow has disappeared, and a young woman with a strawberry blonde braid has taken over again.

She looks terrified, her eyes wide as saucers when she staggers toward my wife.

“Lacey, please,” Violet begs. “I didn’t mean to—I woke up by the tree—I wasn’t in control.”

“I believe you,” Lacey says. “This isn’t your fault.”

“You have to kill me,” Violet adds. “Kill me before she comes back! Before she kills you all!”

“I can’t,” Lacey whispers back. “W-we’ll figure out a way to save you!”

“There is no way.” Violet moans, holding onto her stomach like she’s going to be sick. “Kill me now! I can’t hold her off much longer!”

I reach down for the knife she discarded after killing me, and without a second thought, I toss it as hard as I can toward the girl, hoping to catch her somewhere vital—somewhere quick.

But before the blade can plunge into Violet’s soft flesh, she frees her hands from her stomach, fully Willow again.

And Willow is much less clumsy than Violet.

She catches the blade, dark red blood dripping from her fingers, but it does nothing to phase her.

She drops the knife again and steps closer.

“Now you’re making me angry !” Willow screeches.

She clenches her fists, blood still pouring from her cut hand, and yells at the angry red sky. The remaining fire from the tree disappears within itself, reappearing out of Willow’s skin. Her clothes burn right off her body, but somehow, her hair stays intact.

Lacey squeezes my hand tightly, looking at me before saying, “I love you, Sawyer. I always have.”

“I love you, too,” I reply.

Willow is able to play with the fire, roasting her skin, creating a large dragon-like creature out of the flames.

“Now!” Lacey screams.

I don’t even know how I do it, but I’m able to channel the magic swirling around inside of me, and at the same time as Lacey, a large wave of water sprays out of our chests and crests onto Willow, obliterating her fire immediately.

Yowling in pain, Willow stumbles backward and is then sucked into the tree’s trunk before our eyes. Except it isn’t her body; it’s more of a corporeal form, and the lifeless body of Violet falls to the ground.

The tree, once perfectly stable, shakes itself, and suddenly, crumbles to nothing but ash, leaving not even a stump in its wake. A lone plume of smoke lifts to the sky, which is rapidly losing its red tint, and all that’s left of Willow is her last scream, dissipating into the ether.

“It’s done,” Lacey says out loud. She steps forward and stares down at Violet’s limp form. “I’m sorry we couldn’t save you. You deserved better.”

Before I can tell her we should get out of here, I sense something is off. I’m starting to feel pain again from the wounds the magic had just healed moments before.

“Lacey?” I call out, my voice weaker than I remember it being. “Something’s happening.”

She turns just in time to watch the two cuts on my face burst back open, as well as the slashes on my chest, and, even worse, the hole near my ribs.

By the time I’ve fallen to my knees, she’s already let out a mournful scream at the top of her lungs.