Page 22 of Curvy Alpha Bride (Wolfshade Brides-for-Hire #4)

As the full moon approaches, the town begins to relax. The witch is always active in full darkness, and the new moon, the truly blackest night, is the most dangerous time.

In contrast, werewolves are strongest under the light of the full moon, which is also when the witch is at her weakest. Sure enough, as the days pass, Ivarra’s attempts at attack wind down until finally, a whole night passes without a single sign of her.

When we come out of the bunker the next morning, Terrence and Shaw are waiting for us with the small band of men who have kept watch over the town every night since we were forced underground.

“What happened last night?” I ask anxiously. I’m desperately hoping that the witch is gone, but struggling against the dread rising from my soul.

She’ll never be done. We can’t ever be safe.

“There was nothing, my alpha,” Shaw answers. “For the past two weeks, we have seen her descend on the town in full darkness. Nothing solid, only a blue cloud with an occasional glimpse of limb or claw, but always with the stench of death. Last night, there was no sign at all.”

“We must be careful, Xavier,” Serra cautions, putting a hand on my arm. “This could be a trick.”

“I know,” I answer, nodding. “We can’t give her any opportunity to feed.”

“She has always been weakened in the light,” Ivan says. “And she has only fed once. It seems reasonable to me that she won’t be able to attack over the next few nights.”

Shaw nods. “Last night was almost full illumination. Tonight will be total. The next night will be bright enough that the moon still looks full, but every night after that, the sky gets darker.”

Serra chews her lip thoughtfully. “I think we can relax a little. Hector, run out to the cabin and get the girls, and we’ll have a town meeting. We all need to put our heads together and share what we know so we’re ready to go back underground if need be.”

“And see our daughters,” a woman in the crowd adds. “We need to remember what we’re fighting for.”

“Yes, we do,” Serra agrees as she turns back to me. “What say you, Alpha? Do you agree with my suggestions?”

“I do,” I reply. “Let’s prepare as quickly as possible. We can have the girls here by noon and then back to the cabin by sunset. Get on it, people!”

As Hector leaves for the cabin, the rest of us restock the bunker and tend the daily jobs that ensure our survival. I never imagined there could be so much work involved in sewing a shirt, making boots, or preserving food.

We pause in our work to put together a meal in Town Hall as a treat for us and the girls. An almost festive air comes over us, and even Serra picks up on it, laughing and leading us in a song.

“I didn’t think I’d ever see you singing,” I say, laughing. “I don’t think I’ve even seen you smile before today.”

Serra chuckles, smiling even more broadly. “A weight has lifted—all of us can feel it. Along with all our other rules for survival, there is also this one: take joy when you can. Savor it, and indulge in pleasure as often as possible. It keeps the heart strong and gives hope to the soul.”

Her words stir me, and the growing excitement I’ve felt since we decided to bring the girls back bubbles up inside me. I can’t wait to see Mabel again, even if she still doesn’t want to talk to me.

Just seeing her will remind me why I’m fighting. Serra is right—I need this hope, and so does everyone else.

By the time Hector’s truck pulls up outside, we have food laid out on the tables in the hall, as much as we can spare without affecting our stores. As the girls get out of the truck and greet their families, I feel free and clean, as if the witch has truly withdrawn.

When Finnah steps out, Serra runs to her, hugging her tightly and rocking back and forth. It touches me deeply to see the display, because Serra always acts so tough.

She loves her sister, though. It must have been horrible to be separated from her family for so long.

Finnah sees me over her sister’s shoulder and hurries to give me a hug. “Look at you,” she says, stepping back to look me up and down. “Your shoulders are so broad, you’ve got callouses on your hands—and I daresay, you look a bit taller.”

“Well, it can’t be the food,” I tease. “The service in this place is incredibly poor. Not even one star.”

Everyone chuckles, even though it was a shockingly poor joke. I hear Finnah reply, but I don’t hear her words, because I’m being drawn towards the truck like a magnet when I see the last person get out.

Mabel!

The second her feet touch the ground, the full noonday sun lights her up, making her pale skin glow with a golden sheen.

Her long, dark, curly hair shimmers with shifting shadows and reflections from the sun, and her eyes smolder like storm clouds about to break into the devastating beauty of a winter blizzard.

I stop in my tracks, unable to take another step towards her. All I want to do is run to her, wrap my arms around her soft curves, and bury my face in her hair, but I’m frozen in place, struck by her beauty and desperate to know how she feels about me.

This time apart has clarified everything. I want her by my side for the rest of my life. I didn’t know it at the time, but without her, I was hollow. I denied my own heart, and almost lost the only thing I ever really cared about.

“Mabel,” the whisper rises from my lips, almost strangled in my tight throat.

She turns, her long, dark blue skirt swirling around her legs as she walks towards me.

“Xavier,” she says, reaching for my hands. When our fingers touch, a shock flows through me, swiftly followed by an unbelievable gratitude.

“I’m so sorry—” I begin, but she shakes her head.

“Don’t apologize, please. I understand now that you made the only decision you could. We can’t leave these people. This is our home now.”

“Yes,” I answer, relieved. “I didn’t want to let you down, and I know we’re in danger here, but—”

“Everyone is,” she reminds me. “Not just our pack, but the entire Range.”

Our pack.

Warmth swells in my chest, and I cup her cheek gently with one hand. I want to kiss her and tell her I love her, but the moment is so perfect, I don’t want to shatter it by misunderstanding her intentions.

She blinks, and a troubled look flashes across her face. “Xavier, I—”

“Yes?”

“I need to tell you something—”

“Come on, everyone,” Serra’s voice cuts through the chatter of voices, and Mabel closes her lips abruptly. “Let’s get inside and talk,” Serra continues, addressing the crowd. “We have much to discuss if we’re going to survive the next few weeks.”

“Mabel, what is it?” I ask her as we walk towards the hall.

She shakes her head. “I’ll tell you later. Right now, we have to tend to our duty.”

A flood of words runs through my mind, almost setting my tongue on fire with the need to say them, but I hold back. The town is in too much danger for me to put my own feelings before the welfare of others.

In the hall, Mabel and I walk to the front of the room to take our seats with the elders while the rest of the townsfolk settle into the tables around the room. Once everyone is comfortable, Serra stands up to start the meeting.

“It’s good to have you all gathered here,” she says. “The last couple of weeks have been trying for us all, especially since we believed the danger was past. What we need to do is establish our routines and decide how we want to proceed.”

“I think we’re safe for a couple of days,” a very old woman says. “In all my years, I never heard a whisper from the witch on a full moon.”

“You know better than me, Rachel,” Serra replies. “You’re the oldest in the pack, and elder before me.”

Rachel nods. “You can just feel it in the air. The threat is much less today.”

“We can all feel it,” Ivan agrees. “And it’s not just to do with the light; it’s our own power growing as the moon becomes full.”

“Because we have a luna!” Lyssa states.

Mabel blushes, but doesn’t seem embarrassed. “May my presence here grant you all strength,” she says, and the crowd murmurs an affirmation.

“Okay,” I say, standing up to get everyone’s attention. “I have an idea, and many of you won’t like it. I’ve decided that no matter what happens, we need help. It’s time to open up this problem to the other packs and see what can be done if we combine our power.”

“But we can’t have more alphas here!” Serra cries. “It’s too risky.”

“I know,” I say. “That’s why I’ve sent out our scouts with instructions to only bring back warriors or betas, no alphas and no lunas. Even if we feel safe right now, we won’t take the chance of strengthening the witch. Men have always been safe in the woods, right? Even on a new moon?”

“We never let anyone leave shelter on a new moon,” Serra says. “But yes, men have been safe in the woods. The witch has not attacked them. But we didn’t flaunt it, or tempt her. It was only one or two wolves, and they were stealthy and careful.”

“Understood. The scouts I sent out should have no trouble getting out and returning, if those are the rules.”

“Nothing with Ivarra is ever a rule,” Serra warns. “I’m not sure about this course of action, Alpha.”

“We have to do something,” I insist. “And the other packs deserve to know about this. We can’t keep it a secret any longer.”

“I agree,” Finnah says. “We have suffered alone for too long, and if the others know, they can prepare themselves. I lived in Cyan Lock for most of my life, and they are good, dependable people. They deserve to know.”

The talk moves on to resources and job allocation, and when the sun passes noon, Mabel makes the decision to stay in town with the other women. No one disagrees, and as our important matters are settled, everyone enjoys the food and each other’s company while we wait for the scouts.

It’s not until it begins to get dark that I finally start to worry. Someone should have been back by now. I ordered them to work in relays, so they could get information back to us quickly. I was ready to suspend the operation at any moment if it became too dangerous.

“Night is falling,” Mabel whispers, standing in the doorway, looking out across the mountain.

“Are you scared?” I ask.

She nods. “I don’t feel like there’s any danger. The woods seem very quiet, peaceful even. I will return to the cabin with the others soon. If your scouts aren’t back in an hour, we’ll go.”

“They should be back by now,” I mutter, a bad feeling beginning to churn my stomach. “I’m starting to worry.”

As if brought to life by my words, a wailing scream sounds from the town line to the south. Another scream from the east splits the air, and Mabel grabs my hand.

“Is it Ivarra?” she whispers.

“No,” I growl, fury making my voice harsh. “It’s my sentries!”

Mabel gasps. “I have to—”

“Stay right here!” I roar. “That’s the only thing you have to do. Do not leave this hall, and get underground with the other women if anything else happens.”

Mabel’s tear-filled eyes rip at my heart, but I don’t stop. I turn and shift, running for the town line to the south. My scouts had been sent into the forest, and I also had sentries watching them, ready to take information from runners to relay back to me.

Around me, other pack members run towards the sound. Terror is so thick in the air, it’s like a living force, something you can touch and taste.

As we come to the edge of town, I see someone down on the ground, a many-armed shadow I can’t immediately make out.

Is it the witch?

I get closer and see there is a body on the ground, and the other person—my sentry, Luke—is crouched over them.

“What happened?” I roar, shifting the second I reach them. Luke cries pitifully, holding on to the shoulders of the person on the ground. The body is so torn up and covered in blood, it takes me a moment to realize who it is.

“Shaw,” I mutter. “Oh, God, no.”

“His body was thrown down here, out of the air,” Luke cries. “I was watching for him and the other scouts, like you said. I saw nothing, I felt nothing, and then his body dropped out of the sky right in front of me.”

I’m trying to absorb the information when a runner comes towards us from the east, trembling with fear as he recounts the same story. I catch Serra’s eye, and both of us look stricken.

And guilty.

“We made a terrible mistake,” Serra says. “She’s hunting in the moonlight, right now. Ivarra is changing the rules.”

“We’re all in danger!” I yell, suddenly realizing all of us are out in the open. “Get back to town now!”

Then the full force of the situation rams into me, making my blood run cold.

Mabel! She’s outside, and none of them know what’s coming!

I shift, throwing back my head to howl at the moon with every shred of strength left in me. I send a warning and a call to arms, then turn tail and race for the center of town as fast as my paws will carry me.