Alpha’s Hybrid Cinderella
Chapter 56

If I had been in my right mind, I would never have let it happen.

But sometime between the moment Peelle fled with the car to draw off the pursuers, and the moment Evan picked me back up in his arms, I drifted off. I had no strength left to stay conscious. When I came to, I was somewhere warm, somewhere soft. A soft lamp shone its gentle yellow light from the nightstand by my head, and I twitched around under the covers while regaining my bearings. "Don't move. You're still off-balance and you could hurt yourself."

My vision went in and out of focus. There he was. Evan had risen from the armchair on the other side of the nightstand and was now standing over me, adjusting the covers. Covers? Bed? Wait, where...?

"We're in a safe house. It's not well-stocked and it's uncomfortable, but it's the only secure spot in the city right now. The Scarlet pack is fighting off the rogues and the other enemies from the manor. Once the coast is clear, I'll get you to a real hospital."

His hand was so warm. I leaned into his palm, now aware of how he stroked my cheek. Why was I so numb? Why was everything so slow? Even Evan's words in my ears. It took me several seconds longer to understand what he was saying, piecing together the words long after he'd said them.

"Peelle..."

His face shadowed. Despite the dazed confusion still wrapping heavily around my head, the spark of awareness inside me comprehended it in an instant.

"No... no..."

"I've sent out everyone I can to look for him. They'll bring him back."

"We... we can go..."

"We're not going anywhere. They were coming after you and me, and Peelle threw himself into the fire to give us time to escape. I won't waste that by putting you out there in harm's way again after that."

And I couldn't bear to see Evan in danger either. But Peelle! No...

"Can... can you shift?" I asked, my voice hardly louder than a whisper. "How long has it been? You can shift again, right?"

His face clouded even more. "Whatever that poison was, it's long-lasting. I can throw off some of it now that it's been close to two hours since I was dosed, but it forces me to shift back to human before long. You're in worse shape. Don't try to shift. The doctor's looked at you but with the equipment we have here, it's not enough to know if you're in the clear or not."

"Evan... Are you hurt anywhere?"

He leaned down and placed a long kiss on my forehead. "I'm fine. My healing is back, I just can't stay shifted." "Is it getting better?"

"Yes. The first time, I couldn't hold it but for a few seconds. Much better now. I should be fine in a little while."

Don't leave me to go fight, I wanted to beg, but that was selfish. We should be looking for Peelle. But he had said there were others looking for him already, right? It sickened me to think of him out there alone, waiting for someone to save him, but two more bodies searching for him when I couldn't even sit up would do no good. I would only hinder the effort. And as strong as Evan was, I couldn't stand to think of him in the fray again. Not like this.

Now that my senses had returned, the harrowing vision of the fire devouring the manor and lunging at us from the walls in every direction was terrifying. How could I have been so dazed? How had I not been out of my mind with fear? Old memories of being trapped in the slaves' hut as the fire grew around me resurfaced, burning my elbows, my bare feet, reaching across time to scorch my face.

"The house burned down, didn't it? They couldn't put it out in time."

"Probably. But it's built. It can be rebuilt. Don't worry about that."

"What about everyone else? Did they make it out in time? Are they safe?"

"Some are in the hospitals. They're having their blood tested while they're being taken care of so we can figure out what kind of new toxin we're dealing with. We'll have answers soon."

I frowned. He wasn't answering the question. I might not have noticed the vague language, but now there were memories of the fighting happening on the grounds, werewolves clashing, some in wolf form but others in human form, wielding crude weapons. I hadn't imagined that, had I? "There was fighting going on. What happened? Who attacked? There were so many of them."

Evan stiffened. "You don't need to worry about that. Go back to sleep, Claudia. Doctor will be back in a few minutes."

"Wait. Tell me." I grabbed at his arm. It was a feeble attempt with no strength behind it, but he let me stop him anyway as if he thought pulling away might break me. He held my stare, dark reluctance warring with the somber gentleness in his eyes. But he relented at last.

"It looks like they're rogues, for the most part. Haven't identified any yet, but it's only a matter of time. Right now, it looks like they crossed into the city limits all at once in a premeditated maneuver, hundreds of them at once. It's never happened before. But it explains what Peelle was talking about last night when he said there's been no criminal activity in days. They've been coordinating and preparing for an all-out assault." "Rogues? Coordinating?"

"I don't understand it either. But I will. No matter what it takes, I'm going to see this through and make them all pay."

He had never seemed so strong yet soft, so powerful yet weathered. He'd watched the center of his authority burn to ashes tonight, and his friend - his best friend, I understood now - was somewhere out there, helpless and alone against the enemy. And yet Evan was the one comforting me. "Come here," I whispered and pulled the covers away from the other side of the narrow bed. They were heavier than they should have been, my weakened muscles trembling with the effort, but it only took me a a few tries to drag them down far enough to make my message clear. "You should rest too."

He smiled. "The bed's not big enough for the both of us."

"Not with that attitude."

"That sounds like something Peelle would say." At my crestfallen expression, he shook his head. "It's a good thing. Don't worry about him, I have a feeling he'll be okay."

"Do you mean that?"

"He's not a chatterbox or a joker all the time. When things get down to the wire, he pulls through. You haven't seen him in action yet, not properly."

The hideous knot of fear in my chest loosened slightly. I couldn't imagine him walking toward us in one piece, but maybe bruised and battered, bleeding from a dozen places, grinning as he waved, he would appear in front of us again.

The shaking little girl remembering a raging fire long ago didn't believe it. She might not believe in anything still, even after all that had happened to take her away from the place that she hated so much. But I wasn't that little girl anymore. I had grown, and I had become my own person. I was big enough to believe in things bigger than me now.

Please bring Peelle back to us, I prayed. I had never wanted so badly for the Moon Goddess to exist for me, not just for her full-blooded werewolf children. Would she listen to my prayer? Peelle needs your help. Until we can get to him, and until someone replaces him, please protect Peelle from everyone who would hurt him.

Evan slid into the bed on the other side. The mattress was too narrow for us to lie side by side, so he pressed his chest to my back and melded our bodies together, spooning me perfectly with his larger frame. He was so warm. So strong. I loved him, loved him so much. I couldn't bear the thought of losing him.

How could things have come to this?

But I knew the answer.

The Scarlet pack under Evan's leadership had sown so much blood, spilling it all over from pack to pack. It had been inevitable for the blood to answer back. "Evan?"

His arms tightened around me. "Hm?"

"I don't have my phone to call Raf and Leon. Can someone check on them too?"

"I asked after them already. I knew you'd be worried."

Another rush of tension flooded out of me. He knew me so well.

"Claudia, don't cry."

"I'm not upset. Not as much as I was, at least. I'm relieved."

He kissed the back of my neck, nuzzling my hair aside to caress me with his lips. "Good. That was the worst of it. It'll get better from here. Everything's going to be all right." I nestled in close to him and let his words lull me back to sleep.