Chapter 17

"Since when does the Alpha have siblings? It only makes things worse," Ellis muttered, her voice laced with frustration. She sat cross-legged on her cot, wearing a simple gray nightdress that had been mended so many times it seemed like patchwork. Her wavy, dark brown hair tumbled over her shoulders, framing her face. Her almond-shaped hazel eyes flickered with unease.

Lily, perched on the edge of her bed, sighed as she let her  hair fall from its bun, her nimble fingers working to comb out the tangles. "I have a bad feeling about this," she murmured. "Something feels... off."

"Things will only get worse from now on," Anna said, climbing into her cot and pulling the thin blanket up to her chest.

"At least we won't be here by then," Lily whispered, her voice barely audible.

I hugged my pillow, trying to drown out the ominous tone of their words. "Yeah," I said softly. "We won’t be here to witness whatever horrors there will be."

Ora, lying in the shadows, shifted slightly. "What do you think they meant by 'making the world a better place'?" she asked, her voice tentative.

"That statement wasn’t for us," Anna replied flatly. "It probably means exterminating us, one by one. We’ll cease to exist."

The thought chilled me. It sounded so real, so inevitable. "I hate them," I whispered, the words slipping out unbidden.

"We all do," the others said in unison, their voices a collective sigh of shared misery.

I sighed faintly and let my eyes close.

\---

Morning came, but it did little to ease the dread that clung to us. I wiped down the kitchen tables, my motions mechanical, my mind focused on the fact that tomorrow we would finally leave this cursed place. For the first time in a long while, I allowed myself to smile.

Ellis grinned beside me, her joy infectious. "I wish tomorrow would just come already. All this waiting is making me want to scream."

I laughed, the sound surprising even myself. "Calm down, woman. The day is already here."

Ora sniffled dramatically as she chopped onions, her baby-blue eyes red and watering. "Tears of joy," she joked, and we all burst into laughter.

"Shh!" Anna hissed, stirring a pot over the stove. "If they hear us, they’ll come in and punish us. You know how they are."

"Yeah, our happiness offends them. Almost forgot that," Ellis said, rolling her eyes.

I sighed, my momentary mirth fading. She wasn’t wrong. These creatures thrived on our suffering, and they never missed an opportunity to remind us of it.

The door creaked open, and the room fell silent. A hulking figure stepped inside, his sheer presence sucking the air from the room. He was enormous—his muscles bulged against the fabric of his shirt, and his steps made the floor groan. His face was brutish, his beady eyes scanning the room with the hunger of a predator.

He walked over to the tray of fried chicken Anna had prepared, grabbed a piece, and devoured it with animalistic vigor. His heavy breathing filled the room, each inhale a reminder of his overwhelming strength.

Then his gaze landed on Ellis. She froze, her knuckles whitening as she gripped the edge of the table. Her hair fell forward, hiding her face, but it did little to shield her from his scrutiny.

"You. Come," he ordered, his voice a guttural growl.

Ellis hesitated, glancing at us with wide, terrified eyes. Slowly, she stood and walked toward him, her movements trembling and hesitant.

Before she reached the door, I took a step forward, my instincts screaming to protect her, but Anna grabbed my arm. She shook her head, her expression grim.

The man seized Ellis by the arm and dragged her out, his grip unyielding. I watched helplessly as the door slammed shut behind them. A tear slipped down my cheek, and I whispered a silent prayer for her safety.

Ora placed a hand on my shoulder. "You’ll only make things worse if you try to intervene," she said softly, her blue eyes heavy with sorrow. "Sometimes… it’s best to let things be."

\---

The day dragged on endlessly. I couldn’t stop thinking about Ellis. She was strong-willed, brave, and funny—a rare light in this bleak place. Not seeing her during our usual tasks filled me with a growing sense of unease.

Lily stayed close, clearly as worried as I was. "Liz," she said as she stripped a bed of its dirty sheets, "I’m scared. What if something happened to her?"

I sighed, trying to maintain some semblance of optimism. "Ellis is tough," I said, forcing a smile. "She’ll be okay."

Lily nodded, but the fear in her eyes remained.

The scream shattered the fragile calm.

It was Mary, a young girl barely fifteen. She ran toward us, tears streaming down her face, her breath coming in panicked gasps.

"Mary!" Lily cried, catching the trembling girl by the shoulders. "What happened? What’s wrong?"

Mary pointed toward one of the spare rooms in the corridor, her voice breaking. "It’s… it’s Ellis!"

My heart stopped.

We ran. Lily reached the door first and flung it open.

Her scream echoed down the hall.

I stepped inside, and the world tilted.

Ellis was unrecognizable. Her naked body lay crumpled on the bed, her blood pooling beneath her. Her head had been twisted at an unnatural angle, her neck grotesquely snapped. Her arms were shattered, jagged bone piercing through the skin like splintered wood. Bruises and bite marks marred her lifeless form, evidence of the unimaginable horrors she had endured.

But it was her eyes—glassy and wide, frozen in a look of sheer terror—that would haunt me forever.

My stomach churned, and bile rose in my throat. The room felt suffocating, the stench of death overwhelming.

The bastard responsible stood on the balcony, watching us with a sickening smirk. His satisfaction burned through me like fire.

I didn’t think. I grabbed a pair of scissors from the dresser and stormed toward him, rage blotting out everything else.

"Elizabeth, no!" Anna’s voice barely registered.

I swung the scissors with every ounce of strength I had, aiming for his throat.

He caught my wrist effortlessly, his grip so tight I felt the bone crack. Pain shot through me, and I screamed.

"I see you want to play," he sneered, his accent thick and foreign. "Just like your little friend."

I kicked, clawed, even bit into his arm until I tasted blood, but he didn’t flinch. He spun me around and ripped the back of my dress open, exposing my skin.

"Your friends can watch too," he growled, lowering his pants.

I braced for the worst, tears streaming down my face.

Then, suddenly, the weight was gone.

I turned to see the Alpha. His eyes were obsidian black, his skin an ashen grey that seemed otherworldly.

With a single motion, his hand plunged into the man’s chest. Blood sprayed across the walls as the Alpha ripped out his heart, its faint twitching silenced in his grasp.

The man gurgled, his eyes rolling back, but the Alpha wasn’t finished. He grabbed the man’s jaw and yanked, tearing his head from his body with a sickening crack. Blood poured like a river, pooling at the Alpha’s feet.

The room emptied as the others fled in terror.

I couldn’t move, my body trembling on the ground, my arm throbbing with pain. I clutched the torn fabric of my dress to my chest, trying to shield myself from view.

The Alpha turned to me, his bloodied hands surprisingly gentle as he scooped me up. His voice, soft and low, cut through the haze of my terror.

"I’ve got you," he said.

And against all logic, I believed him. I felt...safe?