RULE THE WORLD | D.DIXON

121

CAVE IN, part two-121

Cassie was sitting between her father's legs, her back leaning against his chest and her head resting in the crook of his arm. They had found a space in the cave to rest until they figured out a way to get out of this cave.

Her father ran his hand through her hair as Magna came over to them urgently. "Hey—can I have your matches?"

"You should try to take it easy for a minute," Daryl replied, looking away from his daughter.

"I can't." Magna breathed. "I need to do something."

Daryl pulled out the matches from his vest pocket and handed them to the woman. Magna muttered a 'thanks' before walking away and started to try a way out. Cassidy shifted her body so that her head was now resting against his chest and her back was leaning on his leg as she rubbed her eyes.

Her tired eyes followed aunt Carol as the woman sat down next to them. Her aunt holds out a canteen making her grab it and take a sip before handing it back.

She listened as her father and Carol talked about how her father cared for her aunt and how he wanted her to talk to him. And how Carol couldn't stop thinking about her son's death and how she want to Alpha suffer for what she did before her aunt would kill her.

"I don't want to just kill Alpha. I want to hurt her. I want to make her regret everything. I want her to beg for forgiveness and then I want to kill her." Her aunt said as tears ran down her cheek.

"If I went through all the shit that you went through, I'd probably feel the same way." Her father said, looking at Carol. "Unless you tried to stop me. You gotta quit all this. You gotta. People you care about are starting to get hurt."

"I didn't mean for any of this to reason or dragging Cassie in—" Carol started but Cassie cut her off.

Cassidy sat up a bit, looking at her aunt. "You didn't drag me in. I did it myself. I was the one who followed you."

Carol glanced at the little girl before looking down at her lap. "Your mother would have done the same thing."

"I know. Max told me how protective she was towards her family. If she were here, she wouldn't have thought twice about running after you. I didn't either. I didn't want you to get hurt, so I followed you to protect you." Cassie explained, remembering the stories her brother use to tell her.

It was quiet for a moment before Carol spoke again. "I-I know have to stop—"

"You gotta not bullshit me," Daryl said. "Don't bullshit me. You gotta promise. I gotta know we're on the same team. We fight for our future. We don't fight for revenge."