Greatest Curse (Book 2)

Do Something

(Jaxon)

The rain was falling heavily.

Large droplets splashing onto the earth and creating mud puddles everywhere, saturating the forest floor and turning the dirt slippery. The woodland was quiet, save for the sound of falling rain, and the distant chirps of birds sheltering from bullets of ice water.

My heart was beating in my chest, pounding against my rib cage so fiercely I was afraid it would jump out. I had never been so scared in my life, and as beta, I was to never show fear, never show weakness. And the falling rain did not help to squelch the panic that rode me as I ran through the trees, slipping on mud, jumping over fallen tree logs, and stopping every few moments to sniff at the air.

My fur was drenched, and I was cold to the point I could feel it in my bones. But I dared not stop.

Bentley.

His name was stuck in my throat, and I resisted the urge to scream his name as I ran deeper into the woods. The rain was drowning out his scent, making it even more difficult to track him. My pack had given up hours ago on finding him, even his parents had concluded that he'd probably gotten caught in the rain and stopped by an abandoned cave to wait it out.

But Bentley was stubborn. I knew where he went. And I knew he'd gone alone. I didn't know which was more frightening. The fact that he thought he needed to prove himself, or that he went alone.

I finally slowed down as I approached a large tree, and at the bottom of it was the strangest mixture. I frowned at it, until the scent wafted up to me through the rain with the wind that blew in that moment. My eyes widened, heart dropping into my stomach as tears welled in my eyes.

Gods, please no! Anything but that!

The mud at the base of the tree was thickly mixed with a reddish liquid. Blood. And I knew exactly whose blood it was.

Fear and horror gripped me tight, rooting my paws to the sludge pooling around my legs, a million different scenarios rushing through me. And even though I suspected what I'd find hiding on the other side of that tree, no amount of mental preparation could have prepared me for what I came face-to-face with when I finally managed to move my legs forward.

Sorrow gripped me tight, a scream ripping through me as my eyes examined the damage done. Without a care for the rain, I shifted back into my human form, tears mingling with the rain that fell on my face as I pathetically crawled toward the body of what was left of my best friend.

The one I loved.

Sob after sob tore free from my throat, pathetic whimpers of agony and profound heartbreak rattling my core as I gathered him in my arms, rocking back and forth. I screamed at the gods to give him back, to heal his wounds. But I never got an answer, no response, nothing. Just the dead silence of rain deafening me and stripping away a piece of my soul.

"Bentley..." I whimpered pathetically, pressing my lips into his drenched light brown hair, his beautiful blue eyes that was once alive with excitement, always looking at me like I was his whole world, now lay open staring aimlessly up at the skies. They would never blink again. They would never again gaze upon me lovingly, the way he always did whenever I held him in my arms, teased him, kissed him, made love to him.

"Don't leave me...please...come back..." But even as I sat there, cradling the corpse of my beloved, I knew he would never answer me. I knew he would never breathe again or hold me to him. His body was cold, stiff.

He was dead. He'd died out here alone.

My Bentley was gone. And with him, a piece of me.

"Bentley!" I screamed, jerking up in my bed, heart pounding out of control, sweat beads running down the side of my face. My chest heaved violently, and I jumped at the sound of a loud knocking on my bedroom door.