Falling For You (bxb)

39. Monster

5.30.20

Ally's POV

I stood facing Winston with my fists raised, and I was nervous beyond end. Today's the day that I prove my ability to be a valuable alpha to these people. It wouldn't go into effect as long as Alex still had hope, but I would be useful as an alpha in the interim.

The August air was hot and sticky against my body, and I had sweat in places a man should never have sweat. My father was stood in-between us while reciting the official rules I had been forced to memorize, but I was mostly focusing on Winston. How are his feet positioned? Where's the weakness in his form? Well, the answers are: too wide, and he isn't protecting his face well enough.

My father backed out of the circle slowly, and I heard him shout at us to begin. Winston attacked first, but when I tried to dodge away from the attack, he caught my movement and hit my square in the nose. I went to hit back, but he was out of range before I could say pinaple. Think, Ally! What would Alex do?

I dove in for him, but instead of angling myself downward like a normal person would, I slammed head first into Winston's chest and successfully knocked him onto the dirt. We went for a little tumble, and he unfortunately ended up on top. At least he's winded from my impact on his chest. A fist flew to the right of my head, and I managed to roll right before it hit me. Another one caught my eye, and I whined in feign pain.

"Weak," Winston scoffed a millisecond before I shoved my upper body towards him. My momentum ended with me on top of him, and I could see his struggling in the dirt. This won't be over until I knock him out, but I hardly have the ability to do it. It just seems so cruel to hurt someone who isn't truly threatening me that badly.

In my moment of weakness, Winston flipped us over, and his hands went around my throat to cut off my air supply. I scratched at his hands, but nothing was working. I angled my head down slightly before biting deeply into his arm, and he howled in pain while releasing his hold on me to deal with the wound. I took in a few deep breaths before taking the heel of my hand into Winston's mid forehead to end the fight.

As soon as his eyes rolled back, I fell against the dirt myself. People were clapping at me, but I was too focused on getting enough air to notice. I can't believe I hurt someone else close to me. I mean, I wouldn't consider us to be best buddies, but he's a member of this pack! It's different when those wolves in the Luna Llena pack were attacking the people I love, but now I just feel like a monster.

Vic came into the circle to pick me up, and I was glad he didn't try to show me off or anything. I was getting a scowl from Marc again, but at least there's a reason this time.

"Do you want to celebrate or go upstairs?"

"We can come back down in a few, I just need a minute."

"Of course."

He lead me upstairs, and I just managed to make it before I collapsed into tears on his shoulder. Vic pushed the door closed before cradling me gently against his body. "Am I a monster?"

"Oh no, Ally. You did what you had to; he would have strangled you."

"But I knocked him out!"

"You had to win, and it was the only way."

"He was my ally, and I knocked him out. Doesn't that make me a bad alpha?"

"You had to prove yourself to be trusted as an alpha, Ally. Sacrifices must be made in the road to the top, and I'm sure Alex would tell you the exact same thing."

"I want to visit him..."

"Of course we can, but you might want to fix your face. We don't want to set him off on anyone."

I walked into the bathroom, and I was shocked at how bad my face looked. There were already black and blue marks on my right eye, and dried blood caked above my lips from my busted nose. At least it isn't broken.

I wiped a wet towel under my nose, and luckily the blood came off with ease. My neck also had a little bit of bruising, but it wasn't as obvious as my face.

Vic came in with concealer that he must have stolen from someone, and his gentle hands rubbed it onto my bruises. "There you go. Come on, let's go get Dan before we go downstairs."

I smiled, and we took the journey towards my father's room hand in hand. I gently lifted the sleeping baby out of his crib, and we continued downstairs. No one was in Alex's room, so I took it upon myself to go in.

"Hey Alex," I whispered since I didn't want to wake up Dan. He had actually moved since yesterday, and he was staring at something in his hand.

His eyes shifted up to me, and I almost dropped Dan when I noticed that they were back to normal. There may have been sadness, but that wasn't what I was looking at; it's the obvious lack of darkness. "Hey."

"Di-did-did you..?"

"I did."

"Alex!" I squealed excitedly. I walked towards him with a broad smile, and I gently set Dan in his lap before hugging him tightly. "I missed you."

"I'm sorry I went a little bit crazy."

"It's fine. You're here now, and I think I understand. It isn't helpful that you were all alone either. I'm here for you now, Alex." I leaned my forehead against his, and I could see a genuine smile light up his face.

His hand caressed my cheek, but some of the makeup I was wearing came off at the touch. "Are you wearing makeup?"

"Just a little bit. Don't worry about it."

"Ally, you're beautiful as yourself. You don't need to alter your face." However, his tune changed when he continued rubbing the concealer. "Allystar Canfield who hit you."

"Uh, since you were gone, I was training to be Alpha just in case. Today, I went through my final test to prove myself."

"Oh... I guess it's okay then."

"I wanted to talk to you about that." I leaned back from Alex, and he leaned down to rock Dan back and forth gently. "I won, but I don't feel like it. I didn't like hurting someone who wasn't actively threatening the people I cared about. I felt like a monster when I had to knock him out."

"Ally you are the kindest person I know. I'm sure that you aren't a monster, and sometimes running a pack is hard. You have to go against your core beliefs occasionally; it's part of the job."

"Thanks... I think I'm going to talk to dad about letting you out now that you're you again. I'm just wondering how you did it."

"Someone brought me a hoodie of Ash's, and it had his locket in it." He clicked open the metallic necklace, and I saw why it helped.

"I'm proud of you. Hold onto Dan while I go bother dad, and please please don't hurt him."

"See you in a few, and I wouldn't dream of hurting my son; even when I was taken over by the darkness. He's too prescious."

"Alright."