Not My Alpha (Completed)

Chapter Forty-Four - The Night Turned to Glass

I fought to keep my breathing even as spots danced in my vision. My gaze stayed trained on Will, and after a moment, I saw a slight rise and fall of his chest. This eased the panic I felt only slightly. He was still motionless, and still covered in blood. Whether it was his own, or someone else's, I had no idea. 

Samuel suddenly let out an especially loud curse, pulling my attention back to him. When I looked up, my heart broke. Tears were pooling around his eyes, and he still hadn't stopped assaulting Riley's body. He was panicking now, though, as if it was only just dawning on him that Riley was gone.

I took a deep and shaky breath, closing my eyes for a moment. My attention was being pulled every single direction, and there was still the large urge to shut everything out. But, I had to focus. If I had any hope of saving Will, or living through the rest of the night, I couldn't shut down. But, I also knew that I couldn't do this alone. Unfortunately, Samuel wasn't anywhere near functioning. He was still maniacally forcing Riley back to life, cursing things I didn't even know existed. Of course it had to be in this moment that I realized how much we needed him. How much I needed him. 

I opened my eyes and began moving, not thinking about my actions. My body inched towards Samuel, and almost out of instinct, my hand reached out to his shoulder. It hesitated in the air just above his skin, shaking in time with my breath. 

"Samuel," I called out, closing the distance between his shoulder and my hand. I placed my palm lightly across his skin, ignoring the blood staining my fingers.

At my touch, Samuel stilled. His shoulders rose and fell rapidly, but any other movement ceased. His hands were still on Riley's chest, and he was kneeling practically on top of his body. I tried to catch his eye, but Samuel kept his head bent as low as possible. 

The night turned to glass and silence was heavy upon the surface. It seemed if either of us spoke, it would shatter in an instant, and Samuel would break with it. I bit my lip and took a deep breath, moving to close any distance between our bodies. My hand gently squeezed his shoulder as I used it to pull me closer, and I was sharply aware of the blood that would soon be staining my body.

Samuel stiffened with my movements, but he remained mute, seated permanently next to Riley. His gaze was forever on his best friends face, and though I couldn't see his eyes, I knew tears would be lying in wait. Samuel was broken. I didn't have to look at him to know it. 

Ignoring the growing pain in my side, I sat up on my knees and placed my other hand on Samuel's other shoulder. Gently, I pulled him back. Again, he stiffened, refusing to budge from his position. If anything, he turned away the smallest amount, showing me nothing but the skin of his back. 

I leaned forward, trying to twist Samuel's shoulders as I did so. My lips met his ear, and I again spoke quietly. "Samuel. Look at me."

He remained still for a moment longer, before finally giving way under my pull. He reluctantly turned his upper body to face me, keeping his gaze low on the ground. It was shielded by the moons shadows and his dark hair hanging limply across his eyes.

Now that he was facing me, I dropped my feeble grip from his shoulders and found his hands in my own.  I gripped them tightly, willing words into my touch. I could feel him looking at our hands, so I gave them a gentle squeeze and intertwined our fingers. Almost out of instinct, he curled his fingers into mine, pulling them lightly to his lap.

"Samuel," I softly tried again. When he raised his face a fraction of an inch, I forced the unpleasant words from my mouth. "We have to leave."

He abruptly shook his head, eyes darting back to Riley's body. I caught a glimpse of his features, and couldn't help but notice how utterly lost they were. It suddenly felt as if a massive weight had fallen on my chest, and for some reason, I felt lost, too. The feeling was painful and instantly took the breath from my lungs. It wasn't like the pain of my side, though. It was an empty and never ending abyss.