Chapter 85

Brinley I had no idea how long we drove. It felt like several hours, but it could have been more since my brain was hyperaware of every minute that passed by. Thirty minutes ago, we had gotten off of the paved roads and Alpha had driven over bumpy back roads. We had to be far into the dense forest by now…significantly away from help. …and away from anyone who could hear my screams. Finally, Alpha stopped, put the car in park and turned off the ignition. We hadn’t spoken a word the entire way. I was okay with that. Somehow I knew every word that came out of his mouth was going to be painful for me. I wanted to know more, but I was afraid of what the truth would do to me. After he got out of his side of the vehicle and walked around to open my door, I mumbled, “Can I take off the blindfold now?” “In a minute,” he replied briskly, jerking on my elbow so hard that I stumbled out of the vehicle and tumbled forward. My hands shot out instinctively to catch myself, and I landed hard on th