Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 54360 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 272(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54360 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 272(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
Everything happens so fast. Cruel hands come out of nowhere. Meaty fingers dig into my skin with bruising force as two men drag me into an alley.
I open my mouth to scream, but before any sound comes out, a large hand covers my mouth. The smell of dirt, urine, and cheap alcohol fills my nostrils. A combination that has bile rise in my throat.
“Who do we have here?” One of my attackers chuckles. “Walking around the city all alone after dark. You’re basically asking to have your cunt filled.”
“And the ass.” The other guy grins, showing off half of his front teeth missing. “Don’t forget the ass, Chuck.”
One of them forcefully grabs a handful of my breast while another kneads my butt cheek through my thin dress. I flail my arms and kick my leg out, earning me a slap in the face. My cheek stings, and tears start to run down my face as I desperately try to fight these two men off.
“We’re going to have so much fun with you—” His words are cut off as his body is flung backward as though he weighs hardly anything. A dark figure appears in front of us, his face nothing but a mask of fury, almost unrecognizable… almost.
The guy behind me releases his hold on me, and I stumble away from the three men.
“Hey, man, we don’t want any trouble with you people.” One of my assailants holds up his hands in surrender.
“Shut up,” A growls at him, like I imagine a feral animal would at his prey.
“We didn’t know she was—” He chokes on his words when he catches sight of the murderous look in A’s eyes.
Fuck, fuck, fuck… the word runs on replay through my mind. Fuck, he’s going to kill them. And he’s not going to let me walk away. At that exact moment, I know my life is over.
I’m going to die.
5
Alaric
I make quick work of the two bastards who dragged her into the alley. I don't even use a gun. With a painful-sounding crunch, I break the first one's neck. His useless body drops to the ground, hitting it with a thud.
The other guy looks for a way to escape, but it's too fucking late. Before he can make a run for it, I grab him by the throat and slam him against the wall in the alley.
"Please, man," he grunts, his voice raspy since I'm squeezing his worthless throat so fucking hard. "Have mercy, I didn't know she was your girl."
"Too fucking late," I grind out, snapping his neck, too. His body falls to the ground like a useless, broken puppet. And now it's just me and Monroe, who's shivering behind me.
Slowly, I turn around to face her. At least there's no fucking blood. I leave the bodies there, grab her arm, and drag her out of the alley.
“What are you doing?” she whispers, her voice trembling. “I can’t believe you—"
"Shut up." I keep pulling her along until we're a street over. Then I drag her into another alley and press her back against the wall. "What the fuck are you doing, walking around alone like that?"
"Are you actually making this my fault right now?" she hisses, narrowing her eyes at me. "I was just trying to get home! And what the hell are you doing here, anyway?"
"Keeping an eye on you," I grunt. "Good thing I am, since you don't have a fucking clue how to look out for your own ass."
Her eyes burn with anger. "You killed them. Oh God, you fucking killed them."
"Shut up," I repeat. "You'll get us in trouble."
"Oh God, oh God, oh God." Her eyes are growing wider and wider, and her pupils have dilated so much her pretty eyes look nearly black. "I can't believe it. I just saw two men die. For nothing."
"They would've hurt you." I put my hand on the brick wall behind her, and she turns her head to the side, closing her eyes so she doesn't have to look at me. "They would've raped you. Or worse. Shouldn't you be fucking thanking me?"
"You're a monster." Her words are barely above a whisper now. "Fuck. They're dead because of me."
"They're dead because they were assaulting an innocent girl. There are rules at play here, sugar. They should never have touched you. Because you're mine."
"Just because you're stalking me doesn't make me your property." She punctuates her words by pushing a finger into my chest. "You're fucking crazy, A. I know you were in my apartment last night."
"Oh, you do?" I smirk at her. "Got any way to prove it?"
She peels her back away from the wall and advances on me, but I don't move. She seems intimidated, but she stands her ground. It's actually kind of fucking cute.
"You came on me, you pervert," she hisses. "I was covered in it this morning. And your message is still on my mirror."