Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 61468 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 307(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61468 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 307(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
But it’s too late now.
I whirl around and there they are—Kyle and Leroy.
They look even worse than I remember from last time—dirty coats hanging off their bony frames, greasy hair plastered to their skulls, eyes glittering like animals in the dark. Leroy’s rat-tail braid swings as he steps closer, while Kyle, in that same filthy red cap, is grinning like this is the funniest thing in the world.
My heart slams into my ribs. I take a step back, fumbling blindly in my purse for my keys. My fingers slip over lipstick tubes, receipts, my wallet—but not the damn keys. Where are they? Why wasn’t I holding them already?
“Leave me alone,” I snap, trying to sound stronger than I feel. “My Alpha husband will get you—can’t you smell him on me?”
Kyle inhales deeply and smirks.
“Yeah, we smell him. But we just don’t give a fuck.”
“You smell ripe,” Leroy adds, his voice low and ugly. “Ripe and ready to be bred—to be fucked. That’s all we care about.”
Terror spikes through me. I shake my head, stumbling backwards toward my car, but they’re circling me now, cutting off my path.
“You stay away from me,” I warn, my voice trembling. “I mean it—my husband will kill you if you touch me!”
Kyle laughs, showing yellow teeth.
“Your Alpha husband will never know what happened to you. We’ll hide the body real good when we’re done.”
His words turn the blood in my veins to ice. Are they drunk? Or just so horny they think they can get away with rape and murder. Either way, I have to get away from them!
I grab my phone like it’s a lifeline and jab at Logan’s number. He answers—thank God he answers. I open my mouth to shout his name, but before I can, Leroy lunges forward and snatches the phone out of my hand.
“Hey—stop!” I cry. “Leave me alone! Help!”
There’s a crunch as Kyle stomps on it, and I know it’s broken. My only link to Logan—gone.
“Now, now,” Leroy sneers, grabbing my arm. “Let’s not make a scene, girlie.”
They start to drag me toward a dented old sedan parked crooked at the far end of the lot. My legs are shaking, my throat tight with panic.
Oh God. This is really happening. I feel like I’m going to be sick!
“Logan!” I scream, knowing he can’t hear me, my voice cracking in the empty night. “Logan, help me!”
But there’s no one here. No one but me—and them. Oh God, I think this is how it ends.
I’m going to die tonight.
35
LOGAN
The phone in my pocket buzzes, and the screen lights up with Poppy’s name. I answer instantly, a smile tugging at my mouth.
“Hey, sweetheart—”
But instead of her voice, I hear chaos. Male voices jeering, ugly and vicious. And under it all—Poppy’s frightened voice.
“Hey, stop! No—leave me alone! Help!”
Her cry slices through me like a blade. My heart stops. My Wolf howls inside me, all rage and teeth.
“Poppy!” I bark into the phone, gripping it so hard I nearly crush it. “Sweetheart, where are you? What’s happening?”
A crunch follows—glass shattering, plastic breaking. The call cuts to static, then silence.
No. No, no, no!
They’ve got her. Those fuckers have got her!
I’m out of my chair before the thought even finishes forming, sprinting across the half-finished frame of the house I’ve been working on. My crew stares as I leap down the raw wooden steps two at a time, but I don’t stop to explain—there’s no time.
My truck roars to life as I gun the engine. The tires spit gravel as I tear out of the site and into the night. My blood is boiling, my vision narrowing. All I can hear is her voice, breaking as she cried for help.
I know who it was. I don’t need to guess.
Kyle and Leroy.
Those fucking Betas. I promised myself that if they came near her again—if they so much as touched her—I’d kill them.
And now, they’ve touched her—tried to take what’s mine.
My Wolf is practically tearing at my skin to get out, to rip them apart limb from limb. Ours, he growls. Our mate. Our pup. Must protect. MUST PROTECT!
“I know, I know!” I snarl aloud, wrenching the wheel as I fly down the back road toward town. “I’ll get her back. I swear it—I’ll fucking kill them before I let them hurt her!”
The parking lot comes into view just in time for me to see it—Poppy, struggling in their filthy hands, her purse on the ground, her phone smashed to pieces. They’re dragging her toward a dented sedan, her eyes wide and wet with terror.
I slam on the brakes so hard my tires screech.
They look up, startled, just as I leap from the truck.
“Get your fucking hands off her!” I roar, my voice half-man, half-Wolf. The sound rattles the night air. A full moon floats overhead—I can feel my Wolf struggling to get out—to make them pay.