"I'm going to check," Devin whispered, against whose back I was still shaking uncontrollably. There was a silence in the house that was just frightening.
"No," I pleaded, clinging to him even tighter.
The hallway was pitch black, only the small stars of my bedside lamp twinkled above us on the ceiling and at least gave us a view of my small room.
"Jady," my brother said, still softly, and then broke my arms to turn around to face me. He took my hands, smiled encouragingly, and then tucked a strand of my brown hair behind my ear. "It was probably just the wind. Don't worry."
Exactly how stupid was he?
"You're not leaving me here alone. You know-"
I caught my breath and my eyes widened when I suddenly recognized two masked men in the hallway behind Devin. My heart threatened to stop beating and with a trembling hand I yanked on Devin's sweater, who looked at me in shock.
Then everything happened very quickly.
The one that seemed bigger grabbed my brother and shoved him aside with such force that Devin fell to the ground immediately, while the other strode briskly towards me.
I stopped breathing and just stood there in shock and then I felt his hand on my arm and he wanted to pull me with him, but before I could be pulled a step Devin got up and lunged at the guy.
But he didn't stand a chance...
The two quickly got my brother back on the ground and started beating him like they had no qualms about it while he kept groaning in pain that made me gasp for air insanely desperately.
Then I only heard his faint rattle and looked around in panic, where my bedside lamp caught my eye.
I yanked it out of the socket with all my might. At that moment everything went pitch dark and full of desperation I just hit where one of the guys was standing with full force.
"Fuck!" I heard one of them curse after hitting something and then when someone switched on the light in the hallway I saw the bigger one lying on the floor next to my brother.
It was a terrifying sight. Devin's face was barely recognizable under the blood and his white t-shirt seemed completely absorbed by this metal-smelling liquid.
With the lamp in my hand I looked at the one who was still standing. I was ready to throw the thing at him until I heard heavy footsteps down the hall that got my full attention.
I stood there with bated breath in my teddy bear pajamas, starlight in my trembling hands, just hoping this was all just a bad dream.
"Just come with me," said the masked one and stretched out his hand to me, then climbed over my brother and came towards me.
"One step further and I'll make you-"
"Stop it!" A voice suddenly sounded from the hallway and then a man was already standing in the doorway of my room, whose dark eyes I recognized immediately. His scent wafted deep into my consciousness and the coldness he radiated made me shiver. He was the wolf of the forest, there was no doubt about it.
"Kill him and take her with you," it slipped out of his lips and when the boy who was lying on the ground got up to point a gun at my brother, I immediately threw myself at Devin and cried so bitterly that neither of them could stop themselves stirred.
"Please," I begged, glancing at the guy in the doorway, who had already turned around, giving me only a view of his back. "I'll do anything, but leave him alone."
Nobody said anything and when my eyes fell on the masked man with the gun, I suddenly felt a hand on mine.
"Jady," Devin gasped in agony and I immediately put my hands on his cheeks to rid him of the blood at least a little.
"Devin," I sobbed, stroking him gently. A part of my heart couldn't cope with all this and my breathing became ragged. Slight dizziness set in and I wanted to collapse, but I had to be strong... for him.
"Come on!" one hissed and yanked my arm away from my brother while the other aimed the gun at him again.
The man in the hallway still had his back to us. Too fine to do it yourself.
"Why?!" I screamed desperately through tears and tried to free myself from his grip.
"Because you didn't have the right to choose your own partner as the Alpha's mate!", the one who was holding my arm hissed, and shocked by this statement, I was briefly thrown into a kind of trance, from which I only found out again, when I heard the gun unlock.
"He's my brother!!!" I sobbed in a trembling voice and just as I looked down at him, crying, expecting him to die because of me and my stupidity, I heard the voice of the man in the hallway.
"Leave him."
Then he disappeared and you only heard his footsteps moving away.
"Come on now, before he changes his mind," the tall one threatened me and put his gun away again.
"Bene, just throw her over your shoulder if she's so stubborn," he laughed and then disappeared as well.
The guy behind me turned me around, grabbed around my waist and then actually threw me onto his shoulder where I hung powerless. I was too scared to say anything else or fight back. As long as they let Devin live, I wouldn't care where I got to.
"Jady," I heard him whisper when we were halfway down the hall, but I didn't have the courage to answer him. The pain was too great and the lump in my throat made it difficult for me to breathe.
Once outside, he put me on my feet and I turned to my house, which I could barely see through the veil of tears. It all seemed so unreal....
I didn't really understand what had just happened here and just wanted to run back to my brother to feel the closeness and security, but I was thrown rudely into a black SUV, where I just lay there crying and didn't even make it anymore to sit up. My strength to defend myself seemed gone.
I felt alone and abandoned. Add to that desperate and scared...
But what bothered me the most was that it was my own fault and hating myself and my stupid idea of going into the forest was eating me out of them.