Chapter 34: Chapter 34

(quick note- I had missed chapter 32 and went back and fixed it 5/21/26 if you read 31-33/34 prior to this date they should be fixed very quickly)

Beck

My claws began to emerge as Negan pleaded through the constriction of my hand at his throat.

“I’m not your enemy, I swear!”

I glanced at Misty, but it was clear she was spiraling. I held my claws back but put more pressure on his neck.

“You’d say anything to save your pathetic life,” I snarled at Negan, as my claws itched to dispose of the threat.

“I… wouldn’t… wish… that… fate… on… anyone… my… sister,” he forced out as the color began draining from his face from lack of oxygen.

“Let him go,” Donnie’s voice called as a gun cocked.

I looked behind me in rage as Donnie stood, halfway down the stairs, in nothing but his boxers with a gun trained on me. In my peripheral I saw Misty compartmentalize in an instant and spin as she pulled her own gun out of her purse, her aim on Donnie.

“Drop it,” she insisted but if Donnie heard her, he had chosen not to listen. She cocked it. I didn’t even know she had a gun, let alone how well she knew how to use one.

This situation was spiraling out of control.

“I can disembowel your leader in an instant. You can shoot me but then she will shoot you. Are you willing to gamble on how good of a shot she is, Donnie boy?”

“I’m a damn good shot,” Misty announced and through my peripheral I could see the solid stance and wager that was a very good possibility.

"Doesn't bother me one bit, in the end she walks out of here unscathed and disappears," I said, digging my fingers that threatened to end Negan into his belly over his white T-shirt.

“Put…it…down,” Negan’s voice garbled the order. Donnie clicked on the safety and dropped it over the rail of the stairs, before raising his hands to prove them empty.

I released my hold on Negan’s throat exchanging it for the collar of his T-shirt and yanked him up. I turned, placing him in front of me in case Donnie had any more bright ideas.

“Get your ass down here,” I ordered Donnie as Negan coughed and sputtered and Misty, to her credit, maintained her sights on him as he descended the stairs, arms out to his sides, hands open in supplication.

“Answer her question,” I growled in Negan’s ear.

“You… had… a…” His voice was strained from the hold I had on him earlier. He wheezed before he continued. “Kid… with… him,” he choked out.

Well, this meeting was going from bad to worse, all doubts aside and I should just kill them both to keep my girls safe. I yanked him back against my chest, my hands resuming their previous threats to his throat and gut.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t end you right now. We both know what happens to women in our world who are unprotected. This is your service announcement. I am their protection, one wrong move and you are both dead.” I kept my hand loose enough on his throat so he could answer.

“I… killed my father to… protect my sister from that fate… I’m not… that kind of male,” Negan rasped out.

A man would say anything to save his ass.

Donnie now stood at the foot of the stairs but his expression had shifted. He had finally put the pieces together of the situation before him. He somehow softened.

“You’re not going to like the fact I can’t take your word for it, but you can suck it up if you want to live,” I growled, dragging him across the garage grabbing some duct tape off a shelf as I did. “Keep your gun on him,” I instructed Misty as I hit the button for the garage door, forcing it closed. I pulled Negan into the office, chucking him into the chair there and began restraining him with the duct tape. After he was secured to the chair by his hands and feet I began wrapping it around his head avoiding his mouth so the fucker can breathe.

“You better hope he has the story straight or you are both dead,” I tell Negan before I wrap the duck tape multiple times around his ears, cutting off his sense of hearing. I pulled the office chair out with me checking that Misty was still doing her job. The fascination I had I pocketed for later inspection as I turned the chair to the wall flipping on a radio and placing it next to his chair. I wanted an eye on the motherfucker at all times.