Chapter 26 CHAPTER 26
No, he doesn't pull him off me, he rips Kane away, and I heard a terrifying crack that signalled something important was broken.
I turned, quickly pulling my panties back on while violence unfolded before me.
Punches, shirt being used to pull Kane up and slamming his head on the ground, knees pressing him down and making his struggles look like child's play.
But all that is normal, expected, exactly what he deserves for trying to do that to me.
And considering Mr Valkori is a decent man, he's very angry at what he walked into and stopped just in time.
But the next part is something seared deep into my brain and I don't know why it feels familiar.
Fangs.
That's the first thing I noticed.
Then the boy on the ground was no longer Kane.
He was still Kane, his face was there, growling and snarling if that makes sense but the rest of his body was furry, not hairy, full on black fur and his limbs were those of a wolf.
But what's worse?
The fangs weren't just his, the person who rescued me had it too, he also had red eyes that came out of nowhere, just as Kane's brown eyes turned black and together they spilt so much blood.
My eyes got redder and redder until my brain decided this was enough visuals and snapped itself off, allowing darkness replaced the red.
My eyes open and I'm in someone’s arms.
He's running, no, flying?
I can't decipher which, I just know he doesn't have skating shoes on but he's moving with his feet and the forest surrounding Nashville is flying past us as fast as the speed of lightening.
The memories flood back.
Mr Valkori has fangs.
The boyfriend who tried to rape me has a wolf coming out of him or him out of a wolf?
I don't know what to think or say or feel, but it's strange how calm I felt in the hands of the strange man carrying me and running.
I shouldn't feel safe, he's a monster.
So I hit his chest repeatedly.
“Shh,” he shushes me, the wind carrying the sound away but I catch it with these strange ears of mine.
And soon, he slows to a stop, making me dizzy and confused.
A door opens and the darkness shifts to a warm glow of a lowly lit room.
“Whoa, what are you doing Cael? Do you suddenly not understand your mission?”
“Shut up Marcus. Get me drinking water and some blankets from those bags you packed up without my permission.”
“We're supposed to be leaving tomorrow, what do you mean –”
“Not now Marcus!” He growled, not the way Kane did, his own was icy, like nails on a chalkboard and it sent shivers through my body.
“Sorry,” the other man said and began moving around the room.
Gradually, he lay me on the bed and pulled back, and I got a good look at him.
If not for the bloodied shirt and his shaking fingers, you would never suspect he's a monster.
“What are you?” I demand, sitting up on the bed.
“You just went through one horrifying experience Sera. You need to sleep. We're leaving later in the night and I need you to rest your nervous system a bit.”
“She's coming with us?!” The other guy demands, and I get a good look at him.
He wasn't as tall as Mr Valkori who towered above everyone in his proximity but he had more girth on him, his shoulders broad and muscled. He had brown skin with a wide jaw and short, cropped hair unlike Mr Valkori who looked like an anime character with his longer hair tied at his back. I noticed his necklace and rings and the sword tattoo covering his arm but also the strange look he was giving me.
Like I was a problem he needed to solve.
A thing not a being.
I didn't need any further confirmation that he's just like the monster that had just saved my life.
Instinctively, I push myself back, my nervous system finally getting away from that sleepy state it was in before and realising that I only escaped one monster to run into the arms of another.
And one thing I won't do, is make a mistake twice.
I shouldn't be here but how do I get out? I couldn't defeat Kane, and only one of them took him down so animalistically I blacked out.
“Yes Marcus,” Mr Valkori breathed, as though he was bored with the other guy, “book her flight and get the truck ready. We leave in a few hours.”
That's not really a specific time to be able to plan properly.
I can't find my phone, it was in the purse which I left on the table back at the Hamptons so there's no way to reach out to Naomi.
But I have her number crammed and I just need to find a way to get one of their phones and I'll get her to send help.
“Sera?” I looked up to see him actually looking concerned. “Are you okay?”
“What even happened out there Cael? I deserve to know, don't you think?”
“The Alpha's son tried to get his limp stick into her by force and I was this fucking close to killing him but she fainted and I had to prioritise one need over the other.”
So Kane's not dead.
I know I should feel relieved but I don't feel anything about Kane besides disgust. The mere thought of him felt like maggots were crawling all over my dead body.
“Shit man, she must be terrified. Wait, she saw you…”
“I couldn't control my instincts in that scenario so yes, she saw my fangs and claws and now she's in shock. I don't know what to… do.”
“Asking her if she's okay is definitely not the way to go about it and you're definitely not the right person to deal with this Mr Cold and Distant. Go and shower, you're scaring the girl to death.”
“You're… right. I'll be right back.”
Then the Marcus guy brought water to me and handed it to me.
Instantly, my nose picked up something and I looked up at him, scared to let him know he was trying to poison me.