Book 1: Chapter 43

The face I was staring into was one I hadn’t seen before. Not from Nate. My heart hammered in my chest as I felt at his mercy. His hand pushed my right wrist into the brick but it was the hand on my hip that hurt. Wincing, I tried to move but it was hard even to bring my left arm to rest on his.

“Nate…please…you’re hurting me…”

“You aren’t strong enough to fight me, are you?”

His words made me swallow hard. They were deep, angry and threatening. The problem was that they were true too. My leg was already getting worse and my arm basically just rested on his arm, unable to do much more than that.

“What are you doing?”

“You’re wrong.” He came in close, our breaths mixing with each other. “You are wrong, Aelia.”

I suddenly was very aware that not only was my phone in my back pocket, but I hadn’t put the crystal back on. It wouldn’t remove the feeling of the bond as he touched me but it would have at least dulled the scent. My chest rose and fell, my eyes still locked with his.

“Nate, stop. Let me go. Just walk alway. You can drive home and I will…”

“You will what…Aelia? Call one of your boy toys to pick you up? Will they fuck you tonight too? All the while you tell me no? Tell me I can’t have my fated mate. You’re wrong and I will prove it to you.”

He started to lean in and he crashed his lips against mine. I knew Noah and Finn, when they kissed it was so much different when we kissed. It was hot watching them together, being mates their connection was so much stronger. This kiss, however much unwanted, was like an explosion of feelings. My body felt like it had awoken from a long slumber and was ready to take this man completely. Nate shoved his tongue into my mouth and I felt my body start to shake. Tears came to my eyes and let a little of my power bleed into my body, giving it a false strength. I pushed him away and he stumbled back a bit.

Breathing heavy, I couldn’t move from the wall, my leg and arm shaking. “Stop, Nate. Please…just stop…I can’t…”

“You can’t? You can’t, Aelia?! That’s fucking fine. Because I can. I can mark you. I can fuck you. Willingly or not I can make you feel everything and want everything I give you.” His voice was a growl and his eyes were furious.

“Please…don’t…”

He stalked towards me again, this time taking hold of me and slamming me so hard into the brick that I cried out, feeling it even through my jacket. His nails dug into my shoulder and hip as his hand started to snake up my side.

“Hey…I believe the girl asked you to stop.”

My eyes had closed, letting the tears fall, resigning myself to what was about to happen. Now, they were open as I looked at a hand on Nate’s shoulder. Behind him was the cop I had met when I first went to see Charles, though he was in regular clothes now. He had taken the footage from our cameras to check to see that no underage kids had made it into the bar. I never had caught his name but he seemed to recognize me as well. His eyes also took in Nate but he didn’t back down, his hand still firmly gripping his shoulder.

“I think it’s time you head home, Mr. Rivers. I’ll call Mr. Penn and make sure you get home alright. Leave Miss Ulrich here with me.”

Nate growled and flung his right hand out, throwing the officer off him. It had been with so much strength that it actually lifted the man off the ground and into the hood of another car. My eyes widened and I let out a small scream.

“Nate! Stop! Let me go. Just leave now.”

He didn’t though. Instead, his mouth opened and I watched with panic in my eyes as his canines elongated. “I will mark you, Aelia. You are mine. You will be mine.”

Shaking my head, I closed my eyes, tears renewed. “Don’t give into the madness, Nate. Please. Wren take over. Please. Don’t…”

I felt his breath on my neck as his nails were drawing blood on my hips. It hurt as he forced me even harder into the building. Waiting for his teeth to sink in, I cried out for a moment as his nails dragged against my skin but Nate’s breath had left my shoulder. Opening my eyes, I saw the officer had body slammed Nate down on the ground further away from me. He was pinning Nate down, blood running down his nose. Nate’s claws had ripped across my sides and were bleeding but I watched as the two started to struggle as the initial surprise wore off.

“Go! Get out of here!” The officer shouted at me as he wrangled Nate. He managed to get out his phone and call someone. “This is Officer Ludwig, badge 4935, requesting backup at the parking lot between Sergio’s and Club Nocturnal.”

Nate growled and got an arm free, punching him in the jaw but the officer didn’t budge, holding him pinned to the sidewalk. It seemed to kick in the adrenaline and I turned, stumbling as my leg was having issue just holding me up. Racing around the corner, I ran down the sidewalk along the street until I crossed the street, not caring about traffic that may have been coming. 

Ducking down two alleys, I jammed my hand into my pocket and put on the crystal. It would be harder now to track me as the scent would just disappear where I put it on. Racing down the street, I saw the diner I eaten at before and quickly threw the door open. I was sure I looked like a mess but no one seemed to care. Going in the far corner, I slid into the booth. You could see out the windows on the side of the building but because it was tucked in the corner where there were no windows, you couldn’t see anyone sitting in there.

Fumbling for my phone, I dialed my emergency contact.

“Hey Sol.”

“Noah…” I broke down, unsure of really where to begin.

“I’m coming. Don’t worry. I’ll be there in two seconds, alright?”

Bowing my head, my body was shaking and I couldn’t feel my left arm anymore. It had gone completely numb and my leg was getting there. Looking up, the waitress I had seen working the night shift most of the time gave me a sad smile. She didn’t ask anything or say anything as she placed mug in front of me. Filling it with coffee, she nodded to me and turned back to help her other customers. Taking it with my right, I took a sip but instead of calming me, it just made it worse.

“Hold on Sol, I’m almost to you.”

Both Finn and Noah had locators set up on my phone so they could find me at any time. They didn’t need to ask where I was, they could just follow the directions to my phone. Within five minutes, the two of them walked into the diner, looking back and forth until Finn locked eyes with me. He looked like he was raring up for a lecture but immediately the anger left his eyes. Coming over, Finn crouched down.

“Are you hurt, sweetheart?”

I nodded my head and moved my jacket a little so they could see my sides. Noah hissed behind him and growled.

“Alright. Can you walk?”

Tears trickled down my face. “No. I…I can’t feel my arm and my leg…”

Noah swore but Finn didn’t pay him any mind. He just brushed the tears from my cheeks. “We are gonna go home, okay? I’m going to carry you and we will go home together, okay?”

Nodding, I reached out and put my hand around Finn’s neck as he lifted me up out of the booth. Noah threw a ten on the table before he quickly moved in front of Finn and opened the door for us. Burying my head in Finn’s chest, his scent smelled normal. For so much of the night I had been smelling Nate and it was nice to have a scent I was familiar with surround me.

Noah opened up the car door for the two of us and Finn climbed in. He didn’t bother to move me or put on his seat belt. I just continued to be held in his arms as Noah swung a u-turn and headed back towards the bar. The car was quiet until we pulled into the parking lot.

“What happened, Sol?”

“I hate this. I hate how weak I am. I should have been able to be on top of the situation. I should have been able to fight it. It should have been easy. I shouldn’t have been overpowered.”

Finn hushed me. “Sol, it’s okay. We can’t always be strong every single day. Your strongest days are probably behind you at this point. It’s okay to rely on others.”

“He tried to mark me, Finn. He tried to forcefully mark me. Shoved me up against the side of the building. He was going to…his breath was there…” I bit down on my lip to stop it from quivering.

“Get out, Finn. I’m going back into the city. I’m going to find that fucker and I am going to fucking kill him!” Noah growled, his hands holding onto the steering wheel with a death grip.

I shook my head. “We can’t…it wasn’t…it wasn’t Nate. He touched the madness and it’s still there. He’s still letting it control him. Wren, his wolf, wasn’t even able to come out. One of Charles’ coworkers was there. He got thrown but he ended up tackling him off of me. I was able to run but he was calling for backup already. Silas will get called, it will be okay.”

“Sol, he tried to rape you! Not even the human way but the fucking werewolf version rape! If his blood isn’t on my hands, how can I be called your fucking Beta!” Noah slammed his fist into the steering wheel.

“Please…Noah. Just…I need your hot chocolate and for us to curl up in bed. I need you, both of you. Please.” I looked up at Finn who kissed my forehead.

He glared at Noah. “Whatever you want, Sol. Come on, Noah.”

“But…”

“Our Alpha has spoken, Noah. Listen to her and be there for her the way she needs. Not the way you want. Plus, you’d make her use her powers to stop from you rampaging around the city.”

Noah smirked and I chuckled. He finally sighed, submitting to my whims as he opened up the drivers door. Finn opened up the passenger door and we all headed inside. They had apparently closed down the bar for the rest of the night but Ryan was still sitting outside.

“Ryan, you can head home for the night. We will make sure to adjust the hours so that you get paid for the full amount tonight.”

He nodded but looked between the three of us. “Everything okay?”

“It will be. Head home. We will see you tomorrow.”

Finn walked into the bar and Noah followed. I could hear Noah lock up but Finn just headed straight up the stairs into our room up top. Placing me down on the bed, he carefully took off my jacket and shirt, inspecting my sides. As he disappeared to most likely get the first aid kit we hand in the bathroom, Noah came up the stairs. He went into the kitchen to make the hot chocolate that I had requested.

By the time Finn cleaned me up and bandaged me, all three of us were now sitting in bed with mugs of hot chocolate. My legs were draped over Noah’s while my chest was against Finn’s chest. At some point, I was feeling my eyes close involuntarily. My mug was taken from me but I didn’t even hear it set down against the nightstand. I was already asleep.