Chapter 18 - Swearing Off Men

Reign

I watched as Jazlyn and Damien walked away. I wanted to run to them and just be around Damien. I couldn’t understand why I felt such a strong pull to him and the way he would look at me, I could see the desire and hunger in his eyes. “Awe, crap! I’m just imagining things or was he telling me the truth. Am I falling for him?” I mumbled to myself. Before I could snap outta my thoughts, I felt a hand grab my arm tightly, there was a small part of me that hoped it was Damien. To my surprise it was my ex-boyfriend, Luther, I had finally broken up with him six months ago when I found out that he was cheating on me. When I confronted him, he denied it and started to blame me. He started to beat me, I tried to fight back but he punched me so hard, I fell to the ground.

“Where have you been sweetheart?” He asked with a menacing grin. “You have no idea how much I have missed you.” He said shoving me against the nearest wall and started rubbing up against me. “What…are…you…doing…here?” I was able to studder out. He had his hand around my throat, I could see the anger in his eyes. “Please…let me go.” I pleaded. “Why would I do that?” He asked as he slid his free hand under my shirt and squeezed my breast. “You left without saying goodbye.” He said as he continued to run his hand from one breast to the other. I tried to scream but every time I would open my mouth, nothing would come out. Oh, why didn’t Jaz and Damien not stay? Why didn’t I go with them? “What’s the matter?” He gruffly whispered in my ear. “We have been together for over a year, and you have yet to let me see what’s under here.” He continued to run his hand under my shirt. “Please don’t do this.” I begged. He was right, I didn’t want to lose my virginity to him, I didn’t love him much less like him. He was grinding up against me and I could feel his erection up against my pelvis, I had to get away from him. The only thing I could think of was to kick him in his erection, when I kicked him, he released his grip on my throat and made a run for it, but he grabbed my ankle as I tried to run past him. He pulled himself on top of me and ran his tongue along my collar bone. “You’re not going anywhere, YOU ARE MINE.” He grunted in my ear. “But first, you need to be punished for what you did.” He said with a devilish grin. He reared his hand back and slapped me across my cheek. We heard voices coming from down the hall. “Not a word to anyone, this is far from over.” He said running his tongue from my shoulder to my neck. I shuddered in disgust. “I'll be seeing you later.” He grunted in my ear.

“Reign! Where are you?!” I heard Duncan calling. “Here.” I was able to yelp out. “Reign! What the hell happened?” Duncan cried out. “Get the stadium in lock down! NOW!” Duncan yelled over the security radio. He leaned down and picked me up and carried me to my dressing room. “What happened? Who did this?” He demanded to know. “I don’t know, he came outta nowhere. I was on my way back to my dressing room and…” I trailed off.

Damien

I came running in the room glaring at Duncan. “What the hell happened to her?!” I bellowed. Anger was radiating off me in waves, I was fighting hard to keep Ayres under control. Ayres was on a rampage and wanted out, he wanted to hunt the one who did this to his mate. My gaze softens as I turned and looked at my mate. “Are you okay?” I lightly caressed her cheek. “I’m fine, please everyone calm down.” She whimpered. “You’re not fine, you have a bruise on your cheek.” I scowled as the paramedics walked into her dressing room and started treating her eye. “Ms. Rose, keep this ice pack on your eye for as long as you can and make sure to keep icing your eye, it will help with the swelling. You can take some Tylenol for any pain. We will check in with you tomorrow before you go on stage.”

“Before she goes on stage?!” I growled. “There is no way you’re going out there after what just happened!” I snapped. “Yes, I am. It is the last show besides I’m not that badly hurt. I can just wear some sunglasses to cover my eye. No big deal, they probably won’t even be able to see the bruising under all the lights. We can tell the camera crew not to do close ups.” She told me trying to put me at ease. “NO BIG DEAL??!! No big deal she says!” I bellowed as I paced the floor. “How do we know that you’re safe?! Has anyone found any evidence of this fucker still being in the stadium?” I was beyond pissed. “We haven’t been able to find any trace of him.” Shadow said. “We’ve searched the whole place, no one saw anyone out of place. I’ve got people spread out throughout the stadium; we are going to check all bags before letting anyone in. We called in extra off duty law enforcement for a little extra back up.” Shadow briefed Damien and Duncan. “I don’t think this is a good idea. Shadow, you, Spyder, Spencer and I will be by her side at all times. She is not to be left alone. I want Fluff and Furry with her, this is what we’ve been training them for. They can go where we can’t and alert us if there’s a problem. I want as many men as possible along the stage area, seating area and snack area. I want every nook and cranny checked, double checked and triple checked.” I started instructing. “Reign,” she turned and looked at me, “what I say goes, no arguing, the three of us will be on the stage watching.”

“Damien…” she started but I interrupted holding a finger up. “I said no arguing.” I growled at her. “Where you go, we go, there’s no two ways about it! You are my responsibility, and I am not about to let anything happen to you.” She frowned and sighed. “All I was gonna say was, okay, whatever you think is best.” She whispered. “I’m sorry.” She said softly. “For what?” I said sitting down next to her. “None of this is your fault.” I couldn’t help myself anymore, I took her in my arms and held her close. I almost lost her, that thought alone made Ayres grumble. “I shouldn’t have left you alone and it won’t happen again.” She sighed deeply. “When I said I didn’t know who it was, I know who it was.” She said into my chest and took a deep breath. “It was my ex, Luther. I don’t know how he got in. He’s pissed because I left him, we barely dated for a year, but he was already saying that I was his and no one else’s.” She started. “Why didn’t you tell us earlier?” I asked softly. I knew she was scared but I know there is more to this. “He’s not a good person, every time I tried to break up with him, he would hit me. I would fight back but he would always overtake me. I tried but sometimes he would beat me so bad that I couldn’t move for hours.” She looked up and we were all looking at her. “Please don’t look at me like that.” She said softly hiding her face in her hands.

“Reign, why didn’t you ever say anything?” Ryott asked. “We could have helped you. Mac and Duncan would have cut his balls off.” “Yeah, and we would’ve helped hide the body.” Koltyn growled. “I wanted to but…” she trailed off. “You didn’t want anyone to know that you had a weak moment?” Jyden said. “Right? Because he beat you? You thought that we would think less of you?” She nodded yes. “Reign, we would never think that way of you.” Koltyn said trying to assure her, at this point her friends went to her and engulfed her in a hug. “He also threatened me. Said if I told anyone that he would ruin my career. He would spread lies about me.” She trembled. “He took pictures of me...I... I never posed for them. He took them or had someone take them.” She looked at me. “What kind of pictures?” I gritted. “The kind that can end my career.” She whispered. “We will find him. I will get some more of my guys to track him down. I will put an end to this and to him.” I promised her. “We are here for you, no more secrets between us.” Jazlyn stated. “Thanks guys. I know I should have said something, but you have nothing to worry about me from here on out.” She said whipping tears from her cheek. “Why, what are you going to do?” Jazlyn asked.

“I am swearing off men. I don’t need this bullshit anymore; all they do is cause me heartache.” She sighed pulling away from me. I froze at her words. Now I really had my work cut out for me, I’m just going to have to continue doing what I’m doing to win her heart and I was ready for the fight.