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Chaz scowls and snatches the ball, hollering like a lunatic out for blood. The small distraction is my saving grace. These teens aren’t tainted by the orders of our society yet. They haven’t been brainwashed or tricked into conforming.
And it’s all I need.
I use the side of the building to get to my feet. My instincts scream to run, but my body refuses. I’m too tired. Too hurt. The only way I’m getting away from Chaz is if I stop him myself. I clench my jaw, silencing my mouth from whimpering as I creep up behind him. I raise the hefty piece of concrete up and slam it to the back of his head as hard as I can.
Chaz bows forward, stumbling from the blow. I could run. I could get away. From here, I see the parking lot. The sirens ring so loudly that they might even be here, surrounding the place I’m no longer at.
“You bastard! You fucking bastard!” I scream, kicking Chaz in the ass, knocking him onto his hands and knees.
Blinding rage consumes me, and I smash the piece of concrete to his skull again and again. I can’t see. I can’t catch my breath. All I can do is slam the concrete over and over again, coating my fingers in Chaz’s blood.
“You monster! I don’t belong to you! I’ll never belong to you!” Up and down. Up and down. All I can think about is ensuring Chaz doesn’t get up. He’ll never hurt me again. He’ll never hurt my pack again.
“Drop your weapon and put your hands up!” a sharp voice snaps, breaking through the sound of my heart pounding in my ears. “Do it now!”
“Back down,” Adrian growls, his strong, rumbly voice circling me. “She’s not a threat. That’s her. That’s our wife.”
Pounding boots boom against the asphalt, and a shadow blocks out the sun overhead. The familiar scent of citrusy bergamot mingling with the lightness of jasmine trickles to my nose, freezing my muscles in relief.
“Amore, stop. Put it down. He’s gone. He’s not going to hurt you ever again.” Ezra’s pleas wrap around me with the weight of his arms, and I crumple to the ground, my body recognizing that I’m safe. I’m no longer in danger. My alphas have me now.
“We need a medic,” Dominic calls, dropping down beside me. He scoops me off Chaz’s body, his breathing as hard as mine. “Move!”
I close my eyes, breathing in his scent, heightened by his fear and relief. The world jostles as he strides forward. Ezra stays close, kissing the top of my head. Adrian’s familiar spicy berry scent engulfs me next, dancing through the air with Jonah’s green floral and Leo’s salty lime. The collection of fragrances soothes me on a soul-deep level, easing my racing heart and mind.
Dominic doesn’t set me down and instead hops into the back of the ambulance for one of the paramedics to look at me. He holds me on his lap, combing my messy hair out of the way, kissing me a dozen times, the magic of his affection breathing life back into me where I thought I had lost it.
“You’ll have to take her to her GP for a more thorough check-up. Most of her injuries are minor scrapes and bruises.” The medic adds a couple of bandages to the ones the nurse had already put on me and takes a step back. “Would you like us to take her?”
Adrian shakes his head. “No, we have a doctor on our payroll. We’ll handle everything from here.”
Adrian takes me from Dominic, cradling me in his arms. I sink against him and listen to the sounds of his heartbeat, the rhythmic thrums are the most beautiful thing. It’s what I need to hear in this moment. Jonah and Leo close the space and shower me with kisses as Ezra and Dominic put their arms around the four of us, cuddling me in the middle, squeezing me as if they alone can keep me from falling apart. And they do.
I can barely process what happened today, and my mind refuses to even think about what I’ve done.
“I killed him,” I say, my voice cracking. “I didn’t want to, but he wouldn’t stop. He wouldn’t let me leave. He threatened me and my pregnancy.”
My words hang in the air, none of my alphas moving or speaking. I’m not even sure if they’re breathing as everything sinks in.
“The nurse confirmed it,” I add, pressing my lips together to stop my mouth from trembling. “He lied to my mom. He threatened to use it against me. He wanted me to make up lies about you guys or else he was going to—” A small cry escapes my mouth, and I bury my face against Adrian.
He strokes his hand down my back, adjusting me in his arms. “Take a breath, Scarlett. You’ve been through a lot today. You don’t have to say anything right now. Just let me hold you. Let us take care of you.”
I bob my head and wipe my eyes on his shirt. “That’s all I want. Get me out of here. I just want this to be over.”
Ezra touches my cheek, getting me to look at him. “It is, amore. We promise. You’ve done amazing. You’re so strong, but you don’t have to be anymore. We’ve got you. We’ll never let you go.”
Adrian rests his chin on my shoulder, cuddling me from behind as we eat in the penthouse apartment in San Francisco. “Another bite, Mrs. Hart. You’re eating for two, possibly three—”
“Make it an even six, and maybe Scarlett’s womb will have welcomed all our swimmers.” Leo chuckles, stabbing a grape with his fork. “Her magical pussy is a gateway to bliss, so I wouldn’t put it past us.”
I play-smack him on the shoulder. “Please don’t manifest that. One at a time is good for me.”
Ezra groans and squeezes my hand. “But if you could get it all over with—”
I whack him on the leg. “You’ll just knock me up another five times during my next heat. We don’t need that kind of attention. I don’t want to turn into my mom.”
My heart aches at the thought. How could she have put me through this? I know she never intended for me to get hurt or for Chaz to try to murder me, but her actions have consequences that I have to live with now. I have blood on my hands. I’ll never forget the feeling of ending someone’s life and how awful it was.
