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“Hold on,” I demanded, voice tight, as I pulled in through thick-trunked trees, going fully off the road where their big cars couldn’t follow.
It was denser than I’d hoped, though, and after a few hairpin turns, I had no choice but to stop.
“What are you doing?” she hissed, voice high and tight.
“Run,” I demanded. “Toward the street,” I added, glad when she climbed off the bike. “Run,” I added again when she paused.
With just the moon to light her face, all I could see were her huge eyes before she turned and did what I demanded.
As soon as I was sure she was hauling ass, I turned back toward the thick of the trees, trying to maneuver into them, drawing the attention toward me, and away from her.
It wasn’t long before they caught up with me.
But I was glad for the rule the club had about keeping a gun under your seat, especially if you were out on your own.
“You’re making a really fucking stupid mistake,” I said to the shadows as they drew closer.
The only answer was a chilling silence broken only by two things.
The crunch of old leaves and twigs as men closed in.
And the scream of a woman.
My heart squeezed in my chest, panic swelling with the need to get to her, to protect her from whatever these men had in mind.
With that in mind, my finger slid to the trigger, and I squeezed off shots.
One.
Two.
Three.
Before the gun was jerked out of my hand, falling somewhere out of sight, out of reach, even as a fist shot out, striking me in the jaw, making pain shoot across my cheek, and deep into my teeth.
It was pure adrenaline then.
Giving and taking before there was a moment of nothingness as I swayed, as I fell.
Consciousness flickered even as the drive to keep fighting started to flee.
But then I heard it again.
Heard her again.
Screaming.
I snapped myself back, striking out with renewed force, something bubbling through my system that I’d never felt before.
It was something I saw in Dezi each time he started a fistfight. Or in Niro back when he got in the ring to fight.
Bloodlust.
It was the most intense sensation I’d felt in fucking years.
I was numb to the pain as my fists met bones, as others landed blows to my body.
Then, almost as if the fight had been in fast forward, there was nothing but my own ragged breathing.
There was only a second of hesitation before I was running in the direction the girl had taken off in, where her screams had come from.
As I ran, I heard a high-pitched whistle, but barely recognized it as my focus stayed on getting the girl.
My shoulder whacked a tree trunk and I almost stumbled over a fallen log before I saw it.
Saw her.
Sprawled on the ground in an opening, the moon casting light down on her.
My stomach twisted as I saw way more skin than I should have.
Her belly, her chest.
Her bra had been yanked to the side.
But her shorts, her shorts were still on, her belt holding the waistband in place.
Small miracles.
My hand was reaching for my phone even as I ran.
“Better be fucking good. I just got to sleep,” Fallon grumbled in my ear.
“I was just jumped,” I said.
“What?” he barked.
“I was driving a girl home from the club. We were cut off on both ends of the road. Took off to the woods. I was jumped. And she’s…”
“Where?” he barked.
“What’s going on?” I could hear his woman’s voice in the background.
“Call my father,” Fallon hissed at her.
“Shit,” she said, and I could see them jumping into action.
My brother, the club president.
His wife, a former president herself.
They knew what to do in a crisis.
“Over by the abandoned nursery,” I said. “In the woods.”
“What happened to the girl? Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m… fine,” I said, my entire body too numb to know the extent of the damage. “She’s… alive,” I said as I finally closed in on her, dropping down on my knees in the dirt.
Her chest was rising and falling, but she was out.
“I gotta get her out of here,” I said, not knowing if the men followed me, if they were still out for blood.
“We’re on our way,” Fallon said, even as I heard his front door slam. “Get to the road if you can.”
“I have to call an ambulance,” I said, speaking to myself as I reached out, yanking her bra and tank back into place.
I tucked my phone between my ear and shoulder so I could reach for her, pulling her up into my arms.
And running.
“Okay,” Fallon said, the soft hum telling me he’d taken the family SUV instead of his bike. “Get to the road if you can. We’re all on our way.”
With that, he hung up, and I ran, my arms wrapped tight around the woman whose only fault was trusting me to fucking drive her safely home.
