“How dare I? You're the one who ran off.”
“Only after you nearly killed me! What did you expect?”
He smirks. “You are such a dramatic girl. I didn’t almost kill you.”
I scoff, but this only pisses him off more. He actually believes that. He actually thinks–
Before I can react he lunges for me and smacks me in the face before I can defend myself. Sharp, burning pain explodes across cheek.
“Stop it!” I scream as he snatches me by the hair and begins to drag me toward his car. “I’m not going with you!”No. No. No. Not again.
My feet kick out in front of me as I try and gain the leverage to pull myself to my feet and get out of his grasp. But nothing works. He begins to use his fists now, punching me in the top of the head and in the hands that I keep using to scratch at his arms.
“Let me go!” I plead but he doesn’t.
But this time,I am not alone.
The door swings open and Sam stands out on the front porch and screams, “Hey asshole! Let her go!” Craig turns toward her, as she barrels toward him, fire blazing in her eyes.
For the first time, a spark of something new flares inside me.I don’t have to fight this battle alone anymore.
With his attention no longer on me, I act. My foot catches on a nearby rock and I am able to gain a little bit of leverage. I put all of my force into this one kick and ram my head upward as far as I can reach.
I slam into his chin, and we both tumble to the ground. He yells some absurdity, and I begin to crawl away out of his reach. The only thoughts going through my head are of reaching the woodline so that maybe I can escape him.
But my relief doesn’t last long before he is on top of me. He hits me in the back and knees me in the thighs before rolling me over and sitting on my chest. His body lunges forward as Sam jumps on his back and I watch as she pulls at his hair and punches him repeatedly. But it doesn’t last long enough for me to escape. Craig throws his elbows out in an attempt to buck her off of him and one of them lands on her chin. Her body rears back as she tumbles to the ground behind him. Lifeless.
Did he kill her? Is she going to be okay?My eyes meet her slack face as Craig turns back toward me with a smirk. “You want to stay here so bad, then you can stay here after you die because that is the only way you are getting away from me, Blake.” He wraps his hands tightly around my throat, and the panic sets in.
This is it. I am going to die outside under the stars on this gravel driveway, and there is nothing I can do to stop it.
I claw at his hands around my throat. I claw at his arms and his face, but nothing deters him from choking me. His face has a menacing smile as he looks down at me with the hatred I have never seen before on him.
“What did I do to deserve this?” I whisper, as my face turns red from lack of oxygen.
He laughs, leaning into his hands. “You chose me all those years ago. You should have seen what a terrible person I was, but now you will understand.”
He wasn’t a terrible person, though. Not back then. He treated me with kindness. He said he loved me and we were happy.How can anyone turn into this?
Blackness creeps into the sides of my vision as I begin to lose consciousness.
This is it.
Chapter 49
Hunter
It has been a long ride back to the clubhouse. All of the men are tired and rightfully so. We haven’t rested since we got attacked. Some are wounded, and Xavier has long since started complaining that his leg is killing him.
We make our way up the gravel road to the house. An unfamiliar car sits in the driveway with its lights shining on the windows, front door wide open. I pull up behind it and quicklyget off my bike, sensing something is wrong. When I round the front of the vehicle, I see a large figure sitting on top of someone.
The fuck is happening now?
I quickly turn toward the other men getting off their bikes and yell, “Check on the women!”
I see Sam’s lifeless body to the left and panic rises in the back of my throat.Where is Blake?
I jump into action. I clothesline the man and land on top of him. I quickly look over my shoulder to see that Blake is the one laying on the ground and put two and two together that the man I now sit on top of must be her husband. I look down at his face, and I am met with a crooked smirk of the man I have already threatened.
