THE ALPHA’S SACRIFICE: A Mate's Redemption

Chapter 2

When I reached the final corner, the shop came into view, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized it was still open. You never know with these neighborhood establishments...

"Thank god," I thought to myself as I approached the entryway.

Just as I was ready to enter, a green Lamborghini Gallardo and a black Jeep Patriot drove up not far from the door, and I couldn't help but appreciate the stunning vehicles. Cars have fascinated me since I was a youngster, watching races on television.

I wasn't meant to watch, but I couldn't help it, and before I could distract my sight, the doors to both vehicles opened, and four men emerged, two from the Lamborghini and two from the Jeep. It virtually shouted money from all four, and I could tell that none of them would have a problem purchasing a couple more of those expensive-looking automobiles.

I couldn't take my eyes away from the two men in the Lamborghini and the passenger in the Jeep, who looked like Greek gods right out of Olympia. Not that the fourth man wasn't attractive; he just didn't play in the same league. Like at all. At least in my judgment, he did not. Not that I made a practice of admiring males, but it was difficult not to glance at them.

I mentally smacked myself as the Jeep driver saw me watching and narrowed his eyes on me. They were too far away for me to see their features clearly, so I assumed it was the same for him. The concept made me feel better since I didn't want to receive the normal 'once over'.

Yes, I did not look too awful myself. I was around 6 feet and extremely muscular. I enjoyed working out when I didn't have to work for that ass of a 'father', and the only reason I wasn't fitter was that he didn't provide us enough food. I also have 'quite a face' as many females have put it, which is probably because I had brown wavy hair and, don't laugh, violet eyes.

To be honest, I didn't dislike my eye color, which looked badass with my unruly brown hair, but I did dread the attention they gave me. I disliked being the center of attention because I wanted to blend in and not be seen unless I wanted to—you know, being mysterious and all.

I was jolted out of my reverie when I saw the Jeep driver motion toward me and muttered something to his buddies, who all turned to gaze my way. My skin started to tingle weirdly, and I realized that whatever he had said was not good, for the other three gazed at me intently and had all stopped where they were. I thought I heard them all say mine at the same moment, but it was probably just my imagination, given how far away they were.

"Well, that's probably not a good sign, Ash," I thought to myself.

When his three buddies did not recognize him, the driver of the Jeep seemed perplexed, turning his gaze between me and the men as if he were trying to figure something out. Suddenly, his face brightened up, and I could see him beaming brilliantly.

"Okay, Ash, get going before something even stranger happens," I thought as I mentally slapped myself and pushed myself to look away from them to enter the shop. I started walking, but as I got closer to the entrance, I cursed aloud.

"Hell to the no this can't be happening." I grumbled as I saw the 'closed' sign on the door. It had just opened a minute ago! I strolled up to the door nonetheless, looking inside to see if anybody was still there. They needed to be. Otherwise, they must be hidden behind a counter or something.

"f**k!" I swore as I slammed the door with my left foot, groaning as the pain struck me in the side.

"s**t, I'm so dead..." I told myself, raking my fingers through my tangled hair. I didn't realize someone had come up behind me without my knowledge until someone cleared their throat loudly.

"Taking your anger out on the door I see." Someone spoke from behind me, and I froze where I was.

I thought to myself, "Please don't be them..." and jokingly said, "I think I'm hurting myself more than the door."

I could hear someone laughing, but I kept my face turned toward the shop.

There was another reason why I didn't want anyone seeing my face right now. I hadn't covered the bruise from 'dads' punch earlier and it was probably covering half of my face at this point. I thought I needed to get out of there before someone noticed and began asking unpleasant questions.

"There's nothing I can do about it now. I should start going so I can obtain my death sentence before it gets dark. I mumbled, shifting to the side to avoid drawing unwanted attention. That didn't work, however, since whenever I made a step in that direction, someone stepped out to block my way. I had to come to a sudden stop to avoid colliding with the person standing there. I attempted to turn the other way, but someone else again blocked my route.

"Going somewhere?" Another speaker murmured something, and the tone made me shudder. I didn't have time for this; I needed to go home and keep an eye out for Kate in case 'dad' changed his mind now that I couldn't purchase his beer. I didn't have an option anymore.

I took a deep breath and raised my head to meet the gazes of the four men standing before me, but I kept my damaged side facing away.

They looked fantastic up close, and I first couldn't find my voice. The driver of the Jeep was the only one who was shorter than me, maybe 5 or 8, but the other three males towered over me. They must have been at least 6, 4. They were all well-built but the man who had been driving the Lamborghini was significantly more muscular, and he appeared a little older too.

The driver of the Jeep had brown/black hair and dark eyes which made him appear nice. The other three appeared frightening and they all had dark brown hair which made me imagine that they were linked somehow. The only thing that marked them distinct was the color of their eyes. The man who had been in the Jeep with the brown/black-haired guy had moss green eyes, the passenger of the Lamborghini had piercing ice blue eyes and the person who had been driving the Lamborghini had light gray, almost white eyes. They were all looking at me, and everyone save the driver of the Jeep seemed anxious.

"Get a hold of yourself, Ash, you need to get home remember?" I mused to myself before letting a cheeky smile replace my astonished face. The man's eyes darkened as they queued, except for the Jeep driver, who continued to smile like an i***t.

"Scary..." I thought before turning to face the Jeep man.

"As much as I would want to stay and chat with you I have somewhere else to be, a life to get back to... so yeah... if you could be so kind as to let me pass that would be great." I made my voice seem scornful and tried not to giggle at their suspicious expressions. They realized that I was 'talking back', as Kate used to say. The Jeep driver shook his head and responded with a smile: "Eeh no, I think it's better if you just come with us."

I stared at them for a while. Were they for real? They wanted me to join them? Yeah, as if that would happen. I saw the headlines already: "I don't believe that a teen boy followed strangers because they asked him to."I don't think you heard me; I have somewhere to be, so I can't join you." I let a little anger seep into my voice as I emphasized 'no' and 'can't,' and I could tell they noticed because the other guys gave me a 'don't mess with us and do as we say' look.

"Fine, screw you I'll just go!" I hissed and took a step to the side to slide between the Jeep guy and the guy with green eyes, but before I could react, the green-eyed guy grabbed my right arm and stopped me from moving any further. I felt tingles spread from where he was holding me, but I winced as his grip caused my side to hurt on a whole new level.

"Ouch! "Let me go!" I hissed, nearly doubling over with pain in my side. His hand was the only thing holding me up.

"What the hell did you do Adam?" The guy with ice-blue eyes growled and the guy holding me, obviously, Adam, gave me a worried look and let me go immediately.

"I barely touched him." He said, defending himself as I fought to straighten up again.

"What's that on his face?" For the first time the guy with light grey eyes spoke but what he said made me freeze where I stood.

Crap he had seen it, time to go.

I pushed down the pain throbbing at my side and before anyone could react I shot away like a bullet. I made a dash for the street I had come from earlier and I could hear the guys curse loudly behind me.

"Adam and Alex you'll get him, Kevin you'll take the Jeep and I'll take the Lambo!" I could hear the grey-eyed guy shouting orders to the others as I tried to run faster.

What the hell had I gotten myself into?