Once Loved, Twice Marked

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My mind started racing along with my heart. There was no way I would be able to get to Switch before he pulled that trigger. I glanced over at Jay. He was still on the ground with a boot pressed firmly into his chest. I could see the fear in his eyes, but he shook his head. I felt a pang in my heart at him trying to encourage me to say no to their demands, even though he was in danger himself. Switch was still trying to get to his feet when I looked back. He managed to keep his gun trained on me as he struggled into a semi-standing position. Just then, a vicious snarl filled the air. Switch turned his head in confusion. I wanted to look but this may be the only opportunity I would get to grab the gun and I was not about to lose it. I shot forward and several things happened at once.

    The sound of the gun discharging filled my ears and my left arm lit up with pain as if it had been stabbed by a soldering iron. The two morons behind me started shouting while a figure slammed into Switch. I stumbled forward, clutching my arm. The new man was taller than switch with a muscular frame. His hair was so dark brown at first glance it looked black. It fell to his ears with soft, wispy curls trailing at the ends. His skin was a golden brown while his eyes were like sapphires. My gaze trailed down from his strong facial features to his broad shoulders and muscular chest. I reflexively licked my lower lip. His stomach trailed off into a sharp V and I made a small noise of disappointment when my gaze fell on the basketball shorts that hugged his hips. They blocked any further perusal on my part which was for the best since I had spent way too long staring dumbfounded. I gave myself a mental shake and whipped around to help Jay.

Except Jay was no longer under Rocco’s boot. He now sat a few feet away almost as if he had crab-walked backward. His eyes were wide with surprise and trained on another man who had Rocco trapped under one massive foot and Hammer lifted a few inches off the ground by the throat. If the dark-haired man had seemed large this new guy was massive. He was a least a couple of inches taller than his friend with light blonde hair braided down his back. He had a beard the same color covering half of his massive chest. As I stared he clenched his fist around Hammer’s neck and twisted his wrist sideways. Hammers’ neck made a strange noise and he fell limp. The man threw the body to the side and turned his attentions towards Rocco, who was practically sh*tting himself on the ground. The smell of fear that permeated off his body was intense, and I was surprised he was even able to speak when he started begging for his life.

            “P, p, p, please… it was only a joke. We weren’t gonna hurt nobody” The bear of a man shook his head in disgust and leaned down.

“You already have hurt people and you were going to do the same to them. Take your punishment like a man you worthless trash.” With those words he lifted his foot from Rocco’s chest and stomped down repeatedly. I could hear ribs breaking and a weird gurgling sound came out from Rocco’s now slack mouth. It only took two stomps for him to stop moving entirely. The man looked over at me and I tensed. He started walking my way but was stopped abruptly as a pudgy, short figure leaped onto his back.

“Run, Lily, run!” He shouted as he tried his best to get the much larger man in a chokehold. I wanted to shake him for being so stupid but before I could make another move the large man reached around and plucked Jay from his back. He pulled him in front of his chest and held him human straight jacket style.

            “Calm down old man. We have no intention of harming either of you.” He set Jay back on his feet carefully. Jay glanced back at him while pushing his glasses back on his face then moved towards me so quickly I was afraid he would fall.

            “Are you alright? Your arm!” Jay stared in horror at the blood soaking the left side of my hoodie.

            “I’m fine,” I said, giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “It only grazed me” I knew that was a lie. The bullet had gone in. Judging from the pain I was still feeling it had not exited my arm yet. I could feel the muscle and tissue repairing itself because it was in the process of pushing the bullet out. It would certainly heal a lot quicker if I dug it out, but I did not have the time nor did I want to worry Jay any further. Besides, it was lead not silver. I wanted to say more but before I could the newcomers starting to talk behind us. The two men were now side by side with the larger man standing up to his full height, his arms crossed menacingly over his chest. The dark-haired one was crouched and now had the knife Switch had pulled out first open in one hand. He seemed almost bored as he dug it lazily into Switch's chest while keeping one hand over his mouth to muffle his screams of pain. Despite the larger size of the Viking man, I got the distinct impression that it was the smaller of the two who was in charge. Now that the immediate threat was over I had a minute to put some of my other senses into analyzing the two. From their scent it was easy to tell that they were both wolves. The power from their auras reached out to me, caressing my nerves. My inner wolf preened and tried pressing closer. I could feel her excitement at the two newcomers. It was enough for me to relax despite what they were doing to the man on the ground.

    The knife and hand were now removed from Switch and he was sobbing uncontrollably. "What should we do now Alpha?" the question came from Mr. Viking and it confirmed the smaller man's leadership. He sighed and stood up. His face remained impassive as he studied the figure on the ground. 

    "I would have liked to torture him further but he isn't a werewolf. I don't want him anywhere near pack grouds. I've already confirmed they were who we were looking for. He is yours to kill however you want to just take him and the two bodies into the words first. I'll call some other pack members to help with the cleanup and a ride back." Viking man nodded and with a swift kick knocked Switch into unconsciousness he jogged back over to the two dead bodies, hauling one over each shoulder as he took off into the words. My heart accelerated as the alpha made his way over to Jay and me, stopping a couple of steps away to examine us. The human side of me wanted to bolt under his scrutiny while the wolf in me pressed to get out and meet him. I managed to stay still and push her back. I needed to say something to break the silence but as I opened my mouth the words caught in my throat. My tongue felt heavy and my throat clogged up. The next second I was falling, my consciousness swallowed by a heavy darkenss.