One Week Luna

Chapter 2

In a little less than 15 minutes, they watched the truck pull into the driveway of a small two-story house in a quiet neighborhood. It was a little after midnight on a Sunday and most of the houses on the street stood dark and silent, the residents most likely asleep for the night.

Paul pulled their SUV up to the curb and stopped, quickly switching off the headlights. They watched the guy and girl from two houses away as they climbed out of the pickup and headed into the house. It was a modest size, painted tan with white trim. It matched the other houses lining the block. Jason rolled down his window, allowing the soft spring breeze to carry his mate’s scent to him.

“Well, we know where she lives now. We can come back in the morning and try to talk with her.” Paul said, wondering how they were going to explain everything to the poor woman without scaring her.

How would they convince her to leave her home and her boyfriend? He hadn’t noticed a ring on her hand, so hopefully she wasn’t married. They sat there in silence as Jason continued to stare at the house. No doubt having the same thoughts as Paul.

“Okay, we’ll try in the morning.” Jason slowly replied.

He was seething at the thought that his mate could be screwing another guy while they were just sitting outside the house. He should be the only man she ever touched from this moment on.

Paul started up the SUV and pulled forward down the street, slowly passing the house. Suddenly, they both heard a scream. It was faint but their werewolf senses allowed them to hear it coming from inside the house. Without saying a word, Paul parked the SUV and in an instant they were out of the car and running towards Jason’s mate.

Alli sat next to Leeland in the truck as they drove back home. She stayed quiet hoping he had calmed down, hoping that he would just drive them home and want to fall right asleep. She knew that was highly unlikely, but a girl could dream.

“ Allison,” Leeland said loudly, in a disappointed tone.

Alli cringed. She hated that he insisted on calling her by her full name. She always felt like a child being scolded when he would say her name like that. She thought she should have gotten used to it over the last five years. Instead she’d just grown to resent the sound of her own name. Maybe it was just the sound of it coming out of his mouth.

“Do you think I’m stupid?” Leeland accused her.

She flinched.

She could hear her heartbeat in her ears and her mouth went dry. She struggled to keep her breathing even, trying not to show Leeland how scared she was of just his question.

“Of course not! I-”

Alli didn’t get to finish her answer before Leeland reached over and grabbed a fist full of her hair and pulled it hard like he was going to rip it from her scalp. A sharp cry escaped her throat.

“Then why do you insist on making me look stupid in front of my friends!?” Leeland yelled as Alli whimpered in the passenger seat.

She held onto his arm as he still gripped her hair. He suddenly let it go and dropped his arm. She pulled away from him and

pressed herself into the passenger side door. Tears silently slid down her cheeks as she stared at Leeland.

What did I do? What did I say? Alli began to shake. He’s so angry. Whatever I say will only make things worse. Alli continued to stare at Leeland silently.

Leeland gave a sideways glare at Allison and let out an exasperated sigh.

“You felt the need to flirt with Jim right in front of all of us like we couldn’t tell what you were doing!” Alli blinked at the accusation in disbelief. Whaaat? What the f**k was he talking about??

“I-” Alli started before Leeland interrupted again.

“Don’t you dare try to deny it, Allison. We could all see it. The f*****g bartender probably saw it!”

Allison felt her breath hitch. Leeland almost never cursed unless he was pissed. He always said it was a sign of low intelligence. Alli loved to cuss before she met Leeland but she soon found that the punishment wasn’t worth the punishment when she did.

Leeland pulled into the driveway and stopped the truck. Alli sat in her seat and wiped the tears from her face as Leeland went around the truck to open her door. She had learned long ago to sit and wait. It was another fight not worth having.

Alli walked with Leeland to the front door. He held open the door for her as she walked inside.

“Allison,” Leeland said calmly.

Allison turned around to face Leeland, still standing at the front door he had just closed behind him. As soon as her eyes met his, he brought his fist up in a fast, swift motion and slammed it into her stomach.

Alli doubled over clutching her stomach. The wind had been knocked out of her and pain radiated through her body. Leeland leaned down, grabbing Alli by her arms just below her shoulders. He dug his fingers into her arms as he pulled her body up so that she was facing him. Alli struggled to breathe as he made her stand back up. The pain in her stomach made her nauseous.

“I don’t like to be disrespected. You know that, right?” Leeland said through clenched teeth. Alli managed to shake her head as her lungs began to finally fill back up with air.

“Yes,” she said, barely above a whisper.

Leeland gripped her arms impossibly tighter and pulled her a couple of inches from his face.

“What was that?” He asked, staring into her dark brown eyes, now bloodshot from the tears streaming down her face.

Fuck.

“Yes Sir.” Alli replied, defeated, knowing that she’d messed up.

Leeland threw Alli in front of him. She hit the ground hard, landing on her ass and falling all the way back to the point that she was lying down. She turned over on her side, wrapping her arms around her stomach and pulling her legs up towards her chest.

“You know,” Leeland said as he started to unbuckle his belt, “I thought we had talked about this.”

Alli, hearing the sound of the belt buckle being undone, knew what was coming and quickly started to try to flip over onto her knees so that she could try to crawl or run away. Leeland quickly pulled his belt from his waist and doubled it over, holding the buckle and the other end in his hand.

“But it seems like you need a refresher on showing me the respect I deserve,” he said as he brought the belt down hard against Alli’s right calf as she tried to crawl away from him.

Alli screamed at the impact of the belt against the back of her leg and she fell down flat in pain.

“Please, Leeland,” she begged through choked sobs, “Please, I’ll be good. I’ll do better.”

Leeland stood above Alli breathing heavily. His head swam a little bit with all the beer he had drunk earlier. He was so tired of being disrespected. His boss had been riding his ass all day because of some stupid inventory mistake. Then, on his way to the bar to blow off steam with the guys, Jim had cracked a joke about Alli having the hots for him. Now she was lying there in front of him trying to lie. Continuing to disrespect him. He brought the belt down again, striking the back of her left thigh.

Alli screamed out in pain and dropped her face down on the carpet as she sobbed. She was so consumed with pain that she didn’t even hear the front door open.

Jason and Paul ran up the front yard to the house and flung open the unlocked door. The blonde guy stood over the small girl who was lying on the floor writhing in pain. The guy stood there in shock facing the two large men who had just run into his house. Jason looked down at Leeland’s right hand and saw the belt he was clutching. Without saying a word, Jason stepped forward and grabbed Leeland's right arm. He placed one hand on his upper arm while he grabbed his wrist and twisted it backwards. Leeland’s elbow made a sickly snapping sound as he screamed out in pain. Leeland dropped to his knees holding his arm. Jason bent down to look Leeland in the face.

“She’s leaving you. If you ever try looking for her, I will kill you.” Jason clenched his jaw as he stared down Leeland. “Do you understand?”

“Who the fuc-” Leeland started to ask before Jason threw his right fist against the side of his head, knocking Leeland out cold.

Alli lay on the ground, her forehead pressed to the carpet as she braced herself to take another blow. Suddenly she heard Leeland scream out in pain. She carefully lifted her head to look behind her where he stood. There she saw two men she had never seen before. One guy leaned in front of Leeland, who was now on his knees gripping his arm. He was muscular, with sandy blonde hair pulled back into a low ponytail. He wore bluejeans and a blue striped button-down short sleeve shirt. He threw a right hook and knocked Leeland out, watching him fall to the floor. He looked straight ahead at Alli, his cold, hard expression still fixed on his face. His eyes almost looked black. Alli looked at the other man who stood by the open door. He was also very muscular with a slightly stocky build. His brown hair was fixed neatly with gel. He had a kind, worried expression on his face as he stood there watching. Alli couldn’t figure out who they were or why they were there.

As Jason stood up and walked towards Alli, she quickly started to move away. She thought he might want to hurt her too and she scrambled to get back to her feet. Did Leeland owe these guys money or something? Maybe I can make it to the back door. Alli thought as she managed to stand. She turned away from the strangers and started her run to the back door. To her shock, she never even moved.

Jason saw his little mate lying on the ground looking terrified. She quickly jumped to her feet and looked like she was going to run. He took a couple of quick steps forward and hooked his arm around her waist just as she started to move.

“Calm down little one, I’ve got you now.” Jason whispered against Aill’s ear.

Alli froze. What the hell does that mean? She tried to move his arm from her waist and felt a shock as she grabbed his skin. It felt a little like static electricity, only not as strong. Surprised at the feeling, she quickly pulled her hands up and clasped them to her chest.

“Who are you? What do you want with me?” She questioned, barely above a whisper.

“We need to talk. I can let you go if you promise not to run.” The man asked Alli as she stared straight ahead, trembling in his arms.

She slowly nodded her head. Jason took a quiet breath in, inhaling her scent before slowly dropping his arm from her waist. He wasn’t convinced that she wouldn’t try to run again, but he knew she would never make it out the back door before he would be able to catch up with her again. His reflexes and speed were far superior to any human.

Alli took a couple steps forward and turned to face Jason. He held his hands up as a sign he wasn’t going to hurt her.

“Listen, I need to talk to you but I’d like to do it somewhere else.” Jason said, looking down over his shoulder at Leeland’s unconscious body. Alli followed his gaze and nodded her head in agreement. “Grab anything important, but don’t bother packing a bag. I wanna get out of here before this guy wakes up and you’ll have everything you need when we get to where we’re going.”

Alli just stared back at the man. He was slightly taller than Leeland and looked like he lived in a gym. His arm muscles bulged against the cuffs of his shirt. Why am I checking out his arms? Get it together Alli! She swallowed hard.

“Where are you taking me?” Alli said, standing up straight, trying to act like she wasn’t frightened.

Jason looked back at Alli, beginning to become annoyed with her. He didn’t want to have to knock the guy out again because he just might kill him. He wanted to get out of this neighborhood and get her home. He let out a quick sigh.

“We’re going to take you somewhere safe, but you need to come with us now,” he said firmly. Then he quickly added, “Unless you wanna stay here and see what kind of mood he wakes up in?” Alli’s eyes went wide.

What the hell, man? Paul practically shouted in Jason’s head.

We need her to move. I’m not going to leave her here, but I need her to snap out of it and start moving. Jason responded before quickly adding, Unless you think I should just throw her over my shoulder? In a sarcastic tone. Paul let out an audible sigh at Jason’s remark.

Jason softly asked, “what’s your name?”

“Allison. Alli.” She replied, looking back and forth between the men.

“I’m Jason and this is Paul.” He gestured. “Now will you please just grab your wallet so we can go?” He added softly. Jason wasn’t used to having to work this hard to get a woman to follow his directions. Being an Alpha has its perks. No one questioned you. Usually.

Alli took another quick look at Leeland on the floor before she quickly made her way into the kitchen. She noticed that Jason followed closely behind her. She went over to the countertop and hoisted herself up so that she was kneeling on top. She opened the cabinet and started pulling decorative bowls and dishes off of the top shelf until she reached a dark green flower vase. She sat it on the countertop and hopped back down to the floor, gripping her stomach that still ached. With her feet back on the ground, she reached her hand into the small bulb-like vase and pulled out her birth certificate, social security card, and some money she had been secretly stashing.

One night a couple of years ago, in a drunken rage, Leeland had threatened to burn all of her documents so that she couldn’t leave him. The next day she hid them in this vase knowing he would never look up here. She tried to start stashing money too. A dollar here and there so that he wouldn’t notice. That had turned out to be harder than she imagined and she only had a little over $200 dollars saved. She didn’t think it would cover much more than a bus ticket, so she had been waiting until she had saved more before trying to leave him.

Alli walked past Jason, sparing him a quick glance as she walked back to the front entryway. There on a small table by the stairs was her purse. She grabbed the purse quickly, stuffing the money and documents inside the small clutch. She looked around the room as Paul walked out the front door and Jason walked to stand beside her.

Everything important to me fits inside this small purse. Everything I have. How f*****g depressing. Alli thought as she dropped her head and followed Paul out the front door. Jason walked behind her silently, closing the door behind him as they left the house.

Alli sat in the back seat of the SUV as they sped down the dark highway. Paul drove while Jason sat in the passenger’s seat. She stared at the side of Jason’s face. He held a stern expression like he was upset about something or perhaps just lost in thought. He kept his eyes forward except for the occasional glance to where she was sitting. Every time he glanced back at Alli, her heart would race a little. She felt like a girl on the bus checking out the hot guy that was way out of her league. Uncomfortable and a little embarrassed, she shifted in her seat. She felt the welt from the belt impact swelling on the back of her upper thigh as she slowly rubbed soothing circles on her aching stomach.

Alli turned to look out the car window and into the inky darkness of the desert. It was almost 1 a.m. and they had the empty highway to themselves. She allowed herself to disappear into a daydream. One where she never had to see Leeland again and lived happily ever after. One where she could was working at her old job and having coffee with her old friends. One where Jason was cooking her breakfast when she came downstairs in the morning. She smiled a little at the thought. If only she could be so lucky.

Jason and Paul were discussing through a mind-link what they were going to do once they arrived at the packhouse.

I think she should rest for the night and I will tell her everything in the morning. Jason proposed.

That’s fine, but she’s going to have questions as soon as we pull up to the packhouse. What are you going to tell her? Paul pushed back.

That I live in a big house.

A small mansion?? Paul countered. Why didn’t you sit in the back and start explaining on the way?

Paul was surprised when Jason had sat in the passenger's seat back at the house and told him to drive. He was concerned about the distance Jason seemed to want from his mate. He knew that Jason would probably find the mated life difficult, but his behavior was not what he expected from someone who had just found their soulmate.

I need some time to gather my thoughts and make sure I know what I’m going to say. Get off my back about this. Remember who your Alpha is. Jason growled through the link, cutting it.

Paul looked at Jason out of the side of his eyes and pressed the accelerator. They could be home in another 2 hours or less if he kept at this speed.