Mated To The Alpha Triplets (SPICY)

Chapter 10

CASSIE’S POV

The door didn’t open. It exploded.

The force of it was so hard that the wood of the frame splintered and the door swung back so hard it bounced off the wall, and in the space it left stood Smalls.

I had to blink repeatedly to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. It really was him.

He looked different here than he had at the mansion. At the mansion he had been professional, composed, gentle in the kind way he spoke to me. Now there was nothing gentle about him.

His jaw was set like concrete. His eyes swept the room in under a second. He took everything in - my mother on the floor, me on the ground barely holding myself upright, three armed men standing over me - and something in his face shifted into something terrifying.

What was he doing here?

I had no idea how he knew I was in trouble but I wasn’t complaining. I was more than happy to see him.

"Step back from her," Smalls said.

His voice was quiet. That was the part that scared even me.

The men turned to face him and for one moment I saw uncertainty in the eyes of the man who had spoken to me. Smalls was enormous - that was the only word for it. He stood in that doorway and seemed to fill it completely. His broad shoulders nearly touched each frame.

Smalls was practically too huge to be in this kind of house. But there were three of them and they had weapons. After a beat, the uncertainty in their eyes changed.

The two men on the outside moved at the same time.

Smalls stepped into the first attack instead of away from it, letting the man's momentum carry him into a grab that he used to swing the man bodily into the second one. They hit the table with enough force to c***k it down the middle. The third man - the one with the blade - slashed low and Smalls twisted away. The blade caught the side of his arm instead of his ribs. He didn't even flinch. He drove his elbow into the man's face hard and the man dropped straight down like his legs had been cut out from under him.

The first two men were back up. They were groaning and stumbling.

One had grabbed a broken table leg. He swung it at Smalls from behind.

“Smalls” I whispered. My voice was weak and hoarse “Look out”

Smalls got his arm up in time to block the swing but the impact knocked him sideways into the wall. The second man drove into him low, trying to take him off his feet. Smalls didn't go down but he staggered, and both men pressed the advantage at once, raining blows from both sides.

He was trying. I could see him trying. But they were three, and they were trained. Even someone as physically overwhelming as Smalls had limits.

He took a bad hit to the ribs - I heard it. Smalls went down on one knee. He got a hand out to stop himself from going all the way down and looked up through the blood running from a cut above his eye.

He and I made eye contact from across the room. Even in this situation, his expression was steady, not panicked. Even on his knee with blood on his face he was steady. He didn’t look scared at all. Instead, he looked worried about me.

"Cassie," he said, breathing hard. "It's alright."

He pressed something on his wrist - a small device I hadn't noticed, almost invisible against his skin. It seemed to be a signal of some kind. His eyes came back to mine as one of the men kicked him in the back.

"They're coming," he whispered "Just stay with me. They're coming."

Who was coming? Did he mean the brothers?

Smalls groaned in pain. He pulled himself back up and put himself between me and the men again. He absorbed every hit they threw at him without moving from that spot. His legs were shaking. I could see it. He was past his limit, running on empty.

I felt so sorry for him. I couldn’t help but feel guilty. This was all my fault.

“Smalls” I whispered.

I couldn’t just let him get beat up. He was here because of me. I had to do something.

I tried to drag myself closer to him. My arms screamed. My ribs screamed. I got maybe two feet before my strength gave out entirely and I collapsed against the floor again.

My breathing was heavy and my whole body cried out with pain. I pressed my cheek to the cold ground, trying to catch my breath.

I watched Smalls stand there bleeding. At the sight of him, I felt something in my chest. I felt sad but I also felt grateful to him in some way.

"You don't have to do this," I said. My voice came out barely above a whisper. "You don't even know me."

He glanced back at me briefly. "I know enough."

Then the window shattered.