Chapter 1
Chapter One
CREED
Shi stormed out, her beautiful purple hair swaying behind her as she stomped away. I wanted to chase after her. I knew she was confused and pissed off that we made her leave.
Keelan shut the door and leaned against it with his arms folded over his chest. “I have feelings for her,” he said. This was why I’d stayed put. We couldn’t avoid this conversation any longer.
“We aren’t blind,” I said. I wished I was surprised Shiloh and Keelan had kissed. I looked at Colt. As if sensing me, he looked back at me. We’d known this was coming.
“I want more than just friendship with her,” Keelan said. “And I know she wants that, too.”
“We’re not just going to give her to you,” Colt said tightly. Even though we’d known our brothers wanted Shi, that didn’t make this situation any easier.
Keelan frowned. “I wasn’t going to take her completely. I know how much she means to you.”
“You want to share her,” I suggested, not seeing the point of beating around the bush. “You want in on the relationship Colt and I have with her?”
Keelan nodded. “I want her. Even if it’s only a part of her.”
Knox scoffed from where he sat behind his desk. “You sound like children negotiating over who gets to play with the toy next.”
We all frowned at our oldest brother. I loved him, but Knox could be a real dick sometimes.
“Get down from your high horse, brother,” Keelan said, smirking at him like he was privy to something Knox didn’t want him to know. Out of all of us, Keelan knew Knox the best. He handled his bullshit the best, too. “We know you have feelings for her, too.”
Knox leaned back in his chair. “You don’t know anything.” He flicked his fingers at us. “What you all are considering is a bad idea. It’s going to end badly. You’ll either end up resenting each other or hurting her.”
“We would never hurt her,” Colt assured him.
Knox looked away from us. “She’s extremely innocent and the three of you horny shitheads are going to try to share her between you?” He shook his head. “You’ll end up traumatizing her more than she already is.”
“Don’t talk about her like that. Shi isn’t weak,” I snapped.
“I know she isn’t weak,” Knox snapped back. “I just don’t want her to be pressured into anything she’s not ready for.”
“We would never do that,” Colt seethed. “That you think we would is insulting.”
“Sounds to me like you’re more worried about us hurting her than anything else,” Keelan pointed out.
“He wants her. He’s just too stubborn to admit it,” I said.
Knox clenched his jaw as his eyes flicked to me. “I don’t want her. I don’t want any part in this relationship the three of you want with her.”
I went to argue, but my phone started ringing. I pulled it from my pocket and saw that it was Shi. I hit the answer button and put the phone to my ear. “Hello?”
“Creed.” Her voice sounded strained and tired. It put me on edge.
“Shiloh, you okay?” I asked, but she didn’t answer. “Shi?”
“What is it?” Colt asked as he moved closer to me.
I looked at my phone to see if we’d gotten disconnected. We hadn’t and my phone was still counting the time of the call. I put the phone back to my ear. “Shi?” Still she didn’t reply. “Something isn’t right,” I said out loud.
“What do you mean?” Keelan asked, pushing off the door.
I shook my head and I tried to listen to the background noise. Very faintly I could hear breathing. Shiloh’s breathing. Then I heard a tiny whimper. “Something’s wrong with Shiloh,” I stated as I ran around Keelan and ripped open the door. I could hear my brothers running behind me as I ran past the front desk and out the front door. I looked around the parking lot, searching for Shi’s 4Runner.
Knox came up next to me and pointed. “Her car is still here.”
The four of us ran in that direction, and as we got closer, I could see feet on the ground on the driver’s side. They didn’t belong to her, though. They looked like they belonged to a guy.
“Shi!” I yelled.
“Shiloh!” Colt yelled a second after me.
Knox and Keelan outran Colt and I and got there before us. Knox knelt between the cars as we approached. At first, I only saw an unconscious guy on the ground who looked a little familiar. Maybe I’d seen him around the gym before? The next thing I saw was Shiloh a foot away from him with her phone next to her mouth, also unconscious.
“I’m calling the police,” Keelan said as he pulled his phone from his pocket and put it up to his ear.
Knox rolled her over and cupped her face. “Shiloh?” The three of us hovered behind him, trying to see if she was alright.
I let out a sigh of relief when she opened her eyes a little. I went up to the guy and rolled him over with my foot. “What did this fucker do to her?”
Colt stared down at the guy and his eyes went wide. “This is the guy that’s been bothering her.”
Keelan whirled around, having heard even though he was on the phone with the police. “What the fuck, Colt?!”
I looked at my twin in disbelief. “You knew someone was harassing her and you didn’t tell us?”
“I saw him hitting on her one time. She said he gave her a bad feeling,” Colt said, looking stricken. “Fuck, I should have walked her to her car.” He ran his hands through his hair roughly. “Fuck!”
“Help should be here any minute. There’s a fire station and hospital just down the road,” Keelan said as he hung up his phone.
“Keep your eyes open, Shiloh,” Knox snapped, patting her cheeks. “Shiloh!” he yelled when that didn’t get her to open her eyes. He grasped her shoulders next and shook them. “Open your eyes, damnit!”
We stood there watching Knox shake her like a limp rag doll and I’d never felt so helpless.
“Check her pulse!” Keelan ordered.
I knelt down next to Knox and put my fingers to her neck. Her pulse was beating. “She has a strong pulse.”
Knox began feeling the back of her head and neck. He had a frantic look in his eyes as he did. “Her head seems fine,” he said as he continued to look over her body, lifting her shirt and running his hands down her legs. “She’s not bleeding anywhere. I don’t understand why she won’t wake up.” He turned her on her side and a syringe with a needle attached rolled out from underneath her.
We all watched it slow to a stop in shock. “He drugged her.” Keelan voiced what we were all thinking.
“I’ll kill him,” Colt seethed as he moved over to the unconscious guy and kicked him in the stomach. Colt got another two kicks in before Keelan pulled him away. Sirens went off in the distance and got louder as they got closer.
“Let the police take care of him,” Keelan said to Colt, trying to calm him down.
Colt was panting, livid. “I should have walked her to her car.”
“She’s going to be alright,” Keelan assured him.
I grabbed Shi’s hand and looked at the unconscious guy. I was committing his face to memory. If I ever saw him after today or he came near Shiloh again…I squeezed Shiloh’s hand, trying to control my rage. The police needed to hurry up and get here before I tried to kill the fucker next.