Chapter 10 – Lacey
Chapter Ten
Lacey
Ishriek, struggling to get away. The man’s other hand slaps over the lower half of my face, muffling the sound.
He tugs me sideways down the mouth of the alley and releases my hair to wrap his arm around my middle.
He drags me fifteen or twenty feet down the corridor, and no matter how strongly I fight against his hold, nothing seems to help.
My temple slams against the brick, and he flattens my front against the wall.
I whimper, aimlessly searching my bag for my phone, but with how frazzled I am, I doubt I could unlock it, let alone successfully call 911.
“Seems like you need to learn a lesson about how you treat people,” the guy says, laughing ominously. His hand trails down my middle, and he cups my vagina, squeezing hard.
I slam my head back, fighting even more violently.
“Aww, she looks scared,” an unfamiliar voice chimes in.
“She does. Her fear is so thick you can almost taste it,” a third voice says from my other side. “We’re going to rip you apart, omega.”
Oh, God.
He’s not alone.
He brought his friends.
How can they stand by or even participate in whatever the hell this is? Fear courses through my system, and I try to remember what those safety videos said when they made us watch them in our alpha and omega dynamics class in high school.
Jesus Christ.
I shouldn’t have to contemplate pissing on myself to destroy the fantasy to get these assholes to leave me alone. I will, but I really hate that the world has come to this.
My eyes squeeze shut, burning from the tears I know must be about to fall. Terror takes over, and no matter how many scenarios play through my mind, none of them seem like viable options to get free.
What if your best chance at survival is not fighting back?
Could I really do that?
I don’t think I could.
There’s no way to describe the sound that fills the air. It’s like nothing I’ve ever heard before. Ripping, then squelching, followed by a weird crunch.
Warm, wet liquid sprays over the right side of my face, and I scream. I’m not even sure when I stopped. Probably about the time I lost hope of surviving this alleyway without being raped and murdered.
Oh, shit.
I blink continuously as my body tries to make sure whatever that was doesn’t make it inside my eye.
A copper, metallic smell hits my nose, and my stomach churns violently. I don’t even have time to fully process that as chaos ensues.
The man holding me slams me face-first into the wall…hard. Like, so violently the tip of my nose feels scraped. Luckily, my head was twisted away from the blood, so my cheekbone takes the brunt of the hit. It hurts like hell, but not enough that I think he broke one of my facial bones.
Someone’s bone definitely gets broken, though. Or multiple bones, based on the horrifying cracking sound that fills the air behind me.
My vision is hazy as I spin, trying to find out what’s happening. With the wall now behind me, I edge deeper into the alley.
I would aim for the street that’s closer, but it’s blocked by the all-out battle going down.
I blink repeatedly as I try to determine if I’m really seeing what I think I’m seeing.
Grim ducks a punch thrown by the man who restrained me. His massive frame moves almost gracefully as he sidesteps, slamming his elbow back and into the man’s kidney.
Everything is still fuzzy, but there are two distinctly body-shaped lumps on the ground.
My hand flies to my mouth. The metallic smell intensifies, and I gasp as I remember I’m covered in blood.
My eyes squeeze closed, and my knees wobble.
I lean against the wall for support, but the world feels like it’s spinning even though I stopped moving when I caught sight of Grim.
A horrifying sound causes my eyes to pop open, and I almost wish I had kept them closed.
Grim is on top of the guy who attacked me, and his fist flies into the man’s face, over and over again. The crunching sound gives way to slick squelches that make my stomach churn even more violently.
Holy shit.
He’s going to kill him if he hasn’t already.
Do I really care?
I have no doubt in my mind. They would have hurt me in unimaginable ways if Grim hadn’t stumbled upon me. It’s a crazy coincidence, but I’ll thank God for that gift later. Right now, I have to make sure he doesn’t ruin his life.
“Grim!” My voice comes out hoarse and raspy. “You have to stop. You’re going to kill him.”
The alpha I’ve grown to care so much about over the last two months freezes. His head tilts animalistically, and his hair falls around his face as he peeks at me over his shoulder.
Shoving off the wall, I keep my eyes locked on his and hold out a hand. “Come here, please?”
A dangerous growl rattles out of his chest, making me jolt. I’m not afraid of him, even if he has blood all over his face and the hand I can see. His lip curls, and he bares his teeth while pushing to his feet.
My heart pounds so violently that I can hear it echoing in my ears. Every instinct in my body says running would be a solid plan, but my brain overrides that impulse.
Grim shakes his hand as he approaches, eventually moving to wipe the blood off on his jeans.
“Omega.” The word comes out a low growl that demands deference.
My head whips to the side, and I offer him my throat.
He’s in front of me in a blink, and he moves to cradle my cheek. “Fuck.”
“I’m okay,” I whisper. “Are you?”
Grim grunts and bends, wrapping his forearm around my thighs just under my butt. He lifts, and my hands fly to his shoulders to give myself something to hold on to.
“Mine,” he growls, and his eyes are so hazy that I worry he’s still completely lost to the fog. “My omega.”
I squint as he licks the scrape on my nose. Alpha saliva can heal bites caused during bonding, but I have no idea if that extends to wounds like the scratches I got from the brick wall.
“Got you.” He runs his tongue over my temple.
First of all, I didn’t know there were more scrapes there, but now all I can think about is that he must have accidentally licked some of that asshole’s blood.
He’s so tender that I can hardly believe he’s the same guy who just demolished those three men. “Safe with me.”
“I know.” My words are the truth, but I’m just now having the chance to recognize how bad all of this looks. “We have to make a plan and get our stories straight.”
Grim was medically declared feral. It was in his paperwork when he first came in, and I’m terrified they’ll try to blame his actions on him crossing the line into rabid.
It was clearly self-defense or justifiable because he was protecting me, but what if the police officers don’t see it that way?
What if they try to institutionalize him or even worse?
If they deem him too dangerous to be in society, they could put him down. There’s no way I can let that happen. I’m just not sure what I can do to prevent it.
Fuck.
Maybe I do have one thing I could try.
I only know one person who works closely with criminals—Wilder. The thought of calling him to help clean up this mess or, at the very least, get Grim the best lawyer money can buy sends an uncomfortable pang to my stomach.
I’ll still do it, though.
Anything to keep Grim from being unfairly punished for saving me from whatever those men had planned.
“Okay, I’m going to grab my phone. I need to call—”
“No!” Grim barks, cutting me off. “Mine.” His nose lands on my cheek, and he drags it down to my throat. His warm breath puffs against my skin, and before I can process what’s happening, his canines dig into my neck just under my ear.
My eyes widen as the pain hits my system. I was under the impression most omegas barely even registered discomfort when being bitten. Granted, most omegas are bonded during a heat.
Shock gives way to an understanding that I can deny or accept the bond. My head is still hazy, and my hands tremble as they dig into Grim’s strong shoulders.
A denied bite would cause him agony and only be more proof to the police that he’s past the line of being salvageable.
Then again, bonding is for life.
There are no take-backs.
It doesn’t matter.
No part of me wants to deny that connection with Grim. I’ve had a hell of a crush on him since we met, and he just seriously injured three men to save me. He’s a protector through and through, and once we’re bonded, his mind will start to heal itself from the decay.
I focus my intent, my soul accepting the connection.
Grim growls, plunging his teeth in even deeper before he retracts them and licks over the bite to clean and seal it.
The bond slams into place, and his smoke and leather scent permeates my mind. It’s not like smelling his scent in the air. It’s more like a tinge of him filters through my consciousness, followed quickly by his possessiveness.
He wanted me, he claimed me, and he’s happy about it.