Page 2 of Out of the Darkness

He snatched a handful of David’s hair and yanked his head back. He then snarled in his ear, sounding far more animal than man. The beast inside of him was in charge now. He was the one running the show, and the beast was pissed.

“W-who are you?” David stammered. “What do you want?”

There were all manner of ways in which he could answer that, but he decided to go with the most reasonable response. “You and I are going to have a chat, David,” he sneered before he shoved him back toward the middle of the room. “About Madelyn.”

“Madelyn?” David asked, lifting a shaky hand to the now-open and bleeding wound on his head. The surprise was evident in his voice, and his brows creased in confusion. Though it could also have been the blow he took to the head.

“Uh-huh.”

“W-what about her?”

He took a step toward David, who instinctively stepped away. His self-preservation instincts must have started kicking in. Maybe he wasn’t as dumb as he looked. However, he wasn’t going to get off that easily. He was in for far more than just a stern talking-to.

He cocked his head to the side as if studying David. He still couldn’t see what Madelyn saw in him. David was weak, pathetic, and no good for her. Not that he was any better. But between the two of them, he was by far the superior choice.

“You are going to stay the fuck away from her,” he stated casually. “You aren’t going to call her; you aren’t going to text her; you aren’t going to see her. You are going to disappear from her life altogether, starting right now.”

“What, are you, her boyfriend or something?” David asked, shaking his head. “Look, man, she told me she was single. I have no desire to get in between?—”

He chuckled darkly. “No, I’m not her boyfriend. Not yet anyway. But I don’t need someone like you getting in my way. Madelyn is mine.”

It was then that the little weasel seemed to grow some balls. After processing what he had said, David took a step toward him and looked as though he were going to poke him in the chest. He must have thought better of it though, which was good because he was at least three times David’s size. He would have bitten that finger off like it was a baby carrot.

“Now, wait just a damn minute,” he began. “You don’t get to break in here and tell me who I can and can’t see. It would be different if you were already with her, but the fact that?—”

He didn’t allow David to finish his statement before he reared back and clocked him hard in the jaw with his fist. Already, he was sick of listening to the guy talk because he clearly didn’t have anything important to say.

“I wasn’t fucking asking, David!” he roared angrily, making David flinch and tremble.

Now was not the time to push him as he was barely holding it together. His wolf wanted to feel the crunch of cartilage and bone as he tore his throat out with his powerful jaws. He wanted to feel the warm spray of his blood as he watched the life drain from his eyes. Being rogue meant having an insatiable bloodlust, and it would be all too easy to quench that desire right here, right now. But that wasn’t why he was here. He only wanted David to back off and stay away from Madelyn. He didn’t think that was too much to ask.

Even though he could clearly see how close to losing it he was, David didn’t seem to want to back down. He would have been impressed, if not for the guy’s lack of clothing.

“Who Madelyn dates isn’t up to you. It’s her choice,” David told him. He was obviously trying to appear confident, but the quiver in his voice gave him away. It always did. “And she chose me. So, you can take your petty-ass jealousy and get the hell out of my house before I call the police.”

He grinned menacingly. He had been hoping David would say something like that. It made the monster inside of him giddy with anticipation of what came next.

“Wrong answer,” he spat. Then, he struck as quick and precise as a viper.

He moved so quickly that David didn’t have time to react at all. He slammed the guy hard against the wall while simultaneously snatching up the first thing he could find on one of the shelves to use as a weapon. As they were in the basement, the only thing he found was a tool. A Phillips-head screwdriver to be exact.

In his own defense, he was restraining himself fairly well. Before he made the vow to himself to kill less, he would have ripped David’s chest open with his bare hands and crushed his heart in his palm. It wasn’t his fault that David decided to struggle against him. Otherwise, the screwdriver would have gone into his upper thigh where it was intended to go.

Instead, the weapon found its way to where the sun don’t shine, sliding into the soft flesh right between the guy’s ball sack and asshole as easily as a knife went into softened butter. He felt something snap, a tendon or nerve perhaps, and the warm trickle of blood and piss on his hand as David wet himself.

The wails that pierced the air were inhuman, and he almost felt bad for the guy. He may be a monster, but there were lines even he wouldn’t cross. Messing with another guy’s family jewels was one of them. David would be lucky if his dick ever worked right again. Whatever had snapped when he stabbed him sounded awfully important.

Even so, the beast inside of him let out a groan of appreciation. He had come to thrive off the pain of others, especially if he was the one to inflict it. He may have gone a little further than expected, but it would get his point across nonetheless.

He met David’s eyes, allowing his own to glow with his shifter power. His canines elongated as his monster began to emerge fully. He was reveling in the fear that now permeated the air around them.

David’s face was contorted in pain, streaked with snot and tears, and he also seemed to be fighting unconsciousness.

“I am only going to say this once, asshat. So, listen close,” he growled, his voice low. “Madelyn is mine. She will always be mine. And if I ever see you around her again, I won’t stop at mutilating your manhood. I will finish what I started and send you to whatever god you believe in. Do we understand each other?”

Once again, he had to give the guy credit where credit was due. He had to be in excruciating pain, but David still nodded rapidly. Or as much as he could with his arm pinning him against the wall by his throat.

He yanked the screwdriver out with a sickening yet satisfying sound, causing David to scream again. When he finally released him, David collapsed to the floor in a heap, trying to stem the bleeding with his hands while curling into the fetal position.

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