Page 44 of Laid Bear

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“I knew you’d come to this end. You’re an abomination. A whore,” her father sneered in disgust as he continued to squeeze the life out of her.

Zora clawed a deep wound on the side of his face with the last of her strength.

He screamed out and let go of her neck just long enough to slam his fist in the side of her head.

Zora saw stars, and almost immediately those meaty hands were around her throat again. But instead of choking her, he slammed her head into the ground. “Slut. You’ve been cavorting like a whore. Just like her! I saw you in town with those three men,” he screamed. Spittle splattered across her face.

Zora was too woozy and her head hurt way too much to know what he was talking about.

He continued to talk, his eyes blazing with insanity. “You whored yourself years ago and drove that boy crazy, didn’t you? Too bad those bullets didn’t hit you.”

There was no reasoning with or overpowering a crazy person. Her only chance of making this out alive was playing possum. She closed her eyes and went limp.

He squeezed her throat just a little longer and Zora feared it wouldn’t matter if she played dead or not because he was going to kill her. Just as she hovered on the threshold of unconsciousness, he let go. She remained still as she felt him pull away, but instead of leaving her alone, he grabbed her arm and began to drag her.

She dared to open one eye to see him yanking her farther into the woods. While her father wasn’t paying attention, she glanced around to see if there was some weapon she could use. She reached out and grabbed a nearby tree branch. Her movement drew his attention. This time she was ready for him. With all her might, she swung the branch, connecting with his face. The sharp edges of the bark gouged his cheeks. Though he clasped the side of his face with one hand, he still kept a firm grip on her with his other hand. It was almost as if the pain hadn’t registered.

“Now I’m going to cut your damn heart out before I send you to hell, bitch.”

As he ranted, she rolled away from him and made it to her knees to crawl away. She stumbled to her feet, but he grabbed her by her hair and pulled back.

She screamed, ready to fight for her life when she heard a loud roar through the forest, followed by two others. Zora collapsed to her knees. They had come.

~~~

Logan knew his cousins were close behind as he made his way to Zora. He could smell her fear and anxiety, which while not a good thing, told him she was still alive. He could also smell another emotion. Blind anger, but he was sure it wasn’t coming from her. He didn’t care what her attacker’s motive was, the bastard was a dead man walking.

He spotted them just as he saw Zora get to her feet and the stranger grab her by the hair, yanking her back toward him. Logan let out a roar. His cousins followed suit, letting their bears be heard.

He lurched forward, making his presence known. The man grabbed Zora and pushed her toward him as if offering her as a sacrifice before taking off. This only served to piss Logan off even more. Not only had he fucked with the wrong woman, he was a coward to boot.

Logan nudged Zora with his muzzle. “Are you okay?”

She seemed to struggle for air before answering. “I’m a little woozy, but I think I’ll be okay.”

He noticed a hand mark on her cheek and her bottom lip was busted. This ensured his prey would die a painful death. “Stay here and don’t move. I’m going after the son of a bitch.”

“Please be careful, Logan.” She stroked the back of his head.

He nodded before taking off. Being that he was faster on four legs than the man’s two, he caught up to Zora’s attacker within minutes. Logan pounced on the man’s back, knocking him down. As the man tried to get away from him, Logan bit into his shoulder, tearing into flesh and bone.

The man let out a loud, blood-curdling scream. Logan ran his claws down the man’s back, ripping through his shirt, digging deep rivets through his skin and muscles.

The man still tried to wiggle away from him. Logan pinned him down, biting and breaking flesh but making sure not to go deep enough to actually kill him. His cousins would want a piece of this as well.

The other man, cried, screamed and yelled at God. “Why have you forsaken me, Lord?”

Logan swatted him with his paw and dragged his claws down the side of his face. He continued to torture his prey slowly, making every blow more painful than the next. His bloodlust rose at the sound of the man’s howls for mercy. He hadn’t given Zora any and Logan sure wasn’t going to start feeling sorry for the bastard now.

Gavin and Heath made their way toward them as the man started to drift off from the blood loss. Logan clamped down on one arm, Heath got the other. Gavin sank his teeth into the guy’s leg and they each ripped off a limb. The three of them bit off body parts one by one until there was nothing left but a bloody stump on the ground.

~~~

Zora knelt on the ground as tears streamed down her face. She couldn’t believe this had happened to her. Nor could she fathom why her father would hate her to the point of homicide. She flinched when she felt a hand fall on her shoulder. She looked up to see Gavin standing beside her. It didn’t matter that he was covered in blood and that he wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothing. She went into his arms without thought, clinging to him as sobs wracked her body.

He held her tight. “It’s going to be okay, baby. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

Heath came behind her and kissed the back of her head. “It’s over now, baby.”

Logan moved beside her and nuzzled her leg. He remained in bear form.

When she finally calmed down, Gavin asked, “Who was he?”

A wave of pain swept through her body, causing a fresh stream of tears to glide down her cheeks. “My father.”

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