Page 41 of Cruel Alpha Bully

It’s a thin, short guy facing me. He doesn’t look like much, but he twirls the chain with precision. And from the way the others stepped back, he must be damn good at it.

I watch his movements carefully, managing to slip to the side or roll under the chain. I’m waiting for when the chain goes slack and I can grab it without losing my fingers.

There!

As the loop flies over my head, I reach up and snatch it. With one swift twist, I take up the slack and yank on it as hard as I can.

The other guy stumbles, going down on his knees. I leap forwards, jumping over him and spinning so I’m behind him.

I moved so fast, no one has been able to counter me. I wrap the chain around the little guy’s neck, and I don’t hesitate—I yank the ends in opposite directions as hard as I can.

There is a tremendous crack as the loop closes, practically cutting off the guy’s head and breaking his neck. I don’t stop to look around; I don’t give myself time to think. I just drop the chain and run towards Gina.

They had no intention of honoring the deal! They were always going to kill us!

And now I’ve killed one of them.

I charge towards the burly guy holding Gina and the alpha, focusing on breaking their grip on her and getting her out of here and into the forest. When she sees me coming, she smashes her boot down on the big guy’s foot and elbows the alpha in the face.

They stagger back from her. I speed up even more, holding out my hand. She grabs hold of me, and we run into the forest, the howls of the other pack echoing through the valley behind us.

Chapter 15 - Gina

My heart is pounding so hard, my blood is roaring in my ear drums. My throat feels tight, and my chest burns as I run through the trees as fast as I can.

Bae’s hand grips mine so tightly, I think it’s going to break my fingers, but I don’t want him to let go.

I can hear the others cheering and howling as they charge into the forest behind us. My terror gives me a fresh burst of energy, and I leap ahead, keeping up with Bailey as he sprints along the grassy trail.

He’s covered in blood. It’s dripping down the back of his head, marking his shirt across his stomach and splattered in patches over the rest of his body. I don’t know how many wounds he actually has, but I know the head injury alone is extremely serious.

If we could just stop and rest for a while, he would heal!

And then what? Take on the whole pack?

I struggle to believe those creatures chasing us through the woods are even wolves. They have no honor at all. I didn’t hear much of Bae’s conversation with the alpha, but I heard enough to know these are cruel, violent creatures, an insult to everything else that bears the name of wolf.

Under my fear and my worry for Bae, there is a bright, flaming rage that burns through me, desperate to punish this pack for its crimes.

No one should be allowed to get away with this!

Bae takes a sudden turn into the thick trees, tugging on my hand so hard, I almost fall flat on my face. I catch myself just in time and follow Bae into the underbrush. I see him duck down and slither through a rough trail, and I follow him, letting go of his hand so we can go through one by one.

He’s found a small trail through the scrub that might have been made by an animal and is trying to push us through it as quickly as possible without breaking any branches to show we went through. It might deter the other pack long enough for Bae to rest.

Then what?

I don’t know. I really don’t.

Suddenly, the screams of the others sound behind us. They are close, too close. Bae turns and looks at me, and I’ve never seen him look so afraid. There is a deep, all-encompassing fear in him that I thought a powerful man like him could never feel.

He’s not afraid for himself—he’s afraid for me and the rest of the pack! He thinks he failed us!

Bae raises a finger to his lips, and I nod. I wasn’t about to make any noises, that’s for sure. We stay crouched down under the leaves and listen to the others running through the forest some distance behind us. They wail and scream, hurling their fury out into the forest for all to hear.

I guess it’s supposed to be threatening. It works.

Not only does it terrify me, all the other animals in earshot are fleeing the area as well. Wolves, this bloodthirsty, must completely purge their territory and leave nothing to hunt.

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