Page 3 of Mace

“You let me worry about your mama,” the man told her irritably. Then added, “Head down to the river and see if you can finish washing my shirts without acting like a child.”

He picked up a small basket and gave her a rough shove in the direction of the river, in my direction. When she turned, I had to hold in a gasp—she was the most beautiful women I’d ever seen, long black hair in a braid, olive toned skin, and bewitching eyes. But when I saw her expression, it made a well of empathy swell in my chest. This young woman looked mentally and physically exhausted and her bottom lip was shaking like she was about to cry.

The man, who I assumed was her father, motioned to one of the other men to follow her. The look of dark glee that jumped onto the younger man’s face made me uncomfortable.

I quietly followed her back to the river. She ignored him as she took out the shirts and began to awkwardly scrub them in the water, using a rock to pound them on a small boulder.

The younger man came up behind her and started to talk to her in Spanish. I understood Spanish fairly well, but I was having difficulty following his rapid-fire speech. She glanced over her shoulder and muttered, “You know my father’s rules.Speak English in America, we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves.”

He made a frustrated sound and started again. “Why do you insist on provoking your father? Just do what he says, and everything will be okay.”

“For you maybe, Alejandro. You’re the son he never had. I’m the daughter he never wanted.”

The man squatted down to look her in the eyes. “You would better yourself in his eyes by becoming my wife.”

She made a disgruntled sound and went back to rinsing out the shirts and wringing them out. “I’m not marrying you. I don’t care if he punishes me, I’m never going to agree to marry you, Alejandro.”

He reached out and grabbed her by her long braid and forced her to turn around and look at him. “Your father is right about one thing. You are stubborn.”

She tried to untangle her hair from his fist. “Yes. I’m a gigantic stubborn pain in the ass. I’d make a terrible wife. Why don’t you go find another woman to harass.”

His hand released her braid, and he grabbed her throat instead. “Your father has given me leave to take you. Once you are with my child, you become mine. This he has promised to me.”

Anger rose hard and fast in my mind. This asshole was threatening to rape her and force her to have his child. And if his words could be believed, her father has approved of this plan. Nine made a low dangerous growl in the back of his throat, the same sound I sometimes make when I’m enraged. We were inagreement. I pulled my handgun out of my backpack, took the safety off and crept forward.

I didn’t get the chance to intervene because she took the rock she was using to do the laundry with and slammed it into the side of his head. He fell over, holding his head while she made her escape. When he got up and started chasing after her, I decided she needed my help. They were headed down the river in the opposite direction to my club’s property. I shoved the gun into the holster in the small of my back and made chase. Since I’m quick and know this land well, I easily outpaced her. Concealing myself behind a tree, I waited for her to come running past. Then I swept my arm out and pulled her aside and out of view.

She opened her mouth to scream but I quickly put my hand over her mouth to silence her. “Quiet, if you want to make it out of the forest without being molested by that asshole.”

When she stilled, I tentatively lifted my palm away, “Sorry, if you screamed that man would know where we were.”

Her eyes narrowed on me for a brief moment before she asked, “Who are you and how did you find us?”

“I was exploring when I heard you scream,” I said.

We heard Alejandro approaching and both stilled. Something brushed against my leg, and she jumped. I grabbed her and put my hand over her mouth again, sensing another potential scream. “He’s with me.”

Nine rubbed himself against her legs again in a gesture that I believed was meant to be protective. It took her a secondto realize the creature was not going to eat her up and then she relaxed again.

That was when several things happened at once. Nine made an aggressive noise and jumped. I realized that Alejandro had doubled back and found our location. Maybe he saw movement when she was alarmed by Nine.

The look on his face was white-hot rage. “Get your hands off my woman!”

I quickly let her go and stepped protectively in front of her to block his view.

“I said to get the hell away from her. Who are you and why are you here?” he demanded.

Of course I wasn’t going to tell him who I was and why I was here, so instead I said, “I’m here checking my traps along the river. I heard a commotion and came to see if anyone needed help.”

“Well, you can clearly see we are not in need of your help. It was a lover’s quarrel, nothing more.”

I pointed out, “You had your hand on her throat.”

“This is not your business, gringo.”

I snorted a laugh because he just called me white. In this part of the country people usually assumed I was Mexican or part Mexican. That is until they saw my braid. I guessed that Alejandro wasn’t very observant. Through gritted teeth I said, “You go back to your camp. Your friend will return when she’s ready.”

“I don’t think so,” he sneered. “She comes with me now, or I’ll drop you where you stand. Your choice.”

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