Page 75 of Wandering Closer

He’s gripping Tyler by his throat, hovering over him. “I don’t give a fuck what my dog just did. What did you say to Lily?”

“I just told her to drop the suit,” Tyler chokes out as Thoren squeezes tighter.

Thoren’s laugh is sinister, the smirk on his face equal parts sexy and terrifying. “Apologize to her, and mean it, because those are the last words you are ever going to say to her.”

Tyler sneers in my direction, not saying a thing. Thoren follows his line of sight, drawing his eyes to mine. “Are you okay, baby?”

“I’m okay.” I put my arm on his free one to reassure him, but that’s when I notice the blood. Thoren’s eyes lock on the streaks of red dripping down my arm where Tyler ripped chunks of my flesh out with his nails.

“Motherfucker!” Thoren roars as he cocks his fist and punches Tyler in the gut. He doubles over in pain and Thoren knees him in the face, causing a sickening crunch. Tyler falls tothe gravel, howling as he clasps his nose that is pouring blood. He lunges on him again, alternating punches between his gut and face.

Blood sprays from Tyler’s face, splattering on his shirt and arms. Tyler grunts, trying to block his face, but his movements quickly go lax, his arms falling to his sides. “Stop, Thoren, stop!” I scream, trying to pull him off. “You’re going to kill him. Please stop!”

His hazel eyes are glazed over as he slumps into the gravel. Tyler’s body is lifeless beside him, but I don’t care enough to check if he’s alive. I drop to Thoren’s side, wrapping myself around him.

“I’m okay. We’re okay,” I whisper as his strong, familiar arms wrap tight around me. I slide my hands through his hair, trying to tame the wild strands. “We’re okay.”

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t here. I’m so sorry I didn’t protect you.”

“It’s okay, baby. But we need to call the police and probably get him an ambulance.” I look over to where Tyler is starting to groan in pain.

“Jake’s on it. I was on the phone with him when I drove up.” He lightly lifts my arm, examining the deep gashes with an angry scowl. Shadow nudges her nose between us, licking my face.

“Good girl, protecting your mom.” He scratches behind her ears. “I have a lot of questions, starting with why you opened the door for him, but I’ll wait until you recount it to the police. Just promise me you’re okay.”

“I am now, because of you.”

“Is she okay?” Jake shouts out the window of his truck, stuck behind Thoren’s that is still running and blocking my driveway.

“Yeah, he’s not though,” Thoren yells back, nodding toward Tyler.

“Who cares? Move your damn truck. The ambulance isn’t far behind me.”

Giggles rise up in my chest, quickly turning into an unstoppable fit of laughter. It’s not funny, none of this is, but if I don’t laugh I might scream until my lungs give out. Thoren eyes me suspiciously before dropping a kiss on my head.

“Crazy girl. I’ll be right back.”

He jogs to his truck, pulling it up next to Marge, with Jake’s truck following. Sirens sound in the distance as I get up and step away from Tyler, who is still slowly coming to. Shadow chooses not to follow, instead sitting and growling at the man writhing in pain.

I can’t believe he flew out here to threaten me. His actions have been stupid lately, but this was monumental. Blood is still dripping from his nose and mouth, and his eye is starting to swell already. I don’t feel bad for him. If Thoren hadn’t come home when he did I don’t know what would have happened. I rub at the tender spot on my head where a bump is already forming.

Jake looks over the whole scene before narrowing his gaze on my arm and the wince of pain as I prod at the goose egg. “I’m going to kill him,” he steps forward, only to be held back by Thoren’s quickly swelling hand.

“I nearly did already. We don’t need to be sharing a jail cell,” he jokes, but it lacks humor.

“Fuck,” Jake grits out, pulling me in for a tight hug, not caring that I’m getting blood on his shirt. “I’m sorry, Lily, we’ll get this taken care of.” He lets me go, passing me off to Thoren’s waiting arms as his boots kick up gravel on the way to Tyler. Leaning down, he gives Shadow a head scratch before saying something to Tyler, too low for me to make out. I don’t miss the way Tyler cowers in on himself trying to move further from Jake.

An ambulance pulls into my driveway, followed by two police cruisers. Jake meets them, pointing over to Tyler and then toThoren and I. The EMT’s grab a gurney and rush over to Tyler’s side with one officer, as the other two make their way over to me.

The first one looks a little older than us, the other looks like this is his first day on the job. The first reaches out to shake Thoren’s hand, taking note of the split knuckles. “Good to see you man, sorry it’s like this. Everyone okay?” he asks, his eyes roving over us, only to stop when he sees my arm.

“Hey!” he shouts toward the EMTs. “I need one of you over here.”

I go to wave him off, but Thoren grips me tighter. “Let them clean you up and bandage you,” he says into my hair. “That piece of shit doesn’t deserve the care he is getting.” The nodding heads of the cops seem inclined to agree with him. “Bobby, this is my girlfriend, Lily. Bobby and River played baseball together.”

“Nice to meet you, Lily. I need to take a few photos of your arm before it’s cleaned up. Then can you tell me what happened here?”

“Yes.” I will tell them everything and anything to keep Thoren from getting in trouble.

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