Page 102 of Claiming Pretty

“You did this!” Ciaran spat, rounding on him. “You fucking brainwashed her, corrupted her. Youstoleher from me, my own fuckingbrother.”

“Stole her from you?Stole her?” Ty’s fury hit me like a tidal wave, his usual calm shattering as his voice rose, full of raw, unleashed emotion. “Youpromisedme you wouldn’t touch her! Youpromisedyou’d keep your distance, but the second you thought I was dead, you pounced!”

My breath caught. Ty wasn’t just angry; he was livid in a way I’d never seen before.

Ciaran’s face twisted in anger, his shoulders tensing as he took a step toward his brother. “I was protecting her! Because you sure as hell weren’t going to!”

“Because I was rotting away in jail foryou!” Ty’s voice roared, echoing off the night like thunder.

Ciaran stumbled back as if Ty had punched him, the color draining from his face.

Ty’s eyes burned with a fury that scared me more than Ciaran’s outbursts ever had as he advanced on his brother.

“You think you’re angry because of me? Because of her?” Ty stabbed a finger into Ciaran’s face. “You’re angry becauseyou preferred when she was helpless little Ava, and now you can’t stand the fact that she’s strong enough to make her own choices—even if it means not choosingyou.”

The air between them crackled like a live wire.

I wanted to scream, to run, to pull them both back from the edge, but I was caught in the suffocating storm of their rage, my heart pounding painfully in my chest.

And I couldn’t fucking take it anymore.

“Stop it! I hate you,” I screamed at them. “I hate you both.”

I turned and ran through the forest, branches whipping against my face and arms as I plunged deeper into the shadowy depths.

I had no idea where I was going. But I wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t stop.

The night air was thick with the scent of pine and damp earth, filling my lungs as I gasped for breath. My feet pounded against the uneven ground, roots and fallen branches threatening to trip me with every step.

Behind me, I could hear them. Ciaran and Ty, crashing through the undergrowth, their voices calling out my name.

The sound sent a shiver down my spine, a mixture of fear and a hot dark thrill.

Memories of them chasing me when we were younger flashed through me—ready or not…

It had been a game then, a fun pretty game, but this wasn’t a game anymore, it was real. Terrifyingly real.

And it would end with someone’s heart broken. Maybe I wasn’t really running away fromthemas much as I was running away fromthat.

“Run, rabbit,” Ciaran called from the distance, his tone amix of playfulness and menace that sent chills down my spine.

My heart pounded in my ears as I pushed harder, my legs aching as I leaped over fallen logs and ducked under low-hanging branches.

I tore past an overgrown mound tangled with morning glory, its delicate flowers gleaming pale in the moonlight—that must be the campus passagetomb Lisa was always going on about.

The thought was fleeting, gone almost as quickly as it came, drowned out by the crunch of leaves and twigs behind me, the sound of pursuit drawing closer.

Someone was right behind me. Getting closer. I could hear the sharp and precise breathing behind me, so close it felt like he was breathing down my neck, making my hairs stand on end.

Strong arms wrapped around me from behind, tackling me.

I screamed.

As we tumbled to the forest floor, he twisted mid-fall, pulling me on top of him so that his body absorbed the impact. The breath rushed from my lungs as we hit the ground hard, leaves and twigs crunching beneath us.

I could feel his heart hammering against my back as his hands grabbed me as if he couldn’t get enough, my breasts, my hips, my thighs, igniting sparks beneath my skin.

“I told you,” he hissed, his lips brushing my ear. “I’d always find you.”

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