Page 130 of Seen Knot Heard

Louie chuckles, trapping me with his arms on either side of my head, and his hot breath washes over my face. “Oh, I’m going to enjoy breaking you.”

His fingers dig into my jaw as he forces my head back, exposing my throat. I whimper, bracing myself for pain.

But it doesn’t come. Instead, Louie’s body suddenly goes rigid as a sickening crack rends the air, and then his grip on me loosens.

I gasp as the Alpha crumples to the ground at my feet, his eyes rolling back in his head.

Stunned, I stare down at his twitching form, my brain struggling to process what just happened. Did Dominic get back up?

Relief sweeps through me, and I lift my head. But it’s not Dominic who saved me.

“Simon?”

He stands a few feet away, tall and lanky in a rumpled dress shirt, a bolo tie with a blue stone at his throat. The itchy, artificial scent of vanilla and pine wafts from him, making me want to sneeze.

Simon meets my astonished eyes as he inclines his head in a little bow. “Princess. I’ve come to save you.”

I gape at him, my mind struggling to place my superfanhere, on the island.

Before I can form a coherent response, a low groan draws our attention back to Louie. He stirs on the ground, blinking back to consciousness.

Simon’s face hardens, his brown eyes glinting with an unsettling light behind his limp, dirty-blond fringe. He steps forward, raising the thick tree branch in his hands.

“Simon, wait—” I start to say, but he brings the makeshift weapon down on Louie’s skull with a sickening crack.

Again and again, he strikes the fallen Alpha, his blows methodical and merciless.

In growing horror, I watch as blood pools beneath Louie’s head, spreading across the forest floor. His body goes limp, staring sightlessly up at the canopy.

Bile rises in my throat, and I press a hand to my mouth, fighting down nausea as my stomach heaves at the coppery scent of blood.

Simon straightens up, lowering the gore-streaked branch, and turns back to me with a grin, his angular features splattered with flecks of crimson. “The evil dragon has been defeated, my princess!”

I swallow hard against the sourness coating my tongue. “Simon…what are you doing here? On Misty Pines?”

He steps closer with an unsettling smile. “I was sent to protect you, of course. To keep you safe from unworthy suitors.”

A creeping unease prickles down my spine at the fevered gleam in his eyes.

His grin falters, twisting into a scowl. “That other one. He tried to keep me from you. Always hovering around, blocking my way.”

Bile rises in my throat as his meaning sinks in. “Grady? Are you talking about Grady?”

Simon’s fingers flex around the bloodied branch. “Yes. That Beta. He wasn’t worthy of you, my princess. Not an Alpha. Not good enough.”

Icy fear trickles through my veins. How did he lure Grady out and catch him off guard? How did Simon even get on the island?

Questions swirl through my pounding head as I stare at the stranger wearing my superfan’s face. The man who “saved” me, who killed for me. Who stares at me with wild, worship-filled eyes.

My skin crawls, every instinct screaming for me to get away from him, from Louie’s body and… God, please let Dominic be alive. He lies so still only a few yards away. I need to go to him, to check if he’s okay. To escape this nightmare. But how?

With a shaky breath, I take a careful step forward, hands raised in a placating gesture. “Simon…”

A soft groan draws his attention from me, and he whips around, zeroing in on Dominic’s stirring form.

My heart leaps into my throat. “No, wait!”

“This one, too.” Simon stalks toward Dominic’s prone body. “He’s not worthy, either. I heard him, my princess. He admitted he hurt you.”

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