Page 39 of Chomp's Challenge

“Yes.”

“Tell me why.”

“I know this probably comes under club business, which Callie explained to me, but he was following me around, and I think I deserve to know why,” she replies.

I decide I need to give her a little bit of the information we found out. She needs to know that Jerry is just as bad as Perry was, apparently. “While I’m not one hundred percent sure why he was stalking you, I do know from what Sly was able to find out that when he was released from prison, he and Perry had plans for you, and they were not good, Ariel.”

I’ve said this already once, and I hope she doesn’t want me to elaborate because just thinking about how they wanted to put her on camera and sell her online, hoping to make money from her on a regular basis, both sickens and enrages me. And not just Ariel either.

She gulps and her face pales, so I pull her closer to me in an effort to comfort her. Right now, my gator is clamoring to help her, but in his shifted form, he can’t speak, so he’s just going to have to be patient. “What… what do you mean?” she hesitantly asks.

“They planned to pimp you out to their friends. No holds barred, Ariel, so whoever paid their price could do whatever they wanted to you. They were going to get a few more girls, as well, and they were going to get all of you hooked on drugs, so you’d be compliant.”

My gator hisses inside of me, disgusted at the mere thought of any female being used in that manner, let alone his mate. Should have killed him twice, Gator bellows. He’s furious, and I can’t blame him, since Ariel is ours.

“Plus, they planned to film it so they could sell it online.”

“People watch that kind of thing?” she asks, her lower lip trembling. “That’s sick. I mean, I get people watch porn, but I always thought people in those movies were there willingly.”

“For the most part, I think they are, but Perry and Jerry were going to post it on the dark web, and that’s a completely different world, according to Sly. Pretty much anything goes, and there are monsters who enjoy watching snuff films as well.”

“I suspect I know what that means, Chomp,” she states, “they end up killing the person, right?”

“Yeah, sweetheart, they do. But not before they horrifically abuse them in every way possible.”

“People are sick,” she mutters. “But I still want to talk to Jerry, Chomp. Do you think Spike and Kodiak will let me?”

I’m struggling with this. I don’t want him near her, not after learning of those plans. It’s not just my call, though. She’s right to include Spike and Kodiak.

Since they’re the President and VP of the club, it’ll ultimately be their decision, but I hope that I can convince them to let her be there, at least for a little bit. She won’t be around when we decide to kill the fucker.

Because he will die.

We can’t be the one to do it, Gator states. We want to for our mate, but we already scared her when we killed Perry and Ricky in front of her. Maybe we can bite off a body part, but we aren’t eating him.

Somehow, I don’t think Ariel will like that.

“It’s probably a good idea to head over there now,” I concede. “The sooner we deal with Jerry, the faster we can move on.” And focus on us.

“Then let’s go.” Her hands cradle my face, fingers caressing my short beard. “Thank you.”

“Anything,” I reply, and mean it.

One of her palms lowers, resting over my heart. “I see you, Chomp. All of you. Not just the gator or the man who loves nature and his Harley. Or even the caretaker and protector. I see the good man inside. The one who killed to protect me. You know what? I don’t fear him.”

That’s a relief.

“I don’t fear anything other than the broken shards of my past, and I want to sweep them up, dump them in the trash, and walk away without looking back. Do you think you can help me with that?”

I grin. “With pleasure.” Taking out the Jerry trash sounds fucking perfect.

“And then I can focus on my present and future. One that involves you.”

My gator goes off in my head, and I refuse to listen because I want her to have all of me in this moment. “Then that’s what we do. Together.”

She gives me one of those megawatt smiles. “You’re kinda perfect, you know that?”

I don’t hesitate to answer. “That’s why we’re mates.”

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