Page 68 of Rejected By My Stepbrother Alpha
Tell him.
I was sick of keeping this secret. Asher and Adrian deserved to know the truth. I needed to tell them. It was the right thing to do.
My stomach tightened with anxiety, but I summoned my inner strength.
I could do this.
“Asher I—“
Then, a horrible sound cut through me like a knife. A terrified scream rang through the playground, filling me with cold dread.
Adrian!
That was his scream of terror. I’d bet my life on it.
My head whipped to the side, and my blood ran cold when I saw a hooded person snatching my son and hauling him away.
Chapter 26
Flashback
Asher
Fear gripped my rapidly beating heart as a stranger pulled a screaming Adrian across the playground. I didn’t stop to think. Adrian’s first scream hadn’t even finished before I bolted across the playground, running the fastest I’d ever run in my life. In the back of my mind, I registered that there was candy on the ground over by the swings. Quickly, I put together that the kidnapper must have tried to lure Adrian away from the busy playground with candy. But being the smart kid he was, Adrian started screaming for help the second he felt something was off, making the kidnapper snatch him.
There was also someone on my heels that I assumed was Ivy, but all of my focus was on Adrian’s wide, terrified eyes as another scream ripped from his lips.
Anger and adrenaline pumped through my bloodstream as I shot across the crowded playground like a bullet. I didn’t dare take my eyes off of Adrian and the hooded stranger who was dressed in all black. From his large, bulking frame, I assumed the assailant was male.
I pumped my arms, increasing my speed, quickly dodging past a little girl who toddled across my path.
But nothing was going to stop me from getting to Adrian. When he was safe, I was going to rip off his kidnapper’s head. First, I would punish Adrian’s attacker before I delivered the killing blow. Only the worst kind of scum hurt children. And this monster was going to pay.
My heart thudded against my ribs as I closed in on the monster, trying to take Adrian away.
Almost there.
The hooded stranger turned his head, probably hearing my thudding footsteps behind him. There was a black bandana covering the lower half of his face, but his brown eyes widened in fear. I filed away the color of his eyes for later. He veered to the left to try to get away from me, but I followed after him easily.
When I was only twenty feet away, Adrian reached his arms out to me. “Asher!” he called desperately.
The sound of his frightened cry was like an extra shot of adrenaline. I leaped the distance between us, flying through the air, the wind whipping through my hair, and I landed right in front of the hooded stranger before he could exit the playground.
He tried to run for the crowded sidewalk, but I seized him tightly and gently grabbed Adrian, prying the boy from the stranger's tight grip. When I had one arm wrapped around Adrian, I used my hand that was still on the stranger’s shoulder to push him to the ground violently. He flew back several feet and landed with a thud.
“Stay down,” I commanded in my Alpha voice.
I spun around and handed Adrian to Ivy, who was standing right behind me. Her eyes were wild with anxiety as she took her son and scanned his entire body, looking for injuries. In his mother’s arms, Adrian’s eyes grew red, tears running down his cheeks. He buried his head into his mother’s shoulder, and his little body shook with sobs. Ivy murmured words of comfort to him as she turned and hurried away.
I wanted to comfort them, but I had to deal with the scum first. My hands clenched into tight fists, and a frustrated growl ripped out of me when I turned back around and saw that the hooded stranger had left the playground and was now sprinting down the crowded sidewalk.He pushed people out of his path, even knocking down a young woman.
I sprang forward and sped toward him, rage spreading through my body like an out-of-control blaze. My stomach dropped when I saw a turn up ahead. He ran around the corner, and I lost sight of him for nearly a minute. When I finally turned the same corner, my eyes scanned the large crowd.
But there wasn’t a black hooded figure in sight. A cold sweat ran down my neck as I spun around, searching for him, but I had no idea what I was looking for. I didn’t even know the bastard’s hair color.
Shit!
He must have taken off his hoodie and bandana. I ran to the nearest garbage can, and sure enough, the black hoodie and bandana were right on top.
