Page 26 of Hell's Reaper

We walk a few minutes more, getting closer and closer to the academy. Ledger hasn’t said anything since his warning, but I know the type of men that he and Ryker are. They are the type of men that won’t settle down with one person.

I’m not that type of woman either. My mind drifts back to all the handsome men I’ve met this week alone: Ledger, Jigsaw the toxic hound, Inarian the ice hound, and now, Ryker the high-level Soul Reaper.

I can’t even imagine settling down with one of them or making them settle down with me. What did settling down mean? Would Ledger and I get married, have kids, and a white picket fence? That’s not what I want or need from life. Men aren’t my priority. Being the best queen I can be is.

“Look who we have here.” A voice almost has me jolting.

Both of us twist around to the voice.

It was the guy who gave me a hundred dollars during lunch to give him a lap dance. I roll my eyes and begin walking again, but one of the guys steps in my way.

“Desi,” Ledger growls. “Why are you here?”

I feel the hand of another running down my back. I stiffen, pulling myself flush against Ledger. I don’t need protection but feeling unsafe around men stirs something in me.

Unleash me… that beautiful voice in my head says. My jaw tightens and anger that might not fully be mine rises.

“Your little girlfriend here owes me a lap dance,” Desi says, head tilting as he looks down at me.

Ledger steps between us, his heat blazing against my skin. He’s mad. His heat alone made the gym room slightly hotter when I was fighting with Inarian. “You fucking touch her again and I’ll beat the living shit out of you.”

My wide eyes look up at him. I can only stare at the back of him, seeing a soft scar coming from the back of his jacket. I barely know Ledger; we just met. What kind of man would beat someone up for me? I’ve…never had someone even say that to anyone. I’m used to men touching me without consent. Well, I should be used to it.

“Stay out of this, low-level hound. This is reaper business,” another one of the friends says.

Ledger’s shoulders widen in defense. “If any of you touch her, I promise I’ll kill you.”

Kill? That ensures getting into trouble and neither of us need that right now. I remember what Khazon said. Ledger can’t get into any more trouble.With wide eyes, I grab Ledger’s hips. “Let’s just go.” He starts slowly moving away from the three Soul Reapers with me clinging to his back.

A hand wraps around my bicep from my side and pulls on me until my chest hits another and the other hand wraps around my throat. A raspy gasp escapes my throat.

Before I can even think about striking back, heat rushes past my face and lands against Desi’s face. His hold on me loosens, and I stumble back.

Looking up, I see Ledger standing over Desi. Steam is rolling off his shoulder with each deep breath he takes. “I told you not to touch my girl.”

My heart skips a beat. His girl?

Desi scrambles to his feet, already thinking about his next move. “You will stand down, hound, before I get you and your reaper into trouble.”

“Ledge,” I warn, but he doesn’t even seem to hear me. His crimson eyes are locked on his target.

“As a higher-level reaper, you will listen to me. Leave, Ledger… Leave the girl.”

Ledger’s eyebrows pull together. “You’re fucking sick if you think I would ever leave her with three fucking rapists like you guys.”

Desi’s brows bounce as if he’s offended by the word “rapist.”

“What did you call me? Watch your mouth. We don’t need your reputation getting worse than what it is.”

I glance at Ledger’s back. What does he mean?

It’s silent for a moment before Ledger speaks over his shoulder at me, “Go back to the academy, Asura.”

I step forward.

“Go!” he barks, and I return that step. In a way, I understand. If Ledger sees me as a thing he wants to protect, I am a weakness, and his head will be on a swivel with all three men that surround us.

However, I am far from a weakness.

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