Chapter 207: Not Just Defenseless
Nina
As I ran down the street, my heart racing while the men behind me chased closely behind, I couldn’t help but feel completely defenseless. Even if I screamed, no one would hear me; there was no one around, no houses or open stores. For all I knew, these men were Crescents as well. And without the help of my wolf, I was just a human who was outnumbered by three men who were potentially werewolves themselves.
“Get her!” I heard one man, the driver, say. I heard their footsteps pounding closer and closer on the pavement, and I could only run so fast in my high heels.
I spotted a narrow alleyway, so I took my chances and darted in between the buildings. I stumbled over discarded trash and debris from the Crescents’
attack a few weeks prior, and for a
moment I thought that I had gained
some distance between myself and the
three men who were chasing me.
And yet, as though the universe simply didn’t want me to escape, I heard a snap and suddenly lurched forward. My hands and knees scraped on the pavement, destroying my tights and turning my palms raw and bloody.
My heel had broken. As I struggled to remove my broken shoes so I could keep running barefoot, however, I knew it was a useless effort when the men surrounded me. Two men came up behind me while the other circled around and entered the alley from the other side.
“Thought you could get away?” the
driver asked.
“Fuck you,” I whispered. I balled up a
wad of spit in my mouth and spat it straight at his face, causing it to land
right in his eye. The man grimaced and wiped it away, then snapped his fingers. The other two men advanced on me; one grabbed my hair and hauled me to my feet while the other lunged for my skirt. I kicked wildly and screamed, but it was no use. The men were too strong, and the three of them easily overpowered me.
During those moments, I was prepared to accept whatever was about to happen to me. I couldn’t fight back, and no one could hear my screams. There was no knowing how close or how far my friends were, and for all I knew the men would get their way with me before my friends could come to my rescue.
If only my wolf were here. If I had my wolf’s strength, I knew I would at least be able to stand a fighting chance for a few minutes until my friends arrived. But my wolf was gone – whatever tiny flicker of her existence that I had felt the other night when I looked into Enzo’s eyes was now nowhere to be found and I was just a defenseless human.
The men began to rip at my clothes. I
tried to bite, kick, and scratch, but it was no use; the man holding my hair only ripped at my hair even harder, causing me to cry out in pain, while the other two men worked at my skirt and tights. Eventually, I finally went limp in the hopes that the men would at least not kill me; although at this point, I thought that I would prefer death over the way that they were about to violate me.
“This is too easy,” one man said, his rough and sweaty hand sliding up my thigh while his other hand worked at his belt buckle. “Look at her. She just gave up so quickly.”
The man who was driving the car earlier grinned and roughly slid my shirt up to expose my breasts. “Hmm,” he said, tugging at my bra. “Lacy. Did you know we were coming or something?”
I didn’t answer. I could only stare lifelessly at the brick walls on either side of me as the men began to have their way with me. All I could do at that point was pray that someone would come to my rescue, or at the very least that the men would get this over with quickly.
But then, something strange happened. Out of nowhere, as the men were ripping my panties down and unbuttoning their pants, I felt something inside of me.
My wolf.
Her presence was waint, but it was undeniably there.
“Help me,” I thought to her. “Please.” She didn’t respond I didn’t think
that she had the strength to speak – but she heard me. Suddenly, I felt a little bit of her strength surge through me. It was just a small amount, but it was enough to give me the power to wrench myself free of the man holding my hair. I grabbed his wrist and twisted, causing him to yell out in surprised pain as I stumbled back against the wall.
“Ow! Fuck!” he moaned, holding his wrist. “You bitch!”
The man threw a punch at me, but I dodged. His fist made contact with the brick wall. I heard a crunch, and he screamed and staggered away.
Meanwhile, the other two men got their bearings and came for me next. I tried to dodge them, but I couldn’t this time; they were quick, and I was still outnumbered. The driver held my wrists up against the rough brick wall and pressed himself up against me, rubbing his filth all over me.
“You’re gonna regret that, you little slut,” he growled.
“You’re gonna regret choosing me as a target,” I growled in response.
I swiftly brought my knee up then and hit him as hard as I could in the groin, instantly sending him to the ground in agony. I kicked him again while he was down, then fixed my eyes on the third man who was still standing there.
I wasn’t sure what happened at first, but as I saw his face turn as white as a ghost, I knew that he was seeing something that I couldn’t.
“D-Don’t kill me,” he whined, stumbling backwards. Without another word, he turned on his heel and ran off with the other man who broke his fist in tow. The third man, seeing that his two buddies were making a run for it, scrambled to his feet and went after them but not before I landed another good kick in his ribs.
Just then, I heard more voices. Female voices; my friends.
Lori and Jessica rounded the corner, their eyes wide. Meanwhile, I heard the sound of Matt yelling, followed by the sound of glass breaking and tires screeching on the street. Lori and Jessica ran up to me and covered me with their jackets, their faces wrought with worry.
“It’s okay,” Jessica said, pulling me close as I began to sob again. “You’re okay.”
Meanwhile, Lori stood behind her with her hand on my arm; but her eyes were wide as she looked at mine.
“Nina…” Lori whispered, holding up her phone so I could see in the reflection of the screen, “your eyes.. I blinked my tears away and looked. And when I did, my own eyes widened too when I saw that my eyes were glowing a bright, vibrant red.
And in those moments, something else happened, too. My wolf senses began to take over my human senses, and I picked up something in the air that I hadn’t smelled in a long time.
It was Enzo’s scent.
I only hoped that now, he could pick up my scent, too- and maybe it would finally lead him to me.
