Ryan’s hands go around my throat, choking me, as he snarls in rage. The instant cutting off to my air supply has me passing out within seconds.
Black.
Black.
Black.
I come to, gasping for air. Hot breath is in my hair as the body on top of me grinds against me. Splinters from the wood floor tear into my bare ass with each buck of his hips.
I can’t believe this is happening.
Fight, Charlotte!
Without the usual haze of the drugs Ryan usually shoves down my throat, I’m about to find that fiery phoenix within. My fingers fly to his face with one target. His eyes. He screams when I dig my fingernails into his eyeballs, desperate to destroy him like he’s trying to do me. His thrusting stops as he tries to swat away my vicious claws.
Pain sears into my ribs when his dad kicks me in the side. My hands fall away, dripping with blood, and Ryan pulls out, howling in pain as he covers his face with his hands.
“You bitch!” Michael roars.
He kneels beside his son, cursing as he tries to aid him. I use the brief moment of distraction for my benefit. Scrambling up, I yank my jeans up as I unsteadily run out the break room door.
“Fuck!” Michael yells. “The bitch is running!”
I crash into a shelf, knocking items into the floor, as I hurry toward the door. Heavy footsteps chase after me, too close for comfort. Shoving through the door, I burst out into the snowy night. I’m disoriented and have no idea where to go. All I can do is run. The snow is so thick, I stumble, but don’t fall. The tears are freely falling now as the terror threatens to consume me.
Run. Run. Run.
My lungs ache and my head screams in pain. Everything hurts, but I don’t have time to mentally document each thing.
A scream tears from my throat, ragged and afraid, as a heavy body slams into me. Michael is snarling in fury. He shoves my face deep into the snow. I try to scramble away, but a cold blade digs into my flesh on my throat, slicing through skin like butter.
I’m going to die.
The pain searing into my neck is too intense. Too raw. Uncontrollable. This isn’t a tiny nick. It’s deep, cutting into muscle.
I thought I was a fighter.
I tried.
God, how I tried.
Turns out, I’m simply the prey meant to be caught and eaten.
When I hear the zipper of his pants and then a grunt, I find my inner fire again. I squirm and try to shake him off despite the blackness eating away at my vision. Despite the way I feel like the snow is suffocating me. Despite the way he overpowers me and brutally takes what he wants.
The blade digs deeper and deeper, sliding farther lower, cutting against my collarbone. The pain is so intense. I want to give into it. To black out and go away from this horrible night for good.
Cal’s face drifts into the darkness.
Don’t give up, loser.
I’m sorry, Cal. I tried.
Cal
As soon as we pull onto the gun range property, a sick sense of dread sucks my breath out of my lungs. Something bad has happened to her. I can feel it. There are two vehicles in front of the small building that’s lit up from the inside. One of them is Ryan’s car.
Fuck.
I pull up in front of the building, barely throwing the truck into park before I’m leaping out, bat in hand. The guys all pile out after me, the five of us starting inside. Roan rushes in first. I stop dead in my tracks when I hear something. Abandoning the guys as they rush in, I take off around the side of the building.
Not thirty feet from the building, I see something I’ll never be able to forget until the day I die. Michael’s white ass flexing. Mauling my fucking girl.
I fly like an avenging angel, cutting through the snowy terrain like it’s nothing.
Slam!
I swing the bat like this motherfucker is a baseball and I’m trying to hit him out of the park. The crack echoes loudly and he grunts, falling off to the side of her. Rage consumes me as I swing again. Again and again. I beat the fuck out of his face with the baseball bat until reality sets back in.
Charlotte.
Fuck.
My sweet girl.
I drop my bat, leaping over to her. She’s face down, her naked ass on display, bright red blood in the snow around her face.
She’s not moving.
Oh my God.
I yank her out of the snow and into my arms. Her head lolls to the side, exposing a huge gash in her neck.
No! No! No!
I scoop her up and run her into the building. A sob rattles from my throat as I fall just inside the door, frantically trying to cover the giant hole in her neck that oozes blood.
“Help,” I croak out. “Help.”
Hollis and Roan appear out of nowhere, snapping into action like they’ve been trained to do. Hollis is barking out orders and yelling at Jordy and Terrence to hold onto me. I fight them, reaching for my lifeless girl, but they’re too strong. All I can do is stare at her, with tears streaming down my face as they try to help her.
Blood loss. Didn’t hit a major artery. Warm her up.
The words Hollis is saying to Roan aren’t computing in my brain. All I can do is fixate on the blood. Her blue lips. The pasty white color of her thighs that are beginning to bruise.
“C-Cover her up,” I choke out.
They aren’t too concerned about her nakedness as their focus is on her neck, so Terrence releases me to crouch down. He pulls her pants back up. They put him to work, helping.
A groan comes from the back room.
No fucking way.
I tear out of Jordy’s grip, leaping over the scene before me to get to that piece of shit. Jordy is hot
