“Remember what Ross said,” the Copperhead in the lead said to the others. “We ain’t gonna hurt her much. Just scare her.”
“I want to see the fear on her face,” one of the other Copperheads said, licking his lips. “She’s so perty.”
“Make her run,” another snarled. “Then we can chase her.”
Another made a mock wolf howl, and a few others joined, making chills run up Sierra’s back.
The lead Copperhead came forward, and she stayed there facing him stubbornly. She knew even if she ran, there would be no way to keep him out.
If they were just there to scare her, then well, she’d show them she couldn’t be scared.
The Copperhead came close to her until she was forced to look up into his face to meet his eyes.
He reached down, tilting her chin up. She jerked her head away, but he caught her chin again, this time forcing her to look at him.
Her heart was hammering, her body rigid with fear. But she faced him, trying to fight her own terror response.
“Come on,” the guy said. “You don’t even look scared yet.”
“Scared of what?” a deep, growly voice called out.
Sierra jolted at the familiar voice coming from the other side of her yard. She looked up to see Beck walking in from her back tree line, his huge figure silhouetted by the moonlight.
He was gorgeous even from here.
“You let the lady go,” he said, walking forward.
“Dragonclaw,” one of the Copperheads muttered.
The man holding Sierra’s chin just shook his head.
“Get him,” he mumbled.
“Beck, run!” Sierra yelled as the man next to her moved behind her, wrapped his arms around her, and picked her up, putting a hand over her mouth to stifle any response.
Sierra looked desperately at Beck, trying to warn him since there was no way even a huge man like him could take this many men.
There had to be at least ten Copperheads, and they were all muscled and rangy and raring to fight.
Beck cracked his knuckles, striding toward them, his eyes locked on Sierra and the man holding her. “This is your trouble? A couple of Copperheads?” His grin was feral. “Not a problem, sweetheart.”
She kinda liked him calling her sweetheart even though she knew it wasn’t personal. But that wasn’t what she should be focusing on, she realized, as she watched Beck reach the group of Copperheads that had left the leader to walk to the middle of the lawn to confront him.
Moonlight streamed over the scene as Beck folded his arms and faced the men forming a circle around him. He didn’t look scared for one moment.
Sierra wondered what he knew that she didn’t.
“It is Beck,” one of them called to the man holding her. Though he was trying to hide it, fear was plain in his voice.
“She was supposed to be alone,” another Copperhead yelled out.
“She ain’t,” Beck said. And with that, he lunged forward, hitting the forwardmost one with his fist.
A loud crack rent the night air as the man he’d struck flew backward, rolling onto the dirt while the mass of bodies surrounding Beck flew into motion. Sierra tried to struggle against the man holding her to try to help Beck, to do anything, but it was no use. All she could do was watch.
The two guys closest to Beck’s front lunged at the same time, and she watched as he grabbed both by the front of their shirts. She could swear she heard him laugh, a low, half-cocked sound, but there wasn’t time to ruminate as he tossed those two out of the way as the rest of the gang attacked in unison.
The next Copperhead threw a punch, and Beck stepped to the side easily as it barely missed. He followed up with a punch to the man’s gut that was so swift Sierra couldn’t even see it happen. She only heard a grunt and the sound of the wind being knocked out of someone.
Beck wasn’t watching, though, as another leaped from behind, wrapping his arms around Beck’s neck. But Beck seemed entirely unbothered as he just threw his fist over his shoulder, right into the man’s face, sending him falling back onto his face on the ground.
“Keep ‘em coming. I can do this all day,” Beck said with a grin. A wild fist from his left caught Beck hard in the shoulder, but he didn’t even seem to notice it as he whirled around, his huge fist slamming into the dude’s chest with such an impact Sierra could feel it in her bones.
“Don’t just stand there. Fucking do something,” the man holding Sierra shouted, his grip loosening around her for a minute while he spoke. In response, three of the men still standing decided to jump all at one time, surrounding Beck from the front and sides.
The grin on Beck’s face was calm but a little more intense than it had been at the start. Her campfire, which had been burning, popped and crackled just as she heard the crack of someone’s jaw as Beck’s fist caught it.
She never thought Ross would possibly go this far. To send people to intimidate her… or worse.
But even more confusing was why Beck was here in the first place. How had he just appeared out of the trees?
And why was he so good at fighting?
One eager Copperhead caught Beck by the arm, trying to pull it back. Instead, Beck just yanked forward, and there was a high-pitched yelp as the man flew sideways so far he slammed into the side of the Copperheads’ truck, making a dent.
Whatever it was the men from Dragonclaw Ranch were made of, it was something much harder, much stronger than anything she’d ever seen before.
Around the ground, there were several limping men, scattered in a haphazard circle in front of and behind Beck. Those that hadn’t been laid out in one punch like the first were getting up and throwing themselves at
