I thought Pablo and his gang were the scariest-looking men I had laid my eyes on in a long time, but the man standing adjacent to me reminded me of Hercules. He stood a reasonable distance away, yet one could easily see he was brawny. His well-defined muscles hugged his shirt that had a few buttons opened and the top and the sleeves rolled up as if he had come prepared for a fight, but his hands were tucked casually into his pant pockets.
“Who the fuck are you?” Pablo brawled.
“Leave the girl alone,” He repeated, his tone was quiet but commanding.
I take the opportunity to wriggle my arms again in an attempt to get them free, but Pablo’s grip tightened even more. His colleague had released me to move towards the stranger, cracking his knuckles as he did.
“You have a chance to turn around and walk away like you didn’t see anything,” Pablo’s colleague warned, but his words do not move this stranger, instead, they angered him. His stance grew even more rigid, and his muscles were screaming to be let out of those rather tight shirts, but he doesn’t utter a word.
Pablo too stepped forward, dragging me with him as he did, and I winced as his fingers cut deeper into my flesh. His colleague grunts before he rushed to attack the stranger, and then everything happened in a flash.
One second Pablo’s friend was charging at him, and the next, he lay on the floor, moaning and screaming in pain. Pablo let go of me, grabbing his knife from his pockets with his arm mid-air to stab the stranger, but the stranger caught his fist with the knife a few inches from his face and the knife went falling to the ground.
What looked like an effortless kick from this stranger sent Pablo to his knees in front of him, gripping his ribs and raining curses. I had to pinch myself to be sure this was real, that I wasn’t dreaming, or to remind myself that this isn’t any movie, because how can one man possess such strength, fighting off two men without moving an inch from where he stood?
“What are you?” Pablo's eyes widened in disbelief.
“Now is your chance to walk away before I am forced to do something drastic,” His voice remained cool while Pablo scurried to his feet, falling a few times back before racing away, and his colleague who was badly injured barely managed to keep up with him.
“I’ll find you, and I’ll kill you and your entire family if I don’t get my money. That’s a promise,” Pablo’s voice echoed back as he ran for his life.
I shuddered at the threat, because I knew he was going to do it. Pablo and his gang are notorious and I learned he had turned a family of five to ashes in the past when they didn’t pay back the loan they owed him. I should be thankful to Mr. Hercules here for saving my life, but I feel he only just succeeded in making things worse for us.
My eyes stung with unshed tears that were becoming harder to hold back.
“Are you hurt?” for the first time, Mr. Hercules moves from the spot he’d been standing to inspect my arms that was red from Pablo’s grip. Asides from the redness, I’d also managed to sustain a graze on my elbows when I fell, and little marks of blood stained the area, but nothing too serious.
His brows creased when he saw the injury, a soft curse escaping his lips. “Bastards,”
I shrug “It’s nothing,” I yank my arms free from his. “Thank you, but I should hurry home, my mom would be overly worried now,”
But he blocked my path “Not so fast, Aria,”
My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open at the same time, then I snapped them shut almost immediately. I have never met him before, yet he knew my name and it rolled off his tongue like we were friends.
“Who are you, and how do you know my name?” Fear and panic laced my words.
“My name is Marcel. Relax, I’m not here to hurt you,”
Marcel. I blinked, the name didn’t ring any bell. “How do you know my name?”
“My Al-” he stopped himself, then cleared his throat and started again “Let’s say I have had my eyes on you for some time now,”
It may be the build of this man, and the extraordinary strength he possessed that gave me the hunch to be wary of him. I didn’t trust him, even though he’d just saved my life. His next words drove me into utmost shock.
“Aria Azalea Edgar. Eighteen years of age. Daughter of Elinor and Harold Edgar. You have a Sibling, Audrey, working two jobs some blocks away from here. You have lived downtown St. Matthew road for the last seven years. Most of your childhood was spent at Dawson. Recently graduated from high school. Your family is in deep mess at the moment, owing a debt of over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Your father owes Pablo a hundred and ninety thousand, exclusive of his other debts…”
My mouth dropped open and close several times as he continued to recite all my family problems, without leaving any detail out. The more he spoke, the more I am reminded of how much mess we are in and Pablo’s threat ringing somewhere at the back of my head. The tears I’d been fighting finally dropped to my cheeks when he was done, and I tried to find my voice for the first few seconds.
“How…”
Marcel shook his head “It doesn’t matter how. What matters is why,” He smiled devilishly, “My Al-” Again he stopped and cleared his throat.
“Slade needs your help. We need your help,”
What can an insignificant person like me have to offer a man like Marcel? He reeked of wealth and affluence. His skin looked tough, but that had to be from too much fighting rather than suffering.
“Who is Slade? And what are you talking about?”
His brow furrowed and anger crossed his features as if I had just insulted the man he mentioned by not knowing about him.
“Let’s say he is my boss. I owe him my life and loyalty. It’ also my duty to protect you,” He relaxed the frown on his face, but I can tell he is still annoyed. It’s hard to imagine Marcel being under anyone’s command, or serving anybody which is why I grew more skeptical about him. I should flee from his presence this very minute, but he knows my address. He recited my phone number and knows all the places I had to do menial jobs to get money. If he needed me, he knew exactly where to find me and so far so good, he hadn’t hurt me.
“You need to come with me,” he adds “Slade can make all your family debts go away and give you a life of affluence and luxury that you so much desire. You and I know that you can’t raise that sum in a hundred years by moping grounds and cleaning toilets. Your sister desires to go to college so bad, and you can make her happy by paying the price. Don’t you get tired of seeing your mother cry every day? Are you not tired of looking over your shoulders, for fear of that Mongrel?” he points in the direction Pablo and his friend had just fled.
This man had to be delusional to think I would believe his words and just go with him. This isn’t some sort of movie, and things like this don’t just happen out of the blue.
I laughed “You have to be joking,”
His features hardened again, the frown returning to his face.
“This is no joke Aria. As it is, you have little time left and so do we. You heard Pablo, he would not hesitate to turn your family to ashes, or even abduct you and Audrey and make you his sex slaves for the rest of your lives,” his harsh tone made me flinch.
I clenched my jaw “That’s a cruel thing to say,”
He pursed his lips “That’s the truth Aria,” his gaze held mine, daring me to argue with him.
I pondered on his words, and I hate to admit it but he was right. If he hadn’t shown up, Pablo would have carted me away, and I wouldn’t be able to fight him off if he tried to force himself on me. The thought made me shudder.
Marcel smirked “You only have to do one thing Aria,”
I grit my teeth and made to shove him out of my way, but he doesn’t budge.
“I need to get to my mother,” I seethed.
“I see you are stubborn,” he sighs, finally stepping out of the way “I’ll take you home,”
“You don’t need to, I can walk,” I doubled my steps, but his strides were way longer than mine, and in no time, I had to occasionally jug to meet up with his pace. There was no use being so strong-headed. Pablo could still be anywhere around here watching me.“Are you not interested in knowing what we need you for?” Marcel apparently wasn’t backing down. I’m not exactly short, but I feel like an ant walking beside him.The offer sounds tempting, but I don’t want to get my hopes up. Things just never worked in my favor. Nothing I ever did or hoped for went the way I wanted them and I gave up dreaming a long time ago. It’s almost like the universe worked against me.“What is it I have to do?” I asked casually. My ears were itching, and my mind was trained to receive whatever ridiculous thing he had to say.“We need an heir that only you can provide!” he rasped.&ldquo
The rumbling sound from my stomach served as a reminder that it needed food. Since I wasn't cleaning for Mrs. brown today, I had to return home earlier than usual, something I wasn't exactly happy about. Being around the four walls of that house was torture, the air around the gloomy environment could easily drive one into depression, and father's surly attitude made it even worse. These days, I hated seeing him. The mere thought of him angered me, and if I had anywhere else to be rather than in that house, then I would gladly go there.Unfortunately, I do not have a lot of friends. No one wants to mingle with a low life like me, rejection was nothing new to me and I can't say I am exactly the friendly type. I learned to keep to myself and maintain my own space as a child because no one ever really wanted to be seen with me.Did I get male advances? Yes, a lot. Nine out of the ten men I meet just want to get into my panties, but I learned quickly to differentiate bet
Everything I own fits into a small box, so packing wasn't difficult at all. There wasn't anything to leave behind, except for my bed of course and Audrey followed behind me as I wheeled the box to the middle of the parlour. Asides from mom and Audrey, the only thing I would miss in this house would be my room.My mum pulled me into a bone-crushing hug while dad was outside with the two men. Tears spilled out her eyes."I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," she says, releasing me only to take me back into a tighter hug."Tell me what," I squeezed my brows together, but she just shook her head and clutched her mouth in her hands, her eyes red from too much crying."You will find out soon enough," she responds amidst tears. She checks me over, then crushes me into another hug."You're being weird. I'm coming back soon mother. Once the deal is completed, I'll be back. You're acting like you are never going to set eyes on me again," I lamented.Mo
A knock on the door sent me flying out of the chair I’d been sitting in. I instinctively wrapped my arms across my body, and proceeded with caution to the door, until the knock sounded a little impatient the second time. I didn’t think the door was locked, and I knew Slade wouldn’t have to knock to enter his house even if it was.I opened the door cautiously, and let out my breath in relief when I saw two petite girls, the one in front carrying a tray, and the other a small bag. I stepped back to allow them come in. “Alpha Slade is not going to be happy to see this,” the second girl frowned after setting the bag she’d been carrying on the bed while the other dropped the tray on the table opposite the bed.“See what?” I followed her gaze to where my bag lay scattered on the floor. I’d come out of the bathroom a few minutes ago, and I had spent the last minutes rummaging through my bag to pick out what to wear, but it appears like I all my clothes were unworthy. I’m not e
His gaze did not waver from mine for the next ten seconds after Sapphire departed. He left the door ajar while the girl who had brought in the meal came back to clear the table and only carefully locked it after she was gone.Excitement and fear enveloped me, with fear taking the better part of me. I’m far from shy or timid, but I find myself tongue-tied when he is anywhere near me. His eyes were devouring me as I shifted my weight from one foot to another uncomfortably. Despite the enormous size of the room, it feels rather small with him in it.“Sit down Aria,” His authoritative voice remained emotionless as I settled myself on the sofa Sapphire had been sitting on, instead of the bed he had pointed to, and a scowl crossed his face.I kept my eyes trained to the ground as he starts to unbutton his shirt, my heart doing a faster rhythm than normal. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him as he peeled his shirt off his body and dumped it in the pile of unwa
I tugged at the arms squeezing my throat, trying to free myself as I gasped for air. His face was barred so I couldn’t see what he looked like, but I could see what he had on. A dark T-shirt that had the face of a wolf printed at the left shoulders was all I could see as I felt life slipping out of me. My eyes were closing slowly, I was losing the last strength I had in me. My body shook.The disturbing sound of laughter in the background was even more worrisome than the hands gripping my neck. I tried to pry behind the man to see who the laughter belonged to but his bulky frame made it difficult. The more I tried to see the face, the louder the laughter sounded.I screamed and jerked up with a start, covered in sweat despite the fully air-conditioned room. My eyes danced around the unfamiliar environment before realization set in.I haven’t had a nightmare in a long time and there is nothing scary about this room. I spent most of my childhood days day-dre
I groaned as my eyes fluttered open, but I snapped it shut again and pinched myself. Maybe it had been a dream and I was finally back to reality.“You’re awake,” I feel masculine arms helping me to sit up, and I groaned again when I recognized Daryl’s voice. It hadn’t been a dream. I clutched at my rumbling stomach and flung my eyes back open again. “I knew you would wake up soon, so I got you food,” he pointed at the tray on the table to my left.This room was different from the one I’d woken up in the earlier. It was small, and dark, with just a little light by the bedside to give the room illumination. The bed was nothing close to the comfortable one in Slade’s room and it could barely contain two people without their skin grazing against each other. While I’d been comfortable in Slade’s bed, I felt irritated in this one.“Where am I?” I questioned.“You’re in my room Aria. I’m not going to hurt you,” he says softly, pulling back a strand of hair from my face. I had been a fool once
Slade was resting against the large mahogany table, his arms crossed over his broad chest and his legs crossed in front of him. His expression was bland as he stared at me, totally ignoring Marcel’s greetings to scrutinize me.My eyes did a quick sweep of his office. It was large, with too much space than I thought was necessary. Two large monitors rested on the table, with a pile of paperwork stacked by the side, and a few scattered in front of the monitors. The far wall to my right has a large fireplace, with bookshelves lining it on both sides. There’s a long couch to my left beside a ceiling-to-ground window that overlooks the entire surrounding. I didn’t need to go too close to know the view from there would be fantastic.It bothered me that Sapphire had been alone with him in this office. I shouldn’t be, I reminded myself I only had to complete my deal here, but I couldn’t help it.“She saw Sapphire shift,” Marcel supplied.Slade nodded “Sapphire told me,” he says flatly, “Leave