Page 26

26

ALEENA

“So, backed yourself into a corner, didn’t you?” the shabby man with the rotten teeth sneered.

“Leave me alone!”

Aleena looked around for a weapon—anything at all she could use against him. She saw what looked like a length of board sticking out of one of the trash bins and grabbed for it. It felt heavy and unwieldy in her hands and was hard to lift, but fear gave her strength. She heaved it out of the bin and held it in front of her like a weapon.

“I said leave…me…alone!” she panted, swinging it in what she hoped was a menacing way. She wished the board wasn’t so heavy but it was better than being completely unarmed.

The man jumped backwards and laughed at her, his rotten stump-teeth on display.

“Don’t think so, girly. See, you have something that belongs to me.”

“I do not!” Aleena exclaimed.

“Yes, you do. You have twenty-five thousand in cred chips. Now why don’t you hand them over?” And he held out a dirty palm as though he expected Aleena to just give him the money!

A fresh surge of anger bolstered her courage.

“That credit is for my mother’s medical treatment, you lowlife scum!” she snapped and swung the heavy board again.

This time she caught her assailant right in the midsection. The board splintered and cracked in half with the force of the blow.

“Oof!” he gasped and doubled over.

Seeing her chance, Aleena tried to dodge around him. But just as she was sure she was going to get by, she felt a heavy hand twist itself in her skirt and jerk.

“Oh!” she gasped as she was yanked to the ground. She tried to get up again but suddenly the man was on top of her, his face a twisted mask of rage.

“You little bitch! You’re gonna give me what’s mine!” he snarled. “How dare you hit a man?”

“Let me go! Let me go!” Aleena cried, but there was no one in the blind alley to hear her or to care. Even if there had been someone, they probably would have passed on by. Women got assaulted all the time in the city—everyone knew it was their own fault for being out instead of staying home where they belonged. At least, that was what Aleena had heard ever since she was old enough to understand what was going on in the world.

“Not letting you go until I get this!” He reached under her skirt and grabbed for the velvet bag filled with cred chips. But instead of the bag, his seeking fingers found the lace of her new panties, which Bear had bought her the day before.

“Ah-ha—what have we here?” His face took on a hungry, leering look as he ripped the lacy fabric off her.

“No! No, get off me!” Aleena gasped. She watched in horror as her assailant brought the torn fabric to his nose and inhaled deeply.

“Such a sweet little cunt . A virgin cunt,” he snarled, leaning closer to look at her eyes. “How about we do a deal, girly—you pay me the twenty-five thousand credits and I’ll change the color of your eyes for you. How would that be?”

“No!” Aleena fishtailed wildly under him, trying desperately to buck him off. “No—get off me! Get off!”

“I don’t think so—I haven’t even really gotten on you yet—or should I say ‘ in you ?’” The man was fumbling between her legs now, pushing up her skirts.

“My husband!” Aleena gasped desperately. “He…he’s huge! He’ll kill you!”

“Husband, huh?” He flipped up her silver breast shield with one dirty hand, revealing her bare breasts. “You’re not wearing any nipple bands, girly—you ain’t got no husband!”

“Yes, she fucking does!” a low, rumbling voice growled.

Suddenly the man on top of her was yanked up and away and Aleena was aware that there were two red eyes glowing in the dimness of the alley above her.

“You fucker!” The voice was more like a roar now and she saw that the eyes belonged to Bear. But her husband had golden eyes—she was sure of it! So how had his eyes turned red?

But there could be no doubt that it was him—no mistaking his huge, muscular form. He was holding the shabby man by the throat and shaking him as though he weighed no more than a small animal—which was certainly not the case. He was actually quite heavy—Aleena could attest to that since he’d just been on top of her, pinning her down.

“You son of a bitch, how dare you touch my wife!” Bear’s big hand tightened around the assailant’s throat.

“I…didn’t…know,” the man choked. His eyes were bulging from their sockets and he was clearly having a hard time breathing now. His face was getting darker and darker as Bear choked him.

Aleena couldn’t say anything—she couldn’t even get up or make a move to cover herself though both her breast shield and her skirts were flipped up, exposing her. She felt frozen to the dirty ground of the alley watching in horror as her new husband seemed to swell and grow to the size of a monster as he choked the life out of the man who had attacked her.

“You’ll pay for what you did to her. You’ll die for what you did!” he roared.

There was a cracking sound and suddenly the man’s head was lolling limply to one side and the life had left his eyes. Aleena felt cold all over as she realized what had happened.

Bear had broken the assailant’s neck with one hand and now he was standing over her with a menacing growl still rumbling in his deep chest.

The huge Kindred tossed the attacker aside. The body landed in the alley like a bundle of rags and just lay there, not moving. Then the red eyes turned towards Aleena and she felt her stomach fill with ice.

Her husband was out for vengeance. He had found her in the act of cheating on him—even though she didn’t want to cheat and let another man change the color of her eyes, it didn’t matter. By Karpsian law, rape was still considered cheating, even if it was against the woman’s will. Bear had punished the man she’d been with and she was no doubt next!

Aleena was certain she was going to die.