Page 113 of Mask and the Magnolia

Jones grabs my ankle as I reach for a chair, pulling myself up on the arm as he gives me a sharp tug back. I fall to the ground, catching myself on hands and knees before I feel a swift kick to my ribs, flipping me over with my back to the wall.

“I’m going to enjoy this so much more now,” he says as he grabs my hair and sits me up. “I knew when I saw you on B that I was gonna break your record by breaking your neck. Got moved up here just so I could get my hands on you, and it was fucking worth it. I always love it when they fight.” Jones lifts the baton and brings it down on the side of my skull, my head barely moving in his grip.

My vision blacks out for a few seconds and I see nothing even though I know my eyes are open. He hits me again before I hear his weapon clatter against the tile floor and I blink repeatedly to try to see where it landed.

Instead, it clears just in time for me to see Jones take his dick out, tugging on it a few times to try to get it hard right in front of me.

His fingers tighten in my hair, popping several strands as he yanks me forward, tilts my head back and spits in my face. “At least it’ll be easier for me to fuck your mouth with those missing teeth.”

I hope he really does kill me after this.

My mates aren’t going to want me once I stink like Jones. They won’t keep me after this monster of a man uses me up and leaves me broken.

I won’t blame them when they do.

But just when I’m ready to accept my new fate, Jones jumps and turns toward the door as it flies open. It smacks back into the brick wall so hard it comes off the hinges and a huge blurry man roars his way into the closet and comes straight at us.

Korvin.

My heart skips a beat as I watch him lunge forward, spearing Nurse Jones in the side before the two crash against the floor at my feet. Korvin audibly breaks my attacker's arm as he flips him onto his back, straddling his chest as he punches him in the face.

My alpha knocks Jones out with one hit but he doesn’t stop there.

No, Korvin keeps hitting the asshole until his body goes limp, using both fists to smash Jones’ face until it’s a mass of bloody pulp.

He saved me.

My alpha saved me, he killed for me, and those are the words I say over and over in my mind as my head lolls to the side and I finally black out.

NINETEEN

MOVING DAY

ISAAK

“You gotta go see him, doc.”

I nod, forcing a smile as I place the cold compress on Des’s forehead then reach for another to use on the back of his neck.

“I’m going to,” I say, my voice cracking right along with my heart. “As soon as Maggie gets here, we’re going to go to the board, then we’ll get Korvin out.”

At least, that’s what I keep telling myself. It’s what I need to believe will happen.

Desmond’s face twists into a beautiful mask of pain as he curls into himself, clutching his stomach and gritting his teeth. “She shouldn’t be coming here.”

”No, probably not.”

Magnolia coming here today isn’t just for us to make a plea on behalf of Korvin for defending Calix.

We don’t have video backing that up, but we know Korvin and what he did was not some random act of violence fueled by his status here.

Pack dynamics aside, Nurse Jones was in the process of assaulting one of the residents and another came to aid in hisdefense. The one to intervene shouldn’t be punished for helping his fellow man.

Granted, Korvin killed Nurse Jones.

Pounded his head right into the tile floor before O’Brien and Stevenson could get to him.

That’s where the pack dynamic comes into play, an alpha protecting his beta, saving him from a near fatal threat.