Page 22 of Purgatory (Devil Dogs of the Apocalypse #1)

Alessandra

“ Raspberries!!!!” Juicy, beautiful, red, deliciously sweet little nuggets.

These should be out of season but no, there they are, waiting for me.

I run over to them and immediately pluck an orb off of the bush, devouring it.

So good. I look back to the house, trying to figure out if I have enough time to double back and get a bowl.

Deciding I can’t wait, I pull up my shirt and turn it into a makeshift basket, filling it to the brim with berries.

The boys must not even know these are out here. The bush is huge, absolutely covered with berries just waiting for someone to find them. I know for a fact that if any of them had found it they’d have picked it clean by now. They’re gonna love it when they see…

My ears perk up at a sound. Something like a twig snapping but I pay no mind to it.

Too enthralled with my find. Plus, the guys said that the entire property was surrounded by fencing so I shouldn’t have anything to worry about since I never saw or went through any fence posts.

I continue plucking. Another twig snaps.

Sheesh, the squirrels are everywhere around here.

Fuck off little tree rats...

As I begin to reach my hand out again, a strong arm covers my face while another circles my waist, pinning my arms beneath theirs, and pulls back. My legs splay out, kicking and reaching for whoever is holding me but it’s no use, they’re too strong. I’m trapped .

The person holding me maneuvers us away from the raspberry bushes and behind a large oak tree.

They then sink us both down until we’re seated on the forest floor.

I take that time to take in my abductor, or at least what I could see of them, well…

him. He’s big, like muscles upon muscles.

Like, I don’t need a jack to lift this car, I have these *points to muscles like Gaston*.

Looking closer at said muscles, I notice one in particular.

A compass rose with a leviathan behind it situated on his bicep.

I know that one. I’ve seen that before. On a certain broody asshole.

On he who shall not be named . I can feel my anger rising within me, turning my ears red.

“Let me go asshole!” I scream. Or at least it would have been a scream if he wasn’t covering my mouth and muffling my words.

“SHHHH, shut the fuck up,” he whispers in my ear and then points to the right.

Following with my eyes, I suddenly understand why he’s manhandling me.

Zombies, walking dead, lurkers, whatever you want to call them.

At least a dozen of them creeping through the forest right next to where the raspberries were.

Fuck that was close. On the ground, I look and see my little treasures being squished underfoot, bringing a frown to my face. Now that’s a damn shame...

After a few minutes, the horde is finally far enough away from us to collectively release the breath we were both holding.

He lets go of my waist and motions with one finger to his lips to keep quiet.

I nod my understanding and he lets go of my face, urging me to follow him.

I do and soon enough we’re back at the open field where he was playing fetch with his dog.

“Are you ok?” He turns and surveys my body. Up and down and all around he looks for any damage that might have occurred.

“I’m ok.” I confirm. Then, I take a breath and repeat.

“I’m ok.” He nods in return. The look in his eyes is almost that of relief, until the lightness in them shuts down and he turns downright manic.

The soft, concerned eyes, the placating stance, the fluid worry in his voice, gone in an instant, replaced with furrowed brows, wide eyes and a scowl just on the verge of erupting all over his face.

He rises up, standing at his full height and looks down upon me, angling all of his raw emotions towards me.

“What the FUCK were you thinking? Why were you out there?” His hands reach up to touch my face, my arms, practically anywhere he can reach.

Anywhere he can grab ahold of enough skin to wrench me back and forth, trying to shake my apparent insanity out of me.

“What could possibly be so damn important that you needed to be in the woods instead of inside the perimeter? Berries? Fucking BERRIES??? Is that what you’d die for?

Did you even bring a weapon with you? Where’s your bat? Did you get a knife? What the he--”

His rant stops, suddenly, when I slap my hand across his cheek. The loud WHAP could’ve probably been heard back at the house. Not like I care. He needed to stop.

“Sheesh! Shut the hell up and let a girl speak for crying out loud. I thought it was ok because you all said that the property was all fenced in and I didn’t go through, under or over any fences so what rules was I breaking?

I didn’t have a weapon because I was just coming back from going fishing with Hawk and I was about to go find Cole when I came across some berries.

Being a good houseguest, I thought it might be nice for me to pick some fresh berries for you guys seeing as how nice you all have been to me, or, well, at least they have.

School’s still out on you, Mr. Broodypants.

” I point in his direction, ending on a huff with my arms crossed in front of me.

He just stands there, staring at me, with a face completely void of emotion.

He doesn’t speak, doesn’t react, just stern eyes, like lasers burning through mine.

I suddenly feel less I am woman, hear me roar and more ah fuck, I broke the raging bastard.

After what seems like an hour, but probably more like 2 minutes of heavy breathing for both of us, he speaks.

“Finished?” That’s it. Almost silent. No outward emotion.

No yelling. No massive cosmic eruption of impending doom because I poked the bear.

Just one curt word and a cocked eyebrow.

My heart stops. Dead. I’m more terrified now than I was surrounded by zombies just minutes ago.

I fucked up. Oh, I fucked up. My silence is taken as my answer.

He rushes me, pushing my back up against a large tree and pins both of my hands above my head in just one of his giant mitts.

Holy shit on a shingle, I’m gonna die.

I never really noticed it before but this man is enormous in comparison to me.

I bet if anyone were to look at us from behind his massive body, they wouldn’t even know I was there.

Even straining to look up at him is almost impossible given our proximity.

He’s close. So close that I when I finally crane my neck back far enough, I can see the vein in his neck throbbing with restrained chaos.

I can see him lick his lips and hear, even with the ever-present noise in the forest, the sound his tongue makes as it returns to his mouth.

I can feel the angry vibrations coming off his skin even if his face is devoid of it.

It’s overpowering… intense… terrifying, but for some reason, fucking irresistible. I don’t understand it.

“ Let’s take this... one thing at a time, ok?

” He says calmly, too calmly. My spine zips with a shiver at the low timber in his voice and how it vibrates against me.

He waits for a response. When I give none, he squeezes my wrists until I nod.

“Good girl. First of all, did I hit you?” Learning my lesson after the first question, I answer quickly and shake my head no .

“Did I hurt you in any way just now?” I shake again.

“Did I give you the impression of wanting to hurt you?” No again .

If anything, it was the opposite, he was super protective.

Saving me back there when I could have easily become zombie food .

He takes a deep breath and starts again.

His voice holding that calm demeanor. I almost wish he’d yell or scream or do anything but what he’s doing right now.

For some reason, it makes me feel more like a child being reprimanded than if he would just yell at me.

I immediately feel bad about how I reacted to him.

“Then why did you hit me?” He waits for a response, a reason for my meager physical attempt against him. I have none, I just want him to stop judging me for my errors instead of me owning up to them. He’s right, though. I was out of line.

“I’m sorry...” my voice is barely there but I know he heard it by the way he loosens his grip on my wrists but still keeping them up above my head with one of his.

I don’t know how, but he manages to step even closer.

His one hand moves to my waist with a protectiveness I’m beginning to see more of.

His eyes, still staring into the depths of my soul.

The voice that follows is equally tame and controlled.

Deep and dark with a sense of urgency for me to listen and comprehend.

“If I raised my voice to you, it’s because you did something that was incredibly reckless, and you needed to understand the severity of it.

You scared the shit out of me back there.

I’m sorry if my reaction triggered that response from you, as well, but I need you to take this seriously.

Yes, you were correct, there was no fence there.

But that was because I was taking a break from replacing a section from a fallen tree.

If you remember, you said your orders from Hawk were to go find Cole in the garden.

Instead of doing that, you wandered away from your directive, putting yourself at risk, not only from outside dangers but because we wouldn’t know where you were to help you if you needed it.

Straying from what we are supposed to do creates open ended scenarios that haven’t been prepared for.

” He looks away and to the ground, lowering his voice, “People have died doing so.”