Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 69098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
This is disgusting.
Kristen is battered with bruises and cuts all over her body. Her face is nearly unrecognizable as it’s so purple and swollen. Her bottom lip is split and easily the size of a small plum. Both eyes are hidden from the swelling, making it difficult to tell if she’s alive or not.
Rae falls to her knees beside the ruined woman, a soft keening sound escaping my sister. I don’t know what to do except stare in horror. When Tom finally arrives, he lets out a pained sound that doesn’t sound too far off from the sound Rae made.
“G-Go get help,” I order, my voice a raspy croak. “Tom, go. Run.”
He hesitates for a second and then takes off, crashing through the forest like a damn crazed grizzly bear.
Rae gently takes hold of Kristen’s knee and pushes it toward the other one, eliminating the gruesome, crude evidence of what happened.
Someone raped her and then killed her.
A pained moan resounds from in front of me, finally snapping me into action.
“She’s alive,” I choke out, falling to my knees on Kristen’s other side. “Fuck, what do we do?”
Rae takes Kristen’s bloody hand and leans forward. “Kristen, we’re here. You’re safe now. We’ll protect you.”
Kristen moans, her agony apparent in the way she shudders and tears roll down her abused cheeks. It kills me seeing this woman like this. Who could do such a fucked-up thing? Someone from the camp? Someone else out there?
“Who hurt you?” I demand, unable to hold back the anger bubbling up inside me. “I’ll kill them.”
Kristen jolts at the sound of my voice, curling herself away from me and toward Rae. Rae shoots me a warning look, bares her teeth at me, and then pointedly jerks her eyes toward home.
Like hell I’m leaving her alone.
Rather than obeying her, I rise to my feet, flicking off my flashlight, and take a few steps back. This seems to satisfy both women because Rae stops glowering at me and Kristen’s shuddering lessens.
I want to help, but Rae’s made it clear she’s got this. All I can do is watch with horrified interest as Rae inspects Kristen’s wounds while murmuring soft things to her that I’m not privy to hear.
“Ryder is going to pick you up, Kristen, okay? He’s my brother and he’s safe. He would never hurt you,” Rae assures her. “We have to get you back home so we can take a look at your wounds.”
The woman doesn’t put up any argument, so I shake away my daze and slowly step forward. Rae peels out of her flannel shirt, leaving her in a too-tight T-shirt that puts my teeth on edge, and wraps it around Kristen’s waist, covering her up. As gently as I can, I slide my arms beneath the battered woman.
Kristen whimpers and then starts to cry as I scoop her up off the ground. She doesn’t weigh much more than Rae does and is similar in build. My chest aches thinking about if it were my sister in her place instead. Disgust ripples through me and I have to swallow a furious growl.
Whoever did this must pay.
We will make them pay.
Hours later, Kristen is soundly sleeping in the big house under Mom’s watch, safely out of harm’s way. Dad and Michael chased everyone out of there once we brought her in, the two of them assessing her wounds. Now that she’s stable, clean, and medicated, they both return to the bonfire outside where everyone sits quietly, a ripple of fear quaking through the entire group.
“Who could do this?” I demand, addressing my father with a mixture of disgust and disbelief.
Dad’s lips thin out and he shakes his head. “I think Michael can answer that.”
Michael scrubs a palm over his face and sighs heavily. “It has to be…them.”
“Them?” Ronan asks from beside Logan, who’s damn near catatonic.
Owen and Michael share a heavy look before Michael speaks up again. “We had some people following us. A couple of men. A little too friendly and gave us weird vibes. Owen and I ran them off, but I don’t think we could quite shake them.”
My blood runs cold knowing they led actual monsters back to our home.
“You didn’t think to share this important tidbit of information?” I growl. “Seriously? It could have been one of my sisters!”
“Enough,” Dad barks. “It wasn’t. But it was Logan’s wife. It doesn’t matter the who, just that it happened.”
I cut my eyes over to Logan. He’s somber and frowning, but that’s not what has my hackles raised. Ronan is standing all too close to him, whispering to him as though he’s comforting him in some secret way no one else is allowed to hear. For some reason, it pisses me off. I should feel bad for the guy since his wife was kidnapped, beaten to hell, and raped, most likely by two different men.