by Rye Hart
“Like hell you will Alex!” Dylan yelled.
I swung around and stared at him, an intensity burning in my belly that I’d never felt before. “I am not your responsibility.” I threw my hand out, motioning to the other bikers parked around me. “These men are your responsibility. You’re their leader and if you don’t let me go with them, all of your men are going to be dead! The men you promised to lead and protect! I won’t be the reason you break that promise! You owe them everything, and so do I, so don’t try and stop me, Dylan. You told me that you’re out there to protect the ones who can’t protect themselves. I can. I’m making my own decision and don’t you dare get your ass killed by being rash!” I said, my throat going dry.
Dylan just stared at me, though he didn’t respond. I took his silence as a sign of understanding. He knew it just as well as I did that either I went with Coyote or we all died. I turned and walked towards the line of armed bikers, glancing back at Dylan before Coyote grabbed me around the waist and threw me onto his bike.
As the bike roared to life, I heard the sound of Dylan’s anguished scream.
Chapter Nineteen
I tried hard to make sense of what was happening. Why did Coyote and his men want me? Was he just trying to hurt Dylan? But that didn’t make sense, since Dylan and I had just figured out last night what we meant to each other. I couldn’t say for sure, but I had the sick feeling this had something to do with my father.
We rode into the hills well into the night, not stopping until we made it to an abandoned warehouse. By the time we got there, I'd pretty much figured out they weren't going to kill me so I had some of my spunk back.
"A warehouse. How original. No one will find us here," I quipped.
Coyote stopped walking, clearly surprised by my sudden sarcasm, but not amused by it in the least. He looked at me for a long moment before his hand snapped forward and he slapped me across the face so hard I stumbled back, shocked by the unexpected contact.
He yanked me closer, grabbed a set of handcuffs off his belt, and slapped them on me easily, not replying to my sarcastic remark. They led me into the warehouse and we walked straight back before Coyote pushed me up against a wall and grabbed his gun, pointing it right at me.
"I'm not going to run. Where do you think I'm going to go? You don't have to point that fucking thing at me," I snapped, spitting out a mouthful of blood from the slap.
"I know you aren't going to run, but I like watching you squirm," he said with a grin. "You don't like the gun and that's exactly why I'm pointing it at you."
I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of being right so I closed my mouth tightly for a moment, deciding I should do something useful with my time, like figure out how to get out of here.
"Staging a kidnapping is impressive and all, but couldn't you have picked a better victim? Like a senator's daughter or something?" I asked.
Coyote glanced up and cocked a brow. "We wanted you."
"But why?” I asked. “Who the fuck am I?”
He hummed, clearly think through his answer. "Your daddy owes us money and we figured the only way to recoup our losses was to get our hands on you."
I snorted and shook my head. "You're barking up the wrong tree, pal. My dad doesn't give a shit about me. He's not going to put up my ransom."
Coyote grinned at me "Oh, we know that. We know that all too well. We went and saw your dear old dad. We only had to break three fingers before he told us where you were. How do you think we knew where to come looking?”
My heart sank into my stomach at the news, but I tried not to let it show. I looked away and swallowed thickly. “If you aren’t planning a ransom, how the hell do you think you’re going to get money from me?”
Coyote grinned wickedly and leaned in closer, watching me carefully, taking in the look of fear on my face. I knew there was no hiding it anymore. “Men all over the world would pay a pretty penny to fuck a gorgeous American girl like yourself. The way I see it, it’s the only fair trade I can possibly make. There's no other way to get our money back from your dad,” he said, licking his lips as he looked me up and down.
The look in his eyes made my skin crawl and I whimpered, backing away from him, trying to put as much distance between us as possible. He grabbed my collar and yanked me closer. I yelped as my shirt slid up and the rough concrete wall scratched my back, leaving angry, pulsating red marks behind.
“You’re worth more than you think gorgeous,” he purred. “We’re going to take you to some nice Russian men and they’re going to put you in a storage container with a bunch of other pretty, naked girls. Then they’re going to sail you across the ocean and sell you to someone who will put you to work in a brothel. You’ll work and work until you’re used up and then they’ll either put a bullet in your head or put you to work in a sweatshop.”
He was grinning at me now and I was doing my best to stay strong, but I knew I was shivering and I knew my bottom lip was shaking. I was scared and there was no way around it. I was fucking terrified.
“I figure they’ll be more than willing to pay about a quarter of a million for you. Maybe a little more,” he smirked and ran his fingers along my cheek. “You’re so young and supple.”
A sudden rage lit up inside of me. My fate was sealed no matter what I did and I knew Coyote wouldn’t kill me. I was worth too much alive. You couldn’t sell a corpse into sex slavery. As he caressed my cheek I turned my head and sunk my teeth into his hand. He yowled in pain and yanked his hand away, holding the bleeding appendage and staring at it in shock.
I spit out the blood that had coated my teeth and tongue when I bit into the soft flesh, glaring at him with a certain determination. “I’m not going to make this easy for you,” I whispered between gritted teeth.
“You little cunt!” he reached out and grabbed me, his meaty hands wrapping around my throat.
I gasped as I was lifted off the ground, my airway suddenly closed off completely in his strong grasp. My eyes rolled back and I whimpered as I felt my vision starting to fade. My sight was reduced to a narrow tunnel and blood rushed into my ears. I could hear my own heartbeat as I gasped uselessly for breath. There was no air getting to my lungs and they were starting to burn with a desperation I’d never felt before.
The world began to slip from my grasp, but even as I thought I was dying, there was only really one thought going through my head. Dying would be better than being sold into slavery. This seemed like a more tolerable end.
Chapter Twenty
I felt as if I’d slipped into a deep sleep. I was floating, warm and safe. I sighed softly and as I allowed my eyes to flutter open I looked around and saw that I was on a beach. How the hell was I on the beach? Had the whole ordeal just been a vivid nightmare?
As I turned my head I saw Dylan wading in the clear water, his arms outstretched for me. I stood, enjoying the feel of the warm sand between my toes as I ran towards him, wanting to feel his embrace. I wanted to feel the safety of his arms around me.
I stumbled into the water, nearly falling flat on my face as I threw myself into his arms. He held me close, pulling me to his chest and kissing the top of my head. Tears were streaming down my face and I looked up at him, reaching up to touch his tanned cheeks.
“Oh God, Dylan, I didn’t think I’d ever see you again,” I whispered, staring into his handsome face.
“I’m right here darling,” he said tenderly, pulling me close.
I could hear his heart beating and it made me sob with joy. “You’re here, you’re really here. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for before. I didn’t mean to yell at you. I’m sorry I walked away and went with them, but I was so scared! I couldn’t let you die!” my words were spilling out in a stream.
He stroked my hair and kissed me tenderly. “Shhh, it’s okay, Alex. I know why you did it. I don’t blame you,” he whispered, pushing me gently away.
I looked up at him, my lips trembling. There was so much I wanted to say to him, but I couldn’t get it out. He stroked
my hair out of my face. “I need you to promise me one thing,” he said.
“What is it?”
“Promise me you won’t give up.”
I was confused by his words and gasped as he grabbed me and pushed me under the water. Darkness enveloped me and confusion clouded my mind. I drifted into the dark abyss, wondering if this was death.
Suddenly my eyes flew open and I was staring up at the bright morning sky. I was in the bed of a pickup truck, though I could hear motorcycles roaring on either side of me. My throat hurt and the pain brought back the memory of being lifted off the ground, an impossibly strong hand wrapped around my neck. I groaned and rolled over onto my side, looking around.
The land was green and the hills stretched out as far as I could see. I figured we were still in Tennessee, but I had no idea where. I forced myself to sit up, groaning at the effort it took. I managed to steady myself as the truck bounced on the road, looking around to see bikers surrounding the truck as if they were protecting it.
I frowned, starting to feel a surge of hopelessness all over again. I didn’t think I was going to get out of this one. As I started to lose myself in thought, the truck jolted forward and I gasped, grabbing the side to keep myself upright.
The truck rolled to a stop and so did the bikes. Coyote hopped out of the truck, cursing loudly and kicking the flat tire. He leaned down to inspect it and the moment he ducked down, bullets started flying. Within moments, most of the gang lie dead beside their bikes, perfectly placed shots between their eyes.
Coyote jumped into action, his eyes wide as he tried to figure out what was going on. A stray bullet hit the back window of the truck and the glass shattered into pieces. I quickly grabbed one of the larger pieces, hiding it in my sleeve, easily ignoring the way it cut into my skin. That was nothing compared to what I’d been through.
I was thinking about making a run for it when Coyote grabbed me and pulled me out of the bed of the truck, a gun held to my temple. “COME OUT! SHOW YOURSELVES RIGHT NOW!” he screamed.
Dylan and the rest of the gang rose from the valley between two hills, wearing camouflage and ghillie suits. My eyes widened and my breath hitched. He’d come for me. Dylan grinned and threw his hands out.
“Did you think you were going to get rid of us that easily?” he asked, starting to close the distance between himself and Coyote.
“You stay back!” Coyote’s voice was starting to shake and despite the fact that he had a gun at my temple, I found it oddly satisfying that he was so shaken.
“Put the gun down, Coyote. You’re out numbered. I have three snipers trained on you. They had the command to shoot at will and if you harm a hair on her head, you’ll be full of holes. If you hand her over now, we’ll let you live.”
I realized I was in a very precarious situation and the last thing I wanted to do was put myself or Dylan in any more danger. I stayed dead still, my eyes trained on Dylan.
“You’re lying. If you really had snipers, I’d be dead already,” Coyote growled, starting to walk me back towards the cab of the truck.
Dylan’s eyes were trained on me. He was watching me closely, trying to comfort me with his gaze. “Give it up, Coyote. You lost this round. Give her to me and you have my word, I’ll let you live,” Dylan said dangerously.
“Like hell I will. You just gave me more incentive to get her to the meeting place. You took down all my men. That just means I don’t need to share the money.”
I felt my desperation grow as I realized Coyote had nothing left to lose. As we got closer and closer to the truck, I felt my heart beating faster and faster. Dylan knew he was playing with fire and I could see the desperation in his eyes. He just wanted to pull the trigger and take Coyote out, but that would risk my life.
The shard of glass in my sleeve cut into my hand, reminding me it was there. I swallowed, remembering Dylan’s words from my dream.
‘Promise me you won’t give up.’
I closed my eyes, preparing myself for the worst. Finally, I pulled away and jabbed the shard of glass between Coyote’s legs, managing to hit him in the crotch. He let out an animalistic scream of pain and I twisted out of his grip and grabbed his gun.
Everything became a blur. I brought the gun down on his head hard, using it as a makeshift club. He hit the ground, clearly having lost consciousness. I stared down at his still body, shaking and wide-eyed.
Dylan ran over to me and threw his arms around me, pulling me close and tucking me against his chest. I shook and dropped the gun in favor of wrapping my arms around him.
“You came.” I whispered.
“Of course I did. Jesus, you were so amazing, Alex!”
I laughed shakily and shook my head. “I just had to see you again. There’s something I knew I had to tell you and I wasn’t going to die before I got to say it.”
“What is it?” he panted, looking down at me.
Tears welled in my eyes and I cupped his face with shaking hands. “I love you, Dylan.”
His eyes widened but he pulled me closer, pressing his lips to mine in a show of passion. When he finally broke away, he smiled down at me and whispered the words I so desperately wanted to hear.
“I love you more than you could ever know.”
Epilogue
We ended up leaving Coyote there. Dylan’s men quickly captured him and zip tied his ankles and wrists before putting in an anonymous call to the cops. It wasn’t like they were going to wholeheartedly investigate the slaughter of a violent biker gang. They ended up ruling that it had been caused by a dispute over drugs or money and closed the case without much event.
Dylan took me home after that and I was rather thankful that he didn’t lecture or ask too many questions. I didn’t want to tell him the things Coyote had told me. They were awful and I didn’t even want to repeat them and I was afraid that Dylan would commit murder the next time he saw Coyote.
After that incident we were happy. I experienced what true happiness was like. We lived together in Nashville and I eventually introduced Dylan to my mother. She fell in love with him instantly and I couldn’t have been happier. I grew closer to my mother as an adult. She asked me about dad on occasion, but I just told her I didn’t know and that was the truth. I had no idea what happened to my dad. After everything he’d put me through, I wasn’t really interested in maintaining a relationship with him.
Soon after the kidnapping incident, I decided to go to school for social work. The threat of being sold into human trafficking had woken something up inside of me. I never wanted anyone to face the horrors that had been described to me, so I made it my life goal to help others in that situation. I hoped to eliminate human trafficking completely. It might have been a lofty goal, but it was what I wanted and I wasn’t going to stop.
Even though I decided to go back to school to help people, the gang was a part of who I was now. I told him I wanted to be a part of it and I meant it. The day after Coyote was arrested I went to Dylan’s tattoo artist and I got the scales tattooed on my shoulder. I was marked as his for the rest of my life and I’d never regret it.
Dylan and I are expecting our first child. We were married the previous spring and life couldn’t be better. If anyone had told me a year ago that my happily ever after would include the leader of an outlaw biker gang, I’d have told them they were nuts. But here I was. Dylan was my world and I was his. I finally had my fairy tale ending.
The End
Mystique
Chapter One
Marie Stevens was a good woman in a bad situation. That was always her story. She’d grown up in a small Southern town, and had a certain charm about her. Men fell for her left and right but she’d always been the type of girl who believed in “the one”.
She lived on a small farm with her parents in the mountains of Tennessee. The farm was never meant to be a source of income but she loved taking care of the animals. Marie had a special place in her heart for animals. She almost liked them better than she liked peopl
e.
Marie was always a quiet, studious girl who was dedicated to her schooling. She wanted to leave the small town and become a veterinarian. She’d always dreamed of spending her life helping animals.
Her dreams were big and she knew that she could achieve them if she put her mind to it. She could move mountains if she believed she could. People told her that she was meant for great things and she believed them.
While all the girls in her school were busy with boys and prom, she was studying and keeping her GPA near perfect. People made fun of her and the boys she turned down would accuse her of being a lesbian or some other claim that made the blow to their manhood more palatable. It was a ridiculous game, in her opinion, and so she refused to play.
The boys were drawn to her ethereal beauty. All the boys wanted her and the girls wanted to be her, even if Marie didn’t know it. She had long, curly blonde hair that glistened in the light and always seemed to lay across her shoulders perfectly without any effort. Her eyes were as big and blue as the ocean and when she smiled they shined brighter than stars. Her pale skin was never marred with blemishes and her round face gave her an innocent charm that drew people in.
Despite her beauty, Marie’s focus was never pulled away from school. She stayed the course and managed to ignore the advances of potential boyfriends and the pressure to go to parties. Her parents couldn’t have been more proud of her, but that was all going to change her senior year.
Robert had been so damn charming when they first met. His eyes were almost a golden amber color. The closest thing she could compare them to was honey. They were deep and rich and seemed to look right into her soul. She fell for him the moment they met.
Marie enjoyed fairy tales growing up and so she’d bought into the idea of love at first sight. It was how she’d wanted to meet the love of her life. She wanted the storybook romance that she’d read about for so many years.
She was inherently feminine and had denied herself the things that girls looked forward to for her entire life. Marie never went to school dances and she never put herself into the dating pool. She’d focused on more practical things, and as a result she was hungry for the very things she’d avoided.