I ran to the door and locked both locks. Then I went into the bathroom. My jaw was already bruising and was swollen. I couldn’t let Wyser see me like that. He would question me and I would fall apart. My time at school was limited. I thought I’d finally found my freedom, only now I knew it was all a game. I was expected to be with Joey, and there was no way I’d survive it. I wouldn’t cower to his demands. I was too much of a free spirit.
I sunk to the floor in the bathroom and cried. It was a mess, and for the first time I didn’t have a plan. My body shook, and I wrapped my arms around my knees hiding my face. I gasped when I felt the pain.
I stayed that way until the pain became too much. I picked myself off of the floor and dug into my medicine bag. I popped two pain killers and crawled back into bed.
Chapter 7
Wyser
Ma’s face was a little more shocked than I figured it would be. There was something different. Maybe it was fear I wasn’t sure.
“Oh honey, you can’t be with her.”
I stood and the chair slammed back. “The hell I can’t Ma, not you too. I already have her family against this. I need you to support me on this. Hannah isn’t her father. She’s trying to get away from it all.”
Ma sighed. “I don’t doubt you, and it won’t be her fault. You just have no idea what life is like for that girl. She only thinks she is breaking away baby. But I’ll guarantee you that her father, the sick and twisted man, has plans for his one and only daughter.”
“Ma seriously she basically told me she loved me. She isn’t like him I swear.”
She hugged me then. “There are some things you don’t know about her family Wyser. And I won’t discuss it. Not now. You need to trust me.”
“I won’t stop seeing her Ma. She’s my mate. You know I can’t turn my back on her. Dad wouldn’t have done it to you. Hell he would have killed anyone who tried to stop you from mating with him.”
“You’re right, and I don’t expect anything less than that from my son.” She sighed. “Bring her here. Then I’ll explain my reasoning. It might make you two think twice. A lot of hurt and secrets will come out now.”
I was confused. “What are you talking about Ma?”
She wiped a tear away and I was shocked. She never cried. “Not now. Spring break is coming up right?”
“Yeah,” I said watching her looking for some sign of what was going on.”
“Then bring her here. I don’t begrudge her for who her family is Wyser. Just be careful. She won’t even be aware of it.”
“Could you be anymore cryptic?” I said in frustration. She was scared of something, and it had to do with Hannah’s dad.
She cupped my face in her hand. “Just be careful with her. I know she’s your mate, and I’m sure she’s lovely, it’s just—never mind.”
“Fine, I’ll be careful, and I’ll bring her home next week. If I can talk her into it. She’s still trying to protect me from her family.”
Ma cocked her head to the side. “Protect you?”
“Yeah by keeping me away. She has it in her head that they’ll hurt me, and she thinks by pushing me away I’ll be safe.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, I’m wearing her down though I think. I love her Ma. Nothing is going to change that for me.”
She shook her head. “I’ll see you next week baby.”
I nodded and went outside. Aels was already out there with a frown.
“Ma isn’t happy. I’m a little freaked. We’ve all heard of Eli Nichols Wyser, please be careful okay brother.”
“I will. I’m not scared though. He isn’t going to come. Not now at least. She already handled it—for now. We just need a new plan in case he does.”
“Make it fool proof.”
“Will do bro. See ya next week. I’ll bring Hannah to meet you guys if she’ll come.”
“Why wouldn’t she?”
“Fear you won’t like her especially knowing who her father is.”
Aels waved a hand. “Who gives a fuck? As long as she loves you I’m good.”
I pulled him into a hug. “Thank you.”
“Now get the fuck out of here and go see your woman. Don’t you have class soon?”
“Fuck, yeah. Later bro.”
I jumped on my bike and rode back to my apartment. Then I took a quick shower before heading to class. I had planned to get Hannah, but at this rate I was nearly late. I went inside the room, but I didn’t see her. Maybe she was running late. I sat down and as the minutes ticked by the more nervous I became. She never missed. It was sort of her thing. When the professor spoke and looked at me I shrugged. I had no idea. I didn’t think she’d blow me off. Unless she regretted what she said.
I refrained from bailing from class and tapped my foot the whole time. Aux and Nessa moved over to me and Aux gripped my shoulder. “Where is she?”
“I don’t know. She must have spaced. But that isn’t like her.”
“Then what are you still doing here?”
“Trying to prove to her I don’t blow shit off.”
“So being in class even when she isn’t will prove what? That you go to class.”
I sighed and nervously nibbled my lip. “It was something she said before. That I was too laid back and didn’t take things seriously. I was almost late as it was. I got a bad feeling though. Come with me?”
Aux looked at Nessa who shrugged. “Go with your friend. He needs you. We can talk later.”
“Thanks.”
Aux and I stood and the professor frowned. “Gotta go check on her.”
He nodded.
I pulled the door opened and ran towards her dorm with Aux by my side. The closer I got the worse the feeling became. I stopped breathing heavily. “Somethings wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. She’s dreaming, trying to pull me in but something won’t let her.”
“Shit, go!”
I ran faster than I had for a very long time leaving Aux behind. He’d catch up. I sprinted up her stairs and knocked on her door. There was no answer so I knocked louder. “Hannah sweetheart, wake up!”
Nothing. I pounded on the door and another door opened. A girl stuck her head out and frowned. “Shut up for god’s sake people are trying to sleep.”
I glared at her door and ignored her. Aux stood bent over breathing heavily. “Damn you fucking run fast.”
“She won’t’ answer.”
Aux turned the knob but it was locked. “Hold tight I can get into these rooms easy.”
I stepped back while Aux closed his eyes concentrating. I heard the click of the lock and then the slid of the other lock. He pushed the door opened and I went inside.
“Stay with me please. I have no idea what’s going on.”
“There is some built up anger and resentment lingering in this room. Dude someone’s been here. Do you smell that—stale beer?”
I closed my eyes and sniffed the air. “Yeah. Maybe her brother came back. He must have upset her pretty good. Stay here while I go check on her.”
Aux nodded and shoved his hands in his pocket. He didn’t look comfortable at all. I didn’t blame him, neither did I. I went into her room to see her tossing and turning. The light lit up the room enough that I could see she was okay. I stepped closer and that’s when I saw the bruises. Anger that I’d never felt before tore through my skull. Her lips were swollen, and it looked like the bottom one had bled. Her jaw on both sides sported an angry newly formed bruise. I backed out of the room shutting the door with a shaking hand. Aux was at my side while I breathed in pants as the anger surged through my whole body. My fists clenched aching to hit something and my heart pounded in my skull.
“Someone hurt her.” I paced and like a caged animal I needed out. “Stay with her please. I’ve got to go, before I do something crazy. I don’t want to scare her.”
“You got it.”
“Tha
nk you.”
I ran from her dorm and outside into the cool night. The chill coated my sweaty skin, and I pushed myself to run faster. Someone had laid their hands on her. Who I didn’t know, but when I found out they were dead. The monster inside of me roared to life. I ran fast and far. I had no idea where I was going, but I needed to calm the fuck down before I woke her up. I needed to be calm before Hannah told me who hurt her—and she would fucking tell me. Then I would go kill them.
Chapter 1
Hannah
When I woke up I felt a bit disoriented. I flinched when I yawned and the memory came rushing back. I sat up too fast and blood rushed to my face. I looked at the clock and groaned. I had missed class and who the hell knew what else. I had zonked out hard core. Those pain pills knocked me out.
Throwing the covers back I stood up and winced. The whole back of my body hurt from Joey slamming me against the wall. Hell, even my wrists hurt from him holding me down so roughly. Anger reared forth, and I felt my face heat. It was embarrassing that I let him do that to me. I was stronger than that, but when he held me immobile beneath him I felt like a victim and that was not who I was.
I stepped gingerly on the floor and sucked in a breath when a pain shot down my spine. I shouldn’t have hurt so badly. It didn’t hurt even half as much when it happened. I walked out into the living area of my dorm and froze. Aux was sitting in the chair writing furiously on a scrap of paper he’d taken from my desk. He didn’t stop writing even when he perked up as he noticed me. I looked down and sighed glad I’d remembered to put on my shorts, or I’d never taken them off. Either way I was covered.
I went to my coffee pot and took a deep breath. The coffee was already made. “Thank you,” I whispered.
“No problem,” he muttered and kept writing.
I poured a cup and took a small sip before I spun and leaned lightly against the table. “What are you writing so frantically?”
He kept going for a second before tossing the pen on the table. It rolled across and fell to the floor. “Hm?” he ran his fingers through his already mess hair. “Oh, that stupid paper is due next week, and I can’t seem to get anything right about my partner. Nothing sounds good enough.”
I walked over to him shocked by his emotional outburst. I went to pick his paper up and smiled. “Let me read it?”
“Sure you’re a woman maybe that will help.”
I noticed how he eyed my lovely bruising, but he didn’t say a word. I could guess he was in my dorm because Wyser had seen it and was out somewhere. I was too afraid to ask.
I read over his paper laughing and thoroughly impressed. He got Nessa down. She was the sweet, bubbly girl who loved anything and everyone. She loved making people happy and often made herself the joke in order to cheer someone up. She was cute and even a little sassy at times. Aux was able to bring her humor into the paper and I glared at him. “You all have to be good at everything don’t you?”
“It sucks, huh?”
“No, actually it’s really good you nailed it, besides some grammar issues.”
“Really?”
“Yes really. She is going to love it. You captured her perfectly.”
His shoulders slumped and he slouched in his chair. “Fuck, I’ve been up all night working on this stupid paper. I thought I’d never get it done.”
“You’ve been here all night?”
“Uh yeah. I figured he’d be back by now. But I’d be careful when he does come back. He was pretty pissed when he left. He asked me to stay with you. I wasn’t sure what for until I saw you.”
I grimaced and turned away. “I see.”
“What happened Hannah? He’s going to want to know, and he isn’t going to let it go. You know him well enough by now to know that. He’s out calming down, and still hasn’t made it back, which means he’s feeling some pretty fierce rage.”
This time I looked at him. “I can’t talk about it. Not yet. I’m still a little shocked over it myself. Maybe it’s better because two tempers could be a huge disaster. I don’t need him questioning me right now.”
“When you didn’t come to class he freaked out. We left early to come here, and by the way I broke into your room. It’s my gift, but please don’t tell anyone. Then he went to check on you and saw the bruising and flipped his shit.”
“I didn’t mean to miss class. I took some pain pills, and they knocked me out harder than I planned. I wanted to have time to cover it up. I knew he’d be mad.”
“Mad is a complete understatement, Princess,” Wyser said as he walked into my dorm.
Shit I hadn’t even had much time to wake up and compose myself. I couldn’t meet his eyes. More than anything I was ashamed. Joey had made me feel dirty, and I hated it. I wasn’t this way, but since meeting Wyser some of my more feminine qualities had surfaced. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. Aux chuckled as if he could feel the tension in the air.
“Well, looks like I’m good to go.” He looked at me and smiled. “Thanks for the help Hannah, and I’ll go fix those errors.” He walked up to Wyser and hugged him. “Go easy on her; she’s in a strange state of shock I think.”
He’d said it loud enough for me to hear. I groaned. “Not very discreet Aux. Thanks a lot.”
He chuckled and left shutting the door behind him. Wyser hadn’t moved. He stared at me—no he stared at my jaw with a deep frown and narrowed eyes like he could kill whoever hurt me just by staring at the damage they caused.
Then as if something inside of him clicked he blinked and stood in front of me. He placed his finger beneath my chin and lifted my head back lightly. I sucked in a breath.
“Hurts that bad, Princess?”
As much as I hated to admit it, it did. I nodded and my eyes watered. He instantly let go and pulled me into his arms and I whimpered. I felt like a wimp and I hated it. He pulled back and without a word spun me around. I didn’t fight him. When he lifted up the back of my shirt I literally felt him tense. A strange heat surrounded him and then the coolness from his fingers grazed my back. I sucked in a breath.
“Who was it?” His tone was deadly and even though it scared me, it wasn’t because I was afraid he would hurt me. I knew Wyser would never lay a violent hand on me.
My body shook. I didn’t want to talk about Joey or the things he said. The harsh reality of my future. The one I thought was just rumored, but apparently my father was even more of an asshole than I thought.
I shook my head. “It’s not going to make you happy. Not even a little bit.”
“Princess, not telling me isn’t going to make me happy either. I’ve been running literally since I found you last night. Aux stayed with you to make sure no one hurt you while I calmed down. I wanted to crawl into bed with you but I was so pissed. I’ve never felt this kind of rage before, and nothing will make it go away until I make the person who did this to you suffer.”
I turned towards him. “No, you can’t do that, Wyser. I don’t want you hurt.” Then I threw my arms around him, ignoring the pain and sobbed into his neck. He flinched as if me crying was that much of a surprised, but he held his arms loosely around me careful not to hurt me.
Chapter 2
Wyser
I held her keeping my cool the best I could. Hannah didn’t cry. I hadn’t known her that long, but that was something I did know. She had to be really fucking scared and hurt to let anyone see her tears.
“Princess, please tell me your brother didn’t do this to you.”
She laughed, and I tensed even more as she pulled back. “Are you kidding? Ryan is a pussy. He’s going to get his. It’s his fault he showed up, but I’ll take care of him myself.”
I was confused. “He who, Hannah?”
She sighed but kept her arms around me. It was nice. I loved how easily she gave into her affection to me.
“Joey.”
“Who the fuck is Joey?”
“The man my father apparently promised me to.
I guess I’m supposed to be his after I graduate from college. He showed up when Ryan told him I’d been getting a little too close to you.”
I was stunned. I couldn’t figure out which part pissed me off more. Her father promising her to some man who apparently liked to hurt women, her brother, or that fucker thinking he could lay his hands on my mate. “You’re mine.”
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “How many times do I have to tell you I’m not anyone’s property?”
“You know I don’t mean it that way Princess, I’m yours just as much as you’re mine. I love you.”
Her mouth fell open and her eyes watered. Automatically her hands fell from me and she stepped back. She shook her head in denial, or surprise, I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t want her to push me away. I hadn’t meant to blurt out my feelings so soon.
“You don’t love me.”
I glared. “Please don’t try to tell me how I feel—or don’t feel. I didn’t mean to say it—not yet, but it’s out there now. Shit.”
Running my hands over my head I shifted nervously. I was supposed to make her fall in love without even realizing it before I told her. I had gone and screwed up my own plan.
Then she did the most unexpected thing. She crushed her body against mine, and then her lips were on mine. She pried my lips open with her tongue and kissed me like she never had. Hell no one ever had kissed me that way. I was too shocked that by the time I went to kiss her back she had already back off and blushed.
Licking my lips my eyes flared with lust, and if I hadn’t known she was so hurt I would have slammed her against the wall and taken her right there. She didn’t need that from me though. “What was that for, Princess?”
She looked down and mumbled.
“What?”
“I care about you too. I probably even love you too, but I won’t say it, not yet. Not until I get everything settled. I won’t let you get hurt. No fucking way.”
I’d never heard such fierceness come out of her mouth. I’d heard her curse and sound bad ass, but there was venom in her tone that scared even me. I pulled her back to my body and kissed her lightly. I smiled after I realized she basically told me she loved me too. “I will wait as long as you want to say those words. I also think you have things ass backwards. It’s my fucking job to protect you.” I patted my heart. “I do love you, and I’m going to say it every day.”
Alien Romance Box Set: Uoria Mates II Complete Series (Books 1 - 10): A Sci-fi Alien Warrior Invasion Abduction Romance Page 55