Chapter 280

Like hell I’m going to let this asshole do whatever he’s about to do to me, my mom, and Mia. He thinks a stun gun is going to stop me? I am a warrior. My wolf is manifesting.

Maybe he’s a trained soldier. Maybe he’ll win this fight in the end.

But I’m not going down without a fight. I crouch myself down. That’s the only warning I give him before I pounce. He’s bigger than me, stronger too. But I have the element of surprise and a shit-ton of training with people bigger and stronger than me.

I remember my lessons with Archer, and my training with Steven. Catching the guard off guard, I twist myself around him and throw him down to the ground with me on top of him.

He drops the stun gun and it clatters across the floor toward my mom’s feet.

The guard, however, is a guard of the Alpha King for good reason, and he isn’t down for long before he jumps back to his feet. He shoves me up against the wall in the same motion.

I block his blow to my stomach, but this leaves my throat exposed. The guard is fast. His wolf has likely manifested. His hand moves faster than I see it and closes around my neck. He lifts me up off the floor.

I kick at his stomach, but he doesn’t even wince. I try to aim for his groin, but he blocks each of my attempts with his free hand.

It will be a cold day in the hells before I give up, though, so I flash my hands toward his face and claw at his eyes.

“What the fuck?” he growls. He tries to cover his eyes with his free hand. This leaves his groin exposed now, so I kick there as hard as I can.

He grunts and curls in on himself. At the same time, his grip on me loosens and I drop down to the ground.

I roll away from him and jump back to my feet. I’m once again between him and Mia and Mom. I’m winded. He’d done his best to strangle me. But my will drives me and keeps me upright and ready for round too.

The man cradles his dick for a hot minute. But then he starts to recover. He turns toward me and his eyes fill with flames.

“You fucking bitch,” he says, voice low and rough. “I’ll fucking kill you for that.”

“Like hell you will,” Mom says, stepping to my side.

“Mom!” I start, ready to block. I don’t see right away that she is holding the stun gun. She lifts it up, aims it at the guard, and pulls the trigger, all within the space of an instant.

I jump, not having expected Mom to take that action. The guard clearly didn’t expect it either. He makes no immediate move to defend himself. At least, not until it’s too late.

I have no idea what voltage Mom set the stun gun to, but the moment the prongs touch the guard’s skin, he convulses and collapses almost at once.

When he’s a heap on the floor, Mom drops the stun gun.

“Oh my Gods,” she breathes. “What have I done?”

I look at her. “Saved our lives is what you did.”

“I didn’t know… He was going to hurt you and I…” Mom talks quickly. She places her hands to her face. I can practically feel her panic rising.

I turn to her and put my hands on her shoulders. I dip my head so that she is looking me in the eye. “It’s okay, Mom. We’re safe, thanks to you. You did the right thing.”

“He was going to hurt you,” Mom says, voice shaking. “I didn’t think, I just… I couldn’t let him hurt you. And Mia…”

“You did good,” I tell her again. “You saved us.”

I’m so proud of her. I think I would have been able to survive this, but it would have been so much more difficult. I wouldn’t have been able to surprise the guard a second time. Fortunately Mom evened the odds with her actions.

Mom nods shakily. She seems to be coming back to herself.

“He wanted to hurt us,” she says.

“Yeah,” I agree. “Or take us somewhere to hold us hostage or something…” None of the options for what the guard – and by extension the Alpha King – planned for us are good ones. We would have been in serious trouble.

Mom sobers somewhat. Her voice stronger, she says, “I want that asshole out of my house. Now.” She means the Alpha King. I’m glad we’re finally on the same page.

Unfortunately, it’s not that easy right now. You can’t exactly kick the most powerful man in the world out of your house, especially once he’s already inside. At least, not without major ramifications. Like being accused of treason.

We need some kind of plan here, but I’m at my wits end already from the fight. I think my brain lost some oxygen there, when I was being strangled. I feel like the ideas aren’t flowing as much as usual. I kind of want to lie down.

Yet when the guard groans, starting to rouse, I immediately return to my fighting stance. I’ll fight this guy to the death if I have to, before I let him take my mom and Mia anywhere.

Mom grabs the stun gun again, but it’s basically useless right now. It needs time to recharge.

My movements are a little sluggish, but with luck so are the movements of the guy. Being electrocuted like that couldn’t have felt good.

The man curls up onto his hands and knees – just as the door opens again.

Steven!

In an instant, he takes in the scene, then his usually calm face twists into rage. He rushes forward and kicks the guard across the face. The guard collapses back onto the ground, knocked out cold.

Everyone waits a moment, me with bated breath, to see if the guy will wake back up right away. But no, he seems genuinely out now.

Steven’s anger deflates in an instant, and he’s back to his regular self. He closes the door behind him and steps over the unconscious guard’s body to stand before me and Mom.

He looks us both over. Something on my neck catches his eye. He lifts his hands, places them on my cheeks and gently guides me to tilt my head back. He inspects my throat.

“Did this asshole try to choke you?” his voice is lower than usual. I swallow hard.

“No try about it,” Mom fills in.

Steven’s eyes darken.

I’m flattered by his protectiveness for me, and a little turned on, but this is hardly the time for that! I flap my hands at him, getting him to let me go.

“We’ve got bigger problems now,” I say. “Fuss over me after we figure out how to get these guys out of here. Any ideas?”

Steven hums as he thinks about it. “If we make a scene, that will only put your family in more danger. We need a way to have my father leave on his own account.”

That doesn’t seem likely. “Can we fake a phone call or something?” I ask. Steven’s good with tech, surely he can do something like that.

“He’ll be suspicious of something like that,” Steven says. “He knows my capabilities, and is likely suspicious of me already, since I’m not at the dinner.”

He has the right of it, I know. But that doesn’t help us.

Just then, Mom spoke up, “Actually. I think I have an idea.”

Steven and I both look at her.