Page 20 of Fated Redemption
Rhys felt nothing but dread. They both opened their doors and took off down the street toward the bar. Rhys could hear Maddox behind him, yelling for Felix to bring his bag.
Pushing people aside, both he and Moe stepped into the small semi-circle created by the crowd of onlookers. In the center of that crowd were none other than David and Daniel, looking more pissed off than Rhys had ever seen them in the hundred plus years he had known them.
At their feet lay a broken and bloody man. It took a second to realize due to the facial swelling, that the man was Alpha Devon’s beta, Glenn. The only way Rhys knew he was still alive was the rapid rise and fall of the man’s chest as he glared up at the twins. Behind them, Finn Arkadion had a brotherly arm wrapped around Peyton who looked like he was in shock.
“Who is the big man now?” Daniel pulled his foot back and kicked the beta in the face sending blood splatter flying. Both of the twin’s eyes were burning scarlet as they circled the wolf menacingly. Their eyes coupled with their red hair had the twinslooking downright demonic. Holy shit! What had this guy done to truly piss them off?
“Thought you could take us since we were smaller, didn’t you? You weren’t counting on vampiric speed. You came after Peyton knowing the leaders were preoccupied with the Inner Court.” David kicked the beta in the stomach sending the man rolling in the dust.
“Our leaders aren’t the only ones who defend this town. Maybe next time you’ll remember that before you try to rape someone in Arkadia!” Daniel kicked again, this time aiming between the larger man’s legs.
As his foot connected every man in the semicircle grimaced, especially since the kick was so powerful it shoved the beta backward five feet. David was about to take his turn and kick again when Maddox stepped forward.
“I completely empathize and wholeheartedly agree with what you’re doing, but much more and it will cease to be self-defense.” He spoke in low tones, even with his vampiric hearing Rhys nearly missed what the doctor had said.
David growled and spit on the beta. Daniel did the same and they both went to Peyton. Finn relinquished his place at Peyton’s side and walked over to Maddox.
“I got a panicked phone call from Peyton that Glenn was breaking into the bar. Since Moe and I are close friends, he gave Peyton my number as an emergency contact in case something happened. By the time I got here David and Daniel had just thrown him through the window and were following him out onto the sidewalk.” Finn jerked his head, indicating the large gaping hole in what was once one of the bar’s large front windows.
“Sorry about that Moe. Gabriel will pay for the window and the door,” David offered.
Door? Rhys and Moe looked at the door. At first glance neither one of them could see anything wrong, but upon closer inspection they could see large protruding dents in the door’s metal. Moe and Rhys turned to look at David at the same time. He shrugged.
“We couldn’t throw him through the door, we did try though.”
“Yeah, we did try the door a couple times,” Daniel confirmed.
“It’s a steel door. I thought I’d be safe with a steel door since I just had to replace the glass ones Duncan and Emmett broke.” Moe sighed. Rhys was impressed that the doorjamb hadn’t given way first.
David and Daniel shrugged.
“Hey, people,” Duncan said, stepping into the circle.
“Duncan, we need to ban this piece of shit.” Finn growled low. At the sound of his brother’s anger Duncan’s eyes shifted. They changed from green to the emotionless, glass-like black of his bear.
“What did he do?”
“He tried to rape Peyton,” Finn explained.
“That is pure hearsay! I demand you let him go.” Salsiby’s whiny voice rose above the crowd seconds before he popped through the bodies to go to the wolf beta.
“Those monsters attacked him in an unprovoked sign of aggression!”
“How many eyewitnesses?” Duncan asked.
“David and I saw the attack, thank god we were on our way here to visit Rhys. Finn wouldn’t have been in time.” Daniel’s eyes still blazed red.
“Monster!” Salsiby screeched at Daniel.
“Those boys aren’t monsters! Any man who would rape is the true monster!” Miranda shouted. The clothing store owner wasn’t the only townsperson to have a change of heart wherethe twins were concerned. They were the town’s darlings, having wormed their way into the shifter’s hearts with their crazy antics. Miranda had come a long way from the time she had refused to be served by them at Sweet Nothings.
“Get rid of him!”
“We don’t need his kind around here!” The voices of the other townspeople shouted out their condemnation.
“Two witnesses are enough to be banned. Finn, can you help me drag his ass to the perimeter? I have some rope in my truck.” Duncan grinned at his younger brother.
“You can’t mean to drag him with your truck, it’s not humane!” Salsiby protested.
