Page 160 of Shifting Hearts 1
Seven little starved girls, ranging from ages five to about eight, huddled in the corner. Clutching each other, they shiver in the freezing room, with little to no clothes on. Bruises visible on every piece of skin indicate that although they might not have tainted them, their kidnappers didn’t take it easy on them.
“Maddy?”
Alexi detangles herself from the sniffling hoard and rushes forward, arms stretched out wide in a hug. The impact on my legs is so strong that she almost knocks me over.
“Alexi, I have been looking everywhere for you, sweet girl.” Silent tears streak my sweat-soaked face, and she wipes her nose with her sleeve once I let her go.
“Why did it take you so long? I kept telling them that you were coming, but we have been waiting.”
I stare into her desperate eyes and notice the haunted expression of hunger, seeing unspeakable violence, and my heart aches. I should have gotten here sooner instead of indulging in the silly fantasy that maybe somehow, I found somewhere I belong.
“I am so sorry, darling. I tried, but now that I've found you, I'm never letting you go.”
I am ripped away from her as Benito yanks me back with a harsh grip on my arm. He wraps said arm over my shoulder and over my chest, grabbing my breast and tweaking my nipple.
Crying out while he informs me that I shouldn’t make promises that my body can’t fulfill.
Alexi’s arms are still stretched toward me when she notices something else behind me.
“Well, what do you know. It seems like you wanted to start the party without me, Benito. Allow me to rectify the situation.”
Benito swings us around, still holding me like a shield, when we come face to face with the most magnificent sight.
Alejandro’s figure is filling the doorway with more than his commanding presence. Blood drips from his taloned fingers, and fangs have sprouted from his mouth. On one fang, I see the glistening proof of something dripping to the concrete floor, marking it with certain death.
He looks like a warrior fresh from battle, and I assume, from the absence of any other being, that he must have eliminated the threats I left for him.
“Get out of my way, Alejandro. You have always been a worthless bastard, not even wanted by your own father. I am the next generation in the Rivera cartel. What makes you think I will allow you to stand in my way?”
Alejandro acts callously, answering with a nonchalant tone, “Oh, well, of course I don’t want to stand in your way, dear cousin. It is just…oh, never mind. You won’t believe me anyway.”
The hair on my arms rises in anticipation. I can sense that something is off, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.
Arrogant as always, Benito doesn’t expect the trap to be so simplistic. “What do you mean? If there is something I should know, you have an obligation to tell me, Alejandro. I am still your superior.”
Get ready, little viper.
If I close my eyes, I could swear he whispers the words right into my ear.
My body coils, preparing for the unknown strike to come.
Alejandro leans on the door frame, studying the scene behind us, undisturbed as can be, and Benito starts vibrating from the disrespect.
“Spit it out, Alejandro. This is no time to fuck around.”
Eventually, Alejandro looks away from the children and says, “Well, you made some grave miscalculations, cousin. Firstly, there was no universe in which I would have let you get away with your life after seeing all the things you and your brother got into. But most importantly,”—he straightens and takes a menacing step closer—“the woman you are holding as a shield is my true mate, and I would rather die and take all of you with me than see any harm come to her.”
What the fuck?
Alejandro’s breathing becomes harder, and his skin darkens before our eyes. Benito must have never been privy to this transformation as I hear him murmur, “Monstruo, monstruo.”
That's right, he might be a monster, but he just admitted that he is my monster.
Alejandro advances slowly, lethally, and it doesn’t take much to wriggle myself loose from Benito’s grip. I rush to the kids and herd them into my arms, turning their gazes away from the inevitable carnage about to ensue.
The blows are decisive and precise, and within minutes, all is quiet behind us. One of the little ones whispers in terror that we are next, but I wipe her grimy hair out of her face and beam a reassuring grin at her. “We are all safe. He will never hurt any of us. He is a hero.”
Alexi chimes in, “He is here to take us home. Come on, I’m sure he will have some food.” She sweeps up the whole crowd, and before I know it, the children run toward my blood-covered man and grope at his stained clothes.
