Seraphina’s POV 1


    His hand slid down my arm again, fingers digging into my flesh hard enough to leave bruises. The sour stench of alcohol mixed with unwashed skin made my stomach lurch.


    “Please,” I whispered, my voice barely audible. “Please just let me go.”


    “Aw, don’t be like that,” he slurred, leaning closer until his face was inches from mine. His breath was hot and rancid against my cheek. “Uncle Dave just wants to have some fun.”


    His other hand moved to my waist, gripping me with a possessiveness that made my skin crawl. I tried to twist away, but the brick wall behind me offered no escape.


    “You’re so tense,” he murmured, his thumb tracing along my ribcage in a way that made bile rise in my throat. “Need to learn how to rx


    “Don’t touch me!” The words exploded out of me, louder than I’d intended. My voice echoed off the alley walls, sharp and desperate.


    His grip tightened immediately. “Hey now,” his voice took on a warning tone. “No need to make this difficult.”


    I tried to push against his chest, but he was bigger than me, stronger, and the alcohol hadn’t affected his ability to pin me against the wall. His body pressed closer, trapping mepletely.


    “Let me go!” I struggled harder, panic flooding my system. “Get away from me!”


    “Shut up,” he hissed, his friendly facade droppingpletely. His hand mped over my mouth, muffling my protests. “Quiet, or this gets a lot worse.”


    Terror shot through me like ice water. This was really happening. This drunk stranger had me trapped in an alley, and no one wasing to help.


    I was just a woman alone in the dark with a predator who saw me as easy prey.


    But I wasn’t helpless.


    The thought flickered through my panic like a candle me. Training camp. Marcus had taught us hand-to-handbat. Riley and I had


    practiced defensive techniques for hours.


    Size doesn’t always matter,* Marcus’s voice echoed in my memory. *”Technique and surprise can beat strength.”*


    The man’s hand was still pressed against iny mouth, his body weight leaning into me. His bnce was off from the alcohol. His guard was down because he thought I was helpless.


    He was wrong


    I wentpletely still, letting my body go limp against the wall. ying defeated. ying the victim he expected me to be.


    “That’s better,” he mumbled, his grip loosening slightly. “See? This doesn’t have to be-”


    I drove my knee up as hard as I could.


    He doubled over with a strangled yelp, his hands flying to protect himself. The opening I needed.


    I grabbed his shoulders and brought my knee up again, this time connecting with his face. The impact sent shock waves through my leg, but the satisfying crunch told me I’d hit my target.


    Blood streamed from his nose as he staggered backward, giving me room to move.


    “You bitch!” he snarled, one hand pressed to his bleeding face. “You fucking bitch!”


    But I wasn’t finished. All the training, all those hours with Marcus drilling defensive techniques into our heads, came flooding back. I pivoted on my left foot and swept my right leg in a wide are, catching him behind the knees.


    His legs buckled. He went down hard, his head cracking against the alley pavement with a sound that made me wince.


    For a moment, he justy there, groaning and bleeding. Then his eyes found mine, filled with pain and rage and something that might have been fear.


    The fear felt good. It felt like justice.


    “Please,” he wheezed, curling into a fetal position. “Please don’t hurt me.”


    The irony would have been funny if I weren’t shaking with adrenaline and leftover terror.


    “Don’t hurt you?” My voice came out harsh, unfamiliar. “Don’t hurt YOU?”


    I took a step toward him, and he flinched backward across the dirty pavement like I was the monster in this alley.


    “I’m sorry,” he babbled, blood still streaming from his nose. “I’m sorry, I was drunk, I didn’t mean-”


    He was crying now, actual tears mixing with the blood on his face. Pathetic. “Please, I’m sorry. I’ll leave you alone. I swear I’ll leave you alone.”


    Part of me wanted to kick him while he was down. Wanted to make him hurt the way he’d tried to hurt me. The fury burning in my chest demanded violence, demanded revenge for every moment of terror he’d put me through.


    “Get up,” I said coldly.


    He struggled to his feet, swaying slightly. One eye was already swelling shut, and his nose looked distinctly crooked. Good. Maybe every time he looked in a mirror for the next few weeks, he’d remember what happened to men who cornered women in dark alleys.


    “Get out of here,” I continued, my voice steady despite the chaos in my chest. “And if I ever see you again-if you ever follow another


    woman, ever touch someone who doesn’t want to be touched-I will find you. And next time, I won’t be so gentle.”


    He nodded frantically, backing toward the alley entrance. “Yes, yes, I understand. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”


    “GO!”


    He ran. Actually ran, stumbling and weaving but moving faster than I would have thought possible for someone that drunk and injured.


    I watched him disappear around the corner, then my legs gave outpletely.


    10:44


    157 Chapter 157


    I slid down the brick wall until I was sitting on the cold pavement, my back pressed against the rough surface. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. My whole body was vibrating with leftover adrenaline and shock.


    *I did it.* The thought felt surreal.


    I’d taken down someone bigger and stronger and made him run away scared. Not because of supernatural strength or enhanced reflexes, but because of training and determination and sheer fucking will to survive.


    The grocery bagy forgotten a few feet away, its contents scattered across the dirty pavement. The bread waspletely crushed now, and the peanut butter jar had a crack down one side. My pathetic dinner, destroyed in the chaos.


    My phone was still clutched in my free hand, Caleb’s number still disyed on the screen. I’d never hit call.


    The silence of the alley pressed against my ears, broken only by the distant sound of traffic and my own ragged breathing.


    Then-


    *p, p. p.*


    The sound cut through the night like a de. <fna36c> ?? ??? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???????s, ????s? ??s?? find(?)ovel</fna36c>


    My head snapped up, heart hammering against my ribs all over again. Someone was apuding. Slow, deliberate, mocking.


    Someone had been watching.