Reba


    Greta res at me. "Have you texted William yet?"


    "No," I grumble. "William is going to look so self-satisfied, and I would seriously rather die than see his smug face."


    "Well, I don''t want to die-tell him we need him!"


    I stare down at William''stest message. It''s of him drinking a ss of wine in his tub. Honestly, it''s just his feet and hand holding the beverage while bubbles hide the goods. Me: Can I ask you for a favor?


    William: What''s up?


    I take a deep breath. "Yeah, I can''t do this," I hand my phone over to Greta and slump my shoulders. "Can you text him? Please? My pride is getting in the way..."


    Greta takes my phone and dials William''s number. "I will call him."


    My eyes grow huge. "No, wait-"


    "Hello, William, this is Greta, Reba''s best friend... Yes, hi. We need your help with something urgent."


    Silence.


    "She isn''t calling you herself because she thinks you''re going to be gloating over this... Are you?"


    I''m so embarrassed.


    Someone, please stab me.


    "Let''s say Chris didn''t leave Reba alone after the cafeteria incident."


    Why did she have to say it like that?!


    "We are at the library, and Chris and his friends are waiting outside."


    I keep my eyes glued to the wall, praying I don''t have to face William tonight. He already saved me once, and now I need him for the second time this week. "Thank you." Greta ends the call and smiles at me. "William will take care of Chris, and we can walk out of this building in ten minutes. Earlier, if you wish to say hello-" Her voice dies when everymp inside the library blows out. And somehow, I don''t think William did this.


    Shivers creep up my spine, and I stand from the table. "We should probably leave. Now."


    As I say that, fire sts from one of the sections inside the library, and Greta screams. We must duck to avoid the orange mes and crawl forward on all fours. Shape-shifting would be useless. A lycan would be a bigger target than a human, so our best bet is to crawl out of here. And we are trying, but the floor is getting hotter.


    The firees from three directions-three dragon-shifters trying to murder us. Books burn from the mes, and the temperature is gradually rising.


    I hear Chrisughing, and soon, he does his viin talk.


    "I got bored waiting by the car and thought things could get interesting here. If the library burns down, people will think it''s an ident. Including your deaths." Including our deaths?


    The guy is a psychopath!


    How can he be ready to kill us simply because his pride as a dragon was shattered to pieces?!


    "Come," I whisper-yell at Greta, nodding ahead at an emergency exit behind the bookshelves. "Follow me."


    Greta nods, and we crawl along the floor under the thick smoke, but we don''t get very far.


    "Got you!"


    Greta shouts when one of the dragon-shifters grabs her by her clothes, and I''m the next one to follow. Chris pulls me up from the ground by my shirt and switches to hold me by the throat. My eyes bulge, and I desperately try to grasp for air, but it serves no use when my feet dangle above the ground. Chris pushes me into a bookshelf, and his muscles bulge while heughs in satisfaction. "This will teach you a lesson."


    He smirks, and his free hand lights up. The mes are dancing over his fingers tips and reflect in his evil eyes. I try to squirm and break loose. My hands try to dent his arms, but he is more robust.


    Chris is much taller than I am. At least six-foot-two to my five-foot-one. I feel like a small child trying to fight a grownup. I''m not getting anywhere, yet I continue to squirm.


    I try to tap into my lycan, shape-shift and do something, but it seems Chris is somehow blocking that change from happening.


    How?!


    Why won''t my lycan wolf answer me?!


    "Ah, what shall we do to you first," Chris leans in and res his nostrils before shing me his sharp teeth. His right hand is still engulfed in scary, bright mes. "Perhaps I should burn your hair? Or your face? Or maybe break the bones in your body first?" My eyes widen at thest sentence. "NO!"


    I kick Chris between the balls, and he drops me. The impact with the floor makes pain shoot up my spine. I groan in pain but lose the little oxygen I had in my lungs when he kicks me. Again and again.


    "You stupid, f*****g b***h!"


    Chris continues to kick me.


    He burns me through my clothes.


    Hits me.


    Laughs.


    "You should learn to stay put because now after you''ve pissed me off, I will make this even more painful for you!"


    Kick after kick is delivered to my head and body. At some point, my eyesight wavers, and my world threatens to go dark. In a vain attempt to flee, I crawl forward. Greta is crying in the background. Chris isughing, and there is a ringing inside my head.


    I''m scared.


    Exhausted.


    And hurting so much that death sounds like a relief. Blood is trickling down my face, and I think Chris has broken a few of my ribs. My leg is positioned at a strange angle too. Chrisughs in the background. "Oh, are you trying to escape? Do you honestly think you could crawl away from here?"


    I feel his footnd on my back, and I cry. With thest remaining strength, I crawl forward, only to stop when a pair of white tennis shoes fills my field of vision.


    Before I know it, I''m picked up from the floor. Chris is gasping, and I think I hear the other dragon-shifters screaming as if put under tremendous pain. I don''t know.


    I''m hurting too much to pay enough attention, and instead, I peer up into two eyes-one blue and one red, that assess me.


    William is as beautiful as always. And despite my clothes being half burnt to crisps, his round eyes seem more interested in my well-being than checking me out. "Are you okay?"


    I want tough at his question. "No... It... It hurts..."


    Pain reflects inside William''s eyes. "You shouldn''t speak."


    I cough. "Am I dying?"


    "No, I wouldn''t allow that," William hands me a soft smile, "I will take you home after we are done here."


    His strong arms tighten around me. I feel so small in his arms, entirely engulfed as he holds me princess-style to his chest.


    He smells like safety, and my heart stops trying to beat its way out of my ribcage. I feel protected. Tears are prickling behind my eyelids, and William hugs me.


    "Sch, I got you now. You''re safe with me," William''s eyes lift from mine, and his facial expression goes from warm to cold and rigid before he speaks to Chris. "You''re so dead for touching my mate, Chris. I thought I warned you inside the cafeteria already? Yet you choose death by hurting an alpha''s mate."


    "Mate?"


    "Yes, are you deaf?"


    "B-but she rejected you!" Chris stammers. "W-why would you care if I hurt her or not?!"


    "Oh, but the rejection doesn''t mean I have given up. I haven''t rejected Reba, so we can still finish the mating ritual. She is mine, and do you know what happens to those trying to hurt the people I love?"


    There is no answer from Chris, but my nose picks up on the smell of urine from the dragon-shifter. He was wet his pants. And William approaches him with zing eyes.


    Had I not been tucked to his chest, and we had been on opposite sides, I would have feared him.


    William appears ready to ughter. And Chris better fears the hybrid alpha because the power difference is clear. William''s whole aura screams of magic and demonic powers.


    He is also bigger.


    Badder.


    And much, much viinous-looking.


    "Chris, Chris, Chris..." Williamughs darkly. "First, you will bite off your own toes and fingers with your teeth. No matter how much it hurts, you won''t stop until every limb is gone. And then you will repeatedly hit your head against the wall until you die." I shudder at thepulsion William delivered to Chris and watch William turn to face the two other dragon-shifters.


    What is he up to now?


    Greta was never as abused as I was. The two men are just holding here, yet a creepy smile moves over William''s lips.


    "I want you two to fight to the death, and whoever wins gets to tell the story of what happened here to the other supernaturals at our school. No one touches my mate, is that clear?"


    Chaos unfolds in the background, and even though I''m not a fan of violence, I can''t me William for being horrible to these people. I''m half-dead, and my pain is too great for me to feel sorry for his victims.


    I find his eyes and whisper tiredly. "Thank you foring here... To save me..."


    After speaking those words, my eyes close, and the world darkens around me. I can hear William screaming, but soon, it''s reced by a loud ringing sound.