Chapter 3: Handsome Protectors

My entire body trembled as the man held onto me. Instinctually, I thrashed in his arms to get away, and he hated that. The man gripped me even harder by the neck, and to punish me, he made a minor cut on the side of my neck with the knife.

“Oh Goddess,” I pleaded, “please don’t do this!”

The man and I wrestled about a bit more, and then he threw me face first into a nasty puddle in the alley. I clawed at the ground and tried to scramble away, but the man sat on my back.

He pushed my face into the puddle so I couldn’t breathe, then said, “You’re more trouble than you’re worth, you know that?”

I tried to scream, but the water muffled my voice, and the puddle bubbled as I released dampened panicked shouts.

I was going to die, and even worse, I was going to lose the baby I had been blessed with.

Then the man toppled off me. He tumbled onto the ground and his knife skittered away. Water covered my face and my breathing was rampant, so I couldn’t make out exactly what happened.

Another man appeared, and my rescuer grabbed me by the arm and carefully got me to my feet. As the sketchy man with his hood up got to his feet, my rescuer stood defiantly in front of me. I wiped water from my face to get a better look at who I helped me.

He was as handsome a protector as any. He wore his auburn hair tied back behind his head in a tight ponytail, but from all the ruckus, a few loose tufts fell by his eyes and his temple.

His broad shoulders were big and round through his tight, long-sleeved sage henley shirt, and his dark jeans fit his muscular legs perfectly. He glanced back at me from the corner of his hazel eyes.

In a deep, sexy voice, he said, “Stay back. Let me keep you safe.”

My heart thudded in my chest, and I fell backwards against the cold brick of the alley. My protector was the man from the other night! I had woken up naked next to him. The one who may have marked me after we had sex.

I might be carrying the child of that person.

I went to say his name to thank him for appearing, but my words fell flat. I didn’t even know what his name was!

What if he remembered everything about me, and I didn’t so much as remember his name?

We had little time to think about such things.

The sketchy man picked up his knife, held it out in front of him, and circled us.

“Wrong move,” the man taunted.

The hazel-eyed hunk cracked a smile and stood tall and straight. “Nice toothpick,” he replied. He knelt down to pick up my purse, then tossed it over my way. I clumsily caught it and held it to my chest.

“Thank you,” I said breathily.

Hottie smiled sexily and gave me a small nod.

The thief rushed him, and I yelled. My protector caught the thief’s wrist, twisted it, and flung him over his shoulder so he landed roughly in a puddle. Water splashed up towards me, and I hid behind my tiny purse.

Mr. Heartthrob put the thief in a headlock and reminded him, “there was just a peace treaty between packs. Stop this.”

But the thief kicked his feet and pawed at the hottie’s muscular arm. He reached for his knife on the ground again, and this time slashed it at my protector’s shoulder. He sliced at the surface of his flesh, and Mr. Stud switched into pure fight mode. Blood trickled out of the cut on his arm.

He punched the thief’s head over and over, then took him by his belt and threw him against the wall, dislocating the thief’s shoulder on impact. The thief scurried off whimpering.

I ran over to the handsome man and observed his wound.

“Oh no!” I exclaimed. “You’re hurt!”

He shook his head and grinned.

“I’ll be fine,” he said. “I’m just happy you’re okay.”

We looked at one another for a moment, and it felt right for me to kiss him, but I didn’t. I blushed and giggled, and he held a hand out towards my neck, then touched the marking.

“I knew when I saw you the other night,” he said, his voice tender and sweet, “that you were the one.”

I blinked and my heart went crazy.

“The one, what?” I asked, folding my lips together in anticipation.

He set his large hands on the back of my arms and brought me closer to him.

“I knew you were my mate,” he said.

My eyes flooded with tears, and I felt so bad for not remembering more. This man was there for me, was bleeding for me, and I barely remembered spending time with him.

I pulled away from his embrace and timidly pushed hair behind my ears.

“That was one hell of a party, wasn’t it?” I asked. I fluttered my eyes nervously at him while I waited for him to respond.

He shook his head and told me, “Honestly, I got pretty toasted that night. All I remember is having the time of my life with you...”

His words trailed off as if he was struggling to recall my name.

“Adele!” I said promptly. “My name is Adele, and no worries. I got pretty drunk too.”

The man put his hands in his pockets and nodded. Blood dripped down the side of his arm, but he was so manly and strong he wasn’t bothered by it.

“Adele,” he said, still nodding. His voice made my name sound magical. “That’s right, Adele.”

His smile was infectious.

“Jasper,” he said, setting a hand on his chest. “I’m Jasper Radcliff, in case you didn’t remember.”

I laughed and glanced at his brown leather boots, too shy to admit I actually didn’t remember, but thrilled he had told me.

“It’s really good to see you again,” I told him.

“Yeah,” he said, rubbing his index finger along the bottom of his chin, “I know we made plans to get coffee, but I didn’t see you at the cafe that next morning.”

“Oh my god,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m so sorry! It’s just all been so wild. I’ve been a little all over the place.”

“Hey,” he said, “I get it. Me too. I should’ve taken your number to confirm. It was a crazy night.”

“But a fun night,” I slipped in.

Jasper flared his brow and affirmed, “Oh, it was a very fun night.”

We started to walk together, and we exited the alley and right behind the pharmacy. I had to ask him. I had to know. If he was going to be a father, he deserved to know the truth.

“So,” I mumbled, “did we...uh?”

My voice must’ve been so low and frightened, because Jasper looked at me and asked, “Could I walk you wherever you’re going? And maybe we could grab a bite to eat when you’re not covered in dirty alley water, and I’m not bleeding from my arm?”

My heart skipped a beat.

Another angry voice entered the fray.

“She was just heading home,” Damien shouted. “I’ll bring her there.”

Damien marched out from the pharmacy, his tight, white, zip-up hoodie sticking like paint to his toned arms. I could tell he bought a bunch of snacks for his mom when I noticed the pale blue potato chip bag nearly as dark as his jeans poking out from the plastic bag he was carrying.

“Hey buddy,” Jasper said, sticking his hands out. “There’s no trouble here. I was only trying to help out.”

Damien got in Jasper’s face and said, “You’re damn right there isn’t any trouble.”

The two sized each other up. I wondered if they remembered each other. Then I wondered if Damien was the man I had slept with, and if Jasper was the one who had brought me back to bed.

Had we just crashed next to each other after a night of drinking?

That wouldn’t explain why Jasper fixated on the mark on my neck, or how he even knew it was there in the first place. Jasper took a step back and placed himself between me and Damien. I loved Jasper wanted to protect me, and I also adored Damien was getting so fired up and defensive.

“Damien,” I said, trying to cool him off. “It’s okay.”

Damien eyed Jasper once more, and Jasper readied himself to go to blows.

I prayed the two wouldn’t get in a fight.