Dynasty (Boys of Winter 1)

My body instantly slams back against the hard ground, and a second later, King’s heavy body falls down on top of mine, crushing me into the earth. I cry out in pain, but not even a second later, the loud insistent BANG, BANG, BANG rips through the air.

King fires back and I scream out as a body steps out from behind a large tree, gun aimed right for King’s head. I scream in horror, but King aims and shoots, faster than anything I’ve ever seen before. The bullet lodges right between the asshole’s brows and the fucker goes down like a sack of shit.

Thinking it’s over, a deranged sob bubbles out of my throat, but King slams his hand down over my mouth. “Shut up,” he hisses. “There’s more of them.”

My eyes widen. What the fuck is this?

Hearing something deeper in the woods, King flies to his feet, dragging me up and pulling us behind a large tree. He pushes me down to the ground, protectively hovering over me with his gun still in his hands.

A gunshot rings out and I jump, desperately wanting to scream again, but I bite down on my lip, not wanting anyone to find us here. Though, judging by the way King steps out from behind the tree and lets off two shots, I’d dare say these motherfuckers know exactly where we are.

Shots are heard from across the woods and I look through the trees to watch as Carver silently sneaks up behind some guy, grabs his head, and gives it one hell of a violent twist. My eyes widen as I watch the man crumble to the ground before Carver sinks back into the woods.

There’s a scuffle to my left and I look over to find Grayson fighting with a guy out in the open, putting himself at risk, but he’s quick. He steals the guy’s gun, turns it on him and shoots, before kneeling over his dead body and letting off three more precise shots out into the woods. I hear three pained grunts before the sound of them falling to the ground.

What the fuck? Are the boys assassins? How can they shoot like this?

I stare up at King, absolutely horrified by what I’m seeing and hearing. It’s one thing to go out looking for a fight, but to be the little mouse caught in gunfire in the middle of the lion's den? Yeah, I’m fucking terrified. This is way out of my league and definitely not what I had in mind for my night.

Shots continue to ring through the dark until Carver calls out and King grips my arms. We start racing back through the woods as I hear Carver, Cruz, and Grayson behind us, finishing off the few fuckers left behind.

I see the lights of the cabin up ahead and I keep my eyes on it, racing as fast as I can toward it with King’s hand curled tightly around my arm. My heart races, but I push it faster, push myself faster. I can do this. I’m going to get out of this.

The people in the cabin are completely oblivious to the hell going on deep in the woods as they party and drink, celebrating what should have been a good eighteenth birthday.

We finally break out of the woods and King leads me straight to Carver’s Escalade and he doesn’t hesitate to throw me into it. The engine roars to life, and before my door is even closed, King fishtails around and drives back toward the woods.

I fall back into my seat and hastily grab my seatbelt, watching wide-eyed as the boys come racing out of there, running toward the Escalade.

King meets them in the middle, screeching to a stop. The boys dive into the backseat and Cruz slams his hand on the back of King’s headrest. “GO, GO, GO,” he roars. “They’re down for now, but more will come.”

King hits the gas and takes off like a rocket. He switches off the headlights and then races blindly back down the dirt road, knowing the curves and bumps of the road like he knows the back of his own hand, and for a brief moment, I wonder if the security Grayson had mentioned earlier, were actually just the four boys. How could they possibly need hired help when they can do shit like that?

The boys all squish into the back seat, looking over their shoulders and out every window, waiting for a threat. When we hit the main road without a hint of another gunshot, they finally begin to relax, and all that’s left to do is focus on getting the hell out of there as I take a moment to reevaluate what the fuck I’m doing hanging out with a bunch of trained killers.

“Okay,” I say, pacing back and forth in front of the guys as we sit in Carver’s living room. My hand presses against my temples, gently squeezing and trying to make sense of what the fuck just went down. I turn and face the four guys sitting quietly on Carver’s couch, looking as though it’s just a normal Saturday night in their fucking BDSM outfits. “Someone tell me right fucking now what the hell just happened back there? WHY WERE THERE DEAD PEOPLE AT MY SEX PARTY?”