Bitten by the Beast (Virgin Blood 1)

I lay my extra key down on the desk and walk out. I hope Kane will be there by the time I arrive back. When I go outside I can see that the sun is about to rise, so most of the campus is still asleep this early in the morning. Setting down my bags, I fish out my cell phone to call for another taxi.

“Juliet!” I turn when I hear my name called and I see Brock running towards me. He’s in a hoodie and black gym shorts. It looks like he’s been working out. I inwardly groan.

“Hey Brock.” I give him a small smile.

“You ditched me the other night.” He stares down at me, looking pissed. I was hoping he forgot about that.

“Yeah, I wanted to get out of there. Sorry.” I give a shrug, not really sorry at all.

He steps closer to me. I step back and almost trip over my bag. “You could make it up to me now.” He takes another step towards me and when I step back again I see I have nowhere else to go. My back is against the brick wall of the building.

“Brock, can you give me some space please? You’re making me uncomfortable.” I push on his chest, but he doesn’t move. A creepy smile forms on his face, making my heart race. He ignores me and I’m beginning to get scared.

I turn and move to the side to get out from between him and the wall, but he moves, too, blocking me from going anywhere.

“Don’t be such a prude, Juliet. You don’t have to play hard to get with me. I’m going to give it to you.”

“Knock it off and move,” I snap at him.

I push at him again, only this time as hard as I can. He rocks back a little but is back on me before I can even move. He pins me to the wall and wraps his hand around my neck.

“You wanna do this the hard way. Fine. But we both know you want this.” I fight for air as my hands come up to his arm. I’m scratching at him and trying to pull it away. Trying to get free. Panic starts to rise, and I close my eyes right before everything goes silent.

Twelve

Kane

I can feel her fear as if it were my own. The pain of the sun closing in on me and burning my skin is nothing compared to the need to get to Juliet. I quickly skirt along the edge of the sidewalks and stay in the shade. My brothers tried to come after me and call me back home, but it’s too late, I have to get to her.

When I catch the scent of roses, I turn the corner, and then I see her up against a wall with a man in front of her. My vision goes black and I unleash a snarl as I leap onto him and rip him away from her. I’ve never had the urge to hurt someone like I do right now. I don’t think I’ve ever realized how strong I truly am until this moment, because the thought of tearing him into pieces is pumping through my veins and I know I could do it easily. I throw the man to the ground and stand over him as he tries to scoot away.

“What the fuck, man!” he cries like a bitch as I stomp on his leg. I hear it snap, and though it’s not enough, it’s satisfying.

A small sniffle behind me makes me turn my attention back to Juliet. She’s against the wall and there are tears in her eyes. I want to go to her, but I want to punish this rodent for ever laying a finger on her.

“Did you break it?” Juliet whispers, and I nod. I don’t know if that’s the right thing, but I can’t lie to her. She takes a breath and squares her shoulders. “Good.”

Her strength surprises me and she takes a step forward. “Make sure it ends his football career.”

The boy cries out as I step on another part of his leg, ensuring that he won’t play again. His cries are so loud that I have no doubt people are on their way. I grab Juliet’s bag nearby and go back over to him to lean down close.

“You fucking freak, you smashed my leg,” he shouts as tears roll down his face.

“I’m going to be listening for whispers of your name from now on. If you so much as look at a woman without her permission, I’ll hunt you down and give you scars far worse than the ones on my face.”

He leans away and closes his eyes, crying out again. I step back and take Juliet’s hand as the sun rises higher in the sky.