BLOODHOUNDS #2: THE TAKER

Chapter 30 - PAINFUL

Kayden Grant

"Why are you here?" I asked Anastasia, who just sat beside me. She ordered a drink from the bartender and ignored my question. She gave me the cold shoulder like usual because Ana thrived on making people uncomfortable.

We both drank our alcohol silently until I felt slowly intoxicated by it.

"Why did you let her go?" Ana asked when I grabbed another shot glass, ready for my twelve shots.

"Why do you ask?" I turned to her, and she took a shot. "Just fucking give up, Creed. It won't be happening to you."

"You're such a bad friend, Grant. A girl can hope." She took another two shots in a row. I was going to say something, but Hugo walked in.

"Sir." He looked pale as a ghost.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Mr.Lockwood and Ms.Knight just got married." Ana choked on her drink, and I looked at Hugo for a few seconds before continuing to drink my shots. "Tiffany confirmed it, and they signed the marriage certificate already. They're going to London next week for her to surrender her title."

"Good for her." I grabbed another shot, and Hugo looked at me in disbelief. Hugo left, and Ana stopped me from drinking my shot.

"What will you do if this situation happens to you?" I asked Ana, letting her steal my shot. Ana took my last shot glass, looking at it like there was something special in that shot. "What if Asher gets married to another woman?"

"I'll celebrate my freedom, which is a good thing. If Mason marries another woman, I will kill her and give her remains as his birthday present." I laughed sarcastically at her.

"You're acting like you own Mason."

"And you're acting like you're not bothered that your ex-best friend took your ex-fiancee." I got up and choked her against the table. She grabbed a glass from the table, smashing it into my head. She was grasping for air, and I smiled when her face turned blue.

"Kay-" Someone punched me so hard that I kissed the ground. Asher grabbed me by the collar and pulled me up from the floor to hit me again. For the second time, I lay on the ground with the biggest headache.

He grabbed me again, pinned me to the wall, and punched me repeatedly. He even strangled my neck, choking me against the table. He cut my airways so fast that I was losing consciousness.

He then threw me to the ground.

"That's enough, Asher," Ana whispered, and he immediately stepped back like a dog with its owner. I took out a pocket knife from my pocket and threw it at him.

"Do me a favor, Serano." He squatted down with my pocket knife pointing at my chest.

"You're fucking helpless, Grant." He put the tip of the knife on my neck. He gave a little pressure so the knife cut my skin, and I could feel the blood flowing down. "I can't believe you have a fucking downfall because of Tatiana. You're a fucking bloodhound, but you're acting like a fool."

"Asher," Ana warned, but he ignored her. I could feel the knife trailing my skin, and Ana stopped him by taking the knife away. "Saving his life doesn't look good on you, Creed." Asher hissed.

"Killing him doesn't look good on you either, Serano."

Asher pulled my collar, making me stand up on my feet. He started choking me against the wall, and I closed my eyes, ready to die in his hands.

"Asher, stop!" I opened my eyes when Ana tried pulling Asher away from me. "You're going to kill him!" Asher pulled away and dropped my body to the ground. Anastasia punched Asher so hard that it took a few seconds for him to turn his head to her.

"You're fucking ungrateful, Creed!" This time, he was the one who strangled her. She didn't even fight back, but I knew he wouldn't kill her. He would rather kill himself than kill her.

I closed my eyes, and everything went black.

"You're fucking pathetic." I opened my eyes, hearing Asher's voice.

"Fuck." I cursed under my breath when I was hospitalized. Asher got up from his seat and walked out. I got up slowly and pulled the IV out.

"Fuck." My head and body hurt so bad.

The door burst open, revealing Hugo, "Sir, what happened to you?" He looked like he was about to cry.

"They got married? Are you sure?" Hugo gave me his tablet. He gave me enough proof that Blake and Tatiana indeed got married.

"I'm sorry, sir."

"Leave me alone. Cancel all the meetings until Monday." With that, Hugo left.

Tatiana Knight

I stood before the Harvard gate, and my heart was full.

If I got successfully into Harvard, I would cry so hard because it's been my dream to enroll here and be a doctor. Yesterday, after having a long discussion about my statement, I should be able to finish it by next week.

I have all my documents ready for the application.

There are so many students coming out of the building. Some of them are holding their books, and some of them are carrying their laptops. I'm jealous but also so hopeful that one day I will be one of them.

I sat on one of the benches, seeing students walking around campus, and some of them even running towards the cafeteria because they were telling each other about today's lunch menu.

"Oh gosh!" I saw a girl who dropped some of her books to the ground because she was carrying so much stuff. I ran to her and helped her move the books to the bench.

"Thank you so much." The beautiful blonde-haired girl said with a big smile on her face. I saw her Harvard Student ID on her neck.

"I'm Siena. You are?"

"I'm Tatiana, and you're a student here." I pointed at her ID that she put in a lanyard around her neck.

"Yes, I'm in computer science. How about you? What's your major?" She put all her books in her bag.

"I'm not a student yet. Hopefully, next year." She looked up at me and smiled.

"Well, I hope to see you next year, Tatiana." Her eyes shifted to something else behind me and she gasped. I turned around to see Blake getting out of his car.

"Get in, wife."