Reaper Kissed

1. Fallen Angel

Lauren Fox stood in-between the two men. One, a dangerous psychopath (who had joined legions of demons in a fight for the world). The other, her ex-soulmate who had abandoned her to potentially bleed out and die in a dungeon – purely to save his own skin. It was the trickiest decision she'd ever made but she got there. 

Ryder's dark eyes widened with hope as Lauren closed the gap between them. With zero hesitation she punched him in the face.

"You fucking monster!" She snarled angrily. Ryder's fingers touched his bloody lip and his shoulders sagged in defeat. He made no move to stop her as Lauren hit him again, catching him in the gut and knocking his legs out from under him. He fell to the ground and Lauren stood over him, kicking him repeatedly until Lewis hoisted her up into the air – restraining her easily. "Put me down!" She screamed, flailing wildly.

"You're going to kill him!" Lewis protested. He looked anxiously down at the warlock. Ryder was hunched over, cradling his stomach with blood dribbling from his mouth.

"So what?! He deserves it!"

"No, he doesn't." Lewis grunted when Lauren caught him in the shin but he kept a firm grip on her waist.

"Why are you on his side!?"

"He's my friend." Lewis replied breathlessly. 

Lauren stopped struggling. "Lauren?" She didn't reply. Hesitantly Lewis set her down and let her go so that he could move around and read her expression.

"You two...are friends?" Her tone was icy.

"It just happened," Lewis replied, rubbing the back of his head. He winced - his skin was blistering in the morning sun. 

Lauren turned on Lewis, her hands still clenched into fists.

"He attacked your pack." She reminded him sternly.

"He had his reasons."

This was so surreal – Lewis couldn't even have begun to explain all that he was feeling at that moment. She was alive. He had to fight back the impulse to pull her to his chest and hold tightly on to her. "Ryder wanted me to fight against Project Blue – to rescue the people it was imprisoning and experimenting on-" Lewis tried to explain before Lauren interrupted him.

"He killed people."

Lewis shrugged though he looked uncomfortable. 

"So did I," he reasoned, "when I took over the neighbouring pack - in order to protect my people and secure the border – I killed people. It's what leaders do."

"He hurt us."

"I-," Lewis lowered his gaze, "I forgave him." His tone was soft, his expression crumpled pathetically.

"He helped the demons." Lauren reminded him, her tone harsh.

She glanced down and her heart trembled in her chest. Ryder hadn't moved. He'd remained at her feet, huddled and broken. He looked up at her and expected no mercy.

"He betrayed them. The demons are losing now because of him." Lewis answered. Lauren frowned, her jaw locked angrily.

"Tell me everything, everything that's been happening."