Chapter Seventeen
"Oh god," I covered my face with my hand "Stop making me laugh!" I giggled.
"Hey, it's not my fault you find almost everything I say hilarious." Riley chuckled.
We were walking in the street hand-in-hand on our way to a restaurant to pick up some take out. I asked Riley if we could walk because I hadn't realized how much I'd miss seeing the stars until I lost my sight. But now with my 20-20 vision I could see all the stars and the low hanging crescent moon and it was just beautiful.
"You make me feel like I'm back in middle school." I beamed. "That's a good thing." I added.
Riley put an arm around my shoulders. "You don't know how happy it makes me to see you smile."
I looked up at him, "You don't know how good it feels to smile again." I spotted the cute Asian restaurant and my stomach growled on cue.
"Wow, Jolene, when did you swallow a monster, babe?" Riley teased poking my sides causing me let out a cackling laugh.
"If you do that again, I will eat you." I warned jokingly. Riley laughed with that familiar twinkle in his beautiful eyes.
"Come on." he coaxed.
"You go ahead, I saw a little shoe store back there that I wanna scope out."
"It's closed." he pointed out.
"Uhm...window shopping." I said lightly.
"Oh yeah, that's a thing." I rolled my eyes at his obvious distaste for my methods of shopping. "Ok, go window shop," he said with a chuckle. "We'll meet up after I get the food."
"Cool." Riley pulled me into an embrace before placing a small kiss on the top of my nose.
"Button nose." he whispered. I may or may not have internally turned into a puddle of jelly. He pulled away and started slowly sauntering towards the restaurant. "I'll be back." he called.
"Make it snappy." I teased before turning to walk down the street to the little store.
I stopped at the window that had Sole Indulgence written in pink cursive on it.
"I'd love to indulge in a pair of those babies." I thought aloud, looking at the pair of peep-toe studded stilettos. I stood there for a while just scanning the window but I couldn't shake the feeling of being watched off. That was when I saw the reflection of a figure in the window. I spun around so quickly and became sick to my stomach when I saw the person in front of me.
"Jolene Marks." he said.
"L-Luke." I croaked. I watched his lips curl into a sadistic smile. It made me sick.
Luke Parolta. The alpha of my parent's pack and sadly my ex. He had perfectly groomed bleach blonde hair on his head accompanied by emerald eyes and a smile that would make any girl weak in the knees.
"It's so good to see you." he took a step forward and I automatically took one back. His smile faded and his eyes darkened. "Don't tell me you're scared of me." he added.
I didn't speak. I couldn't. He just brought back memories that were best left alone in a ditch in the back of my mind.
"You still have that 'deer in the headlights' look to you...weak...so weak." just hearing his voice made me wanna curl up into a ball and hide. "Are you here alone?" he asked. I just blinked. "Answer me." he growled, I flinched.
"No." my throat was suddenly dry.
"Of course you're not alone. Why would a pathetic little human be out in the dark alone?" he spat. I turned to walk away to the restaurant as fast as I could. Too bad he was much faster.
Luke grabbed my shoulders and pinned me to the wall. "Don't walk away from me when I'm talking to you!" he roared.
"Get off!" I mustered enough strength to send him a step back. He just retaliated, angrier, he pushed me against the wall violently.
"Don't forget who you're talking to." At that moment I remembered every single bad thing that he had ever done to me and I wanted to scream. I put my hands on either of his wrists trying to relieve some pressure from my bare back that had bricks digging into it.
"Fuck you! Get off!" I yelled. This caused Luke to put one hand on my neck and start squeezing. I felt the pressure on my neck and I knew he was trying to do more than scare me. I could barely get any air into my lungs.
I lifted my leg and tried to kick him but he dodged and put his other hand around my neck. My heart sped up and I started getting dizzy. He kept squeezing, his nails digging into my neck with me pressed up against the wall. His eyes were empty. No emotion. His face had twisted into a very sadistic look that had me scared.
My feet started lifting off of the ground. My eyes widened and started watering. I was getting close to no air into me. My bare back was getting grated by the brick wall I was getting pushed up against. My feet were dangling and I was holding onto his wrists trying frantically to get free.
Suddenly the pressure around my neck was gone and I fell to my knees spluttering and gasping for air. I clutched my neck where Luke's hands had just been and then looked up to see Riley standing over Luke who scrambled to his feet revealing his bloody nose. He threw a punch at Riley but missed. Riley was about to hit him again when Luke landed an uppercut and Riley wavered.
The boys punched the living daylights out of each other. Grunts and thuds, blood on their faces and fists. I was still catching my breath. Luke spat out some blood before speaking.
"I guess you must be the bitch's keeper." he barked. Riley glared at him. "You should've let me put her down. I was doing you a favour." Luke's words cut deep.
"I'm going to rip your fucking head off!" Riley bellowed. One punch sent Luke to the ground. Luke clutched his jaw and laughed. A sick and disgusting laugh. Riley let out an animalistic growl and I scrambled to my feet. I stood between the battered and bloody boys facing Riley. "Jolene, move." he said roughly. His eyes were a dark brown meaning that Angelo was only seconds away from making an appearance. I shook my head vigorously. "Jolene, move so I can kill this mutt!" he grabbed my arm about to pull me away.
"Don't!" I said quickly. I shrugged his hand off of my arm and put my hands on his beautiful but now bruised face. "Don't do it. He's not worth it..." I spoke softly and gently. He was still breathing hard.
"The bitch has got you on a leash." Luke piped from behind me. Riley's eyes flashed black and I knew he was gone. He gently pushed me aside before turning his attention to Luke. Luke's little comment got earned him a kick square in the face. Luke's head bounced off of the pavement before Riley took a fistful of Luke's t-shirt and started bashing away at his face.
"Riley, stop!" I yelled. Nothing. "Please, stop, Riley!" I was about to cry, for what reason, I don't even know.
Luke had gone limp but the fists kept hitting is blood covered face.
"Angelo!" I screamed. The hitting paused and his head turned slightly towards me as if he was waiting for me to say something more. "Stop, please." I was letting the tears fall freely. He looked back to Luke and he let him go. Luke hit the ground and lay there motionless and bloody. I couldn't care less about him. I watched Riley turn and I was certain that Angelo was pissed. The look in those black eyes told me that he wanted to kill.
I went over to him and tugged on his hand. "Come on, let's go." I coaxed.
"I should kill him." he spat. Standing a few inches away I could still feel his crazy body heat. I put my hand on his cheek.
"Calm down, just breathe." I watched him close his eyes. Riley was obviously looking to get control again. "There we go." I whispered.
He opened his eyes and I was so relieved to see them in all their amber glory. I really didn't want to get on Angelo's bad side.
He scanned my face, he wiped away a tear with his thumb.
"Let's go home." I choked out. Riley took my hand we walked away. Leaving Luke unconscious on the pavement. He was a werewolf, should be awake in a few minutes.
A few feet from where the fight happened, our food was scattered on the road.
So much for a night of celebrating.
A/N So like I tried to make this chapter a little interesting. Please tell me what you guys think!
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xoxo
K