Free Untamed: The Savage: The Complete Series by June Gray Page B

bent down and hurled the other guy over my back. He landed with a thud in front of me, arching his back in pain. “Merle, grab the girl and get out of here!” he cried out as he writhed on the ground.
    The other man scrambled to his feet and lunged for Chloe. With an enraged shout I charged, colliding with him and sending us both tumbling to the ground. We scrambled around, but I was far stronger and got the upper hand quickly. I sat astride him and pummeled his face, my vision red, my veins throbbing with pent up anger. The feelings I’d tried to keep suppressed all these years, all the rage and fear, came careening through my veins and bursting onto my fists.
    Images flashed through my head like sharp little knives jabbing at my brain, the present bleeding out until only the past remained.
    “Barry, please.” She held out her arms, backing up until she hit the counter.
    He lunged and grabbed her arm. “Don’t Barry please me,” he said, his face almost touching hers. Spit flew as he spoke, his breath reeking of alcohol and drugs. “You’re planning on leaving with our son, aren’t you?” He shook her around like a rag doll. “Aren’t you?”
    “You’re hurting me.” Her voice cracked. She knew he would hurt her anyway, no matter how much she pleaded. The fight was already gone in her eyes.
    And hurt her he did.
    The little boy hid, peeking under the tablecloth. His mom had told him not to move or make a sound. It was safer for him that way.
    He watched the whole time, memorizing every punch and slap, vowing to pay it all back when he was big enough. One day he would be able fight back.
    “Alaric, stop. Please.”
    I came back to the present, to the sight of Chloe’s small hand on my arm. When I finally focused on her face, I saw something different in the way she looked at me, a mixture of shock and disgust. My eyes traveled down to the groaning pulp of a man under me, then over to my bloody knuckles.
    “Chloe…” I said, reaching out for her. The step she took backward hit me right in the gut.
    My words echoed around in my head as I stared down at my calloused palms, stained red in places. My body shook from the rage and the fear. I had left my home for this very reason but, somehow, the violence had found me anyway. Maybe there was no way to escape what was inside me all along.
    I stood, trying to reel in the raging thoughts in my head. But out of everything, only one thing was clear: I needed to protect Chloe, no matter what. So even though I knew it would make her mad, I bent down and threw her over my shoulder.
    “God, Alaric, put me down,” she cried as I loped off.
    The tightness in my chest eased with each step that took us away from those men. Still, I looked back every now and then, making sure we weren’t being followed.
    With adrenaline still pumping through my veins, I climbed up the steep metal stairs to the cave’s entrance. When I finally set her down inside, the first thing she did was push at me.
    “You didn’t have to carry me like that. I could have walked,” she said, her face flushed with anger. Her eyes darted back to my hands. “Are you okay?”
    I spit on my hands and tried to wipe away the blood that stained them, but it didn’t work. “I’m fine.”
    “I see that.” She gulped, her long, smooth neck undulating. I could see the fear in her eyes, making the breath stick in my throat. Instead of running away, she took a step closer and said, “You saved me.”
    I kissed her in relief, mashed my mouth to hers and forced her lips open. I was desperate and needy. That little pebble of control had loosened and was setting off a full-blown rockslide I couldn’t stop. After all these years, it was inevitable. The violence I’d run away from was in my blood.
    “I saved what’s mine,” I growled against her lips, but she only lunged forward and kissed me again. I pulled back and ripped the shirt over her head, pushed her pants down her legs. I spun her around to face