Alpha’s Baby(33)

Jace had gotten distracted by Stefan’s appearance and had relaxed his grip on my jaw, just enough to allow me to open my mouth.

I bit into his palm as hard as I could, breaking skin, the taste of blood and sweat flooding into my mouth. Jace let out a pained cry and let go of me, and I rushed away just as Stefan rushed forward.

I spat Jace’s blood from my mouth just as Stefan collided into Jace’s body with a loud grunt. The two went down on the ground, rolling over each other, each one grappling for domination.

Injured, Jace was at the disadvantage, only managing to score a couple of blows to Stefan’s back, which did little to stop him. After a brief struggle, Stefan overpowered Jace and straddled his midsection.

Then, he began sending powerful punches into Jace’s face. “I told you not to lay a fucking hand on her!” Stefan roared, landing punch after punch.

Nearby, people were coming out of the woodwork, gathering to see the fight. I stared at them in disbelief. Where were these people when Jace was dragging me away?

I turned my attention back to the fight. As much as I felt Jace deserved the beatdown he was getting, I knew I had to stop Stefan before Jace was severely injured, or worse, dead.

I rushed forward and grabbed Stefan’s arms before he could deliver another punch. “Stefan, stop!” I cried. “You’re going to kill him.”

Stefan turned on me, his face twisted in fury. I took several involuntary steps back, my blood chilled. Stefan looked truly frightening. He had a small cut on his lip and his nose was bleeding from the scuffle, but it was his eyes that horrified me.

They were filled with pure, unbridled hatred and rage.

“Please,” I pleaded. “Look at him. I think he’s learned his lesson now.”

Jace lay there, moaning and groaning, his eyes rolling around in his head, eyes almost swollen shut. I should have felt a small sense of satisfaction at his current condition, but all I felt was sick to my stomach.

“We have to leave,” I told Stefan, who looked like he wanted to finish the job. I glanced at all the people who were showing up. “Now, before more people show up.”

This had been the very thing I feared since the beginning—Stefan’s anger being unleashed on someone and causing trouble. Given the circumstances, I suppose he had no other choice, but this probably would have never happened had I not been forced into pretending to be Jace’s girlfriend in the first place.

Stefan turned around and stared at Jace. For a moment, I feared he was going to fly back into a rage and finish the job, but then he climbed to his feet and stepped over Jace’s prone form.

By this time, a small crowd had gathered, and people were whispering amongst each other. Several of Stefan’s frat brothers and Jace’s buddies came running up.

“Stefan, man, what the fuck?” one of them demanded as the others quickly knelt on the ground and began trying to revive Jace.

Stefan ignored him and reached out his hand to me. “Come on, Bella, let’s go.”

With one last look at Jace’s battered face, I took Stefan’s hand and let him lead me away.

“Where are we going?” I asked Stefan as we made our way across the campus.

I had no idea what in the world was going to happen now. Stefan had beat the shit out of Jace. Who knows what lies Jace would make up? All any of the bystanders saw was Stefan beating his ass.

The thought frightened me more than just a little.

But the answer Stefan gave me was one that I had least expected.

He looked over at me and replied, “Home.”





Chapter 16





Bella





“You think they bought it?” I asked as I watched Stefan dump his duffle bag on his bedroom floor.

We were back at home and I was helping Stefan unpack his things. When we got back home from NSU, both of our parents had been relieved and perplexed to see us back mid-semester.

Of course, they had immediately inundated us with questions about why we hadn’t answered their phone calls for weeks and bitched about how worried sick they were.

Any longer, my mom said, and she was going to have called the sheriff to come look for us. It was only the carefully designed messages that Stefan left on his father’s voicemail that had stayed her hand.

Stefan, being the devious devil that he is, made up a story that there had been several assaults on NSU campus and that he wanted to bring me back home because he feared for my safety.

He made up some story about me receiving threats from several athletes for speaking out against a sexual assault that had taken place on campus. These athletes, he explained to my parents, would probably not be punished because of their valuable status to the school and would likely be able to carry out their threats against me and be able to get away with it free and clear.