Bitter Revenge

Chapter 18

Warning!

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" The second I heard Stella's scream, I raced up here with my unnatural speed. The sight before me was ugly, horrifying, disgusting. A monster laid on top of my mate with her shorts at her knees. He turned to look at me, but by then I was already across the room, sending him flying off her. I stomped my foot hard against his stomach, making some blood spew from his mouth. He growled and reached a hand up, and suddenly a pointy shard of ice was through my right shoulder. I growled at the pain, but it only made my swing to his jaw harder. Stars winked in front of his eyes, disorienting him. "You're DISGUSTING! How DARE you even THINK OF TOUCHING HER!!" I punched him to a bloody pulp, in my angry daze, he managed to form another shard of ice and plant it deep in my left thigh. The searing pain was nothing compared to the hellfire of rage I felt.

Finally, he was too disoriented to even move. His face was barely recognizable through the blood and swelling. I panted harshly, then grabbed the collar of his shirt and dug my fangs past skin to drain him. But I was pulled away by two arms around my stomach, making my fangs hurt from the awkward angle. "What the-" I was going to ask her what she thought she was doing before she interrupted. "D-don't kill him. Please." Her kindness sparked my anger, but I managed to contain it. Yelling will only make her feel worse. So after a moment of silence, I placed my hand over her arm on my stomach. "Okay. I won't kill him. But why?"

She just shook her head, her eyes squeezed shut. She placed her forehead on my shoulder, and I could feel the cold wet tears through my T-shirt. She squeezed me a little, bringing her knees up a bit from my sides. I turned around and lifted her up easily, her weight nestled in my arms. I moved her to my bedroom and sat her on the bed and then.. did the unexpected. I held my arms out for a hug, and she immediately wrapped her arms around me, her face on my chest, her sobs muffled but loud enough for my keen hearing. I ran my fingers through her hair, scratching her scalp every so often for comfort. Whispering sweet nothings to her, telling her that it's over and that I was here now.

We stayed like this for a good while, maybe half an hour? But finally, the sobbing and hiccupping stopped. Her breathing evened out, telling me she fell asleep. I laid her down gently on the pillow, wrapping her up in her blanket. I walked back to her room to deal with Calvin when, he was gone. Nothing but spilt blood to assure me that he really was there. I walked into Stella's bathroom, then pulled the ice from my shoulder and thigh, holding in growls and yelps for her sake. The second they were out, the wounds started healing. Not even a scar left behind. Only a hole in my shirt and jeans.

I looked at the time, midnight on a Saturday night. At least there's no work tomorrow, but there's no way she's going to work in this state. A sudden ache stabbed my dead heart, making me clutch at my shirt and my breathing to become shaky. The weight of what just happened hit me. Stella got sexually assaulted, and I couldn't stop it before it happened. I should've pushed harder for her to break up with him, or watched him closer like I did the first few times those two hung out. A weak groan only heard thanks to my keen hearing woke me from my terrifying discovery, and I quickly walked out to check on Stella. Her face was pinched, sweat starting to collect on her brow. Her eyelashes spiked and stuck to each other from oncoming tears. Nightmares already.

When morning came, I was seated next to Stella. I hadn't slept to make sure she would be okay, my mind swimming in regret and shame and anger. When her eyes fluttered open at 8 in the morning, the first thing she did was reach behind her to check if anyone was there. When she felt my thigh, she turned quickly- afraid. But then she saw it was me, and she relaxed fully. She laid on her back and hid her eyes with her forearm, both of us silently breathing for a couple minutes.

"How are you feeling, Strawberry? Do you want breakfast, water, maybe Advil?" She pulled her arm away to look up at me, and for the first time, there were shadows under her eyes. Of course, she didn't exactly sleep well. "I would love all three of those." Her voice was hoarse and raspy, scratching against her throat like nails on a chalkboard. "I'll be back then." But before I could even stand, her hand gripped my wrist. When I turned to ask, the question died in my throat. Fear was written everywhere on her face, her hand gripping and trembling against my wrist. So I brought her down with me.

I decided that chocolate pancakes would be perfect right about now, so while I made them, she swallowed her pill and washed it down with water. And when I was done, I served her food on the table. Today, I sat next to her. A change of routine, to be closer to her. She sat and muttered a thank you before digging in. Somewhere towards the middle, she turned to me. "You should train your body to eat. Don't you miss food?" Suddenly, I'm very nostalgic of our first conversation in this house. Does she use food as a first impression and as a way to get her mind off traumatic events? "Well sure. But I don't care so much. After all, it's not like they give me any nutritional value. How are you holding up?"

She held a piece of the pancake close to my mouth, practically touching my lip. "Try it." She puckered her top lip, squinting at me. I opened my mouth and ate the piece, loving the flavor but not liking the growl my stomach gave. "If your bathroom breaks it's not my fault." I warned her, making her giggle. I can't tell if she's okay. "Are you feeling better now?" Her lips tightened into a straight line, a look of sadness crossed her face before she shrugged. "I'll be fine." Like hell you will, but I just let it slide. She'll cope however she wants, I'm just here in case of anything.

"I should've listened to you when you said he was a bad guy, I just-" She was about to start the whole self blaming speech before I cut her off. "Let me stop you right there. You had no idea he'd pull that kind of crap. You knew him better than I did, so of course you trusted yourself more than me. Don't start the self blame mentality though, you did nothing wrong." I stood up and took her plate to the kitchen, cleaning up the dirty dishes. If anything, I should have been more cautious. I knew he was bad and I just stopped worrying about her, a mistake on my part. One that won't happen again, Stella deserves more than a guy that can only think with his dick. I'll be here for you, my Strawberry.