Saving Nicole

Chapter 25: Surprise

Dallas's POV
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I follow after Nicole's father, keeping my distance. Everything in my head is screaming Danger! Danger! Danger!

I want to run, bolt, and get the heck out of there. I don't trust this man at all, but he's Nicole's father. How can he be her father? It explains so much. How are they related? They don't look anything alike! Except, they have the same perfect smile and nose. That's pretty much it. She must have gotten her beauty from her mum.

What does he want with me? Why is he being nice to me and feeding me?

My maimed fingers slip into my pockets from anxiety and I can feel my eyes twitching from nerves. He leads me through another hallway, where I feel like the walls are closing in on me and trying to suffocate me, until we reach a small office.

The oak door looks like something you would see in a fancy house, and it is very obvious that this is not his real house. It's just his daughter's house. Why would someone put their own daughter through that? He's a wealthy man; why not let his daughter know?

Oh, this is a mess.

My Mate's father is my pack's rival pack's Alpha. The man who tried to kill me.

At the sound of a sharp click, I turn. The door locked behind us after we walked in.

Oh no.

My head turns back forward again so I can question him, but I stop short as a hard fist smashes into my jaw.

I stagger backwards, clutching at my jaw, until my head slams into the wall. Leaning against the wall for support, my jaw smarts causing me to swear beneath my breath. My hands pull away red.

"Why d-" I grunt when his fist smashes into my stomach and ribs. I sink to my knees, wheezing and doubling over from getting the air knocked out of me. Pain flares in my stomach from contact with my scars. A low whine leaves my lips. Man, I know I was basically torn apart and this is nothing compared to that, but it still stings. He makes a noise of satisfaction before straightening above me. I knew I shouldn't have followed him; but was I to do? Say no?

As I clutch my sides and gasp for breath, his cruel voice speaks above me. "What are you doing here? You are trespassing on my land. And you're with my daughter. I thought you would have known better. You're supposed to be dead!" He hisses, his voice a growling mess. Blood trickles from one of the scars across my face that had reopened from the punch. That's where that red came from.

"Y-You're daughter invited me. I'm not trespassing." My back-talk gets me in trouble because a sharp pain in my side has me hissing and saying a string of obscenities.

"Watch your mouth. You are on my land." He kicks my side again, making me whimper in submission. "Pathetic. Weak. How are you the Alpha's son?" He asks incredulously, shaking his head in dismay. What would Nicole think of her father beating me?

I glare up at him, my eyes in slits. "She's my Mate, you know." His black eyes immediately snap to me, narrowing dangerously. I should really learn to keep my mouth shut. Not the right thing to say at this time.

He reaches down, his cold hands lifting me by my shirt and slamming me into the wall. His putrid breath seeps into my nose leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.

"How dare you say that. She will never be your Mate." He jeers, his face contorting into an ugly scowl. One thing everyone should know is that you never tell a werewolf anything negative about being with their Mate.

Raging anger floods my veins, making me do something utterly stupid for the umpteenth time. I spit in his face.

He dumps me onto the tile again, wiping bitterly at his slimy face. His eyes shoot poisonous daggers at me. "I will kill you. I. Will. Kill. You. I will watch the life drain from your eyes; hear your final breath. I will murder you." And I believe him.

He takes a menacing step towards me, lurching me up again to smash me into the wall another time. I'm surprised Nicole hasn't heard the racket we've made or that the office doesn't have one single dent in any wall.

He grasps my neck in one clammy hand and his eyes bore into mine as he slowly squeezes. I'm a few inches off the ground when he drives his fist into my stomach sharply. My eyes cloud over for a second as I struggle to breathe from both the death-grip on my neck and from the punch.

My hands claw uselessly at his arms. I want to keel over, but I can't while I'm suspended in air. He pummels my stomach again, causing a throaty grunt to escape my lips. His next hit slams into my nose and I immediately know it's broken.

So I'm going to die here and no one's going to know. Okay.

My recently healed scars on my face have opened up, seeping blood intermixed with the black Wolfsbane. It stings as it dribbles down my face. And then his fist drives into my jaw again. "S-Stop..." I croak. The ghosts of bruises inform me I'm going to be very sore. "Please s-stop."

He grins, visually pleased at my pain but scowls again. Leaning forward, he places his reeking breath next to my ear to whisper something. "If you make any noise, I will make this much more painful than it has to be." And then he punches my chest; hard.

My eyes widen as I wheeze, struggling to breathe. Blood leaks from my face as a high pitched noise comes from me. Apparently Spencer takes that as "noise." He drops me onto the ground, letting me sink to my knees. My body shakes rapidly, shivering and shuddering as I attempt to breathe. And that's when the hacking and heaving starts. I cough up blood, feeling as if my lungs are about to collapse in on themselves.

The sharp pains in my sides assure me of his feet pounding into me. My body feels too heavy for my arms, so I just crumple to the bloodied floor with my vision darkening as I start to seep into unconsciousness. Sprawled on the floor, my body aches while continually trying to heal itself.

The tile is red with handprints and puddles of my blood. My cheek is cold against the sticky floor.

Another kick to my side makes me close my eyes with a low whimper. Why can't he just stop? The next kick is higher, on my shoulder, but I feel myself drifting in an endless river of pain. Exhaustion overwhelms me. I want to sleep. The third kick is on my cheek, making me spit blood.

So tired. I just want to let go and sleep.. Everything hurts and aches. It's overpowering. My head is pounding, feeling as if it's convulsing and contorting in weird angles and shapes. Will I have to go to the hospital again? No. No I won't. I'll be dead.

How has Nicole not heard this? All this noise; her father swearing under his breath and occasionally yelling insults at me, the thud of me falling to the red tiles that weren't always red, the sound of my ribs cracking. She has werewolf hearing, but even if she didn't have it, she would still hear.

Another blow to the side has me grunt and that's when the weight of the world falls on me, crushing me.

This exhaustion can only be satisfied by permanent sleep... I need to sleep. Then everything will go away.

And that's when the kicks and verbal abuse come to an abrupt stop. And that's when something soft touches my eyelids and a voice struggles to make my consciousness resurface.

Everything is numb.