Little Red (24 page)

“You don’t have any damn idea what you’re asking for,” Aaron warns.

“We will rip you to pieces.”

“Aww.” Jeb laughs.

“Do you boys have a little soft spot for your two pretty little pets? I mean, do y’all
share the two?” Jeb’s eyes lock with mine.

“Who knocked yours up? Josh? Or your brother he shot? Oh yeah, James.”

I hear Aaron growl as all four of us are close to losing control.

Even levelheaded Eli is beginning to struggle more as I fight to free myself to get
to the blonde one

The blonde one trains his eyes on me.

“That pretty knocked up pet of yours,” he hisses, “just you wait until I get my hands
on her.”

That’s all I can take as I look at the big picture.

He was the one who was watching Red while she was sunbathing.

He was the one who was watching Red and me on the porch swing.

He is the one who wants my Red.

I lunge forward only to be stopped by Eli and Colt.

Jeb and the blonde one have now turned their heads up and into a wicked fit of laughter.

As they laugh, they slowly turn their backs to us and walk away

“You’ll watch those backs, if you know what’s good for you!” I hear Aaron scream out
of both anger and frustration

This was their plan, their intention.

They want us in rage; they want us to go completely crazy.

I feel Eli tug me back again, even though I hadn’t even realized that I was still
struggling to go after the Averys

“Don’t do it, Ethan! Don’t you do it!” I hear Eli, who is having a hard time fighting
his own rage but also has to help me out of mine.

“No, Ethan.” I hear his voice in my ear.

“I will not let you do this.”

I move my eyes over to Aaron and Colt, who are both working themselves into a calm
state.

They both briefly lock eyes with mine and give me a nod

“You are going to have twins, Ethan!” I hear Eli yell into my ear as Colt has now
joined him in his efforts to control my rage.

“Twins! Red! She could be your wife.

Your wife, Ethan.

You need to snap it together and look at what is right in front of you.

Everything that is right and perfect, everything that we thought that we didn’t have
a right to ever have, is right in front of you, Ethan.

It’s right in your grasp, and I will not let you piss it away because of some hicks.

You have got to get your head out of your ass long enough to see it, Ethan.

Open your eyes and look.

Think of Red and think of your twins.

She’s pregnant, Ethan.

You’ve got to get your head out of your ass long enough to see it, or else your chance
at a happily ever after will slip away.” He takes a breath as he gives me a shake
to make sure I’m somewhat coherent.

“If it slips away, Ethan, you will be more broken than you ever have been in your
life.

You aren’t the only one who has something to lose, bro, but you stand the chance to
lose the most if you don’t pull yourself together.”

Red, the babies, my babies, my Red.

Thoughts zoom through my mind as I try to use reason to combat my rage.

Old folklore states that I can’t have any blood on my hands when I touch my first-born
child.

I have to be the first to touch an innocent life, while having lived an innocent life.

Killing any one of the Averys would mean I not only damn my brothers to the curse,
but my own two children as well.

I take my thoughts back to Red.

My Red, my beautiful Red that even while I’m in rage, seems to outshine and make it
fade.

The woman that I am falling in love with, the woman that is carrying my twins.

I have to fight the rage for her.

Eli is right; if there was anything that could break me in life it would be the loss
of Red and my twins

I feel Eli give me another tug back.

He’s fighting his own rage.

They’ve seen Maggie and know where she is.

I can feel the rage coursing through his body.

During the time he spent trying to calm me; he’s lost himself to the rage

“Eli,” I try to tug away from him, only to be held back as he holds to me tighter.

“Eli!” I call out

Aaron joins me in the efforts to control Eli, as he’s pulling so hard that the collar
of my tee shirt is beginning to choke me.

I feel Aaron pry Eli’s hands away as he snaps somewhat back to our reality

He releases a growl.

“Keep me away from them.

If they lay one hair on Maggie or Red’s head, I’ll kill them myself.”

I let out a deep breath as I rub the sore part of my neck a moment.

It’s really bad when Eli has a difficult time controlling his rage

Colt steps in and places a hand on Eli’s shoulder.

“They don’t want Maggie.

They’re using her as a decoy,” he says.

“I can sense that.

They want us crazy.

They want us in rage so that we’re unable to protect Red.

The blonde one,” he glances at me, and I give him a nod to show him that I understand.

“He’s the one that wants Red.”

Aaron nods in agreement.

“They’re going to try to use everything they can against us to make us slip up.”

“Then we can’t slip up,” I say immediately as I run a hand down my face

Eli finally lets out a groan.

“Screw this peace shit; if they try to start something, Colt, we will fight back.”

My eyes move to Colt and then to Aaron.

Aaron is quick to nod as Colt seems to think things over

“They obviously want Red, and they’re out to start trouble,” he says.

“I was too stupid to see that they were out for trouble in the very beginning.” He
takes a breath and finally nods.

“We won’t back down, but for now you keep your cool.

We need level heads to protect Red.”

To protect Red
, I repeat the phrase over in my head.

That is the most important thing right now…Red, and our children

I can’t even begin to express my exhaustion.

Everyone’s exhaustion.

Ethan is on edge so much, so often, that there are times I just leave him alone and
lounge around the house by myself.

Aaron, Colt, Trent, Eli, James, and Ian are even worse off.

They feed not only from the other pack, but from Ethan as well.

Right now, I am feeding from every direction.

As if pregnancy hormones aren’t bad enough, the moon gets to try to drive me insane
too

These past few months have been excruciating.

We all thought that by now the other pack would have turned around, given up, and
headed back to Kentucky.

But, they’re still here.

Still waiting and still hunting.

And I’m the first on their list

At thirty-five weeks pregnant, my belly is quite large.

Well, large to me, but everyone else seems to think it’s the cutest little bump they
have ever seen.

I stare at the calendar.

Today’s date has been circled with 4:00 p.m.

scribbled by me.

It’s my check up with Maggie.

Ethan is working on a Chevelle restoration, and Ian has been instructed to escort
me to the doctor.

I haven’t had a moment’s peace in weeks.

I’m rarely in a room alone for more than ten minutes.

With Ethan and all of his brothers so jittery, it is driving me completely up the
wall and out of my mind.

I feel way too close to snapping as Ian hovers over me

“Ian,” I say, turning to face him.

“Why don’t I just go to the doctor by myself?”

He immediately shakes his head, making his messy hair shake.

“Ethan would kill me.”

“Ethan doesn’t have to know,” I remind him

He shakes his head again.

“It’s not safe, Red,” he tells me

“Ian, if I don’t get out of this house away from you men, I’m going to lose my mind!”
I find myself yelling.

“Between you guys, this other bunch of lunatics, and the babies, I feel like I’m going
to snap,” I wail.

“I can’t even finish peeing without one of you banging on the door! I just need peace,
Ian.

For one hour.” I stare at him.

“All Maggie is going to do is stick her hand in a place that you don’t want to see
right now.”

“Do you realize what Ethan would do to any of us…if I…let you walk out that door alone
right now?” Ian asks, shifting nervously on his feet

“Ian, if I don’t get some time alone I’m going to start hacking body parts off you
men, starting with the brother who is front of me right now!”

“I really understand how you feel,” he says.

“We’ve been on you for weeks.”

I give him a nod and sigh.

“This rage, the moon, feeling like this…Ian, I need some peace before I really do
lose it.”

“Ethan would die if anything happens,” he says.

“We all would.”

“Nothing will happen,” I tell him.

“It’s been a week since you’ve really picked up on their trail, and it’s broad daylight
at a gynecologist’s office.”

He finally nods.

“Fine.

You’ll go there, have your check up, and come right back here.

Do not take your time.”

I nod and lean in to hug him.

“Thank you, Ian.

I really do need this.”

I grab my purse and slink out the door and to the Jeep.

Just walking out of the house without one of the boys in tow is a nice change of pace
right now.

I love them all, but sometimes, enough is enough

* * * * * *

The drive to Maggie’s office is rather short.

It’s a small town, and everything is clumped together.

It’s quiet and kind of relaxing.

The weather is changing again and readying for the fall, so a cooler breeze whips
through the air.

I’ll have to remind myself to do something nice for Ian.

I really owe him for this

As I pull into the parking lot, there are only the usual few cars.

A handful belonging to Maggie and her staff, and the others are more than likely patients
waiting on their appointments.

I climb from the Jeep and shove the keys into my pocket before reaching in and grabbing
my bag

“Why,” I hear the male voice behind me, “if it isn’t Little Red Riding Hood.” I feel
the hand clamp down hard on my mouth.

“I wouldn’t scream if I were you,” he says into my ear.

“My boys are right outside of your little honey’s shop.

If you make one wrong move, they tear out his throat.”

I freeze.

How could I have been so completely stupid? What was I thinking? Of course they were
still watching us.

Their scent was probably masked in some way after being here a while.

I feel a few tears slide down my cheeks as my attacker walks me to a rather large
and beat up truck.

He flings me inside without care, and I crumple into the seat

“I told them I would have you.” He growls as I feel his hand clamp down hard on my
knee

I push myself against the door and as far away from him as I possibly can as tears
poke and prod at my eyes.

I take a breath as he glares over at me.

He’s larger than me, but smaller than Ethan.

His blonde hair is slicked back and dirty looking and his beard is rough looking.

He gives me a menacing smile; he’s pleased with himself.

He has me

“You are just a pretty little thing.” He laughs

I feel tears begin rolling down my face as the twins give me a few large kicks.

I grab onto my belly and hold onto it, as though I’m holding the twins themselves

“Oh, don’t you worry,” he says.

“It’ll only hurt for a little bit.”

I begin sobbing as his hand clamps down harder, as though to hold me in place.

My head is beginning to ache, my nausea is taking over, and my mind is whirling

“Please, don’t do this,” I beg

His hand flies from my knee and his knuckles snap hard against my nose.

I cry out in pain as I feel blood starting to trickle down.

I bring my hands up and cup them around my now throbbing nose

“You’re so pretty; it’s a shame to mess up your face.” He laughs as I feel his knuckles
rub my cheek

I feel my body tremble as I jerk away from his touch

He laughs again, this time in such a way that I have to fight myself not to throw
up.

I know exactly what he wants.

My tiny and pregnant body doesn’t stand a chance at fighting him.

I drop my head, and my wails begin as the blonde man only laughs

He immediately drags me to a place that I recognize; the cabin where Ethan and I first…
I can’t control it.

I sob harder as he yanks my body from the truck and drags me up the steps.

My stomach tosses, and I can feel the twins trying to give me reassuring kicks.

My sobs quickly turn to wails as he shoves me into one of the walls.

I let out a yelp as he laughs again

“You are mine now,” he hisses