Cedric flicked on the strobe lights for the grill of the truck and floored it in the direction of the scream. The scuffle that played out on the sidewalk in front him gave him a slight glimpse of a small figure being man-handled by a bulldozer of man. Before Cedric pulled his truck on the sidewalk right next to the couple, the big man swung a large ferocious fist to the woman’s face.

She fell instantly, hitting the sidewalk with a loud thud. She didn’t move. The man then sent his booted foot into her stomach just as Cedric pulled out his Beretta and trained it on the big man.

“Police, you son of a bitch, don’t fucking move or I swear the next thing you fucking see will be your maker.”

With a two-handed grip on his weapon, Cedric moved quickly around the front of his truck to the attacker.

The man hadn’t moved. He stared down at the woman before him as if he was waiting on the telling sign that she was still breathing.

“Get down on your knees, put your hands behind your head, and lace your fingers. Do it now!” Cedric demanded, voice rising with each syllable that left his mouth.

The man remained where he was, staring at the woman.

“Hey, fuck face, did you hear what I said? Get down on your fucking knees and put your hands behind your head. Do it!” Cedric repeated as he continued to get closer.

“This is none of your business, so get back in your truck,” barked the big man, his Russian accent heavy in his voice.

“This is my business, you son of a bitch. Now, step back from the woman slowly and—”

The man’s massive head whipped sharply in Cedric’s direction, narrowing a pair of dark eyes at him. “She’s not a woman,” he countered in heavily accented English, while pointing down at the figure at his feet.

Cedric started to respond, his gun trained on the man’s chest when something flashed in the man’s cold eyes. In that instant, Cedric noticed the color of the Russian’s eyes changed to a gold hue. Cedric looked confused at first. That was until a growl erupted from the man before him.

“Aw shit!” Cedric forced out, knowing that the gun he had trained on the man was useless.

In a blink of an eye, the Russian man charged toward Cedric, teeth exposed and growling with nothing but rage in his eyes. Cedric holstered his weapon and braced himself for the fight he had no energy for when the woman lying on the sidewalk unexpectedly kicked outward, catching the big man at his ankles.

The man cried out in shock more than pain and fell to the ground. The woman scrambled quickly to her feet and went on attack bringing her knee to the man’s face as he tried to get to his feet. You could hear the man’s nose breaking, the sound bouncing off the buildings around them.

“Son of a bitch!” yelled the woman as she continued to kick the living shit out of the man who was now writhing on the ground.

“All right, ma’am,” Cedric said to the woman as he started toward the scuffle. He hadn’t expected the woman to go on attack, but it was refreshing to see she could take care of herself.

“Ma’am,” Cedric repeated, a little louder this time as he got closer.

The big man made a move of his own, trying to grab for the woman, but she sent a fierce kick to the man’s face.

“That will teach you to follow a woman and assault her,” the woman scolded as she stomped down on the man’s groin and then sent another hard kick to the man’s face, knocking him out cold.

The woman stood over the man, just as the Russian had done a few minutes ago, as if she was daring him to move. She pushed her hair behind her ear and Cedric finally caught a small glimpse of the woman and the color instantly drained from his face.

“Holy shit!” fell softly from his lips as he stood there, unable to move any part of his body.

“I know I was a bit rough, but he deserved it.” He heard the woman say in a matter-of-fact tone, but he hadn’t responded. In fact, he just couldn’t move.

Could it be her? He asked himself. He blinked a few times, trying to understand what he’d just witnessed. He tried to make sense of what was starting to take over his entire body.

It first started in his chest. Then his heart began assaulting his chest cavity as it started beating out of control the second his brain registered what his eyes saw. His body started to shake profusely. Sweat started to bead along his forehead, down his back. It was her. He knew it deep down in his soul, but he could also feel it all over his body. It was a feeling he hadn’t felt in years; a feeling that had only thrived in his dreams.

“I hope you aren’t going to take me in. I mean you did see him assault me, right?” she asked, without moving her eyes from her attacker. “Plus, I just saved your life. You’re welcome by the way.”

Cedric shook his head, trying to clear it, but it remained clouded. He couldn’t believe what he had just seen or what he was now feeling. He only saw a glimpse of the woman before him, but that was all he needed.

“Theresa?”

* * *

The woman’s back stiffened at the sound of the name the cop whispered.

“Oh God,” came her reply as she closed her eyes. This couldn’t be happening…not now please…

“Theresa,” he said again with more confidence in his voice.

She heard the shuffling of his feet and knew he was coming closer. The woman backed away slowly from the still figure at her feet, needing the darkness around them to swallow her.

“Fuck…” floated softly from her parted lips as she continued to back away from Cedric.

“It’s you, isn’t it?” he asked. “Isn’t it?”

She jumped slightly at the harshness of his voice and stopped. The woman, unable to fight the pull he had over her, lifted her head and met a pair of stark green eyes.

A sharp breath caught in her throat. It was him. It was the boy who she had crushed for years. It was her Cedric.

He was just as she remembered. His chiseled features, his fierce and deadly green eyes that destroyed anyone that dared to look into them was definitely more prominent than they were before. But the passion in them, the strength, the promise they held in them was still the same. He was still able to make her weak in the knees by just looking at her.

She had always found him to be handsome, but now, as he stood before her, focused on nothing else but her, he was magnificent.

“Hey, Cedric,” she said finally; lame she knew, but it was all she could bring her dry mouth to say.

“That’s it? That’s all I get after all these years. Hey, Cedric?” he asked her, not bothering with hiding his bitterness. “It’s been over ten years, Theresa.”

She nodded her head. “I know.”

“Do you? Do you have any idea how hard I looked for you after…” his voice trailed off, but she knew exactly what he was going to say and willed him not to say the words. The pain in his eyes caused her to look away.

“Cedric…” She started, but she stopped, dropped her head, and closed her eyes. There wasn’t anything she could say that would make this better, she knew. She didn’t believe he would understand what had happened ten years ago. It was how she felt back then and to this day, she still felt the same way. She needed to get out of here. She had to for his sake and hers.

However, as if he sensed what she was thinking, he closed the distance between them. She could feel his breath on her and feel his closeness without him even touching her before he actually did.

He first pushed her hair behind her ear and then caressed the side of her face with a lone finger. The soft touch sent goose bumps all through her body. She shivered lightly but kept her eyes closed. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him. She could feel his pain and knew if she looked into his eyes she would crumble.

Cedric continued his gentle touch, lightly brushing his finger along the bruise on the side of her face. She could feel the small vessels underneath her raised skin starting to mend, even under the heat his touch created.

She couldn’t take the scrutiny he was undoubtedly giving her even though she still hadn’t opened her eyes to look at him. She couldn’t bring herself to do it. She knew what she would see in his emerald green eyes.

“Talk to me, damn it,” he demanded softly.

She opened her eyes just as his knuckles lightly grazed her face.

Shit…

She should have run when she had the chance. No way in hell was he going to let her leave now. No way… The pain in his eyes and the sorrow that had instantly come over him was something she just wasn’t ready to deal with. So, before he said the words she didn’t want to hear from him, she elevated to her tiptoes, placed her hand on the side of his face and forcefully pulled his lips toward hers.

She thought she’d have to coax him into kissing her. Hell, she wasn’t sure if he had a wife or a girlfriend. Either way, he walked her backward until her back was flush up against a building; the way he tangled his fingers into her hair and gripped tight, and the seductive, salacious way his tongue danced with hers, told her all she wanted to know.

After all, this was her Cedric. He better not have replaced her.

Theresa devoured his mouth, allowing his taste to devour every part of her. His hands roamed her body, squeezing and groping. This was what she had wanted all those years back, but never got the nerve. Finally, she did but it wasn’t how she dreamed it would be.

She wanted his hard body naked with his hard cock moving rhythmically in and out of her. She had wanted him ripping her clothes off, not holding back his deep dark desires for her.

Before she could pull him back and stop him, he was forcefully yanked from her grip. When she opened her eyes in shock, she saw that Igor had Cedric gripped by his neck.

Shit, she had forgotten about Igor. A stupid mistake on her part and now Cedric was going to pay for it.

Damn it.

Cedric’s face was turning beet red as Igor blocked his airway, but it seemed Cedric wasn’t paying his predicament or Igor any mind. His eyes remained on her. He watched her, studied her deeply as if completely transfixed on her, and he was.

He tried to speak, gripping Igor’s massive forearm tightly with rather large hands.

Damn, I hadn’t remembered his hands being that big while we were in high school, she thought to herself and then shook her head. When she focused on Cedric, trying to ignore the growing heat within her, she caught the hint of a smile on his now beet red face.

He had heard her.

Theresa started moving forward when Igor tightened his hold.

“Igor, let him go,” she demanded. Her eyes were glued to Cedric’s as he fought to get Igor’s meaty arm from around his neck.

“Admit it you’re done. No more fucking hiding from him. I have you,” Igor spat.

The desperation she was starting to feel was compacted by the sight and feeling of the man she had desired and wanted since she was a kid. She needed to do whatever she could to help him, even if it meant her life.

“Okay, let him go and I’m yours,” she admitted.

“No…” Cedric managed to say to her.

Igor tightened his hold, smiling at the woman. “Good… That is good. Now, get in my fucking car.”

“Let him go first,” she countered.

“I am not stupid. Get in the car or I’ll drop him like a rag doll,” Igor demanded.

Theresa knew about Igor and his strength. He was engineered to be that way. She had to save Cedric. She had to or he would surely die. She saw Igor’s arm tighten even more, causing Cedric’s face to almost turn purple.

He was going to kill him.

“Okay, damn it!” she screamed.

“Stop stalling,” Igor barked at her and pushed out his chin toward his black muscle car behind her.

She looked at Cedric, watching the life leaving him and her heart broke. He kept shaking his head at her as he feebly attempted to remove Igor’s arm.

She whispered to him. “You know what I must do. I can’t…” she trailed off as tears started to gather in her eyes.

Cedric nodded and said to her, using his mind. “Go, I’ve got this.”

She looked at him, shocked that she had even heard him. She smiled through her now fallen tears. Could what her father had told her all those years really be true? Theresa started to shake her head in disbelief, but there was no way she could hide from the pull she had begun to feel toward Cedric. Theresa’s heart began to sink as she backed up and started for Igor’s car.

“Theresa,” Cedric called out to her and she stopped and looked at him. Despite his position, Cedric smiled at her and winked right before he pushed his right foot back as hard as he could, connecting to Igor’s knee.

Igor yelped in surprise and pain as Cedric grabbed his fingers breaking two as he spun from a now falling Igor. Cedric didn’t waste any time. He gripped a hand full of the man’s hair, pinning his arm back behind him and viciously rammed his head into the side of the building. Once, twice, he banged his head into the concrete until he heard the sure crack of the man’s face.

Theresa couldn’t move. She was stunned as she watched Cedric handle Igor as if he weighed nothing. She knew for a fact the man was at least 6’4” and close to three hundred pounds. No way should Cedric have been able to get the better of Igor. Igor wasn’t only big, but he was stronger than average. Ax had engineered him like that.

However, Cedric’s rage was thriving and stronger than she had ever felt or seen before in her life. He controlled the big man, kneeing him in his already damaged face, kicking him in the other knee, causing more damage than he already had. Cedric still wasn’t done. He smashed his head into the building again, cracking the brick cemented wall before letting the now unconscious man fall backward.

Grabbing the cuffs from his hip he grabbed the man’s wrist, twisted until he was on his stomach. He lifted his arm awkwardly until a crack permeated the charged air around her before he handcuffed the man’s wrists.

“Was that necessary?” she said to his back.

Cedric finished handcuffing Igor and placed his foot on the shoulders of the confined man.

Cedric ran his hands through his long blonde hair, pushing it away from his face. His cold green eyes met hers and she couldn’t help but shiver.

“You still here?” he asked.

She couldn’t seem to move or speak. She heard sirens in the background and knew she should make her exit, yet she still couldn’t move.

“Go, Theresa.”

She looked down at Igor and then back up at Cedric. “Don’t worry about him,” he said to her calmly. “He won’t be chasing you anytime soon.”

Still, she didn’t move and it wasn’t because she didn’t believe him. She could see the murderous rage in his eyes. It was something else about him; something she couldn’t quite put her finger on or rather she didn’t want to.

“Go, Theresa! Go now!” he barked and she started to back away.

“Cedric…” she finally said and she caught just a hint of a smile.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. I will find you.”

Theresa returned his smile with one of her own.

“I have no doubt that you will,” she replied before she turned and ran into the darkness.

* * *

Cedric watched her disappear deeper into the alleyway, and for the first time in decades, he felt the first crack of the thick ice that encased his heart. Tires screeched behind him and the sound of doors slamming brought him out of the past and into the present. He looked down at the still sleeping big man and knelt down in front of him.

“Who’s this big bastard?” asked a familiar voice.

Cedric looked up and found Winston, Edgar, and Brody standing over him. Cedric looked down at the unconscious man before he stood.

“Let’s wake him up and find out.”

* * *

Axhel ‘Ax’ Fallen pulled from the cigarette that dangled between his index and middle fingers and blew out the smoke through his nose. He leaned into the man that was chained and dangling from the ceiling and inhaled the scent of fear, blood, and urine. Ax closed his eyes and smiled. Damn, he loved the smell of fear. He loved to see strength and arrogance beaten out of a person until there was nothing left but self-loathing and despair.

Ax touched the man’s face with his right hand. He smoothed over the prominent and destructive bruising, while staring into the man’s only open eye.

He whispered his promise, “Take a breather, my friend. There is more to come.” He smacked the man’s face gently. “There’s definitely more to come.”

Ax took a few steps back from the massive chained heap of skin and bones and pulled from his cigarette.

“Tell me again how you lost her?” he asked the two behind him, without removing his eyes off of his current victim.

Before his two silent guests behind him arrived, he had been busy teaching lessons to his chained guest about what happened when you failed him. The piece of shit had one fucking job to do…one. All he had to do was bring the bitch to him; that’s all. And fate had been on his side too. The woman had no idea that she was being hunted. She had thought that she was safe from him. She really should have known better.

It didn’t take long for him to locate her and once he had found her, he’d sent one of his strongest foot soldiers after her. But he came back to him empty-handed and he had gotten himself arrested too. Ax hated failure. It wasn’t something that easily slid down his palette.

Ax blew another cloud of nicotine smoke in the swollen man's face, smashed out his cigarette on his forehead, before he turned and faced his two guests.

“You assured me that you had everything under control. You said that she trusted you and that you two had a bond.”

Ax regarded the tall black man with disdain before he moved past him and the woman to his large wooden desk. Ax had rented warehouse space for his operations while he was in this city. The warehouse was located on the west side of the city in a neighborhood close to Kennesaw Lake. Ax had chosen the location because of the deserted community that surrounded the warehouse. It gave him the freedom to do whatever he wanted without prying eyes.

Ax sat down at the rusty metal desk and placed his forearms on the smooth cold surface. He laced his fingers in front of him and took in his guests.

“I had figured that you would need some help to complete your task, so I sent you her.” He nodded his chin to the mute female also in the room. “And I offered to send you more guys to handle her mate. But you assured me that you had everything under control. Your plan was foolproof. Isn’t that what you told me? And now, you come to my office empty-handed. Why is that?”

Darrius brazenly moved closer to the desk. He kept his eyes on Ax and tried to smile through the terror that was gripping his chest.

“Yes, sir, I said that but—”

Ax’s demeanor quickly changed and he slammed his hand against the desk, causing a huge dent in the surface. “No butts!” he yelled. “You were supposed to break them up, not bring them closer together. Tell me why the fuck should I let you continue to live. Clearly, you’re no use to me.”

Darrius stayed quiet trying to think of a way out of this shit he was in. He tried to think of something…anything that could save his bacon, but all he could concentrate on was the sound of the blood rushing through his veins. He looked behind him at the bitch he was with and frowned. She had been no use to him at all. He should have blamed her for all of this. It had been her fault in the first place. However, Darrius knew his audience. The mutt wouldn’t take too kindly to him blaming someone else for his fuck up. It would make him look weak. Therefore, his life would definitely be over.

Darrius bowed slightly at the man, and as a thought popped into his head, he moved closer to the desk.

“You are right, sir. You didn’t get the outcome you were looking for, but that doesn’t mean that I have failed.”

Ax’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean? Are you telling me that Pierce is going to willingly bring his mate to me to slaughter?”

“No, that’s not what I mean. Look, you want to kill Pierce, but let’s face it, if you went after him now, he would put you down before you blinked.” Ax’s eyes grew cold. His body went stiff as steel. Darrius, who saw the change in the beast before him, backpedaled quickly. “Wait! Just hear me out before you rip my throat out.” Darrius took a deep breath when Ax remained seated.

“Okay, the ideal situation to take down Pierce and his crew would be to attack when he’s at his weakest. Am I correct?” Darrius asked, but he didn’t wait for Ax to respond. He continued, “Right. And the only way for that to happen is to get these two to mate. Pierce needs to claim Nyla, and you and your crew need to be close by to attack the moment that happens.”

Ax scrutinized the man and wanted nothing more but to rip his throat out of his neck. But, he didn’t. Instead, he leaned back in his chair and folded his arms in front of him.

“Okay, let’s say this plan of yours works and Pierce claims his mate in the exact moment when she’s supposed to shift. Then what? How do you expect us to get to them and kill them both? They will be protected.”

Darrius smiled and risked getting closer to one of the most dangerous men he had ever known.

“Easy. You and I both know for a fact that the son of a bitch will be feeling himself after he has conquered his woman. And, remember, I know her weakness. We can get to her daughter, which will bring her right to us. He will undoubtedly follow and there you have it. They will be coming to you. You can plan however way you wish to take them down. Blow them up or cut them up or whatever.” Seeing the interest flood Ax’s eyes, Darrius took that as a good sign and leaned over on the desk, bringing him closer to death.

“Look, I know you don’t have a reason to trust me, but I have everything under control. I’ve been in this for years and believe me, I want nothing more than to kill that slut-ass bitch and her daughter. And it would give me great pleasure to see you dissect that piece of shit Pierce too. I gave you a promise and I intend to deliver.”

Darrius then shrugged and righted himself. “Believe me.” He pointed his thumb behind him. “I know what happens when someone gets on your bad side. Believe me. I don’t intend to do that at all.”

Ax considered the man before him. He knew that the plan he’d just said was bullshit, but he did like the idea he presented. Plus, the idiot thought on his feet, unlike others he trusted. So, he decided to allow the rat cunt to live, for now.

Ax folded his arms and rested his elbows on the desk. He crossed his fingers and narrowed his eyes on the black man.

“Okay, I’ll give you one more chance to bring me the girl. If you don’t, it will be you that I dissect.”

Darrius smiled. “That sounds fair. Best believe I won’t let you down.” Without another word, Darrius quickly left the office, giving the bound man a solemn look as he passed.

Ax watched him and the woman leave, and once they closed the door, he reached for the phone on his desk. He picked it up, dialed a number, and waited for his call to be answered.

“Bring the blow torch and get in here. We have business to finish.”

He hung up the phone and took in his prisoner. He smiled when the whimpers began.

“You will tell me everything you observed when you got your ass kicked by the woman. I want to know about the cop that came out of nowhere, broke out of the hold you had on him, and managed to get the better of you. I want to know his name and what he looks like et cetera.” Ax stood. “Don’t fail me again, Igor, or you will feel pain like no other.”

The door to Ax’s office opened and a man similar in height and build to Igor walked inside the ripe-smelling room. Ax walked up to the Igor #2 and nodded toward the big man to turn on the torch. There was a slight boom that pierced the silence in the room as a blue flame flared from the tool.

“Let’s get started.”