Chapter 503: Episode 501: Hello There, Wifey.
The dark shadows of the giant, heavy oak trees suddenly felt very cold.
Just two seconds ago, Roxy had been smiling. She had been thinking about her warm, beautiful life. She had been thinking about how perfect everything finally was. But the very moment the ragged man stepped out into the middle of the quiet sidewalk, all of that warm peace completely vanished.
Lira stopped walking, bumping gently into Roxy’s shoulder. Lira didn’t know who this man was. She just thought he was a rude, messy person who wasn’t looking where he was going.
"Excuse me, sir," Lira said politely, stepping slightly to the side. "Can we get past you, please?"
The ragged man did not move an inch.
He didn’t step to the side. He didn’t say excuse me. He just stood there like a solid brick wall, blocking the entire paved path. Up close, he smelled terrible. He smelled like sour sweat, stale cigarette smoke, and damp earth.
Roxy’s heart gave a strange, uncomfortable flutter.
The man slowly raised his dirty, grimy hand. His dark, cracked fingernails grabbed the brim of the old baseball cap hiding his face. With a slow, deliberate movement, he pulled the hat off his head and let it drop right onto the ground.
Roxy looked at his face.
Instantly, the entire world stopped spinning.
Her blood ran entirely, completely cold. It felt like someone had dumped a giant bucket of freezing ice water straight down her back. The air in her lungs froze solid. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t even blink.
It was him.
The man standing in front of her had greasy, thinning hair and deep, angry wrinkles cut into his face. He looked older, rougher, and meaner than the last time she saw him, but those cruel, dark eyes were exactly the same.
It was her human ex-husband.
This was the absolute monster who had put her through pure hell before she ever found the Beastworld. Before she had met a giant dragon or a fierce tiger, this was the man who had broken her down. He was the reason she had been so afraid of the dark. He was the reason she had hidden away from the world.
He was supposed to be in jail.
When she had finally escaped him years ago, he had been locked away in a tiny, dark cell. The judge had promised her she would be safe. She had completely moved on with her life. She had literally traveled to an entirely different planet, survived impossible dangers, and become a powerful Queen. She thought she had left this terrible human nightmare a million miles behind her.
But he had gotten out. He was out of jail, and he was standing right here in the middle of Central Park.
How did he find her? How long had he been watching her? Had he been tracking her through the city streets like a wild animal hunting a rabbit?
The terrifying questions spun around Roxy’s brain so fast that it made her feel dizzy. Her knees started to shake. The fierce, powerful Matriarch who had twisted a bully’s arm just a few nights ago was completely gone. The deep, terrible trauma from her past totally bypassed her new armor. Right now, she was just a scared, trapped girl all over again.
Lira noticed that Roxy wasn’t moving. Lira turned her head, looking at her best friend.
"Roxy?" Lira whispered, her brown eyes filling with quick, sudden worry when she saw how pale Roxy’s face had become. "Roxy, what’s wrong? Do you know him?"
The man ignored Lira completely. His dark, cruel eyes were locked entirely onto Roxy.
He looked her slowly up and down. He took his time, his eyes dragging over her expensive, beautiful cream-colored sweater. He looked at her clean, perfect blue jeans and the shiny, incredibly expensive rings glittering on her left hand. He saw that her cheeks were full and healthy, and her dark curls were shiny and perfectly styled.
He saw that she was doing amazing without him, and it made an ugly, sickening smirk spread slowly across his rough face.
It was a familiar, terrifying smile. It was the exact same mean smile he used to give her right before he started yelling and breaking things in their old, tiny apartment. It was a smile that made her stomach completely turn over and tie itself into painful, tight knots.
"Hello, wifey," her ex-husband smirked. His voice was a harsh, raspy sound that scraped against Roxy’s ears like sandpaper.
He took a slow, heavy step closer to her. His dirty boots crunched on the fallen yellow leaves.
"Nice dress," he said, his eyes dropping to her chest before flicking back up to her terrified green eyes. He tilted his head, acting like they were old friends running into each other at a grocery store. "Looks like you’ve been busy while I was locked up. Did you find a sugar daddy to buy you all those nice, shiny things?"
Roxy’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. She wanted to scream. She wanted to yell at him to get away from her. She wanted to turn around and run as fast as her legs could carry her.
But her body absolutely refused to listen to her brain.
Her feet felt like they were glued tightly to the concrete sidewalk. Her vocal cords were totally locked. The panic was so huge, so heavy, and so completely overwhelming that it paralyzed her.
"Don’t ignore me," he said, his voice dropping an octave, losing the fake, happy tone. The real anger started to peek through. He took another step forward, completely invading her personal space. He was so close now that she could smell the sour dirt on his jacket. "I spent years in a cage because of you. I spent every single day tracking you down the second they let me out the door. You owe me a conversation."
Lira realized immediately that this was a very, very bad man.
Lira bravely stepped in front of Roxy, holding her hands out to push the man away. "Back off!" Lira yelled at him. "Leave her alone right now, or I’m calling the police!"
The man just laughed. It was a dark, ugly sound. He didn’t care about the police anymore. He had already been to jail.
Where were the Kings?
Just twenty feet behind them on the main path, a totally random, noisy accident had happened at the exact wrong time.
A busy street vendor pushing a giant, heavy metal hot dog cart had accidentally hit a large bump in the pavement. The entire cart tipped completely over. It hit the ground with a massive, deafening CRASH. Giant metal pans, hundreds of hot dogs, and huge blocks of cold ice spilled everywhere across the concrete. The vendor started yelling loudly, and a stray dog ran over, barking wildly at the mess.
The sudden, violent noise was incredibly loud.
For the Kings, sudden, loud crashes meant danger. Their beastly instincts instantly kicked in. Torian and Kaelen spun around fast, putting themselves between the loud crash and the path where Roxy had just walked. Zarek and Syris turned their heads to assess the threat, making sure the metal cart wasn’t a bomb or an attack. Ren and Caspian stepped back to cover the sides.
They were distracted.
It only took five seconds. Five tiny, short seconds of them looking at the broken hot dog cart to make sure their Matriarch wasn’t going to be hit by flying metal.
But in those five seconds, their backs were turned to the quiet, tree-lined path. They didn’t see the ragged man step out from the shadows. They didn’t hear him speak over the loud yelling of the vendor and the barking dog. They were looking in the absolute wrong direction, trying to protect her from a silly accident, completely unaware that the real monster was standing right in front of her.
"Tell your little friend to shut up," the ex-husband sneered, glaring at Lira before looking back at Roxy. He slowly raised his dirty hand, reaching out to touch the soft wool of Roxy’s expensive sweater. "We have a lot of catching up to do, wifey."
Roxy stared at his dirty fingers reaching for her.
Her brain was screaming. Please! Someone get me out of here.
But her lips wouldn’t move. She couldn’t make a single sound. The beautiful, sunny park faded away, replaced by the dark, terrible memories of her past. She was trapped.
Completely frozen in terror.
