Chapter 97: 97-Killing The Alpha King
Verity:
My heartbeat quickened when I realized that, while he was focused on removing the teeth, his hand kept moving with every flinch.
At first, I thought it was unintentional. Maybe he was simply adjusting his grip because I wouldn’t stop moving.
But then his hand deliberately slid from my arm to my shoulder and from there to my neck.
And then I felt it.
His fingers curled around the front of my neck while he remained behind me.
The position alone was enough to make my heart pound.
I wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but mine was beating louder than anything.
Yet he continued as though nothing had happened.
With every tug, his fingers tightened slightly around my neck, holding me steady.
If it had been Jaguar or Theodore, I was certain their hands would have wandered somewhere else by now.
They would have happily leaned over me from behind and taken advantage of the situation.
But not Ragnar.
He didn’t make a single comment.
He simply worked.
With every tooth he pulled free, another sharp cry escaped me.
"Done," he finally said.
Then I heard him inhale sharply, almost as though he had just realized where his hand was resting.
He pulled away at once, removing his hand from my neck.
I shuffled forward on my knees, fixed my dress, and turned away from him without looking directly at his face as I reached behind me to clasp my bra again.
The flashlight in his hand was still shining in my direction, making it seem as though he was watching me.
The moment he realized it, he quickly lowered the phone and slipped it into his pocket before turning around to give me the privacy to fix my clothes.
That was when I noticed the phone in his pocket was mine.
But because of the awkwardness between us, he didn’t realize what he had done.
And neither did I correct him.
"The teeth are out," he uttered, keeping his back to me.
I slowly fixed my bra strap, my eyes lingering on his back.
That was when I noticed his pocketknife lying on the ground.
For a brief moment, I simply stared at it.
Then I bent down, picked it up, and quietly approached him from behind.
"But you should still go to the hospital and get vaccinated," he uttered, completely unaware of what was happening behind him.
The moment I reached him, I counted to three in my head.
One.
Two.
Three.
I jumped onto his back.
"What the fuck?" I heard him grunt.
Before he could react, I wrapped one arm around his neck and pressed the knife against his throat.
I felt his hand shoot back and grab a fistful of my hair, but before he could yank me off, I was fast enough to do what I had come here to do.
Maybe it was because he had never expected me to attack him. Maybe I had simply caught him off guard.
Either way, it bought me enough time.
I dragged the blade across his neck.
I pushed so hard that I felt the knife scrape against bone.
A gurgled sound escaped his throat before he finally tore me off his back and hurled me onto the ground.
I stayed where I landed, watching him drop to his knees.
One hand clutched his neck as blood poured through his fingers.
"This is for my brother," I muttered.
Slowly, he raised his eyes to meet mine.
The horror in them told me he had realized his mistake.
They had trusted me far too much.
"All I wanted was to punish your brothers. But it was going to be subtle," I started, scoffing at him.
While I was speaking, he slipped a hand into his pocket, reaching for his phone.
The moment I noticed, I lunged forward, crawling over to him and snatching it out of his hand.
He immediately came after me, grabbing my wrist and pulling me beneath him. Warm drops of his blood landed on top of me.
I wasn’t going to kill him so soon, but he left me no choice. He was making this far more difficult than it needed to be.
"I—will—" he mumbled. "Not—" He struggled to force the words out. "Let you hurt my brothers."
That was all he managed to say before pinning me beneath him.
His large hands wrapped around my neck.
I struggled beneath him, scratching at his arms and doing everything I could to break free.
My dress hadn’t been zipped properly, and it slowly began slipping off my shoulders.
But nothing stopped him.
My vision gradually darkened until all I could see was black.
It felt as though the life was being squeezed out of me.
"Are you okay?"
I blinked hard this time.
Ragnar was standing in front of me, snapping his fingers in front of my face.
"Are you there?" he asked.
I barely managed a nod.
I had no idea what was going on.
Did I really do that?
Did he kill me?
Were we in heaven?
In hell?
Or was this just a hallucination?
"I didn’t— know," I tried to speak, but only an incoherent mumble escaped my lips.
"I’m—not feeling well," I tried again, placing a hand against my forehead as I realized how suddenly sweaty I had become.
The next thing I knew, my body slowly tilted to one side as though it were falling on its own.
Before I could hit the ground, I felt a pair of strong arms catch me.
Suddenly, it felt as though cold shivers were running through my body.
For a few seconds, my mind completely stopped working.
I didn’t even know whether any of it had really happened. Had I truly attacked him? And if I had, why was he saving me?
Nothing made sense.
While my head continued to spin, I felt his arms slide beneath me as he lifted me into them.
All I knew was that he was carrying me out of the woods.
Then there was silence.
It felt strangely comforting, even though I didn’t want to lose consciousness in his arms.
I had no idea where I was going to wake up next.
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