Fated Mate

Joe and Billy were on their feet. They rushed to Ash’s side. This time they were able to wrestle him to the ground. Every time Ash got out of Billy’s hold, Joe jumped on him. They were turning, rolling and jumping on each other on the ground. They moved so fast, it was like someone had pressed fast forward. Ash was like a raging bull, fixed on destroying his target.

Ash managed to throw them both off him. He looked around the tables searching for Steve, his silver eyes cold and angry. He spotted Steve and rose to his feet. Steve was out cold, his body limp and bleeding.

“Stop!” Lee scrambled to her feet and stood in Ash’s way. He didn’t take another step. He stood still and looked down at her. His teeth were bared and seemed sharp, his silver eyes were on her, and his breathing was heavy. His arms were wide at his sides with his curled fingers spread open.

Joe and Billy rose from the ground slowly. They stood behind Ash, ready to hold him if need be. With a single word, Lee had done what they had spent five minutes trying to do.

She backed up slowly. She stopped and crouched down next to Steve’s battered body. He was alive, but hurt. She looked up at Ash, shocked, scared; she didn’t know what to say. If he had another second, Steve would be dead.

Ash’s body sagged. He closed his eyes and bowed his head.

“Ann, Maria! I need you!” Lee yelled.

Ann unlocked the kitchen door from the inside and came out running, Maria was hot on her tail. They stopped when they saw Steve’s body.

“Oh my…” Maria’s hand covered her mouth in horror.

“What the hell!” Ann stood there expressionless. She turned and looked at Ash, then Billy.

Lee didn’t have time to explain. “Help me get him into the car, now!” Billy and Joe moved forward, “No, not you.” They stopped. Ash still had his head down.

Maria and Ann carefully helped Steve up. Lee rushed behind the counter and grabbed her car keys and the diner’s keys. She still had her arm cradled against her, it hurt but she was more concerned about Steve.

Ash was watching her as she moved around the diner. She stopped and looked at him, his eyes were brown again, but he looked sad. She couldn’t stand there and comfort him. Steve needed her more. She turned and walked to the door where Ann and Maria were supporting Steve.

“Here, let me.” She took Ann’s place, supporting Steve with her good shoulder. “Lock the door behind them. You’ll have to drive. We’ll wait in the car.” She handed Ann both sets of keys. She held the door open for them to carry Steve out.

After she locked the door, she hugged Billy goodbye. He said something to her before she came running to the car.

After the jeep disappeared over the curve, Lee felt lightheaded again. She opened the window but that didn’t help. All she could see was pitch black, and then she was out.

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Ash was seated on the floor in the AA room, drunk. He had three empty bottles of tequila next to him and one half empty in his hand. He couldn’t erase the look Lee had given him from his mind. He didn’t want Lee to see him like that, but he couldn’t control himself. Seeing her in pain made him snap. And when he heard that faint pop, all he wanted to do was kill Steve.

He had originally come with the guys. He just had to work up the nerve to go into the diner. Ash decided it was time for him to be a little selfish. He had lived five hundred years without love and happiness, and now that he had gotten a taste of it with Lee, he found it difficult to forget it. Lee had intoxicated him, woken him up from the shallow grave he had buried himself in, and because of Baku he was to go back into his grave as if his heart hadn’t started beating again?

He loved her enough to try, and that he did. But it was impossible to deny himself any longer. There were other ways to keep her safe and he would exhaust them before he dared to let her go. Ash had more reason to kill Baku, not only for revenge but also for love.

He wasn’t going to let anything harm her, be it human, animal or mortal.

He yelled at the guys for not stopping Steve before he could come close enough to hurt Lee. But they had apparently felt Ash’s anger a long time before and they were preparing to keep him from killing Steve. They were right, whether or not they stopped Steve, nothing could have stopped Ash from trying to kill Steve.

Billy walked into the room and crouched down beside him. “Ann says Steve is okay. He has a concussion. They stitched up the gash in his head. He also had seven broken and three bruised ribs, his right hand was broken and his collarbone bruised and a fractured leg. The doctor told him he wasn’t to speak for a while, just until his throat healed. You really did a number on him. Billy patted his shoulder. “If it was Ann, I would have done the same.”

“I don’t care about that rat, how’s Lee?” Ash bellowed drunkenly.

“She was out cold when they got to the hospital, but she’s okay. Her left shoulder is dislocated. She’ll have to use a sling for six weeks or so.”

“Why did she faint?” Ash was frantic. He tried to get up but sagged back to the floor. The room was swimming.

“Whoa! You’re drunk. Sleep it off, and then we’ll talk.”

Ash was about to protest, but he was already on the couch, falling asleep.

****

Dave was pacing in his room, nervous. He had spotted the guys at the diner Merilee works in. He saw what Steve was doing to Merilee, if Ash hadn’t helped her, he would have. He was grateful Ash had beaten the crap out of the leech, but he was still concerned about how well he knew her. He wanted to ask Billy or Joe but decided against it. He didn’t want to make them even more suspicious.

At least I’ll have more time to feed, with the guys watching them. They’ll keep them safe from humans, and I’ll keep them safe from our kind. But they can’t know my relationship with them. I’ll keep watching my daughter, but I’ll need to be more careful.