Hers (21 page)

“I am usually really good at Snap, but you’re just
super-fast for me. This will be our last game tonight as your uncles should be home
soon, and I need to get up and turn the oven off. I don’t want to burn the
roast turkey.” This was the first time since finding out about Greg that they’d
left her without one of them.

“Yay!
Uncle Brock and Slater will play
Skylanders
with me
before I go to bed.” Matty jumped up, the Snap game forgotten, and ran to the
lounge room yelling. “I’m going to go set the Wii set up.”

Sammy laughed at
Matty’s
antics. He was so cute. She wanted a child as wonderful as he was, someday.
Picking up the cards she put them away and went to the kitchen, checked on the
roast, and turned the oven off. Turning the kettle on, she got the gravy out, as
well as the gravy bowl, and started making gravy.

The doorbell rang, and she glanced at her watch.
Seven thirty-five.
Later than she’d thought.
Her boys
should have been home half an hour or so ago. Sammy wondered who could be at
the door at this time.

Walking to the front door she looked through the peep
hole and almost staggered back in shock. Adele stood on the other side.
Crap!
What did she do?

“I can smell you. You might as well let me in. I can
smell you’re mated to my son and Slater. I see I’ve been neglecting my duties.”

Sighing, Sammy opened the door. Adele pushed past
her inside.

“Where is my grandson?”

“In the lounge room getting
Skylanders
ready to play with Brock and Slater when they get home. I have a feeling he got
distracted by the figures and is playing with them.”

Adele nodded. “Is there anywhere we can talk?”

“I was just making gravy in the kitchen. Come on, we
can talk there.”

Sammy walked back to the kitchen, cautious of Adele
following behind her. Sammy went back to the gravy and started mixing it.

“So what do you want to talk about?”

“
This silly notion
you have
that you can join my family and help my daughter break her engagement. You have
made me look like a laughingstock.” Adele poked her finger into her chest this
time. “You, little fat human, have changed all my plans by going behind my
back.”

Sammy had to stay calm. She could see Adele’s bear
flashing in her eyes. Sammy knew if Adele changed she was dead. “Look, I think
you need to talk this over with Gwen. I didn’t tell her to break her
engagement. She did that all on her own.”

“Gwen would never do that if she hadn’t felt she had
the support,” Adele yelled at her.

Sammy tried to keep her voice even as lights swirled
around Adele and she grew. “Steven, he was the one who told her to go for it.
He said he didn’t want her unhappy. I said I would help where I could, and I
love Matty so I offered to look after him.”

Adele changed, her clothes ripping and the tattered
remains falling to the ground. She advanced on Sammy in bear form now, and
Sammy knew she had to be very careful. Brock and Slater should be here to help
her any minute, she hoped. Sammy prayed Matty stayed away. He shouldn’t see his
grandmother angry like this.

Sammy maneuvered
herself
to
the French doors opening them and easing outside as the massive bear came at
her. “Adele, remember Matty is here. Please change. I—”

Shots were fired cutting off what she was saying as
she hit the floor. The bullet scraped her arm and hit Adele in her bear form.
She roared as bullet after bullet hit her. After the fourth shot she hit the
ground almost on top of Sammy. Screaming at the sight of blood pooling around
the bear Sammy crawled back into the house. She had to get to Matty.

Matty came running out.

“Move back now.”

“But Grandma!” he cried.

Standing up Sammy did a quick look for the shooter
before she picked up Matty and ran behind the kitchen sink, crouching low.
Sammy placed Matty behind her as Sammy’s worst nightmare came into the house
and her view.

Greg.

“Hello, Sammy. I hear you’ve become a slut and an
animal lover.”

Sammy stood making sure she hid Matty as much as
possible. “Why are you here, Greg?”

 
“I came to
save you from the animals that have brainwashed you. I’m going to make you
happy again and protect you.” He glanced behind him at Adele. “Looks like I got
here just in time.”

Sammy could feel her heart almost beating out of her
chest. She was terrified. Matty was quietly sobbing behind her. Sammy told
herself she needed to be strong for him.

“Why did you come back for me? This time when they
catch you, they won’t let you off so easily. If you go now I won’t report that
you’ve come here to anyone. I’ll let you go free. Please. I’m not the same
woman you knew. I won’t put up with how you treated me or talked to me.” Sammy
moved towards an exit keeping Matty behind her. “If you go now you’ll live. If
my men get home they will kill you. If you get any closer I will fight to my
last breath to kill you myself. I’m not going back to that hell I lived in when
I was with you.”

It was the wrong thing to say. Greg lunged for her
at the same time as she yelled.

“Run, Matty. Run.”
  

Sammy hit the kitchen tiles hard, ignoring the pain,
knowing she was in a fight for her life. She told herself to fight. She’d prepared
herself, and she could do it.
 
Everything
Brock and Slater taught her came to her in a whoosh, all the best spots to hit
to make the most amount of damage. Brock and Slater had encouraged her to learn
to protect herself. Brock had even said if all else
fails,
hit the balls as they are one of the most sensitive areas on a man.

Greg pulled her hair bringing her up and slamming
her head back down against the tiles. Sammy kicked and fought as hard as she
could.

“You’re mine. If I can’t have you no one else can,” Greg
yelled at her.

“Fuck you.” She went still and found where she
wanted to hurt. Using all her strength she kicked Greg between the legs. He
squealed and rolled off her, and she scrambled to get up. She couldn’t let him
win. She would kill him if she had to. Grabbing the knife she’d been using to
cut the dinner with she let herself go, all her anger, all the pain and
frustration of what Greg had done to her. She knew by the end he would be dead,
or she would be.

****

Something wasn’t right. Brock looked in his review
mirror to see Slater driving slowly behind him. Brock slowed his car also as he
drove down the winding path to the house. As the house came into view a small
boy ran out in front of him. Brock slammed on the brakes and swerved to the
side. Turning the car off, Brock jumped out and gathered up his nephew.

“He killed Grandma,” Matty sobbed. “He’s got Aunty
Sammy, and he’s screaming and hitting her. She’s screaming back and kicking and
punching him. He’s a bad man, Uncle Brock. You have to go save Aunty Sammy
before he kills her like he did Grandma.”

“Oh shit,” Slater said behind him. “You kill the
bastard, and I’ll sort your mother out and look after Matty.”

Brock handed Matty to Slater and nodded. He reached
into his car and pulled out his gun. Loading the chambers Brock entered the
house ready once and for all to kill the man who had terrorized his mate.

The screams and yelling were loud, and Brock sighed
in relief knowing if Sammy could scream she was still alive. Quietly sneaking
up the stairs and hugging the walls, he followed where the smell of blood was
the strongest, in the kitchen. The sight that greeted him had Brock freezing in
shock. A bloody knife lay by the French sliding doors, and Sammy stood over a
blood covered body as she whacked him with pieces of what looked like a gravy
bowl over and over.

Sammy screamed at the body.
“Never
again.
Never again.
I won’t do it. No.
Never again.”

Brock’s heart broke at the sight of Sammy. Taking a
deep breath in and listening with his shifter hearing he could hear a barely-there
heartbeat from Greg. Brock knew he had to stop her before she killed him. Sammy
would never forgive
herself
if she did that, no matter
how much she hated him.

Emptying his gun, he placed it on the floor. Sammy
was in so much of a trance she didn’t even hear him.

Slowly he put his hands up and used his soothing
voice. “Angel,
it’s
Brock. I’m here now. Drop what you
have and come to me. Let me see if you’re okay.”

Sammy blinked and looked over to him. Brock could
see the blood dripping from her hands as she held the shards. In a daze she
dropped the shards and stumbled over to him. “Did Matty get to you?”

 
Brock caught
her in his arms. He could smell she’d lost a lot of blood of her own. Big
chunks of hair were missing from her head, and her face and any visible parts
of her were black. It took all his control not to kill the man on the floor.
“Yes. Slater has Matty. He is keeping him safe.”

As soon as he’d told her that, a dam seemed to break,
and she looked behind her, nodded, and said, “I killed him. I couldn’t go
through it again. I’m sorry.” And with that she passed out.

Knowing Slater would have already called the police,
Brock cradled Sammy in his arms. The bastard on the floor wasn’t going to move
anytime soon. Brock walked to the lounge room and laid Sammy on the sofa and
grabbed the phone. He called his brothers knowing as they lived down the road that
either Blake or Brian would come.

“Blake, Greg came to our home. Get here now.”

He called his partner next.
“
Kegon
.
Greg came here. I need your help. Sammy’s in
a bad way, but I think Greg is worse.”

“Fuck me. I’m on my way.”

He called Jake. He knew he would want to know.
“Jake, we had two visitors tonight Greg and my mother.
Kegon’s
on the way. I know Slater called the police, and he would have called the
ambulance. Matty was here. He’s safe, and Blake should be here any minute.”

“Shit. I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’m sure
Kegon
will be on the phone to the captain now.”

Brock almost cried in relief when he heard Blake.
His voice cut off as he came upon the scene. “What the
fuc
—”

“I’ll talk to you when I see you. Blake’s arrived,
and I need help.” Brock hung up and turned to see Blake coming to him with a
worried look.

“Is she alive?”

Brock closed his eyes and listened to the faint
sound of Sammy’s beating heart. “Yes. She needs immediate medical attention.”

“How on earth are you so calm?”
 

Brock had no idea. He knew he had to be calm so
Sammy would be okay and get the help she needed. “Sammy needs me with my head
on straight. I need you to check on Greg. Yell to me if he’s still alive. If he
can’t move, go take Matty home and keep him safe. If he’s dead do the same. If
Greg’s more alive than I thought and trying to get away or anything that
doesn’t look right, do something about it. Got it?”

Blake nodded and walked away. Brock could hear the
sirens in the distance and prayed they would hurry.

 
“He’s alive.
Barely,” Blake yelled at him. “I’m going to get Matty and take him away from
this.”

Brock didn’t say anything back. He didn’t need to.
Slater came to him as Brock heard the sirens turn down there road.
 
Slater fell to the ground next to where he had
laid Sammy and
wept.

Brock knew that Slater wouldn’t leave Sammy now he’d
seen her. Getting up he did what he had to do. He got his badge out ready, and
checked on Greg, then went down to meet the police and ambulance.

****

Slater couldn’t believe what had happened. What he’d
seen. As soon as Blake came and got Matty taking him away so he was safe, Slater
went to Brock’s mother. She lay breathing heavily in her bear form bleeding
from a deadly wound to her chest and neck. There were other wounds, but those
were the deadliest. With so many injuries Slater knew it would be hard to
change and start the healing process. Taking off his clothes, he changed to
bear beside her, and then he helped her change back to human sharing his magic
as he changed. Adele moaned and grumbled until her bloodied naked form lay
beside him. She’d lost way too much blood. Adele looked pale and still close to
death’s door because she hadn’t been able to change and heal. Slater reached
for his shirt and gently put it on her. He then went inside to find Sammy. He
knew Adele would be okay. She was too stubborn to die.

He came upon a battered and bruised Sammy. At first
he’d feared the worst and thought she was dead. Then Brock told him she was
alive, and he heard the faint beat of her heart. He broke down crying like a
baby in relief knowing she was alive. Slater wasn’t going to leave her ever
again.