赤裸裸的滑稽故事

“Why do we stay here?”

“Because our business is here.”

Alice looked out the window with a heavy sigh. Below she saw a group of men gathering in front of a small store. They laughed and drank from the bottles in their hands. They patted each other’s shoulders and made jokes as they encircled a small man between them.

The man looked scared. He hunched in on himself and kept his eyes down as the men surrounding him laughed and pointed. Then, finally, one of the laughing men took a step forward. He got close to the small man and seemed to whisper something.

The small man’s eyes widened.

Alice recognized the look. Her jaw tightened. Her hands curled into fists, and her eyes darkened as she saw the other men laugh. The one that had stepped forward gave the small man an eerie smile.

The small man cried, begged, and pleaded, and when the whispering man turned toward the store, he fell to his knees and grabbed at the whispering man’s legs.

Alice’s breaths quickened as she watched the whispering man kick the small man away, the other in the circle laughing, pointing, and kicking the small man on the ground. Then, finally, the circle of laughing men closed in on the small man as the whispering man approached the young woman crying at the shop entrance.

The whispering man gave a predatory smile before he grabbed the back of her neck and shoved her further into the store.

Alice growled, and suddenly the scene disappeared as the window curtains were shut before her eyes. She turned quickly to see Holden with the chord in his hand.

“That,” he said, “is not our business.”

Alice felt the pain of her clenched jaw, the stabbing pain in her palms as she held even tighter to her fists.

Holden observed her; he recognized it immediately. The signs that she was fracturing. Hints of her natural personality had started to poke through after seeing Winter’s former alpha.

Even before then, there had been moments. Intermittent times when she seemed different. When the real Alice seemed to look back at him.

At the time that Roman had cornered her when he had dared to try and force himself on her like his father before him, Holden had heard what she said._.

‘Here I am.’

Holden had replayed the moment over in his mind, hoping he had misunderstood, that there was something else that it could mean.

But nothing else made sense.

Alice was awake in there somewhere, and she had found a way to take control when she thought he wasn’t looking.

That meant that she could have been playing her own games behind his back ever since she had returned to him.

He shouldn’t have been surprised. In fact, he should have expected this and planned for it.

Anyone else would have died long ago. But every time Alice woke from her treatment, she fought to stay awake. In a way, he was proud.

But if it were true, and if anyone else figured it out… He couldn’t let that happen.

“Alice,” Holden called to her.

Alice stood perfectly still, her eyes still dark with anger, her hands gripping tightly.

“Alice!” Holden shouted.

Alice jumped as if waking from a dream. Her eyes widened, her hands relaxed, and her eyes scanned the room for the briefest moment as though she weren’t sure where she was.

Holden exhaled slowly. It was getting worse.

Whatever Alice had done, it was something she had been able to control. But she was more intelligent than this. She would never have slipped in front of him like that if she had control.

Seeing Wyatt, Roman’s attack on her physical body, the stress, and surprise of it must have forced her hand. Now, her mind was fracturing.

And neither of them knew how much time she would even have before her mind went completely.

He needed to give her another treatment to clear her mind and allow her time to rest. A few weeks in a medically induced coma. It would give her brain and body time to recover.

But it was too soon.

Her last treatment had been a strain on her body. Unfortunately, the doctors agreed that she wouldn’t survive too many more, especially with the frequency of her treatments in the past year.

No, he couldn’t treat her right now. He needed her to keep it together for at least another week or two. Maybe then…

A loud bang from the hallway drew both of their attention to the door.

Alice reflexively took a step back as she recognized his scent. Holden moved between her and the door while keeping his expression neutral.

The doors flew open. On the other side stood an angry Roman.

The fires in his eyes flared as he saw Holden.

He gave an irritated smile.

“You knew,” he growled. “You knew who I would find there!”

Holden smiled brightly.

“You’ll need to be more specific,” he said.

Roman snarled and moved closer. Alice pulled out her baton, extending it swiftly and preparing to defend Holden from Roman.

“No,” Holden said, putting his hand up to tell her to relax. “Roman seems upset, but I’m sure he just wants to have a conversation.”

Roman growled and stood before Holden but made no attempt to reach for or attack him.

“Now,” Holden continued. “Care to explain what exactly it is that I have done to offend you so?”

“You knew she was in Winter,” Roman growled.

Holden raised a brow.

“Who is she?” he asked.

He was genuinely confused, expecting that Roman was referring to Winter alpha.

“Bell!” Roman shouted.

Alice flinched, but no one else seemed to notice.

“I’m sorry,” Holden said. “I’m afraid I honestly have no idea who that is.”

“My mate!” Roman snarled, grabbing Holden angrily by the collar and pulling him close.

Holden’s eyes widened.

“Is that the secret Tomas kept?” he asked. “He hid away your mate?”

Roman shoved Holden back and paced the room.

“You expect me to believe you didn’t know?” Roman growled. “That you just sent me to Winter by chance?”

Holden raised a brow and glanced back at Alice.

Her jaw was tight, and her hands were fists once more. Holden swallowed.

She was awake.

He couldn’t let Roman see.

“Alice,” Holden called. “Why don’t you go and see to that business you noticed earlier.”

He looked back at her, and she tilted her head in confusion and consideration.

Holden smiled, knowing she was trying to gage his motives.

“From the window,” Holden smiled.

Alice’s eyes widened and then turned ever so slightly toward the window. He could see her considering.

Finally, she nodded and moved to leave. But Roman caught her arm.

“Where are you going?” he asked, pulling her close to him. “There is something I wanted to show you.”

“Roman,” Holden growled. “I thought we were clear on the rules of our partnership.”

Roman looked at Holden with a snarl.

“I just want to give her something, a little gift I picked up for her in Winter. Something she lost,” he said, his smile wide and dark.

Holden swallowed. What the hell kind of game was he playing? Alice needed to leave now.

“Alice,” Holden called, “if you don’t hurry, you will miss your opportunity.”

Alice tried to pull away, but Roman held to her and smiled at Holden before turning back to her. He reached up and touched a loose curl.

“Such beautiful hair,” he whispered. “You should really take better care of it.”

Alice furrowed her brows.

Roman reached down into his pocket and pulled something out. He lifted his hand to her eye level.

“Roman!” Holden called, moving toward them. “What the hell are you doing!”

Roman opened his hand. Held between his fingers, a small braid of golden blonde and a soft brown unfolded itself to dangle before her eyes.

‘Now, you will always be with me.’

The warm voice whispered in her mind, followed almost immediately by a deafening scream.

That was when the world around her began to shake and shudder. Her body felt heavy, and there was a deep and penetrating pain in her skull.

And then there was only darkness.