Page 27 of Shattered Oaths

I don’t waste a single secondbefore I take off running.

CHAPTER 11

NOAH

Itwist the cap off my fifth beer and turn away from the refrigerator. And then I turn back and grab the rest because lord knows I’m gonna need ‘em.

Walking back into the living room, I deposit the other bottles on the coffee table before pulling my phone out of my back pocket and dropping down on to the couch.

I type outanothertext to Bella and stare at the screen, willing those three dots to appear.

Me:Please let me know that you’re okay.

When ten minutes go by with no response, I sigh and drop my phone on the seat next to me and press play on the hockey game I had been watching before I got up to grab a beer.

The sky lights up outside my window, followed by a loud crack of thunder and the heavy pounding of rain against the wooden porch and I turn the volume on the TV up to drown it out.

I’m thirty minutes, two more beers and approximately four phone checks into the game when a beam of lightreflects against the walls, moving slowly over the living room until it becomes dark again save for the flickering lights from the TV.

With a frown, I stand and walk over to the window, spying a familiar car as it pulls to a stop at the bottom of my porch steps.

All the air rushes from my lungs on a relieved breath as Bella climbs out and practically sprints up the steps to my front door.

I take quick strides across the room to the door, pulling it open before she even has the chance to knock and the sight that greets me on the other side causes me to suck that relieved breath right back in.

She looks…ruined.

“What the fuck!?” It comes out a lot harsher than I mean it to, but seriously…what the fuck!?

Bella is soaked through, her blonde hair tousled with a few strands stuck to her tear-streaked face. Her entire body trembles as she steps toward me and I move back, allowing her in through the door. The usually tanned skin of her face is even paler than it was a few hours ago, those dark circles beneath her eyes somehow deeper now.

She sucks in deep breaths as I close the door behind her and cast a concerned look in her direction. “Are you okay?”

She shakes her head, chest still heaving as tears fall down her cheeks unchecked. “Can I… can I stay here tonight?”

My responding nod is quick. “Yes. Of course you can.”

“Thank you,” she responds, sniffling.

I take a cautious step toward her, my hands itching to pull her against me but unsure whether it’s the right time or not; I decide not to. “What happened, Bells?”

Bella paces back and forth, her movements erratic and anxious. I scan the parts of her body I can see for injuries, thankfully finding none. She picks at her fingernails as she has what seems to be a silent conversation with herself.

I take another step toward her, my concern growing. “Bells?”

Her head snaps in my direction, her eyes wide and wild like a deer caught in the headlights and my stomach bottoms out at the obvious fear in them.

“Did he hurt you?” My voice is low, my hold on my control hanging by a small thread.

She shakes her head once before whispering a quiet, “No.” Just as the worry and anger building inside of me begins to settle from that small statement, she speaks again. “I stopped him before he could.”

My body stiffens. “Say that again.”

Her chin trembles, distraught eyes meeting mine. “He tried…” she looks away, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth as more tears fall.

My hand reaches out before I can stop myself. Thankfully, she doesn’t flinch when I cup her cold, wet cheek and forcing her gaze back to mine. If she had flinched at my touch, I’d have blown a fucking gasket. I’m barely holding it together as it is and I still have no idea what that prick did to her.

I lean down until my eyes are level with her grey ones. “What did he do, Bella?”