BAD BOY ROMANCE: A Wifey for the Bad Boy (Contemporary Alpha Male Romance Book) (New Adult Alpha Male Romance Short Stories) (4 page)

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Werewolf in the Shadows

It had been a long year for Bella. She had been through so much and she was finally beginning to feel as if she were in control of her life once again. It had all began when Bella got mugged.

Walking home from work on a chilly fall evening, Bella held her coat tight against her body to stay warm. She wasn’t scared of walking home; she had done it many times before when her husband Scott had forgotten to pick her up from work. They lived in a small town where nothing ever happened and she felt safe as she walked down the road. She thought about how often he had forgotten her. It was as if she meant nothing to him at all. She knew that she could never forget to pick him up from work and wondered how she could be so stupid to let him borrow her car once again. Things had been great at the beginning of the relationship. Bella had been what was known as a mail order bride. Scott had chosen her from all the other women and she thought she would live a fairytale life. Most people thought that only rich old men ordered mail order brides but the truth was that it was more popular than anyone really wanted to admit. Scott seemed as if he was perfect. He had a good job, dressed well, and treated her like a queen. He didn’t force her to get married right away but had gotten her an apartment and a job. He said he wanted to give her time to get to know him. Within a few months, Scott had moved into Bella’s apartment and all but taken over her life. He rarely went to work, which meant Bella had to work even more. He didn’t bring any extra bills with him, but he did expect her to pay for his food, as well as the extra electricity he was using by living with her. And of course, she had to pay to put gas in her car—which she had purchased with her income—when he wanted to go hang out with his friends. She wondered what she had done wrong, why he had changed so dramatically, but her thoughts were suddenly interrupted. All at once two men came running at her. Bella looked up, not sure if she should be scared or just move out of the way. She tried to step to the side of the walkway when one man grabbed her and the other snatched her purse. Bella screamed in terror, not fully understanding what was going on. The man who had a hold of Bella pushed his face into her neck and she swore he was smelling her, when the other man grabbed his arm and told him to go. But he hesitated, looking Bella right in the eyes. As odd as it were, something in his eyes intrigued her; she had never seen eyes quite so amazing—dark brown with yellow lines throughout. He quickly turned his head and the two of them ran off down the road.

Bella stood still for a moment in shock from what had just happened. Then, without hesitating, she turned and began to walk down the road again. She knew that she should find help, that she should find a phone to call the police, but she just continued walking home. When she got home and told Scott what happened, he was in shock. Somehow knowing that she had been mugged brought out a protective side of him that she hadn’t seen in months. He was ready to go fight for her honor, or at least that was how he acted.

Not wanting to argue with Scott, she decided that she would take a shower to clear her head but she only confused herself more. She thought about the man who had grabbed her and the look in his eyes. She had seen on the news that there had been a strange rash of muggings, women’s purses being taken but no harm coming to the women. They had not caught the men because each woman’s description was different, except they all claimed that these men had strange eyes.

Bella wondered if this was the man she had encountered, but how could that be? Each woman described a different man and none of the descriptions fit the man she had seen. Such strange things she had seen on the news recently.

Animals being found with their hearts ripped out, people swearing that this was only happening on the full moon. It amazed Bella how even today with all of the knowledge and advancements humans had made that they still loved to believe in fairytales.

As Bella dried off, she could hear Scott in her living room yelling over the phone to one of his friends about how she would not call the police and how she claimed she had been mugged; and in that instant, she realized that the man who had actually grabbed her had more compassion in his eyes for her than Scott ever had.

She quickly dressed and walked to the living room where Scott was still on the phone.

“We need to talk,” Bella told Scott, but he just waved his hand as if she could not see he was on the phone. Bella walked over to the wall and pulled the plug out of the phone jack. Scott looked at her with a blank expression.

“I said we need to talk,” she began. Scott stepped toward her as if he had something to say but Bella was not going to be swayed by his smooth talking. “Look, I have done what I should do as your wife. I have tried my best but you have paid no bills, you have used my car, left me at work, and treated me like dirt. In fact, if you had simply remembered your wife tonight, I would have never been mugged. What happened is completely your fault.”

Scott opened his mouth to interject, but Bella was not done. “You have taken advantage of me for the last time. I want you to take your things and leave, get out of my house tonight, and never come back. Never call me. Never look at me. In fact, never think of me!” She was screaming by the time she finished talking and had to take a deep breath to calm down.

Scott just stood there looking at her, dumbfounded and in disbelief. He had thought he had found his free ride. Scott had thought that by ordering a mail order bride he could have someone to do whatever he said. He had saved up for months and he only wanted someone to take care of him. It was not about her, it was about him getting what he wanted. He didn’t care about her, he just wanted to have fun and still have a place to sleep at night. Scott began gathering his things without saying a word. He looked at Bella a few times as she stood glaring at him with her arms crossed, he knew he had crossed the line and there was no talking to her.

Bella was feeling quite proud of herself. She was no longer going to allow him to take advantage of her, and she was no longer going to be a victim. She decided that she needed to call the police and report the mugging. She told them there was no need to send an officer over even though she knew the muggers had her ID, which had her address on it. She simply told them she would come sign the report in the morning.

Bella was not afraid of the men who had mugged her. They only wanted money, taking what little cash she carried. She would call the bank in the morning and tell them what had happened; with the police report, she knew that any money they had taken would be replaced. They were muggers, not murderers. They had the chance to take her and no one would have even known. And Scott—well, he would not have missed her until the lights had been shut off for lack of payment.

They let her go without so much as a scratch. As far as she was concerned, they were just men who needed money. Scott, on the other hand, was someone she knew she should fear. When he did not get what he wanted, he could be extremely violent, but she knew she had to stand her ground.

Once Scott had packed all of his things, he walked over to Bella and gently kissed her on the forehead. There was a sadness in his eyes, but Bella knew it was not for her. It was only for the life he was having to leave behind.

Bella slept great that night. It had been so long since she was able to sleep in her own bed, by herself, and not worry about taking the blankets off of someone else or about taking up too much room. She slept in the middle of the bed with the blankets cocooned around her.

The next morning when she awoke, she walked to her bedroom window and opened the curtains. Standing below her window on the sidewalk was the same man she had seen the night before: the man who had grabbed her when she had been mugged. He just stared up at her bedroom window, standing there with his hands in his pockets.

Bella stood looking back down at him, not completely sure what her reaction should be. Should she be scared? Maybe he had come to return her things but was afraid of coming to her door. She wondered if he could see her standing there looking back at him, and when he raised his hand in a half wave, she knew he could.

Bella quickly closed the curtain as fear flooded through her body, but as she peeked back through the curtain, she saw he was gone. Her day went on like any other, but she could not get that man out of her head. She was glad that she had her car when she got off of work, because she did not want to get caught out on the street alone ever again.

She had went to the police station that morning before work and had signed the police report. She did not, however, tell the police about the man’s eyes. She did not want them to think that she was crazy and she was not sure what to think of the man. What kind of mugger shows up at the person’s house they had just mugged? A crazy one. She knew that if his picture ended up on the news, he knew just where to find her, and she was not going to risk her life over a few dollars.

When Bella walked into her apartment door that evening, she was happy to see that it was still clean. It had been a long time since she had come home and her apartment was in the same condition it had been before she had left.

Usually, when Scott had a few friends over, they would throw food at each other, leave pizza on her table, and beer bottles sitting all around. Walking into her peaceful apartment that evening she knew that she had made the right decision.

Bella showered and headed to her bedroom to dress. She could not shake the feeling that she was being watched and looked out of her window. Once again, the man was standing there looking up. This time he had a cigarette in his hand, just standing there watching her window and smoking.

Bella dressed quickly and ran down the stairs. She was not going to put up with being watched any longer. She had to confront the man if she was ever going to feel safe in her own apartment. When Bella finally made it outside, the man was long gone. It was as if he knew she was coming, but how could he have seen her look out of the window? She didn’t fully understand what was going on and turned to walk back into her apartment building.

Bella entered her apartment slightly shaken. She began wondering if kicking Scott out was a good idea. She felt so vulnerable and so alone in that moment, but she knew she could not call Scott for help. She could not allow him back into her life.

Bella decided to lay down and try to relax her mind. She grabbed a book, and before she knew it she was drifting off to sleep. The next morning, she had all but forgotten about the night before. She had decided that it was just a coincidence that the man had been standing on the sidewalk outside of her apartment, and that he had not really been watching her.

Bella dressed and headed off to work. She was glad that she would have two days off after she finished her shift because she really needed some time to herself and away from her job. Bella waited tables at a local café. She knew she could not do this work forever, but it was the job that Scott had lined up for her when she came to marry him. It was not the best paying job, but it did pay the bills. Bella knew that this was not what she wanted to do with the rest of her life, and as she drove to work, she wondered if Scott would force her back to her own country or allow her to say. She wanted to take advantage of every thing this country had to offer, but she did not want to do it with Scott by her side.

Bella was glad to see that there were only a few customers when she got to work. There was nothing quite as annoying as walking into work and immediately being slammed. This would give her a few minutes to grab a cup of coffee before she began work. As she poured her coffee, she looked around the restaurant, and in the corner booth, she saw him.

Sitting right in her place of work was the man that had grabbed her, the same man she had seen outside of her apartment the previous two days. That was it for Bella—she’d had enough.

Bella walked straight up to the booth and sat down across from the man. He had his head down, both hands wrapped around a cup of coffee, as if that was the only thing in the world keeping him warm. He didn’t even look up at her when she sat down.

“I’m Seff,” he said to Bella.

“Well, Seff,” she replied, “What exactly is your problem? You mug me, you show up at my apartment, and then you come to my job. I should call the police on you right now!”

“Why don’t you?” he asked, finally raising his head and looking at Bella. There were those eyes staring straight into hers, and it seemed as if time had stopped.

Bella searched for words but could not find them. She looked down at the table, not sure how to answer him. Why didn’t she call the police? There was the man who had mugged her, sitting right in the restaurant she worked in. She could call the police and have him arrested right there. She looked up at him not knowing what to say.

“I have your things if you want them,” Seff said, reaching into his coat. “I’m not a bad man. We just do what we have to so that we can get by.”

Bella felt sorry for him as he handed her the purse that he and the other man had taken. She somehow felt proud of herself. She had been right about him. He was not bad; he was just trying to get by.

Bella looked at Seff for a few seconds as she took her purse. “Why?” she asked him. Seff just looked back down at his coffee. “I told you, we do what we have to.”

“What does that even mean?” she asked him, confused at his answer.

“It does not matter. I am sorry we scared you. You will find all of your belongings in your purse. I will not bother you again, and you can know that you are safe.”