Catch Me, Mr Alpha

Chapter Twenty Two

"I saw you today. You were in a different body but I recognized your eyes."

A surge of heat flew through me as I gazed back in the endless eyes of the man pinning my battered brother to the floor. I bit my teeth down and didn't move my eyes from his. I could have sworn the room heated up with my rage, and underneath my stare Rocco lifted his foot off of my brother. I could see in the corner of my eye one of the waitress' scrambling on a phone and I lunged towards Rocco.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" The words escaped my mouth in a breathless snarl as I kneeled before my brother to place his face on my lap and check him out. Leo whined in pain, spitting out blood as I shifted his body and the noise sent me screaming at a frozen Rocco in front of me.

"Chlo-" Leo attempted to gurgle out and went to sit up and I quickly shushed him, pressing him down by his shoulders. The floor around him began to puddle with his blood, gushing from his nose and his mouth. Minutes, simply a few minutes, before I had arrived something had possessed Rocco to beat the shit out of my brother. No excuse would be good enough. I turned back around and looked at Rocco with the most disgusted face I could give. He stumbled back slightly. 

Leo tried to sit up again but I was quick to force him back down. I was glad he gave me a reason to look away from Rocco because everything about him made me want to puke right now.

"Stop! NO! Stay still! You need an ambulance!" I didn't realize I was crying until my tears started to fall into my hands.

"Chloe I'm fine okay? Let me up. I got my ass kicked. It's fine, let me up."

I gaped at him as he rose to his feet, drenched in his own blood. It splattered on the floor in drips and all I could hear was my own heartbeat. My hands curled into fists as I restrained myself from lunging at Rocco. This didn't stop him from grabbing my upper arm and yanking me to my feet. He pulled me towards his chest and took a deep breath of my hair. His touch only infuriated me more.

"What happened?" I demanded. Was he smelling me? The two men were silent and standing around us while everyone else in the store watched with wide eyes. It took all of my body weight to shove Rocco off me, and if it wasn't for Justin pulling his arm back Rocco would have grabbed me once again.

As I helped Leo to his feet, he let out a small cry when shifting his torso and the noise alone unleashed something horrific inside of me. I let my brother go and lunged Rocco. My body collided with his hands but my arms continued to swing on their own terms, clenched fists reaching for the side of his head as he struggled to hold my crazed form back. 

It wasn't long until someone had managed to tear me off him and even though my fists were in an excruciating amount of pain my chest still heaved with pure rage. I didn't glare at Rocco like I wanted to but merely refused to look in his direction. How could he?  

Tears poured down my eyes as Justin tried to shush me but my head was spinning too quick to listen. My gaze shifted back to Leo, who was being cleaned up by a few strangers and I huffed before pulling out my phone to call Calvin. My brother didn't take more than five minutes to pull up to the store. He grabbed me before he grabbed Leo and sent the beast a glare that could kill.

I didn't look back at Rocco as we drove off. Calvin didn't bother to tell me never to talk to him again - my brothers knew me better than that. Rocco was dead to me.

I decided that night allowing him back in my life would never be healthy for me. He was clearly unstable,  not human and I needed to cut him off.  I deserved better than that, I needed stability and safety in my life. I wanted a normal, happy life and nothing to do with any supernatural psychopath. 

Leo laid in my lap with a pack of ice on his head,  while Seinfeld episodes playing on the tv but I was too lost on Rocco. I hadn't even bothered to ask Leo yet what had caused the situation because I never wanted to discuss the beast ever again. He had hurt someone I love, and he was dead to me. 

But my heart ached every time I tried to stop thinking of him. I ended up forcing myself to sleep early that night, polishing off half a bottle of ZzzQuil, knowing it would be the only time I'd find mental peace. I dreamt of him in dozens of shades of red that night. Every time I saw him in my sleep, he would be drenched in the color red and all I could feel was livid. 

"SWALLOW ME WHOLE!" Was the only thing I managed to get out of my mouth in my dreams but my own voice awoke me from my sleep as I shot up screaming the phrase. I swore I saw a pair of eyes on the other side of my window, but when I blinked they were gone. 

Brushing it off as my imagination, I still neared my window and gazed towards Rocco's house. His window was black, his bedroom lights off. Before I could even wonder if he was in there his head popped up and he put his chin on his window frame. 

Our eyes connected and my heart skipped a beat. Continuing to gaze at each other, he pushed his bottom lip forward to pout at me. I bit down on a smile and slammed my window shut. 

"Fuck you!"