Fury Read online

  “Get that bitch,” one of the men yelled.

  Ellie grabbed the fire poker and spun to face her attackers. She struck the man closest to her using the metal rod as if it were a baseball bat. Pain shot through Ellie’s hands from the sharp impact when it made contact with the man’s body. He howled in pain and jumped back but stared at his torn shirt where blood appeared on the damaged material.

  The man glared at Ellie. “You’re going to pay for that,” he hissed.

  The other man unsheathed a hunting knife from his waist as both men moved apart. Ellie kept her back to the fireplace and waved the fire poker between the men, trying to keep them back. They inched apart more to make it harder for Ellie to keep an eye on both of them. Both rushed her. She swung. Ellie managed to hit one of them right before the second one tackled her. She hit the floor hard with a heavy weight crushed down over her. She gasped, tried to scream, but she couldn’t even draw breath.

  “You bitch,” the one she’d hit roared. “I think she broke my fucking hand. You got her, Roy?”

  The man on top of her grabbed her hair at the base of her neck and smashed her facedown against the carpet. She tried to fight but couldn’t get away from him. He shoved her harder against the carpet and a knee dug painfully against the back of her leg.

  “I got the rabid bitch, Chuck.”

  He adjusted enough for her to turn her head. Ellie inhaled air and instantly regretted it. The man had putrid breath. He kept her pinned down and held her head in place with his fisted grip on her hair. She couldn’t get out from under the heavy man. He had to be close to three hundred pounds.

  “Let me cut the bitch up,” Chuck whined. “I think she really broke my hand. It hurts like hell.”

  Roy grunted. He shifted and Ellie cried out in pain when his body pressed flush with hers, pushed tighter against her until her ribs threatened to break. Something poked into her ass cheek. The other guy tore the fire poker from her hand.

  “Help me get her up,” Roy rasped. “I know how to show this bitch her place in society and then I’ll let you slice her damn throat like she’s a rabbit. We’ll watch her twitch until all the blood drains out.”

  Ellie could only manage to buck and squirm when she tried to fight. The object pressed against her ass wasn’t a mystery anymore. Roy was horny. She had a horrible idea what he planned to do to her to show her what her place in his messed-up idea of society would be. Sheep, rabbits, she guessed anything breathing was the asshole’s speed.

  Hands grabbed her ankles and a second later Roy shifted his weight off her and let go of her hair to grab her other wrist. They hauled her up by her arms and legs, carried her between them, her back inches above floor. Ellie screamed and fought, tried to kick out at the man who held her legs, but they wouldn’t let her go. Chuck sure seemed to have no problems holding her ankles in a crushing hold for a guy with a suspected broken hand.

  “Toss her over the couch. Then move on the other side of it to grab her hair.” Roy panted, out of breath from restraining her while she struggled.

  They swung Ellie’s body and she hit a coffee table. Sharp pain exploded in her side. She wondered if they’d broken her rib when it hurt to gasp air into her lungs. The men swung her again, this time she hit the couch, and they twisted her body with brutal hands. Roy had her arms and Chuck dropped her legs.

  She attempted to kick at Roy when they bent her over the back of the couch. Roy slammed his body down on hers instead, crushed her under him again and pinned her tightly to the couch. She screamed into the cushion when hands grabbed her hair and pressed her face tighter into the material. Sheer panic shot through her when she realized she couldn’t breathe. They were suffocating her.

  “Hand me the knife.” Roy sounded excited and breathless.

  One of the hands left Ellie’s hair. She twisted her face, gasped air into her starved lungs, and screamed when she exhaled. Roy grabbed the back of her shirt and the knife slid along her spine. Numb with terror, she didn’t know if he cut her too. She tried to kick at him but she couldn’t get any real force behind the motion.

  She blindly reached out, trying to claw Chuck. A brutal hand gripped her hair again but she grasped his arm. She dug her fingernails into skin as he shoved her face back into the cushion, attempting to suffocate her again. She heard his savage curse and Ellie sucked in a large gasp of air when he tore his hand away to stop the pain she inflicted.

  Her pants were shoved down her legs, leaving no doubt they planned to rape her. Ellie fought harder, screamed, and then suddenly the weight was torn away from her. She threw her body away from the couch the second Roy’s body moved. She tripped and collapsed to the floor on her ass. She sucked in precious air while gaping at the men around her. She instinctively yanked her pants back up.

  Roy lay sprawled on his stomach on the floor with a gun pointed at the back of his head. Chuck had his hands up and looked absolutely terrified. Four men dressed in black SWAT-styled outfits with NSO printed in white lettering on their vests stared down at her. Their faces weren’t totally human and she identified them immediately as New Species. They held guns and had large knives strapped against their thighs. She heard movement from behind her and jerked her head toward the noise. Fury stood there, bristling with rage far darker than the black outfit he and the other men wore.

  Something ugly twisted inside Fury. He’d pushed his men hard to reach the women’s dorm the second Justice had called the team and stated Ellie was in danger. He’d been terrified he’d arrive too late and damn near had. When he’d rushed into the room to see the scene before him, those men ready to do horrific things to his Ellie, a murderous impulse hit him. It took everything he had not to roar out in wrath and kill them. His animal wanted to watch them bleed and die.

  He breathed hard, his gaze fixed on her face as she gasped for air while attempting to right her pants. Her hair tumbled around her bruised face, her shirt cut apart in the back, and he could see bruises forming on her pale, delicate skin. The scent of her terror clung in the air, making it more difficult for him to gain control of his urges to tear her attackers apart with his bare hands.

  He darted a glance toward the cameras and their presence helped him hold his composure. He knew, if they weren’t there, he would have murdered the humans without a second thought for daring to touch Ellie. Even now, he was tempted, consequences be damned. They’d gone after his woman and had harmed her.

  He took a threatening step toward one of the men but then Ellie softly moaned. His gaze zoned on her instantly and it forced him to rethink his decision. Caring for her became his first priority. He could kill those bastards after he made certain she wasn’t acutely injured.

  He took breaths through his mouth to help dilute her terrified scent and he fought his animal for control. He glanced at each of his men, acknowledged their rage as well, and knew they were looking to him for guidance on how to handle the situation. That assisted him as well to calm down as he forced his fists to unclench. He gave hand signals to his men to secure the assholes responsible for the attack. He didn’t trust his voice.

  Fury tried with great difficulty to appear composed, something he definitely wasn’t, as he approached Ellie. He wanted to drop to the floor and cradle her in his arms and give comfort. It reassured him that he’d reached her in time but then the male human scents mingled with hers.

  It enraged him, smelling them on her. She was his, damn it, and he’d fought hard to stay the hell away from her after Justice’s warning. He had, except for a few nightly trips to glimpse her from afar, and now she’d nearly died. Orders be damned, he’d touch her now. He moved with care not to startle her. He needed to make certain she was really all right even if he had to strip her to inspect every inch. He wouldn’t settle for less.

  Fury knew he had to keep a cool head. Ellie had to be leery of him after the incident at his house and he didn’t want to show her how much she meant to him. The last thing he needed would be Ellie understanding how badly she