chapter 1

...Seven Years Ago...

Locking the front door to The Cage, Beau shivered as

cold, crisp air blew against his exposed skin. Snow was in

the forecast and since it was nearly ten o’clock at night, the

temperatures were barely in the low thirties. He pulled the

front of his leather jacket closed and moved toward his truck

as quickly as he could, wanting to escape the frigid weather.

He was also beyond exhausted and just wanted to go home

to sleep.

After buying the gym from his dad, Beau had been

putting in extra-long hours to renovate the inside of the gym

and update all the equipment. Not that there had been

anything wrong with the way his Pop had it, but Pop had

encouraged Beau to make The Cage his own, so he had

been painting the walls, installing new workout equipment,

and building new fighting cages.

Pulling his keys from his pocket, he hit the unlock

button on the fob and was reaching for the door handle

when he heard a woman screaming.

“Help me! Help!”

Looking around, he tried to figure out which direction

the voice was coming from. Furrowing his brows, he jogged

to the edge of the parking lot when he heard the woman

scream again.

“Help! Rape! Help!”

Looking to his left, Beau realized the voice was

coming from that direction, so he took off running. Every

nerve in his body was screaming at him to move faster and

find the woman. His brain was terrified of what he might find

but he was also seeing red as his rage rose to the surface.

“Help!”

The pleading voice made his blood run cold, but he

knew he was getting closer as her pleas were getting louder.

Rounding a corner, he heard the woman scream again, and

when he looked to his right, he could see movement down

an alleyway. He ran as fast as he could until he got closer to

the people who were scuffling.

“Help me! Please, help me!” she screamed.

“Hey! Let her go!” Beau roared.

The attacker froze briefly, but Beau could see the

man’s hand around her throat in a tight grip. The woman

that had been screaming was definitely not a woman, but a

teenager. Even though the alley was dark, there was a glow

of a nearby streetlamp illuminating them, and he could see

the terror etched on her face. He could also see her shirt

was ripped open.

Beau ran directly up to the attacker and jumped on

his back, pulling the man away from her. Both of them

landed on the ground with a painful thud, but within

seconds, they were back on their feet. Little did the man

know, Beau was a trained fighter, and this man wouldn’t

stand a chance in a fistfight with him. Pulling his arm back,

he swung forward, hitting the man in the jaw, and then with

his other arm, punched him in the throat.

The man stumbled back but kept his balance, and the

look in his eyes was pure evil. Suddenly he sprang forward,

and before Beau could react, he felt a burning pain low in

his abdomen. Looking down, Beau saw the blade of the

man’s knife being pulled from his body and then the man

pulled his hand back, ready to stab again.

 As his hand came forward with the knife, Beau

charged toward him, punching him in the eye. Another

source of burning pain, this time in his thigh, had him

growling in both pain and rage. One of them were going to

die in this battle, and it wasn’t going to be him.

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