Taming the Beast
Chapter 18 (Keegan)

"What happened?" the Latina one asked. She was the more sober one. I sighed and craned my neck to look at her face before looking back to them.

"This idiot spiked her drink. He was about to take advantage of her, but I go there in time. I'm going to go ahead and take her home. Can I have her stuff?" I asked.

"What happened?" I heard Trevor's voice from behind me. I sighed and told him what I just told her friends. He nodded. "I'll show you were she lives," he said, taking her stuff from her friends.

"Thank you... for taking care of her," her red-headed friend slurred. I think her name was Stacy or something. Trevor grabbed Gregg and told the others what was happening. We walked out into the crisp fall night and to the truck. I put Caroline in the backseat and slid in beside her as Trevor drove. Gregg sat in the passenger seat. When we pulled up to her house, I took a second to look at the place where my mate lived. I cradled her in my arms again as we headed towards the door. Trevor found her house key in her purse thing and opened the door. I took her upstairs and opened the first door I saw. I sighed and realized that I got the right room. It was simple yet, it fit her. Trevor put her purse thing on her vanity and even plugged her phone into her charger next to her bed. I laid her down before I rummaged through he drawers. I finally found a pair of Captain America lounge pants and a big tee-shirt. I slipped the pants on her and undid her dress. I paused before taking it off. I noticed a long scar running on her abdomen on her right side. There were scars all over her stomach actually; little ones, but the one on her right side was long and looked like it was deep also. My heart squeezed for her. Whatever happened, she didn't deserve the pain that those scars must have brought. I quickly slipped on her shirt before tucking her in her bed. I held her hand and rubbed my thumb over her knuckles briefly before I pushed her hair out of her face. I left a long lingering kiss on her forehead. She stirred gently and grabbed her extra pillow, hugging it close.

"Keegan," she muttered softly. It was barely a whisper, but my heightened hearing picked it up anyway. I couldn't help the smile that broke out on my face.

"Hey, I think her brother is pulling up," Trevor alerted me. I sighed and nodded.

"Go wait in the car, I'll let him know what happened," I instructed. Trevor nodded before he disappeared. I turned off the light and closed the door to her room before I made my way downstairs. I hit the bottom step just as the front door opened. My eyes widened slightly. It was the same guy I saw with her at her volleyball game... only he was wearing a cop uniform.

"Who the hell are you?!" he yelled at me. I shushed him and looked up the stairs.

"I just got Caroline in the bed and I don't want to wake her," I said softly. I extended my hand to him. "I'm Keegan Porter," I introduced myself. He looked at my hand before he looked back up to my face. I dropped my hand and sighed. This was going to be a long conversation.

"What the hell are you doing in my house?" he asked softer than the first time. I glanced up the stairs again before looking back to Caroline's brother. He motioned me to another part of the house. I noticed that it was the living room. He motioned for me to sit and I did. He sat across from me and waited. I took a deep breath and looked at my hands before I started.

"Caroline was at Duncan's party and she was drinking a lot and a little out of control actually, but I talked to her and she sobered up a bit after a while. She was okay, and then... this... scumbag," I started. Already, my fists were clenching and unclenching as I tried to get my anger under control. "He spiked her drink. Or at least, I'm assuming that because I saw him hand her a drink and then a few minutes later, she was out of it and he was dragging her upstairs." I gauged the brother quickly. He was getting angry really fast.

"I stopped him though. Pretty damn near killed him, but I stopped him. I got her stuff from her friends because they were too drunk to drive. Then I brought her here, put her up in her room and I was going to put some painkillers by her bed before I left," I explained. After a second, the brother sighed with his eyes closed and pinched the bridge of his nose briefly.

"Thank you... for bringing her home. I'm Danny, by the way," he introduced himself. I shook his hand professionally and stood.

"Sorry for the intrusion," I apologized. He shook his head.

"No it's okay. You can stay in the guest room tonight. I'll grab you a change of clothes for a shower. I'm going to talk to Caroline when she wakes up in the morning. I want you there," he said. My eyes widened in shock. He wanted me to stay the night? He chuckled as if he were reading my thoughts.

"Yeah, I know it's weird, but you seem to really like her and I don't think you would do anything to hurt her. Call it... brother intuition," he shrugged. I nodded.

"I'll just tell my ride I'm staying then," I said softly, heading towards the front door. What a weird turn of events.☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐