17

Luckily the streets were asleep and not many cars stopped us from getting back to his home. We went inside and didn't bother to cut on any lights. We both just wanted to sleep.

"I am going to be exhausted in a few hours." he said, his tone low and tired.

"Maybe you can take a day off to just relax." I replied.

"Sadly today was that day." he said and motioned his hands at my back to remove my coat. I let him slide it off me and he hung our coats on the coat rack. Quietly we went up the stairs and I stopped at my door and he passed me gently letting his hand slide across my back gently.

"Good night." he replied softly, and I placed my hand on the doorknob before pausing in thought. I looked at him to see him just about to open his door.

"Hey… sleep in my bed tonight?" I asked, and he paused and looked at me for a moment before I just entered my room and let the door drift open. Maybe the talk of this serial killer has me more spooked than I thought. I kicked off my shoes and just slid out of my dress. Rafael entered removing his pants and his shirt.

"Just so we are both clear on this, we're just sleeping correct?" he asked. I smiled tiredly as I entered the bathroom.

"Yes. Don't worry I know we both need our sleep." I replied entering the bathroom and wiping my face with make up remover. He followed and we sloppily shared my sink just washing our face.

"Don't get me wrong, for you I'll force the energy." he teased. I grinned and just patted his back.

"I know you would." I said.

We were now in my bed, curled up together. My back was to his chest and he held me quietly. I was very tired and I could already feel my brain trying to work out getting up with being at least a little rested in time to make breakfast and get to school tomorrow.

"I'm sorry if I end up cranky in a few hours. I'm not used to staying out late and I like to control my morning as much as I can so as to not be late for school and I can be a pain if I don't get enough sleep." I said after rolling over to face him. He watched me with tired eyes and I figured maybe it wasn't the time to talk about this.

"Why didn't you tell me you were ready to leave at the party?" he asked gently. I shrugged softly closing my eyes some before opening them.

"I don't know. Maybe I didn't think it was my place to. And I didn't want your friends to think you were a slave to me." I said gently, and he just shook his head resting his hand on my cheek.

"But Amara, I am a slave to you. Now that I have found my beta in you, I want nothing more than to make sure you are happy and safe with me. That's the job of an alpha." he said, and I looked down slightly feeling relief take over me.

"I'm kind of glad you are my alpha. I am glad we got paired together." I said, and he smiled.

"Me too. Let's not forget to set our alarms this time." he said. We smiled at each other then rolled over to get our phones, cut on our alarms and rolled back to face each other smiling. "How about when we both wake up tomorrow cranky, we both be cranky towards other people and not each other?" I chuckled gently and nodded.

"I like the way you think." I replied and we both gently kissed each other good night.

Rafael's POV

I watched her fall asleep and as she slept hard, I just outlined her face, taking in every inch of her. Then I remembered those girls on the coroners table. I couldn't close my eyes yet without the far of seeing her on a table, eyes closed, flesh decaying and purple. How could I keep her safe without becoming overbearing and upsetting her again? This is a struggle of an alpha, not having the answer to protect the one you love. Oh yes, I was madly in love with this young woman. At first it was just infatuation from the fact I found my beta, but now it blossomed into something more, more than anything I could have ever thought possible.

I didn't realize it was four in the morning now. I had just stared at her face for three hours. As she groaned gently and shifted a bit I just watched her. I don't know if every alpha thought this, but to me, there was something magical about her. It was like a soft light illuminated her face every time she came into a room. A spot light almost. I took in every inch of her body from the black bird tattoo she had on the top right side of her back, all the way to her toes. She even had a purple hibiscus flower tattoo on her left arm with the words genuine at the top that would be upside if she looked at it. That's what she was. Genuine in everything she did.

I meant what I said about being a slave to her. Anything she wanted I would do that didn't involve us not being a mated pair. I would have never let her got to jail, she was just gullible enough to call my bluff. I'd rather worship the ground she walks on then having her feel she had to walk on egg shells around me. My gaze lightly hardened on her.

I don't even want to think of what I was capable of if anyone were to ever try and hurt her. I didn't sleep tonight and yet I still felt perfectly rested drinking in her form. Our alarms woke her up and she blinked away the sleep, groaning some and slowly turning to me. Her eyes were sleepy as she looked at me curiously.

"You look very refreshed. Did you sleep alright?" she asked almost with concern, and I smiled and nodded slowly snuggling some into her pillow. These satin pillow cases were heaven.

"Oh yes." he replied and she smiled and nodded.

"Good. Now… let's go be cranky at the world." she said and got up and I leaned up some smiling at her bare form as she walked over to the bathroom. She then pauses in the doorway and looks at me. "Want to shower with me, at least we can get that done together." I smiled even more and nodded.

"Whatever you want, mami. Get the shower started, I need to make a very quick call." I told her and she nodded.

"Don't keep me waiting." she said. I winked at her.

"Nunca." I promised. (Never) She kept smiling and entered the bathroom. As I heard the shower cut on I turned and lifted my phone and made a call to a friend who owned a car dealer ship.

"Hey, Everett. Is it ready?" I asked.

"It's already en route to you. Should be there in thirty minutes." he replied. I only smiled and looked at the bathroom to see panties suddenly dropping out the door. I grinned.

"Excellent. Thank you, my friend." I replied and hung up and swung the covers off my body and with energy I never knew I had, I hopped out of the bed and ran into the bathroom after sliding my boxers off.

Amara's POV

My hair was pinned up so no water would catch it and to make sure that didn't happen Rafael stood in front of the shower catching most of the water. We had already bathed and was clean, but at the moment our arms were wrapped around each other and we were just making out at this point.

"Mm any longer we will both definitely be late for class and work." he said. I nodded in agreement pecking his soft lips.

"The city works fast with getting the power on everywhere." I replied with disappointment. He smiled.

"Well the faster we both get out of here the faster we can get back to each other." he said. I smirked.

"You can only promise that if you don't have to work late tonight which I suspect you will because of the power being out." I replied. He nodded slowly.

"Maybe after class, you can stop by." he said. I shrugged and nodded.

"Sure. I can't promise that the traffic will be nice especially on the bus." I replied. Suddenly a ringing made me jump and look behind me at the door. It was the doorbell. Rafael just hugged me close in response. I then looked at him worried.

"Are you expecting company?" I asked and he shook his head.

"No." he replied. We got out of the shower and dressed quickly in separate rooms. I wore a white sweater and leggings and he came out in his usual suit. The doorbell rang again and Rafael led me to the door before looking out the peep hole before smiling at me with excitement and stepping from the door.

"Why don't you go look and see who it is." he said. I looked at him very confused and arched a brow slowly moving to the door and opening it. In the driveway next to Rafael's car was a silverfish blue Toyota Camry. My eyes widened as I looked at him.

"What is that?" I asked and moved outside. My hands clasped over my mouth. "NU UH! No you didn't!" I looked from the car to him to see him smiling and he shrugged.

"I wanted you to have your own car." he said. I gawked and looked back at the car and moved over to it, too afraid to touch it. It was beautiful. I looked at him once more to see him approaching with his hands in his pockets.

"What year is this?" I asked.

"2017." he replied. I felt tears streaming down my face in utter happiness. He knew I came from a Toyota family so that's what made this even more special.

"Oh my god… I mean OH MY GOD!" I blurted in happiness before sniffling and looking at Rafael before spreading my arms and moving up to him. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me passionately. I responded immediately holding him close. After a few seconds, someone cleared their throats and I saw a man in a black jumpsuit.

"Just need a signature and the keys are yours." he said holding up a clip board with a pair of black keys on them. Rafael took the clip board and handed me the keys. I held them in my hands and felt complete excitement devour me. Rafael gave the clip board back and the man nodded his head at us and walked down the street to a big truck and drove away. I placed my hand over my head in utter awe. I looked at Rafael.

"I don't know what to say. I mean… I'm sure this cost you a lot of money and-" Rafael shook his head and waved his hand in front of me.

"Don't. I did this because I wanted to. You need a car and I got it for you." he said and I just stared at him crying some more before pulling him into me once more. He was even warmer against me now and I drank it all in.

"Thank you." I said sincerely in his ear and pulled back and he smiled.

"You are always welcome. Now we are both officially late for work and school." he said, and I couldn't help but laugh now as I honestly didn't care about being late today.

"I think I will be okay. I can get notes from class mates." I replied. He nodded.

"Okay. Still coming by after then?" he asked. I nodded with a smile.

"Yes." I replied gently and he nodded.

"Maybe you can sit in another case of mine." he said. I nodded.

"Text me your schedule and I'll let you know when I am on my way." I replied and his eyes brightened even more. There was no need to rush entirely now. We headed back inside, got our brief cases and back pack and headed back onto the front porch. Now I could finally put my house key on something now. We stepped down off the stairs and Rafael placed his hand on my back.

"I'll see you later, mi amor." he replied. We shared a loving kiss before separating into our own vehicles. The seats were leather and black and my radio and speakers were all blue tooth. Oh my god this entire car was beautiful. I looked back at Rafael letting him reverse first. This was all because of him. My parents were planning to get me a car before I graduated, so I was fine with being patient since it was clear a car was coming. But this gift from my alpha, was something I would never forget.

Luckily I had made it to my Abnormal Psychology class in time for my exam. Our psychology building was quite large and we were on third floor. It wasn't a hard test really, and I was honestly breezing through it. Sadie was in my class as well and it was going pretty well. Honestly nothing could ruin this day. I mean I got a car today! A car to call my own.

BANG!

Everyone looked up now at the sound and we all slowly looked at each other, eyes filling immediate panic. BANG! BANG! BANG! It was like we were all on auto pilot as we knew the sound of a gunshot followed by blood curdling screams.

"LOCK THE DOOR!" someone yelled in panic, and immediately I dropped to the floor as people started to scream. Our professor moved to cut the lights out.

"Everyone stay do-" BANG! Blood painted the floor as his body seemed to explode of blood and he fell to the ground. Everyone screamed as the door was kicked opened…

Oh my god.