Chapter 504: Episode 502: Roxy’s Panic Attack

Zarek turned his head away from the mess of spilled food and barking dogs.

He looked back down the quiet, tree-lined path, expecting to see Roxy and Lira laughing together.

Instead, what he saw made his fierce dragon heart completely stop beating.

Roxy was not laughing. She was not walking. She was standing perfectly, entirely still. Her arms were glued tightly to her sides, and her beautiful face was as pale as a white sheet of paper. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a fast-moving truck. She was completely frozen in pure terror.

Zarek didn’t even care about the noisy park anymore.

"Roxy!" Zarek roared, a sound so loud and deep that it made the birds in the oak trees fly away in a total panic.

The other five Kings snapped their attention back instantly. The moment they saw her frozen state, they moved. In the blink of an eye, the six giant men crossed the twenty feet of paved sidewalk. They completely swarmed around her.

The ragged man with the dirty green jacket and the cruel smirk didn’t even have time to figure out what was happening. One second, he was stepping closer to his terrified victim, ready to ruin her perfect day. The very next second, Roxy was entirely hidden from his view. A terrifying wall of incredibly broad shoulders completely blocked him out.

The Kings didn’t even look twice at him. They didn’t grab him by the dirty collar of his jacket or ask him what he was doing. To these powerful men, he was just a random, smelly piece of garbage standing on the sidewalk. They didn’t care about him at all. They were way too focused on saving their Matriarch from spiraling into a massive panic attack.

Her ex-husband stood there, his dirty hands shoved deep into his pockets, watching the scene in sick fascination.

He had planned this moment for so long. He had waited outside the park, tracked her movements, and dreamed about seeing the fear in her green eyes again. He thought he would corner her, make her feel small, and prove that she was still the weak, pathetic girl he used to lock in a room.

But as he stared at the giant men surrounding her, his ugly, sickening smile slowly melted right off his face.

These men were huge. They were wearing expensive clothes, and they moved with the terrifying speed of wild predators. One of the men, a giant with bright blue eyes, stood with his back to the ex-husband, his massive shoulders completely shielding Roxy. The ex-husband swallowed hard. His "weak" wife didn’t just find a rich new boyfriend. She had a literal, highly trained army guarding her every single step.

He took a slow, quiet step backward into the dark shadows of the trees, deciding it was best to stay completely out of their way.

Inside the tight circle of her husbands, Roxy couldn’t breathe. Her brain was completely trapped in a dark loop of terrible memories. She stared blankly at Zarek’s chest, her eyes wide and unblinking.

"Breathe, my heart," Zarek whispered softly. He reached out and gently cupped her cold, pale face in his massive hands. "You are safe. We have you."

Ren quickly grabbed her wrist, his violet eyes completely focused on her racing pulse. "She is going into shock," the healer warned his brothers. "We need to get her out of here right now."

Zarek didn’t wait. He bent down, scooped her up effortlessly into his strong arms, and held her tightly against his warm chest.

Lira also panicked as she tried to figure out what was happening to her friend. "Is she okay? What happened?"

"She just needs to rest," Syris told Lira smoothly, gently guiding the sweet human girl forward by the elbow. "Let’s get you home safely first."

They moved fast. They marched right out of the park and into the waiting fleet of shiny black cars.

The ride to Lira’s apartment building was completely silent. The fun, happy afternoon was totally ruined. Roxy didn’t say a single word. She just sat in the back seat on Zarek’s lap, staring blankly at the leather seats, her body completely numb.

When they pulled up to Lira’s building, Kaelen got out of the car. He walked Lira to the front doors, making absolutely sure that the sweet girl got inside safely before he climbed back in.

Then, the black cars sped as fast as they could back to the giant glass building.

The Kings were terrified. They sat in the cars, watching Roxy with deep, heavy worry in their eyes. They hadn’t seen her look this broken and empty since they first rescued her from the dark basement in the Beastworld. What in the world had happened in those five short seconds? Who was that dirty man standing on the path?

The private elevator ride up to the penthouse felt like it took a million years. As soon as the heavy metal doors slid open, Zarek carried her quickly down the hallway. He walked straight into the massive, warm living room and gently set her down on the soft velvet sofa.

The six men immediately went into full rescue mode. They moved around the living room like a perfectly trained team.

Torian ran to the closets and grabbed the thickest, fluffiest blankets he could find. Caspian ran to the kitchen and poured a glass of warm, sweet water. Ren hurried to the bathroom and brought back a warm, damp towel.

They wrapped Roxy up completely, cocooning her in soft blankets until only her pale face was showing. They didn’t crowd her too tightly, but they all sat down on the floor around the sofa, making sure she knew she was surrounded by love.

Ren leaned forward and gently wiped her cold cheeks with the warm towel. Zarek sat right beside her knees, rubbing his big thumbs over her covered legs to bring the heat back into her body.

"Roxy," Ren whispered, his voice as soft and calm as a quiet river. "You are home. Nobody can hurt you here. Just listen to my voice and breathe."

For a long time, the massive living room was totally silent, except for the crackling of the warm fireplace.

Then, slowly, the dark, heavy fog inside Roxy’s brain finally started to clear. The terrifying images of her past started to fade away, replaced by the warm, safe faces of the six men who loved her. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

She blinked once. Then she blinked again. The complete, icy numbness was finally wearing off, leaving her feeling exhausted and completely raw.

She looked down at her worried mates sitting on the floor. She saw the absolute fear in Zarek’s golden eyes. She saw Torian gripping the edge of the blanket. She saw Syris running his hands nervously through his hair. They had no idea what was wrong with her. They didn’t know who they were supposed to fight.

Roxy took a deep, shaky breath. A single, hot tear rolled slowly down her cheek, catching the warm light of the fire.

She looked right into Zarek’s eyes, her voice dropping into a broken, terrified whisper.

"That man in the park... that was the monster who broke me."