-Cara-

Cara turned to where the voice came from.

Next to her, with his arm propped against the door, leaning down towards her, stood a man.

He looked to be the same age as Keegan but not as nice. A pair of blue eyes, shaded with severe intoxication studied her intensely from top to toe.

He looked like the type of person who was full of himself, especially due to the very arrogant grin spreading across his lips as he simultaneously continued studying her with a very... objectifying gaze. Cara felt like a piece of meat behind the counter in a store, being devoured through the glass divider.

"Leaving already?" His breath smelled of meat burps and whatever alcoholic beverage he seemed to have bathed in. It was hard not to gag but she managed.

Cara forced herself to smile faintly at him, but also very quickly. The smile didn't reach her eyes. The universal signal that a girl wanted to be left alone, but not be a bitch about it. Even though it was completely up to her.

However, Cara thought it was best to keep a friendly face on since she didn't quite know how things worked around here, and this man's view on women seemed more than outdated.

She reached for the door handle again but he drunkenly waved his hand in front of her to gain her attention.

"I said hello." He said, irritated that she hadn't answered him.

Cara threw a nervous look in Keegan's direction.

He was busy with his friends and right when she looked he was just finishing his second tankard of ale.

Cara swallowed nervously and figured  help wasn't coming. Had he even seen her? Or was he pretending not to see her so he could just go about what he was doing?

"Are you deaf or something? Or are you a mute?" The man asked and grabbed her upper arm hard. He swung her around so she was facing him, squeezing her arm tightly.

"Ow!" She exclaimed, surprised that he dared to lay his hand on her. "What the fuck is your problem?" She hissed in English.

Fuck... she thought when she realized that she changed language.

"So you do speak? Just not the common tongue..." The man said surprised and smirked viciously at her. "Too bad, I've never been with a mute."

He spoke too quickly and slurred so much that Cara couldn't understand him. Whatever he said, it wasn't good news. That much she understood from his tone.

"Let go!" She yelled instinctively in English, as he pulled her closer to himself.

"A foreigner?" He chuckled unpleasantly. He must not have noticed her speaking English earlier. "You'll be a first after all..."

Cara tried to jerk herself free but the man pushed her up against the door, locked her arm above her headed and held her there without breaking a sweat. She turned her face to look at Keegan again, but he was still distracted by his friends and Ms. Goldy Locks. Jared served him a third tankard.

Jeez, how drunk is he planning on getting? Put it down and help me you asshole! She screamed internally.

Panic surged through her body when another attempt to free herself from the man's grip failed. She tried to shout at Keegan or Flynn for help, but her body did not respond. 

The creep pulled her closer and there was nothing she could do about it. He was really strong and not in control of how hard he was holding her, she could barely feel her fingers by now. 

"Let go." She whispered when her voice did not cooperate enough to make it sound authoritative. He ignored her. The hazed eyes kept studying her and she saw that whatever she was in for, he had started imagining it in his mind.

He raised his tankard to his mouth and finished it sloppily. The liquid streamed down on the sides of his mouth and dripped of his chin.

"Pig..."

"I think you are the prettiest little lass I have laid my eyes upon here in Tranmere. We'll have some fun for sure." He said, ignoring her words again.

He leaned in to take what he wanted.

A loud slap ripped through the air and the sound of the man's tankard hitting the wooden floor beneath them caused a slight silence to erupt.

Yes! Please, will someone tell him to get off me! Cara thought and her eyes flickered between the ones that had noticed. No one said a word. What? No one is going to get him off me? They're just going to let him molest me?!?!

Suddenly a hand grabbed Cara by her throat, hard and tightly. She fought for air immediately due to the tightness of the grip.

-Keegan-

Keegan was just about to start on his third tankard when he paced himself for a moment. He was already quite drunk and the third wouldn't really make things better. It wouldn't help with the fact that he had confessed his feelings towards Cara to his little brother and Jared. 

He had chugged the first two tankards to distract himself, and keep himself from staring at Cara. The slightest mistake and he would have to let the rest in on what he had just admitted to Jared.

Out of nowhere he felt Kay's hand on his thigh. His brows furrowed and he slapped it away very decisively so she wouldn't try it again. She was doing what she always did; trying to make him bed her even though it would never happen.

Every time he said something she threw her head back in laughter and it annoyed the life out of him. Her eyes her fixed on him and she rarely looked away, not giving him the peace he needed right now.

If I tell her that I want her to leave, will she laugh then as well? He wondered and momentarily looked the other way. He wasn't going to give her the idea of him actually being interesting. 

Keegan would much rather be sitting with Jared alone... or with Cara. His mind wandered off to the person his mind loved having in it, and he realized that it had been a while since he had checked on her. He raised his drunken gaze towards the counter. 

His eyes couldn't spot his father or Cara. Had they gone home? They must have. His father would never have left Cara on her own... 

That is strange... it does not feel like long ago since they came.

Out of nowhere the sound a tankard being dropped near the door caught his attention. It barely echoed since the tavern was full of people, but it still reached him.

Keegan turned his gaze towards the door, wanting something to distract him while Kay tried her best to make him hers for the night. 

What he saw set his body in flames immediately; Lochlan, son of the blacksmith in the village, held Cara by her throat and pressed her up against the door. Lochlan were known for his aggresive behavior in the village, and girls tended to stay away from him because of it. But here he was, with his filthy hands on Cara.

Where the fuck is father?! What is she doing with Lochlan?

Keegan didn't even manage to think about his actions before he had thrown himself past Kay, making her stumble out of her chair and onto the floor.

"Hey! What the fuck, Keegan!" She screamed.

"Oh no." He heard his little brother gasp and how his chair was pushed back as he too got up. "Lochlan."

Keegan slithered through the other guests. Even though he couldn't move any faster it still felt like he wasn't quick enough. He kept his eyes on Cara to make sure she was unharmed while he made his way over to her. She was holding her hands over Lochlan's. It was clearly hard for her to breathe and it stressed him in a way he had never felt before. 

He is holding her throat too tightly. She is clawing at his hands to get free. Keegan thought stressed as he moved closer. She can't breathe!

His whole body and soul were fuming and everything felt like it was going to explode in a wrath he had never experienced before. What he had felt when Jared had lured his anger out was nothing compared to this. It felt like his blood was made from hellfire.

"Lochlan!" He roared when he finally were in reach, but he didn't give the brute time to answer. His fist greeted Lochlan's face when he turned around to see who had called his name.

Keegan used all of his strength but somehow it felt insufficient. The force of his fist in Lochlan's face didn't match the anger inside of him. However, he heard something break and felt warm blood stream down his knuckles. Something in Lochlan's face wasn't whole anymore, and that was all that mattered. 

The brute fell to his knees and Keegan saw Cara staring at him with big terrified eyes, but she didn't look scared of him. Her eyes flickered to Lochlan and then back to Keegan. It looked like she was suppressing the urge to run into his arms.

Keegan's body screamed for hers and he was just about to reach out for her when he was tackled. Lochlan had thrown himself around his waist, catching Keegan off guard.

They both fell to the floor but Keegan was the one who hit the floor first, with the brute's weight in addition to his own.

Both of them grunted as they landed.

"What do you think you are doing?" Lochlan yelled, spitting blood. Keegan looked up at him and saw more blood pouring from his disfigured nose. "You broke my nose, for fuck sake, Ember!"

Keegan studied the deformed crane in his opponents mug. A short chuckle escaped him. It was the ale. He shouldn't have laughed. His actions were going to be followed by consequences, not only for him, but for his family as well. And his father's honor. This was surely the ale... but not just that. He hadn't been able to fight the rage inside of him when he had seen Cara struggling for air.

"At least you're prettier now." He groaned and rested his head against the floor.

The response wasn't what the bleeding Lochlan wanted. His eyes turned black and Keegan got a swift punishment. Two fast strikes in his face. One over his left eyebrow and the other one caused his lower lip to burst. The taste of blood spread in his mouth and a massive headache introduced itself.

Keegan fought the dizziness best he could, but it would have been heaven to just let go and lose consciousness. But then what would happen to Cara?

Lochlan got off him and cursed as he pressed what used to be his pretty decent-looking nose in his hands.

Keegan sat up, blinked twice and shook his head before he retaliated. As he got to his feet, he thought of how disappointed his mother would be, but there was no stopping him now.

He grabbed Lochlan by his neck and flung him backwards, away from Cara, in a sweeping motion. The idiot was even drunker than Keegan, so it was quite easy to throw him off balance. What made things worse was that Lochlan, despite his level of intoxication had drawn blood. Keegan was seldom the one losing the few fights he took part in.

"What the fuck?!" Keegan froze. He turned and watched as his friends and little brother suddenly threw themselves on top of the brute and started a brawl that would most certainly have them banned from the tavern for a while.

He turned around to Cara and she had two thin lines on her cheeks. She was crying. Before he could go up to her, the door opened. His father walked in, his face turned completely blank.

"Keegan! What the hell happened to you?" He exclaimed. He walked up next to Cara and caught a glimpse of her. "And you? Why are you crying?" He gasped. "What did you say to her?" He asked accusingly.

"I didn't say anything." Keegan breathed and took a step to the side, exposing the pile of men over Lochlan. "He was hurting her." He hissed when his lip stung and pointed at Lochlan. "And where were you?!"

"Shut your hole, boy!" His father snarled. "Is this true?" He asked Cara.

Before she could answer him he grabbed her cheeks softly and studied her face. It took him seconds to find the red mark on her arm and her throat.

"That son of a... What did you do to him?" He growled to Keegan.

"I broke his nose... or more, I hope." Keegan confessed and crossed his arms. He would not apologize. Lochlan deserved it. All of it.

"Good. Take her home. I will deal with this."

Keegan was just about to walk up to Cara for the second time when she slithered out of the tavern without a word. A sniffle was the last trace of her.

"Cara!" He called out.

"It doesn't seem to me that you did nothing." His father said when Keegan walked up to the door. He stopped and turned to face his father.

"I swear father. I am only responsible for that." He pointed at the pile of men wrestling Lochlan on the floor. "I was at our table all night  until I noticed that she was in trouble."

"I do not believe that it took you all night to notice her." His father grunted.

Keegan wasn't given the chance to speak. His father raised a hand, silencing him.

"We will discuss this later." His father grunted. "Go after her and make sure she gets home safe. Your mother will kill me if I let her go home alone."

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Thank you for reading!

I hope you liked this chapter! 

Much love,

Jenny