All Chapters of Preying on You: The Alpha King is Stalking Me: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

SIX YEARS LATER.MONICA.I need money. Of course I’m going to take it.The lights in the club dim down as the song approaches its end. I lie across the stage, sinking my nearly naked body on the sheet of dollar bills lying on the shiny floor.A smile is on my face, that ‘fuck me’ smirk that all the men here love. They all holler, making it rain, and I bask in it for one more moment before sweeping my loot into my arms.I like to think that I’m some sort of a bandit, a temptress who takes what she wants from men who don’t know any better. All to distract myself from the fact that I’m just a desperate stripper, spinning on a pole nearly every night in front of men who very well know that I’d do just about anything for cash.Stepping away from the spotlight to give way to the next girl, I head to the backstage to put my money into the counter.Andy comes in immediately, because god forbid any girl here takes a dollar more than their share.“The cash is all here,” I tell her, holding my a

MONICA.Nausea crawls up my throat. My ecstasy screeches into a deadly halt, taking my heart along with it.I leap out of the man’s lap like a scalded animal, rushing towards the door without bothering to cover myself up. The metallic scent of blood somehow stuck to my nose, and every breath is now touched by it.“Hey,” he starts to say, but I got no interest to spare him.Struck with mindless panic, I burst out into the hallway. There’s a bathroom in the corner, and I lock myself in there, hoping against hope that the man won’t follow me here.I press my back against the door, closing my eyes.What the hell was that?Why would he have fresh blood on his sleeve?He was hiding it. It was his shirt that had the blood, and surely he has seen that before he put his jacket on.Was he the one bleeding?Or did he hurt somebody?The worst thought suddenly strikes me.What if he killed someone?A shudder creeps on my body. I wrap my arms around myself. I can’t believe I got myself in this situ

MONICA.“Someone’s looking rough,” is the first thing I hear when I walk into the girls’ longue.Needless to say, it pulls me back down to earth. I look around to see which one of the girls said that, but only one of them is laughing. I roll my eyes. Of course it’s Elvira. No one else will hate me more than this woman does.Actually, I don’t know her real name. In fact, we don’t really know each other at all. We got hired around the same time and that was enough for her to start a rivalry with me. Every time we get out there, it’s always a competition on who gets to earn more. It gets vicious too. I remember her almost smashing a glass on my feet because she was so mad I earned exactly a hundred dollars more.Why’s it been like this? I don’t really know. I don’t think anyone here does. Elvira just hates my guts.She’s ironing her long black hair now, staring at me through the mirror. The other girls are silent, backing away into the corners. They don’t exactly like her, but they’re al

MONICA.The darkness has spread around my vision, making it look like everything is being swallowed in black smoke. I shake my head, both as an answer to Elvira and an attempt to get rid of the haze.“No?” Elvira mocks, her heels clacking on the tiled floor as she saunters towards me. “You think it’s a request?”“I think you should leave me alone.” My lips barely move. “Please. Just go.”Her laughter echoes on the walls. “Don’t be stupid, Red. We both know that that man should have been mine. I saw him first when he came here. Andy told me to entertain him, but for some reason, you ended up alone with him in that private room.”My hands tighten against the sides of the sink. I look at her through her reflection on the mirror. Her almond eyes are scorching with anger, even with that pretty little smile on her face.“Andy told me that he asked for me specifically,” I try to explain, closing my eyes momentarily to drown the drumming pain in my temples. “I didn’t take him from you. I didn