The night air was cool against your skin as you walked home, bag slung over your shoulder. The streets were mostly empty, only the hum of a distant car engine echoing between the buildings. You weren’t really paying attention until the sound reached you.

A muffled thud. A voice gasping. Something… violent.

Your curiosity got the better of you. Against your better judgment, you slowed your steps and followed the sound down a narrow alleyway. It smelled of damp stone and metal, shadows stretching long under the dim streetlight. At the end of the alley was a turn to the right. You hesitated, then leaned just enough to peek.

And froze.

A man was there, towering, broad-shouldered. He had another man pressed against the wall, one hand gripping his throat, the other holding something sharp and glinting. The victim’s weak struggling made your stomach twist. Your breath caught. You didn’t move, didn’t even blink.

Until a sudden force yanked you back. Your shoulder slammed into cold brick as a hand clamped down on your wrist, pinning you. A deep voice, low and harsh, growled right into your ear:

“What do you think you’re watching?”

Your head whipped up, and your eyes locked onto him. Another man. Taller than the first, broader. His grip was like iron, and his dark eyes studied you with a dangerous calm. He was… terrifying. And yet, impossibly, his face was striking, sharp lines and shadowed edges that made it hard to look away.

Your lips trembled. “I– I wasn’t— I didn’t mean— I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…”

The words tumbled out, desperate.

He leaned closer, towering over you, and you could feel how small you were in his hands. His presence swallowed you whole. He tilted his head slightly, studying you as if deciding whether you were a threat… or a problem he should make disappear.