Encounter

Some scars run deep... Nineteen-year-old Galen prefers to live his life in the slow, safe lane, but his life is completely upended when he’s kidnapped by his father’s shady business rival for ransom. Even more chaos comes in the form of Chast, the dangerous, yet strangely alluring, mercenary hired to rescue him. When the two are forced to stay together for his protection, Galen finds himself inexplicably drawn to Chast’s raw and unapologetic personality. And while Chast views Galen as nothing more than an amusing distraction and a great payday, an extraordinary discovery linking Galen to his past piques his interest. Despite their twenty-year age gap and wildly different worlds, the key to overcoming Chast’s dark past and Galen’s troubling home life might lie within each other. Their bizarre encounter might not be a mere coincidence, but a stroke of fate after all. Content Warning: This story includes mentions and realistic depictions of self-harm, suicidal ideations and suicide, bullying (physical and mental abuse), human and animal death, and includes violence, generally adult language and sexual/mature topics.