“Listen, guys, it’s not just her physical pain that’s a problem,” Daniel lectured the other two Alphas as I came down the hallway. “If you don’t mark her, every Alpha in town will break down the walls to have her. Until she’s claimed, it will be open season on her.”
“Fuck,” Viper snarled. “We’re going to have a war on our doorsteps, along with whoever owns her.”
“So, one of us marks her. What’s the big deal?” Aspen asked.
I smiled at the naivete that came from his easy-going nature.
“If we rut her without marking her, she can still go,” I answered him, stepping into the room. “Whether she’s our Omega, meant for us or not, she can be taken by another Alpha if we don’t mark her. But we take that choice away from her when she’s marked. If we mark her, she will never want to leave our sides.”
“Oh,” Aspen said with a raised eyebrow as the weight settled on his shoulders, his messy blond hair framing his confused expression.
“She’ll be stuck with us until the day she dies… or we die.” I scanned the room, my gaze meeting Daniel’s. I grinned, giving him an approving nod. I appreciated him taking the lead on this and that he seemed accepting of our situation with the Omega, even though I knew he still struggled with the notion of sharing me.
Viper’s nostrils flared, his vivid green wide as he watched me with a narrowing gaze. Aspen didn’t take long to catch on.
“You fucked her?” Viper sneered with a growl that surprised me since he’d made it clear he wasn’t interested in keeping our Omega. “Tell me you didn’t mark her as well?”
“If I did, what would you do?” I challenged, my anger bristling at his aggressiveness.
“Fuck me, all I can smell now is her slick.” His nose sniffing the air, Aspen was on his feet, prowling toward me in his jeans and tight tee. “It’s like sugar, and I’m salivating.” He circled me, the eagerness in his quickened breaths telling me he was ready to claim her this very moment if I gave him the go-ahead. He growled under his breath, the savage hunger rippling in the air around him.
Strengthening my stance, I stepped deeper into the room.
Viper was on his feet in seconds, fighting the wildness behind his gaze. Much as he tried, he couldn’t resist the raw nature of our attraction to Omegas. It was programmed in us from birth, something he’d have to get his fucking head around.
“I have no intention of sending this Omega back to wherever she came—”
“Fuck sending her anywhere,” Aspen interrupted.
I wanted her, had to have her in my life, and had to protect her at all costs. More than her perfume or her slick was impacting my thought process. I’d been around Omegas going into their cycles before, but that was different. The overwhelming need to keep her safe was one of the things that told me she was made for our pack and only our pack.
“So, I guess you’re taking the honors?” Viper’s voice vibrated with darkness. “Because this is happening, no matter if I want it.” He speared his hand through his dark red hair, driving the wild strands off his brow.
“Technically, any of you three can do the honors, not just Shadow,” Daniel pipped up, his suggestion on soft words.
“She’s made for us,” I reassured Viper.
He shrugged and turned his head away.
“She’ll beg all of you to mark her… she can’t help it,” Daniel said. “But do you think that’s what she’ll really want? To be marked and stuck with us?”
I couldn’t ignore the darker undertone in his voice that we might not want us to keep Trinity forever, that we’d help her through this, then she could leave. Of course, I intended to give her a choice, but the longer we didn’t mark her, the greater the risk of someone sniffing her scent, discovering she hadn’t been truly claimed, and bringing danger to our doors. Problem was, while she remained in the heat cycle, her decisions about anything related to her and us would be skewed by her desperation to bond.
I squared my shoulders.
“It’s not ideal, but we’ll need to talk to her about the mark. In the meantime, we’ll do our best to keep her calm and out of pain, protected and away from anyone outside the compound. We’ll also beef up security. Viper, I’ll leave that to you for the perimeter outside. Aspen, you get guards set up in the house. Daniel–”
Viper snarled under his breath and marched out of the room. I heaved a deep inhale, knowing I had to deal with him. Aspen, in the meantime, walked toward me.
“So, you’re telling me we’re to soothe her anyway she needs?”
“Aspen, you know what I mean. Don’t take advantage of her.”
His shoulders reared.
“Fuck you for even implying that. I just needed to understand what you meant, but fine, I get it. Do what we can without sex if we can help it.” He pushed past me, mumbling under his breath, “Unlike you.”
Clenching my fists, I gritted my teeth, threads of fury tugging at my chest.
Daniel remained in the living room with me. My nerves were on edge as the fireplace spit embers. He wore all black today, his Hensley top following every curve of his ripped chest and eight-pack stomach. He was gorgeous, and sometimes, just the way he looked at me got me off.
Staring at me seductively, his lips tugged into a grin. I knew he wanted me to show him he meant the world to me—slamming him against the wall face first, pulling back the dark strands of hair, and wrenching his head around to face me as I plunged into his ass until I made him whimper and cry out for more, until I flooded him with my cum.
Stepping closer, he placed a hand on my chest, and a wave of peace rippled through me, stealing the anger, the frustration, the tension. I inhaled calmly as my arousal rose.
“Are you okay?” he asked, something I should have directed at him. “Let me help you relax.”
Tilting his face up, he leaned in and smothered me with a scorching kiss. He moaned as his hand fell to my cock and gripped my shaft, finding me still hard. Growling, I pushed his hand away. The kiss did little to relieve my savage need. He broke away, licking his lower lip, hurt lacing across his expression.
“Not today, Daniel. I’m not in the right headspace.”
“I better go get some work done then. It’s clear it’s not me you crave,” he dared mutter under his breath.
Grabbing his chin, I forced him to face me as I stroked a thumb along its length.
“She’s for all of us. She doesn’t replace you.”
Then I left the room, my pulse thumping and my emotions roaring. A brutal ache settled beneath my ribcage at how torn our once united pack had become. I had to leave Daniel in the room because if I’d stayed, I’d have fucked him, which wouldn’t be fair to him when my head was still drowning in the Omega’s scent and my unbearable hunger to rut her.
Trinity
“Get in there,” Ms. Bakewell sneered. Her hand smacked the middle of my back, shoving me into the isolation cell. “You’ll think twice next time you decide to steal from the kitchen.”
I stumbled forward, my bare feet slapping the concrete floor as I lurched on my feet.
“Please, no, not in there. I’m sorry, I was just hungry,” I cried, twisting back around as the metal door banged shut. The click of the lock snapping into place resonated through the prison room.
Shivers ran down my spine. I hated this place. Hated the dread that crawled through me. Hated that down here, no one upstairs could hear you scream. My pulse raced, and I rushed to the door, banging my fists.
“I didn’t even take anything. I put the bread back. Please, I’ll do anything else, just don’t leave me down here. Please.”
The thud of her boots echoed in the distance before completely vanishing.
I whimpered, my mind flaring with fear, which spread over my body like tiny bites. No one wanted to end up here because it wasn’t just the isolation that drove you crazy. There were far scarier things down here.
The faint fluorescent light flickered overhead, and I cried out once more. Curling my fingers around the hem of my shirt, I fisted it. My arms shook as I turned back to the tiny room that was closing in around me. Pressing my back to the cold door, I slid down to my ass and hugged my knees.
“I’ll get out of here soon. She won’t keep me long. Not for almost stealing bread from the kitchen. A night. Maybe two at most… right?” I mumbled, mostly to stop the panic sweeping through my thoughts.
Swallowing hard, I lowered my cheek to my knees, trying to still the tremble, and waited. There wasn’t much else to do. I didn’t want to wallow in self-pity, yet the memory of my parents were faint and something I learned to forget a long time ago, only remembering the Bakewell Institute for Girls as my home, which was pathetic and sad. I’d been controlled most of my life, told what to eat, to drink, where to sleep.
I craved freedom. I wanted to stop fearing I’d go to sleep hungry, so Ms. Bakewell could keep us on the slimmer side for prospective Alphas.
Rocking on the spot, I realized the twelve years I’d spent in this hellhole since being dumped here at the age of four had left me dreaming more of escaping and praying I’d never become an Omega. On the flip side, so many more things now scared me—loneliness, being left alone in this world, becoming an Alpha’s sex slave.
I glanced at the metal-spring bed that had only a flimsy foam mattress. With no cover or blanket, it got terrifying cold down here at night. Lowering my head, I closed my eyes, my stomach growling for food, and tried to think about the meadow behind the Institute, the only place I enjoyed escaping to when we were permitted outside time.
An explosive scream rang out, piercing my ears so abruptly, I jolted to my feet. Darkness encased the room, and my ass was cold and numb. I must have fallen asleep. When the shrill sound came out, I flinched and peered out the small window in the door. My heart thumped louder, faster. Dim light illuminated the hallway, and while I couldn’t see anything, I knew it was him.
He was out there.
Jack.
A whimper spilled past my throat.
Warmth left me, and I shuddered. Pressing myself into the corner near the bed, I didn’t make a sound, too scared to breathe.
The girl screamed once more, then sobbed.
I tensed, wishing I had the courage to shout at him to stop hurting her, to leave her the fuck alone, but that would call the monster to my cell.
Jack was the local psychopath who was a guard at the Institute on the night shift. When he got bored, he entered the cells. Each time I’d been down here, I was lucky he never selected me, but those he chose never came out the same. He did things to them, filthy things that never left them with marks. He didn’t take their virginity, so it could never be tracked back to him. That didn’t mean the asshole didn’t find a way to torture them and force them to do things to him. He also used electricity on his victims to humiliate them.
My heart surged in my chest as iciness clawed at my arms.
As the girl’s sobs continued, I shivered and curled in on myself.
He won’t see me. He won’t see me. Please…
The thump of steps had me lifting my gaze to the shadow of someone standing in front of my door. I winced and held myself still, too afraid to breathe.
“Knock knock,” Jack cooed. “You’ve been such a good girl for so long, Trinity. I’m surprised to see you down here again.”
I didn’t move but kept my eyes on the door. Desperation bloomed, clenching my throat. Screaming didn’t help, so I remained frozen as the door opened, the hinges squealing.
A large figure stood in the doorway, the light behind him concealing his features. I didn’t need to see them to know his lips peeled back over perfect white teeth as his eyes greedily roamed over my body.
His belt dangled from his fist as he stepped into my cell.
A small whimper spilled past my lips. The stone wall scratched my back when I shoved myself against it.
“Now, be a good girl. It’s been too long since I’ve enjoyed whipping someone new.”
I blinked at him, shuddering. “No, you can’t,” I cried. He never left a mark, never.
Closing the distance between us, he crouched in front of me. As tears streamed down my face, the monster grinned with that perfect smile that left me terrified.
“You’re not going to show or tell anyone about the marks on your body, are you?”
I shook my head as he gripped my chin, his fingernails digging into the flesh. My breaths sped up as adrenaline thumped in my veins, and I knew I was hyperventilating. At that moment, I prayed that I’d faint and disappear.
“Good. I would hate to pay you a visit at night in your room, especially when I was angry.”
All the terror that had bubbled inside me burst free.
I screamed, and the monster laughed in my face.
