True discomfort was sitting in a hot carriage with your body pressed against the wall. Cobra’s frosty scent overwhelmed me as his large muscles pressed against me.
For some reason, the guards had shut the carriage door, but we hadn’t moved an inch.
This must be some new cruel and unusual punishment—lock us in a confined, hot space until we died from heat exhaustion.
If that was their plan, it was working.
Ascher stood in the middle of the two seats and stared down at me, which was creepy, and I was trying to pretend it wasn’t happening.
My small body was half pressed against Cobra and half pressed against the sidewall of the chariot. Jax still had an entire bench to himself because he was too big to share.
Ascher had tried to stand near me, and Cobra had gone crazy. According to the snake alpha, Ascher couldn’t touch me because, and I quote, “Sadie isn’t your property. She’s mine.”
To which Ascher had replied, “For now.”
Yes, you heard that right.
The tattooed betrayer had agreed I was Cobra’s property. You would think after his betrayal, he would be kissing my ass to make it up to me.
They were both completely delusional. There was no other explanation for their ridiculous behavior.
Hours later, in our never-ending wait for the chariot to move, I was still fuming. The only good thing was the alphas were no longer throwing their fists around like children.
The biggest surprise from the beat down à la chariot was the fact that Ascher hadn’t been completely decimated.
Unlike in training, Ascher wasn’t slow compared to Cobra or weak compared to Jax.
The entire time we’d trained at the fortress, he must have been holding back.
In the rocking vehicle, Ascher had traded punishing blows with Jax. Cobra had moved quickly, but Ascher had dodged and spun like he, too, was built for speed.
At one point, Ascher had rammed his horns into Cobra’s side and pinned the large man against the ceiling while he boxed with Jax.
I was definitely pissed at Ascher, but it had been very satisfying to watch Cobra get slammed against the roof. The frosty bastard was getting out of hand. Plus, I was still a little salty about him knocking me out instead of taking my virginity.
After what had felt like forever of the three men fighting in too small a space, a stray limb had knocked me in the arm. It hadn’t been a hard hit, but I’d made a sound of surprise.
Each alpha had gone completely still, all their attention focused on me. They’d looked at me with expressions of concern, like I was a little doll that was going to break because a foot had glanced off my arm.
I was starting to think the men didn’t know me at all.
After assuring Jax twenty times that I was fine, ignoring Ascher’s attempts to inspect the bruise and Cobra’s random comments about ownership, they’d settled down.
Sort of.
Now I was pinned against the wall, and Cobra’s hot body was making me sweat. It was weird, but for the first time in my life, I understood how heat could be uncomfortable.
I also understood that Cobra had a leg spreading issue and needed to learn how to take up less space.
There were too many large bodies in the hot carriage, and it didn’t help that you could cut the tension with a knife.
Unlike how he’d acted back in the shifter realm, Ascher didn’t swear, rant, or rave with annoyance.
He stood completely still with his back erect and his face a hard block of marble.
Before, his tattoos had added to his hotheaded mystique. He’d been the bad-boy womanizer type.
Now his colorful tattoos and harsh demeanor changed him completely. He was the scary “I’ll silently kill a motherfucker” type.
I didn’t miss the old Ascher, because he’d been annoying, but I wasn’t thrilled about this new version.
He was dangerous. It was apparent from the way he’d fought off Jax and Cobra while remaining completely calm.
“Sadie, do you want to sit on my lap? You’ll have more room,” Jax said as he tried to scoot his massive frame backward.
My stomach pinched at the thought of sitting on Jax’s lap, and I had to cough a few times to clear my suddenly dry throat. “Thanks, but nah, I’m good making love to this wall.” I shifted a little, so my small tits weren’t completely smushed.
It hurt.
All three alphas growled, and my skin broke out in goose bumps. My instincts screamed at me to slit their throats and make a run for the massive pink-flower forest.
Mostly because I wanted to frolic among them and pretend like my life wasn’t falling apart.
The tension ratcheted up, sweat dripped down my face, and my arm began to fall asleep. Suddenly, it became harder and harder to breathe.
I gasped erratically.
Of course, my body decided this was the moment to develop claustrophobia, because I didn’t have enough problems to deal with.
“Shift over. You’re scaring her,” Ascher alpha-barked, and Cobra immediately pressed his large body away from me.
I relaxed a little as the crushing weight in my chest loosened.
Then the tension in the chariot tripled. Everyone realized what had just happened. Cobra had instinctually obeyed Ascher’s alpha bark.
The hierarchy of alpha dominance was usually Jax, then Cobra, then Ascher.
I didn’t include myself in the hierarchy because as a woman, my power was different, and I liked to believe I had unique leadership qualities.
In my mind, I was more persuasive than Jax. For some reason, my alpha bark failed to reflect my true level of dominance.
We all coped in different ways.
But now it appeared Ascher was more dominant than Cobra.
The snake alpha slowly turned toward Ascher, and rage flowed between them like a live flame.
I rubbed at my forehead and said, “Hey, ultimate betrayer number one and annoying fucker number two, why don’t we cool it for a second, or I’m going to suffer a panic attack and cry like a baby and maybe pee myself from sheer terror.”
The men turned away from each other.
Cobra gave me a “you’re full of shit” face, and a tiny furrow wrinkled between Ascher’s brow.
Their momentary beef was forgotten as they focused on me.
Yeah, I know, I had mad leadership skills. We all had to be good at something.
“When is this damn carriage going to start?” Jax asked as he wiped sweat off his forehead.
A horrifying thought dawned on me. “Oh my sun god, what if they just brought us here to blow us up? Odds the fae queen has a bomb rigged to this thing.”
“You can’t kill an alpha with a bomb. We’re immortal.” Cobra rolled his eyes like I was a dumbass, and I fantasized about poking out both of his eyeballs.
Everyone said alphas were immortal, but technically we could still die from blood loss and decapitation, but I was confused about the specifics.
It did not seem obvious to me that a bomb wouldn’t kill us all.
Before I could launch into an argument with Cobra about how we were all going to die via explosion, the chariot door slammed open, and a fresh breeze cooled the stagnant air by a few degrees.
Another figure jumped into the small space. Ascher stepped backward to give the newcomer room.
“You,” I sputtered intelligently as a handsome face, purple eyes, and long blond hair came into view.
It was Xerxes, my ex…kitten.
His hair was so silky and wavy that it put my straight locks to shame.
I told myself I wasn’t jealous of my betrayer kitten’s hair, but I knew I was full of it.
I tried to focus on my urge to kill him and not my urge to ask him what hair products he used.
He rolled his bright-purple eyes and sneered. “I’ll be your guard during the games. I’m going to ensure none of you escape or pull any bullshit. I know how alphas work, so you won’t deceive me.”
His voice was deep but the words lyrical, and he ran his tongue over them like honey.
I hadn’t noticed before because I’d been so overwhelmed by the fact that my cute, cuddly kitten had betrayed me, but Xerxes had an amazing accent.
It sounded like a honeyed version of a British accent from the human realm.
I had heard the British accent in a bootleg movie about a red-haired witch who was smarter and prettier than everyone else. She waved a stick around to get her point across and had two male lovers.
It was really good and one of my favorites.
Too bad Xerxes was a jerk, because his honeyed British accent combined with his warm, sugary, cinnamon scent made me want to open my mouth and lick every inch of his olive skin.
In the small carriage, cinnamon, pine, frost, and chestnuts filled my senses.
I held my breath, puffing out my cheeks, and tried to stop inhaling the intoxicating combo.
All the men said nothing. They just stood and stared at Xerxes with blank expressions.
In contrast, I stared at him like he was a buttered bread roll hot from the fire. But also laced with poison.
“What games?” Jax asked, and I realized Xerxes had said something about guarding us during games.
My stomach twisted, and I prayed to the moon goddess that they were talking about board games or a party activity.
Xerxes said, “The queen has ordered you to compete in the Fae Games, where you will fight as gladiators against the deadliest warriors in the realm.”
His accent was delicious, but his words were horrifying.
Of course.
It couldn’t be a knitting competition just this one time. Not that I could even knit, but I was willing to learn. That was the important part.
I gently banged my head against the wall of the chariot and prayed for a swift, violent death. Please, moon goddess, just pop my head off and save me from all this suffering.
A long moment passed, and unfortunately, my head stayed attached to my body.
Whoever was in charge of the universe was a piece of shit.
If the moon goddess was doing this to me, well, then I was over her. She clearly hated me and wanted me to suffer. Not very girl boss of her.
Xerxes whipped his head to the side and stared at me, his purple eyes glowing with anger. “Don’t hit your head.”
“Don’t talk to her,” Cobra and Ascher said at the same time.
I would have hit my head against the wall again, but clearly that was just going to set everyone off.
Instead, I imagined wrapping their intestines around their necks and slowly choking them out while they begged for mercy. The imagery helped calm me.
While I was fantasizing about maiming them, I noticed my stiletto heel was still sticking out of Xerxes’s large bicep.
The skin had healed around it, and I didn’t understand why he hadn’t pulled it out.
Since he was an omega shifter, or beast—I was still confused by the whole beast realm thing—he was immortal and had advanced healing like the rest of us. There was no need to keep it in.
“Nice stiletto?” I asked, with confusion.
Xerxes’s purple eyes hardened, and his lyrical accent deepened until it was barely understandable. “It’s a reminder that all alphas are the same.”
I regretted making conversation and scolded myself for not seeing it coming.
Another melodramatic male with deep personal issues that needed extensive therapy. Check.
I scoffed back with fake bravado, “Good. Remember that.”
At least he thought I was a badass like the other alphas and not different because I was small, weak, and couldn’t run to save my life. I would take all the supporters I could get.
Beggars could not be choosers.
Xerxes flashed twin daggers in his hands. They looked wicked sharp, and from the way he spun them in his palms, he knew what to do with them. He said, “I’m leaving your chains in the carriage. Try anything and I’ll stab each one of you. I’ll start with the bitch.”
Three alphas growled back at him.
Jax’s chest vibrated, Cobra sneered, and Ascher stared him down with an intensity that scared me.
I chose to take the high road and, instead, made an immature face back at him.
With those comforting words, Xerxes threw our chains into the chariot and slammed the door.
The silence in the carriage was deafening.
“Finally, someone recognizes I’m a badass bitch,” I said with relief as we finally began to travel forward.
“He said ‘bitch,’ not ‘badass.’” Cobra rolled his eyes.
I fought the urge to stick my tongue out at him. “Please, we all know what he meant.”
Then, with the first clop of the horses, my body rattled against the wall. So much for taking a nap.
My skull vibrated as we were tossed back and forth.
The chariot was clearly not built to hold four massive shifters that averaged over six and a half feet tall and one small, but still just as impressive, alpha.
“So who’s excited for the Fae Games?” I asked sarcastically.
My joke fell flat.
No one said anything.
Then I realized something. “Ascher, why are you even here? Shouldn’t you be betraying us to the queen?”
I looked over at him to find that he was still staring at me like a maniac. It was unsettling to have the full weight of his gaze on me.
“Because, Princess, I asked the queen if I could join you.”
“Don’t call me Princess. And why would you do that? I thought you followed her orders?”
Ascher ran his hands over his onyx horns and growled. “Princess, I was lied to. The mission was to return you to the beast realm. If I knew you were in real danger, I never would have handed you over to her.”
I didn’t miss the way he intentionally emphasized “Princess” or the way he only said he wouldn’t sell me out, not Cobra or Jax. He was such a piece of shit.
My chest rumbled with a low growl. “Well, maybe you should think a little harder next time before you listen to the lies from the evil fae queen. Are you dumb or just stupid?”
Ascher’s amber eyes were unreadable, and no emotion showed on his chiseled face. “I made a miscalculation, Princess. I’m here to atone for it.”
If he called me Princess one more time, I was going to stab him with the pointy edge of his horn until he lost his cool. I wanted to poke him until he showed his true colors.
Then again, I thought about his smirk as he walked away with the fae queen; he’d already shown them.
My voice dripped with disgust. “You can’t atone for anything. You’ve made your choices. Because of you, my naked body was on display and I was almost forced to fuck Cobra in front of the entire fae realm.”
The unspoken truth of what we had been through, and my awful scars, hung heavy in the air.
Jax growled at my statement, and Cobra’s eyes flickered to snake eyes.
Finally, emotion flashed across Ascher’s face, and he fell to his knees in front of me. “I had no idea. I would never have allowed her to put you in that position if I had known.”
“You already did.” I turned to the wall.
I ignored his pleading expression and the pathetic sight of the big man on his knees. Tightness welled in my chest, and my eyes burned with pressure.
Sure, I was an alpha that shifted into a massive saber-toothed tiger, and yes, I had a homicidal voice inside my head. But I was still a woman who wanted to be loved and respected.
I closed my eyes and pretended not to notice the way Cobra’s elbow “accidentally” knocked into Ascher’s head or that Jax’s foot “happened to” bounce up and slam into Ascher’s kneeling body with every bump.
Violence couldn’t fix the past.
After an hour of awkward silence, I thought everyone was napping when Cobra gently jostled my arm. “Are you okay?” he whispered quietly. His emerald eyes were wide and held some unspoken emotion.
He almost appeared soft.
His frosty scent was slightly…sweet.
“Not really,” I whispered. My throat was tight with emotion as I stared at his glittery skin.
For the longest moment, we just stared at each other. Jax and Ascher snored lightly as they napped, and the carriage rocked beneath us.
“I can’t believe…” Cobra trailed off as his eyes flickered to snake eyes and his face contorted into a scowl. He clenched his pale, glittery fists like he wanted to punch someone.
I raised my eyebrow at him, confused about what was going on.
He breathed deeply. “Whoever hurt you like this.” He looked down at his feet like he couldn’t meet my eyes. “You deserve so much better.”
My chest hurt as I looked at the large, gorgeous man hunched over staring at his feet. Anxiety and sadness practically wafted from him.
Something told me this was as close to an apology as Cobra knew how to give.
I forced a smile on my face and shrugged my shoulders, like the crushing weight of everything I’d ever been through wasn’t churning painfully in my stomach. “It’s fine. I’m used to it.”
Dick’s belt flashed before my eyes. I fought the urge to rub at my scars.
“You will never be used to it again,” he growled softly. Multicolored snake eyes pierced me.
Suddenly, the carriage came to a stop, and the other alphas stirred awake.
“I am yours, Kitten,” Cobra whispered softly, his inky hair a swath of darkness that contrasted with his pale skin and sparkling jewels. He really was the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen.
For a long second, I stared at him, unsure how to proceed.
There was no manual for what to do when an alpha with snake eyes called you a kitten and told you they were yours. I didn’t know what to feel.
“Um, cool.” I pretended to shoot him with two finger guns and threw myself out of the carriage. Internally, I scolded myself for being so awkward. Who does finger guns?
Immediately, I was distracted from my embarrassment.
A massive stadium towered so high into the sky that it completely blocked out both suns.
“Fae Games” glowed in neon letters on enchanted screens around the perimeter of the building.
Some of the other symbols on the hundreds of screens were a skull and crossbones, a sword, a large machine gun, a monstrous beast, and a dying body writhing and on fire.
Yes, you guessed correctly.
Against all odds, my life had gotten worse.
