A waiter passed with a tray of champagne flutes, and I exchanged my empty glass for a full one. The bubbles tickled my nose as I brought it to my lips, taking a small sip. The crystal felt substantial in my palm, nothing like the disposable cups I'd drunk water from in alleys.
The music shifted to something softer, and couples began moving toward a space that had been cleared for dancing. I watched them glide across the floor, their movements practiced and elegant, and wondered if I'd ever learn to move like that. If my Alphas would teach me. If this life were to include slow dances in ballrooms, champagne, and silk gowns that made my eyes luminous.
My cheeks hurt from smiling. The realization hit me... I'd been smiling so much, so genuinely, that my face actually ached from the unfamiliar expression. When was the last time I'd smiled like this? When was the last time I'd had reason to?
I couldn't remember. The months on the streets had been about survival, not joy. The time before that, with Bane and his pack, had been about enduring. But this, this moment, this life I was building with three Alphas who saw me as something precious, this was about living.
Kade caught my eye across the room, excused himself from his conversation, and started moving toward me. His gait was purposeful, cutting through the crowd with the confidence of someone who knew exactly where he belonged and wasn't afraid to claim space. My pulse kicked up as he got closer, my body responding to his oak scent, intensifying with each step.
But before he could reach me, another couple stopped him, engaging him in a conversation he couldn't politely refuse. I watched him handle it with grace, giving them his attention while his eyes kept flicking to where I stood, promising that he'd get here eventually.
I took another sip of champagne and let myself just exist in this moment. The ballroom spun around me in rich light and sophisticated conversation. The roses in my arms released their delicate perfume. My silk gown felt like a second skin, beautiful and perfectly fitted. My Alphas were close, watching over me even while engaged in their own conversations.
I'd never felt more alive than I did right now. Never felt more like myself, more like the person I was always meant to be before life and circumstance tried to make me smaller. The girl who'd sung on street corners for coins felt like a different person, someone I'd left behind when I'd walked onto that stage tonight.
This was who I was now. Jasmine. Singer. Omega. Worthy of roses and compliments and champagne in crystal glasses.Worthy of three Alphas who looked at me like I was something rare and precious. Worthy of this life, this success, this moment of pure, uncomplicated joy.
Chapter Thirty-three
Jasmine
The pressure hit my ribs without warning, something hard and unforgiving that made my breath catch mid-inhale. My champagne glass tilted dangerously in my hand, crystal nearly slipping through fingers that had gone numb with shock. Then the scent hit me—diesel, sharp, and chemical, cutting through the ballroom's expensive perfumes like a knife through silk. My entire body went rigid, every muscle locking down in recognition before my conscious mind could process what was happening.
“Move now.” The voice came low and close to my ear, familiar in the worst possible way. A voice that had haunted my nightmares for months, that had ordered punishments and laughed at my pain. A voice I'd hoped never to hear again.
Bane.
The champagne glass fell from my hand, hitting the floor with a crack that should have drawn attention but somehow didn't in the noise of the party. Crystal shattered across the expensive tile, champagne spreading in a pale pool that reflected the chandelier light above. My apple pie scent spiked with fear so sharp it made my nose burn, but the diesel overwhelmed it,claiming dominance the way Alphas did when they wanted to establish power.
I turned my head slightly, just enough to confirm what my body already knew. Brown eyes met mine, cold and calculating, holding none of the warmth I'd seen in my Alphas' gazes. His face was exactly as I remembered—sharp cheekbones, firm jaw, features that would be handsome if they weren't twisted with malice. He'd dressed in a suit, expensive enough to blend in with the gala crowd, but nothing could disguise the predatory energy that rolled off him.
The gun pressed deeper into my ribs, and I felt the exact shape through the thin silk of my gown. Round barrel. Solid metal. Positioned perfectly to tear through vital organs if he pulled the trigger. My knees wanted to buckle, but his hand clamped around my upper arm, fingers digging in hard enough to bruise, keeping me upright.
“I said, move.” His grip tightened, and pain shot through my arm where his fingers pressed into muscle and bone. “Unless you want me to paint this pretty ballroom with your insides.”
My feet obeyed before my mind could fully process the command. One step, then another, my body falling back into patterns it had learned during months of abuse. Obey, or suffer worse. Move when told. Don't fight back unless you want broken bones.
But my eyes—my eyes were searching, desperate, frantic.
Kade. Where had Kade gone? I spotted him, his tall frame still surrounded by the couple that had drawn him into conversation. His back was partially turned, his attention focused on something the man beside him was saying. The distance between us felt impossible, a chasm that grew wider with each step Bane forced me to take.
Look at me, I begged silently, willing him to feel my distress the way Alphas were supposed to sense their Omega's fear. Please, Kade, just look.
But he didn't turn. Didn't feel the wrongness that was happening across the room. Just kept talking, kept gesturing, kept existing in a world where I was still safe.
Bane navigated through the crowd with practiced ease, his movements smooth enough that anyone glancing over would see nothing suspicious. Just a couple leaving early, maybe. A man guiding a woman who'd had too much champagne. His body angled to hide the gun, using my frame as a shield, and I realized with sick certainty that he'd planned this. Had watched. Had waited for the right moment when my Alphas were distracted.
Theo.
I spotted him near the buffet table, still surrounded by his group. He was laughing at something, his head thrown back, his scarred face animated with joy. The same joy I'd felt moments ago, the same happiness that had made my cheeks ache from smiling. He looked so alive, so present, so completely unaware that I was being dragged away.
Please see me. Please, Theo.
But he didn't. His dark eyes swept across the room without pausing on where Bane was pulling me through the crowd. Without recognizing that something was catastrophically wrong.
“One sound and you're dead before they reach you,” Bane hissed against my ear, his breath hot and wrong against my skin. “This gun will tear through your liver, your intestines, your spine. You'll die screaming on this pretty floor while your precious Alphas watch helplessly. Is that what you want?”
The image he painted flooded my mind with visceral clarity. Blood spreading across the expensive tile. My body convulsing. My Alphas' faces twisted with horror as they watched me die. Ibit down on my lip hard enough to taste copper, forcing back the scream that wanted to tear from my throat.
