“Those weren’t suppressants.” His voice drops an octave. “Anything Trinity gave you was engagers. There’s an unnatural smell to them, and you reek of it.”
My eyes widen. No. They looked exactly like they did at the Enclave.Selene! What else have they done to her? If they were using me right away, what if they plan to sell her body? Or use her organs? That makes me want to pass out, as it’snotunlikely. “I… didn’t notice.”
“You wouldn’t,” he replies flatly. “Your senses are off. Denying what you need has skewed your judgment.”
I stare out the window, the broken horizon blurring. “Need?”I ask,my cadence still slow and disjointed. “To let an alpha knot in me?” Itryto sound snarky, but it doesn’t come out that way.
Shut. The. Fuck. Up.
The motherfuckerpurrsagain. “You will be forgiven for hiding from me if you tell me who has been tending to you during your heats.”
“I owe younothing,” I snap, heat building in my cheeks. “If I let ten people turn me into the Eiffel Tower, that’smybusiness,” I manage out.
He growls low in his throat, animalistic and unfiltered. “Don’teverrefer to others fucking you.”
“You’re a goddamn asshole,” I throw back, even as confusion and something traitorous twist in my gut.
“You’rewelcome. And just so you’re aware, you’ll never take suppressants again.”
“You can’t do this.” I sound stupid saying it, the words no more powerful than paper bullets. Who’s going to stop him? The wind? I close my legs even tighter, and he watches thatverycarefully.
And I swear he smells better than I’ve ever smelled a male before.
His unusually pale eyes, like molten metal, are affixed to me. Hungry. Controlled, but barely. He’s so fucking big. Broad, too, not just tall. “Closing those legs won’t help you, Diana,” he murmurs, not even blinking.
Focus, lady!
Those eyes… Oh shit, that’s right! “You’re an echo, aren’t you?”
“Clearly, you nurses don’t come across my kind often.”
Sometimes, human echoes can be a combination of those bound to the wastes and those unaffected. Like having superpowers, except I’ve only ever seen one, and that was backhome. “What are you going to do with me?” I ask, aware that I need to beincrediblycareful with him.
My body always reacts to alphas in this state, but Judge must’ve done something to himself. The first alpha’s scentdidhave an effect on me, but I still found him disgusting. Evennow, I half-smile, knowing he’s headless. But this dumbass driving the jeep? Something about Judge makes me feel chosen, like he’s taken a drug to make him utterly desirable. I even think of a bumblebee and how this must feel to be covered in nectar.
I’veneverhad this effect with any alpha before.
Are there meds out there that can do this? I’m sure there are. There are stranger things out there. Someone of his level and authority would absolutely have access to them. Or maybe it’s because he’s an echo. Is he like a super alpha?
It has to beoneof those options. Maybe he wants to make him so tantalizing that I won’t even fight him while back here. Make iteasyon him.
So fucking hypocritical. Ban suppressants, but takes whatever he wants.
A sharp cramp blooms in my gut, this one more consuming. My knees draw close together, and I cross my legs. I’ve never gone into heat around somebody before, and it feels entirely wrong, like I’m indecent.
His hands flex on the wheel.
“No need to stress yourself out more than you already are,” he replies, clearing his throat. “We need you away from this area. Get as far as we can before your heat officially takes over.”
“Is itbotheringyou?” It’s supposed to sound full of mockery, but in this state, it almost sounds like flirting.
His eyes slice into me through the mirror. “You’ll know just how much it’s bothering me soon enough.” He growls, and a warm slip of slick betrays me.
“Don’tfucking do that!” I hiss at my own body.Betrayer.
I glance behind me. A few bikes are rolling beside us in loose formation, the ruined highway vibrating under their wheels. How are they out there in the cold?
Judge smirks like my panic is dessert, and then silence slips back in and makes mefeeleverything I don’t want to, feel theinevitable that this heat is going to be entirely different than I’ve ever experienced, and I’m terrified to learn just how much.
