My jaw drops. “Oh my god, I better not be pregnant.”
“You’re not,” he dryly answers. “I gave you pills for that.”
The part of me that’s tired of thinking about everything for myself purrs to hear he considered that, at the glimpse of what an alphacanbe capable of. “I literally don’t remember that.”
“You were busy being knotted on my cock and dozing off.”
Heat flushes in my cheeks as I kind of remember that now, looking back down to eat the bacon. “So what, I just get fucked by you and then given to another?”
He grabs a roll of bread like he needs something to destroy with his teeth, then stalks away from the table like he's chasing off his own restraint. “If another alpha approaches you in such a way, you’ll never see him again.”
I frown, freezing as the fork is in my mouth. “Wait, I’mnotgetting bonded to someone?”
“Do you always need all the answers right away?”
“No, you’re right,” I reply with heavy sarcasm. “I’mthe one who’s being unreasonable right now.” I eat more, angry at himfor acting as if it’s my fucking fault. I’ve never felt so petty. “Your eyes are a weird color.”
He laughs—hard. It rolls through the space, arrogant and unfiltered. “You wouldn’t stop calling them beautiful for three days.”
I shut up at that point. Because Idolike the shade. I don’t want to ask more about him being an echo, because that means knowing things about him. Which feels too intimate after what we just did.
The food vanishes quickly, and with every bite gone, dread creeps closer. We’re going to leave. Go somewhere even more locked down. His purr is almost instantaneous in its effect, but I’m no longer shrouded in hormones. “I’m up,” I say, standing. “Stop purring.”
“If you say so,nurse.”
I walk toward the door as he maintains his gaze on me, steeling myself, glancing around. “I don’t have shoes.”
“Harder to get far without them in this terrain.”
The sardonic laugh that escapes is like the sound someone makes when they’re going crazy. Fine. No point in bolting. Might help to make him think I’m compliant, anyway. If I escaped, I don’t even know where I’m at right now. No, it’s better to reassess when I know the terrain.
Judge rises, and I step far to the side so I’m not near him as he goes for the door. Realizing this might be some of the last solitude I have with him, I look down and ramble out, “This only happened because of my heat. That’s it.”
He twists the handle, lowering his head slightly to get even with my height. “This is far from being it, sweetheart.”
I don’t understand what he means. I don’t understand my role, or if he’s going to continue to fuck me like a road doll, or if I’ll be shared…
When the door opens, I slide out instantly and to the side to keep my distance. The fresh air is on my face, the sun so brightit’s burning white, very few leaves left to block it. There are many bikes outside, rumbling. The jeep is turned on and ready to go. Judge grabs my arm and guides me to it, reminding me who’s steering this nightmare. I find it incredibly important to walk with straight shoulders as all the others are watching.
I get in willingly, because I don’t feel like having my freedom restricted even more, and there’s no way I’m succeeding right now. Plus, going north where Dominion is gets me closer to myoriginalhome.
The place I promised myself I’dneverreturn to. But I could go there if I were desperate enough.
Civility is somewhat preserved in military bunkers, and I could offer myself to the first willing—or well, acceptable—alpha. I need Judge to loosen the reins, however, if I’m to make such an attempt.
Judge does something to my car door and shuts it, and when he’s walking around, I give it a wiggle, but it won’t open. I feel so imprisoned by the gravity of his aura, this metal cage like a physical embodiment of that. As we take off as a caravan, my head rests against the back of the seat, staring out the window to take note of any mile markers or signs that give me insight into where we are. Then I lift my head, eyes widening, because my heart starts racing like I’m having a reaction. “I don’t feel good,” I say with alarm, my head growing lighter. “Something is wrong.”
He grips the steering wheel tighter. “Your drink was laced,” he admits. “Might be best to lie down rather than fall over.”
I start laughing, the reaction bubbling into delirium until that’s the last thing I remember.
DIANA
What…
A slow, groggy blink lets me know I’m indeed awake. My mind is utterly blank, disoriented by unfamiliar dark gray bedding. A different wing of the infirmary? Memories from the Enclave to Trinity trickle in, but they’re sand in my fingers.
Oh, I must have had a terrible dream.
