That dizzying pull every time he’s near.
The way my body betrays me, like it recognizes him, even when my mind screams to run.
“I thought it was just because you’re a strong alpha…” The words tremble out of me, half whisper, half accusation.
He gives a cocky smile. “You think I’m a strong alpha?”
I actually bare my teeth at him, like I want tobitehim. “Youknowthat’s not what I meant.”
I can’t havehimas my scent match! I genuinely thought he didn’t mean that when he insinuated it before.
He only smiles at my displays of aggression. “Come with me, little omega. We have a lot to discuss. Selene will be let go.”
“You took her to manipulate me.”
He shrugs. “Was a waste of a good persuasion to just let her go.”
I point at him. “See! You admit to it!”
“Would you rather I lie?”
“If I’m… you know…that—then that’s a shitty way to treat me!” I say, clutching at anything to show him how fucked up he is.
“Thisis a shitty method of meeting, but it had to be done carefully. There are eyes on you, and I don’t want them on you. Which is why we’re leaving to have a proper discussion.”
“If Selene doesn’t go, I’ll bite your balls off.”
He laughs again, which stutters like he’s trying to be serious. “I’d greatly prefer you didn’t do that.” He sighs, as if it helps him refocus, placing his hands on his hips in a pose that only accentuates his body. “We have no desire to feed an extra mouth when we’re already rationing to prepare for the cold. Trust me, I want her out of here just as fucking quick as you.”
Is he serious? Is he really going to free her if I go with him? Is hereallymy scent match? Does he evenhaveher? “You have thisonechance to make me believe you. And, like you intended, I’monlydoing this for Selene.”
He slowly holds that fucking hand back out, like he knows this time I’ll take it. “Then come with me.”
“I don’t want to take your hand.”
He smiles and holds it to the side. “Then you walk ahead of me. Right through those trees.” He nods in a direction. I don’t move. “There’s hot chocolate where you’re going, if it helps.”
I perk up, and am pissed I did. “You’re using hot chocolate to manipulate me?”
“You said alotof things in your heat, and you definitely care about hot chocolate.”
What do I even say to that? My body tells me to move, because logic promises that this will not go howIwant it to go. How could it? I’m inhisland.
Walking forward also feels like a betrayal I can’t seem to commit to. When a small gust of wind tugs at the blanket, and Judge hardly seems phased, it’s a reminder that he’s not like a normal man.
This is not going to end well for me.
For Selene.
Even if Judge doesn’t have her, or if hedoesand she’s here, he knows about her. Which means I need to know what he knows. It’s for her that I walk forward, feeling so weird and used that he knows things about me.
I avoid going near the alpha as I focus on the trees, walking a little faster than intended in case there’s a chance for bolting—there’s a gate with two lock pads on it. I stop a few feet before it, and Judge continues past me to unlock them. They open with a creak, and he steps through. I do so because running back won’t help, despite how much my mind and body beg for it. Any hopefor escape is squelched when Judge places a firm hand at the nape of my neck. “You run out there, and you’ll freeze.”
I don’t say anything as he guides me forward, walking me through to a door that looks like a side entrance, and at some point, I realize it’s just the two of us. It’s a long walk through the darkened space, passing by windows that let in the bright moonlight.
When it’s been at least a few minutes of walking in pure silence and not a single person has been spotted, it’s clear that this entire situation was planned. Which means he was pretty damn confident he was going to win here. We finally seem to reach our destination when we near a padded door in a wide hallway, and Judge unlocks it, opening it and motioning me forward. I peek inside; it’s a set of old, wooden stairs, and they’re dark as hell. “Where are we going?”
“Somewhereprivate.”
