Normally I’d have plenty to say to explain it, but I’m naked and speechless from whatever just happened while Callisto’s eyes narrow and his body quivers with anger as he towers over me. The only words I can form are “He’s my alpha.”
Callisto explodes. “He’s a fucking man-child in an adult body! Half of him is still raging lunatic, Ricky! How could you let him inside your head like that? Do you even know how dangerous that man is?” He flings one arm out as he continues his tirade. “It’s a one-way ticket to insanity. What if he compels you? An alpha like you couldn’t resist anything a maniac with his level of domination commanded. What were you thinking?”
An alpha like me? What, someone weak? All the childhood scathing insults flit through my head.Al-mega.Fresh tears coat my lashes as I stare up at him. I can’t refute his reasons . . . All those things ran through my mind when Zack first “asked.” It is dangerous. While a bond allows an empathy connection, it also makes it easier for an alpha to exert his will on his pack mates. This is even more hazardous in Zack’s situation because I’m the one teaching him. If he explodes, we could all get caught in his mental outburst.
So why did I do it?
I link my hands over my bare knees and stare at them. Because I love him. Because I saw how much he needed to know what his pack members felt. Because primal is the only language he knows right now.
I dash tears from my eyes and glance up, feeling a strange hardening in my heart. No, not hardness. Strength. “Zack can’t understand all my words, so I gave him the language of my heart. In order to be trusted, you must be trustworthy.”
Callisto rocks back like I’ve struck him.
With a grunt, I haul myself to my feet, feeling every sticky, naked inch of myself exposed in the bright light. My heart breaks all over again, but my words come out steady. “I might appear a weak alpha to you, but that’s not how Zack sees me.” Not at all. He views me with wonder, curiosity, and a ton of respect.
Callisto blinks fast, and then the flush drains from his face. He shakes his head. “No, no, Ricky. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. It’s not that you’re weak. It’s that nobody could handle that kind of mental mess without it straining them.” He steps closer, bunching his hands. “Zack’s—”
“I think you should leave now.”
His indrawn hiss cuts through the air, and sadness glints in his eyes. His mouth opens and closes, and then he turns away. “If that’s what you think is best.”
I watch his rigid back as he collects his keys and laptop, my pulse frantic in my throat. My body throbs as hormones and emotion collide, leaving me winded. But a glance over at Red calms the inner turmoil. She’s been so brave; I can be brave too. In fact, if I can set my hurt aside, logically speaking it’s easy to tell Callisto’s working through something. His upset stems from a source other than me. He needs to go on that full journey alone because right now, my omega is more than I can carry.
Callisto has his hand on the doorknob when a twisted rush feeds through the mate bond, distant but chaotic. Like a hollowvoice screaming. I gasp and double over with the force of it. How damn poetic, when Calli just warned me about the possible side effects of a bond.
“Ricky?” Callisto rushes to my side and grabs my shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
Chills run through me, and I drop onto the couch. “Oh, fuck,” I gasp, clawing at my chest. The rage of a primal alpha floods into me, overrunning my senses. Within me, I sense Zack’s typhoon of fear for his pack. I grab Calli’s arm in a death grip. “Did you tell Zack about Red going into heat?”
His eyes widen. “Yeah, I sent the message to the prison to be relayed to him. I haven’t seen him again since—”
The tangled mess cutting me to shreds makes me cry out. I spasm, the sensation so strong it’s painful. “I don’t think he got the memo,” I choke out, fingernails digging deep into Callisto’s skin.
Our gazes meet with shared horror.
Fuck. I should’ve explained more in the past weeks, but I thought we’d be together. Fear hollows out my stomach as my pack alpha’s furious howl vibrates through my soul.
Chapter thirteen
Zack
I thump my fist against the chilly wall experimentally, but it doesn’t give way at all.
“Settle down, will ya?” Al snarls from the bunk below me. “All that fidgeting is giving me the creeps.”
I punch the gray bricks once more to prove I don’t take orders from him, and he hisses in annoyance. An unfamiliar tension fizzes in my gut, like the drink from the tall glass bottle White Mine got the night of the big party. But different because this fizz is unpleasant. Makes me itchy inside. Restless.
Worst of all, I think it belongs to my ohm-ga, so I can’t do anything about it. Can’t reach her, can’t ask, can’t fight it off. Once more I’m trapped by four small walls. I growl under my breath.
“You’ll get a chance to work your jitters out soon,” Al says grumpily. “Almost yard time.”
“Fuck,” I mutter, just because I feel like it.
He snorts.
I wasn’t sure if Al would keep our deal, but I’ve been here for several days and he hasn’t tried to strangle me in my sleep. Hasn’t stopped me staying awake half the nights to be sure.
The bed frame wobbles as he rolls off his mattress and starts weird movements while sitting on the floor, leaning his upper body over his outstretched leg. He catches me watching. “So, you didn’t tell me your ‘Cal-ee’ was Laversham’s most famous corporate lawyer, Callisto Wren. How’d you wind up knowing a hotshot like him?”
