The walls press closer, the world shrinking until all I can hear is my heartbeat pounding like war drums.
And somewhere, deep inside me, something cracks.
Chapter Seven
Blood Oath
Zion
The door slams shut behind her, and the sound reverberates through my bones like a death knell.It’s final.Absolute.The echo of her footsteps is already fading, leaving the suite hollow.Empty.My chest burns, an ache I can’t name tearing through me as if her absence is a wound I didn’t see coming.
She’s gone.My Evangeline.My omega.But she isn’t really mine.I paid for one night and that’s what I got.No more, no less.
I stand in the center of the room, my fists clenched and jaw grinding until my teeth ache.The scent of her lingers on the sheets, in the air, on my skin.Sweet, addictive, poisonous.Every inhale drags me back to the way she clutched me, the way her voice broke on my name, the way she whispered, “Yours,” like it meant something more than desperation.
I let her leave.I did this.I told myself it was control, restraint, honor among rules that mean nothing to me.Twelve hours, no ties, clean cuts.That’s how I’ve survived this long.But the second the door closed behind her, all I felt was rage.Rage at myself.Rage at her.Rage at this gnawing emptiness that feels like ruin.
I stalk the suite like a caged animal.My knuckles split open when I slam my fist into the wall, the plaster cracking around my hand.I should have chained her here, locked her down, branded her until she couldn’t breathe without me.I should have marked her throat so deep no one would dare touch her.Instead, I watched her go, convincing myself I didn’t need her.
But I’m a damn liar.I need her like I need air.
“You’re an idiot.”
The voice snaps through my fury.I whirl toward the doorway, teeth bared, ready to rip apart whatever fool dares intrude.But the figure there isn’t some cowardly beta.It’s Bella, my twin brother Aiden’s omega.She stands tall despite the storm of violence radiating off me, eyes sharp, arms crossed as though she has every right to confront me.
“You let her walk away?”she demands, voice low but steady.“After what I heard through those walls?After the way you marked her with your body?Don’t stand there and lie to yourself, Zion.She’s yours.”
The truth in her words cuts deeper than any blade.My vision flashes red.“She isn’t mine,” I snarl.“She’s nothing.Just a purchase.”
Her laugh is bitter, slicing through all my bullshit.“You don’t bury your knot in ‘nothing.’You don’t look at ‘nothing’ like she’s the only thing that’s ever mattered.”She steps closer, unflinching even when I tower over her.“You’ll regret this for the rest of your life if you let her go.”
The words rip something raw from me before I can stop it.“I don’t want to regret her.I don’t want to need her.Omegas destroy Alphas.She’ll hollow me out, make me weak, make me less than I am.”
Her gaze doesn’t soften.“Not all omegas are the same, Zion, and you know it.I didn’t break Aiden.”Her glare cuts me.“But hear me now—that omega will destroy you if you don’t fight for her.The regret will eat you alive.”
“I don’t...”my voice breaks.“I don’t even know how to fucking find her, Bel.”
