“No,” he growls. “I’m going to strip you naked, Ava. I’m going to savour every inch of your body, piece by piece, until you fall apart in my arms.”
My body shivers, eyes dilating as he leans in, his breath warming my ear.
“And then,” he whispers huskily. “I’m going to sit you on my knot and fill you up, until you understand exactly how much you mean to me. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Sir,” I whisper, my lips twitching. Max raises an eyebrow at me.
“I like that,” he admits, a hint of color on his cheeks. “Let’s see if I can make you say it again.”
ChapterFifty
Lucien
Ahigh-pitched buzzing sounds in my ears, my vision narrowing until all I can see are Ava and Max’s faces on the screen. Ava’s too-thin face stares at me mournfully, her perfect hazel eyes dull and faintly accusing.
Bastien clears his throat. “Brother—,”
“Why can’t theyseeit?” The rage swimming in my stomach finds its way out through my mouth. Cursing, I throw my hands up. “Why can’t they all see how fucked up this is, Bastien?”
Bastien runs his hands through his hair, his face desolate. “I don’t know, Luc. I wish I knew. If they did, then maybe…,”
“What?” I scoff. “They all realize the error of their ways? Shit like that only happens in books, Bas. There’s no happy ending here.”
We’re not going to get a happy ending.
Bastien and Nikolai stare at me, their faces pale. “Fuck!”
I slump into a chair and drop my face, pushing my palms into my eyes like I can erase the last thirty minutes from my fucking memory.
“I’m scared,” I croak. “I’m so fucking scared that we’re going to lose her.”
A hint of gingerbread reaches me, and I lift up my face to meet Nikolai’s solemn gaze as he kneels in front of me. His eyes are dark, assessing.
“Lucien,” he says quietly. “This isn’t the time to give up.”
I flinch. “I’m not giving up,” I snap. “Butfuck, Nik – how can we win against that?” Pointing at the screen, Nik follows my gaze to the dozens of news reports scrolling across the screen, various iterations of the same headline taunting us.
Reward offered for missing omega
Considered dangerous - do not approach
Have you seen this omega?
“I’m not going to let you give up now. Not when we’ve come so far,” he insists. I bark out a laugh. “I haven’t done anything, Nik. And I can’t do anything. I can’t fix this.”
“Will you shut up?” Bastien snaps, and both Nik and I startle. Bastien is normally the calmest of us, but now he stands in the middle of the room, his fists clenched.
“Get the fuck over yourself, Luc. Are you telling me you’re not going to do everything you fucking can to keep her safe?”
“Of course I am! I just… worried that nothing we do can make a difference. How the fuck can the four of us protect Ava from the whole fucking world?”
Bastien throws something at me and I catch it by reflex, staring down at the phone in my hand.
“Call the Winter pack,” says Bastien. He’s not asking, his tone the closest to an alpha bark as I’ve ever heard from him, and I bite back my own growl in response. Now isn’t the time to let our hormones get us into a pissing match.
Rogue answers on the second ring. “Luc.”
“Let’s meet. Can you still come today?”
