“They’re fine,” I throw over my shoulder. “But they won’t be ifsheisn’t.”
I turn back to the omega and freeze.
Dull, vacant eyes look back at me.
ChapterSeven
Ava
Flashes of light creep beneath my eyelids, pulling me back to the land of the living.
It feels like a herd of elephants have been trampling through my head. Blinking once, twice, I shake my head to try and clear the glaze across my eyes.
Fuck, that was a bad idea.
A cool breeze shivers across my skin. Lifting my arms, I try to rub them, but something tugs at my wrist.Bothwrists.
Something nudges at my memory.Why can’t I move my arms?
Why am I so tired?
Who am I?
My head pounds, overwhelmed by lights, pain and creeping dread. My palms tingle as my fingers close, my fist clenching. Who the fuckamI?
Sound burbles close by, and I twist my head as slowly as I can, seeking out the source of the noise. My bleary sight shows me the outline of someone leaning over me.
They lean closer. It’s amale.
White-hot, incoherent terror splinters up my insides.
ChapterEight
Max
The omega and I lock gazes, her vacant eyes gradually sharpening into clear focus.
An overwhelming scent of burnt sugar floods the room, the intensity stinging the back of my nose. Then shewhines, a high-pitched, petrified sound that pulls me forward.
My hand reaches up to cup her face, instinctively soothing a distressed omega. “Shhhh,” I murmur, but she tries to pull herself away from me. “You’re safe. You’re safe here, and you’re in the hospital.”
She doesn’t respond, her face lined with fear as she pulls back as far as she can. I turn to Stone, trying not to punch him in the face. He’s watching closely, his face looking a little paler than normal. Good. Let him see what he’s fucking done.
“What’s her name?” I demand.
“8—," he begins, but I snarl back at him. I’m done with his bullshit.
“Don’t give me that shit. What’s her real fucking name, Stone?”
He shakes his head in refusal, lips pressed together firmly, and I turn back around with a curse. The omega starts to thrash, her frail limbs everywhere as she pulls hard against the restraints, the veins in her neck pulsing against that fucking collar around her neck as she gasps for breath, gagging around the tube in her throat. Her body pulls away from me, and I belatedly realize how I must look, leaning over her, an unfamiliar alpha in an unfamiliar place.
You stupid prick, Max.
Forcing my feet back a step, I give her space as she weakly tries to pull herself away from me. Small, anguished noises squeeze from her throat around the tubes, each one pulling at my heartstrings. The omega wretches, the tubes kicking in and pushing against the collar, and Nicole makes a concerned noise from the doorway. The defibrillator hangs loosely from her hand, her eyes wide.
Spinning to Stone, I snarl. “Take that collar off.”
He huffs derisively. “I don’t think so.”
