“Shit,” Jake breathes.
Our mate lunges directly for Theo’s throat.
Kennedy
Danger.
I scream as I’m shoved back, forced into that tiny cage in the corner of my mind. As walls spring up, bars of steel and metal that I can’t break through, even as I throw myself against them.
I’m not in control anymore.
Danger.
Theo
Kennedy’s claws latch around my throat, tearing at my skin as we both topple backward. She follows me as my back hits the ground, winding me.
I choke out her name. “Kenny.”
Not dead. Not dead.
But something else. My mate leans in close, our noses brushing together, and snarls again in a clear warning as my hand lifts in cautious movement.
“Steady,” I breathe. “It’s okay, Ken.”
But her eyes – bright and vivid and almost glowing – they don’t know me at all. Hot liquid drips down my throat, followed by a line of burning pain that I barely feel as she rips further into my skin.
“She’s going to kill him!”
A hand lands on her shoulder, and she swipes at it before it falls away. Even her nails have sharpened. When I shift, her head swivels back to me, eyeing me with a predatory focus.
Slowly, I angle my head. Offer her my neck. “You want it, Ken? Take it.”
Kennedy pauses. For a barest half-second, her head tilting as if in confusion.
But then she’s gone, her weight ripped away. Rolling to my feet, I throw out my hands. “Don’t fucking hurt her!”
Oscar has one knee braced in the small of her back. Jake and Max have an arm each, struggling to even pin her as she bucks and growls beneath them.
Jesus fucking Christ. Three grown alphas are struggling to hold one small omega in place.
“Your belt,” Oscar roars. Kennedy twists, snapping her teeth close to Jake’s arm until he yanks it back just in time. “Now!”
I unbuckle hastily, pulling the tan belt from around my waist free. Max carefully grips the back of her hair, holding her as gently as possible as the three of us work to wrap the leather around her arms, pinning them behind her back.
“That won’t be enough,” Oscar says shortly. “Legs. And… and mouth.”
He glances at my neck, his lips thinning. “Let’s pray that her nails aren’t contagious.”
“How the fuck do we fix this?” My breathing is staggered as I secure Jake’s belt around her legs. Oscar releases her with a rush of air, leaning back. But she still struggles, still snarls.
She doesn’t stop. Doesn’t let up.
“Enough.” He barks finally. There’s pain in his face as he looks at her. “Stop, Kenny.”
But she doesn’t respond to his bark at all, and that small hope inside my chest shrivels. We don’t even have that to help, to try and settle her while we work out what the fuck happens now.
Max saws at his own belt with a knife from the bag on his shoulder, his face tight as he turns to show us the smaller length. “So we can carry her.”
