Cadel reaches out with lightning reflexes, grabs my arm in a tight hold, and yanks me right up against his chest. My hands land on the black material, and I feel the heat of his body through my fingertips, the hardness of his chest, the power that leaches from his skin.
A wild and icy scent oozes off him, and, for a moment, I’m lost to my omega instincts, leaning in, smelling him and falling so deep into it that I lose where I am.
Reality comes crashing back, and I pull away, torn between wanting to push myself free and the uncertainty of what he’s going to do if I try. He doesn’t do anything as I tilt my face up to look at him; he just watches me with dark brown eyes that barely have a trace of that red. His face is an expressionless mask.
Fear mixed with longing, that’s what I keep experiencing around them. Alphas are dangerous. They seldom find omegas in the wild anymore, and an alpha in a rut can destroy an omega before he even thinks it through. A single bark from this alpha would have my reluctant self obeying his every whim.
My omega nature will betray me to an alpha, any alpha, even one who wants to bleed me dry.
“We’ll leave soon,” he whispers at last. “It’s been quiet for the last few hours.”
I shudder at the rich, husky sound of his voice, the fear and yearning spiking into something even more potent that feels much closer to desire.
I push slightly against his chest, trying for freedom. Long seconds pass, and I don’t dare look away.
“Alpha,” I murmur, a tiny, broken plea.
He lets me go and gives me a long look before turning to the sleeping male beside him. Cadel crouches gently, shaking Jarek awake. To my astonishment, Jarek wakes up and shoves a knife under his throat.
The alpha doesn’t even flinch, but he does have hold of Jarek’s wrist, and his knuckles are white. The knife shakes, and then Jarek withdraws it.
“Sorry, my attractive and sexy friend.”
With a dry mouth and the conviction that this space is too small for the four of us, I turn back to the window. Mordecai has risen with our movements and leans over me.
Far too small.
Mordecai’s leather and steel scent is smooth but overpowers the scent of blood, dragging me into memories of learning to defend myself with my mother and our neighbours.
“We can reach the school today if we push hard,” his voice says in my ear. His breath wafts past my cheek, heating my skin. How do I tell them to back up? What do I say to make them give me room?
I press my lips together, focusing on the words and not the alpha. I’m not sold on the Resistance, and I don’t think having a big group of people in one place is safe, but he’s adamant; I can hear it in the way he talks.
Mordecai believes in the Resistance. Whole-heartedly. Have I ever believed in anything like that?
We’ll be friends forever. I’ll never let you down.
I have once. Just once. Look how that turned out.
I slip away from Mordecai and turn a glower on the three of them. I need to set ground rules and set up space.
“Thank you for taking care of me.”
“Anything for you, my omega—”
“Stop that!” I snap. I take a breath and exhale it slowly. “Look, I appreciate what you’ve done, but I’m no one’s omega. I’m on the gallows and about to swing. I’m not here to form a relationship or whatever this is.” I gesture to them. “We don’t know each other, but the chances of us surviving are slim to none. I don’t want…” I trail off because I don’t know what I don’t want. The pain? The hope? Something that can make me human?
Jarek nods, but then he winks at me. “Some things take a lifetime to build, and sometimes they take a single glance.”
I stare at him, my lip curling in disgust at the smugness. He doesn’t get it. He’s refusing to listen.
“You’d regret that decision,” I warn.
“No, I wouldn’t.”
“I will be the most hunted person in here,” I snap, getting up in his face. “The Warden and the Beta’s Fang will be looking for me and will not stop until I’m bound and bleeding for them.”
“And I won’t stop until you’re breathing the free air and their heads lie feet from their bodies,” he snaps back.
