“We have to talk about Rad,” he murmurs in my ear as he cradles my head against his chest.
But I shake my head. I can’t talk about what happened. Not yet. “I have to get to my afternoon class.”
“Juniper,” he says, a warning growl in his voice. My honor guard knows I’m withdrawing, that I’ll wrap myself around my pain and my fear, keeping it from him and the rest of my pack. That I’ll hide myself away, and let the agony eat away at me until there’s nothing left.
“I need to, Marcus. Please, let me go to Applications of Magic. Let me have a normal afternoon.”
He puts his hands on my shoulders and pushes me back until he can look down into my eyes. It’s not my eyes he sees, though; it’s the red handprint Rad’s slap left on my face.
He bristles, alpha energy pouring off of him.
“I should have fucking ended him when I had the chance.”
“The omega with us would have blown your head up. It’s her affinity.”
“It would have been worth it,” he growls.
“Not to me,” I whisper, my voice thick with tears.
He squeezes his eyes shut in frustration and then sighs. “Fine. Applications of Magic. But you’re telling your pack about this tonight. Non-negotiable. If you don’t, I will.”
I nod my understanding and he escorts me back to the ladies’ room where I change out of the collared dress, pitching it into the trash can beside the door. I dress in my uniform and turn to take myself in in the mirror.
A bright red handprint stands out on my cheek, stark against my pale skin, and bruises splotch across my cheekbone. My neck is scratched from the collar of the dress, fine red lines encircling my throat just like the delicate white scars the omega trap left around my wrists and hips.
I don’t even have concealer in my book bag to hide Rad’s abuse. I can’t cover up the evidence that I disobeyed.
My classmates and professors will stare and flinch away, knowing what I’ve done.
Let them see me.
Let the whole world see that I resisted.
* * *
Cassian and Simonare at the door to my classroom the moment class ends. Cassian rages when he sees the marks on my face and throat. The most fearsome growl I’ve ever heard rumbles from his chest, and alpha power radiates off of him, making him seem even bigger and stronger than he already is. It’s power so strong it makes me want to cower and show him my neck, so strong it makes mecravehim and the safety he offers me.
“You’re never seeing him again,” he snarls. “Even if I have to kill him myself.”
“Keep your voice down,” I plead, drawing him into an empty corridor. I step into his arms, wrapping mine around him, and guide his head down to the crook of my neck so he can breathe in my scent. He gulps down greedy lungfuls of my honeyed vanilla and jasmine, his whole body shaking with fury.
I rub his back through his uniform jacket, slow, soothing strokes to calm his alpha instincts. Simon’s hands join mine and together we draw out the worst of Cassian’s alpha rage, murmuring soft, sweet words until his shaking stops.
“We have to talk about Rad,” Marcus says quietly, and Cassian nods against the crook of my neck. He nuzzles the skin there, brushes his lips against my pulse point, and I keen into the touch, letting out a low whine.
“Take me home, alpha. Please?” I ask.
I need the comforting safety of the pack house, my men around me. I need to hide away from the world, if only for the night. Marcus won’t let me withdraw from my pack, and I shouldn’t. I vowed to trust them.
I’m just afraid of what they might do to save me from Rad.
Because losing even one of them will shatter me to pieces, breaking me worse than Rad ever could.
* * *
Cassian is stilltense when we get back to the pack house. He pulls me into his lap on the sofa while Simon gently tends to my wounds, applying spells to reduce the swelling.
My sweet beta traces his fingertips over the curve of my cheek, shaking his head in disgust.
