Almost over, I told myself.Almost done now.
They dumped me on a metal table. My nose twitched. The sound of gruff voices conferring wasn’t enough to distract me from the faint hint of aged whiskey and oakwood that clung to the room... to the table.
The scent burrowed its way past the heavy layer of wool felt wrapped around my awareness, demanding to be smelled. I inhaled. My brain helpfully coughed up more impressions.
Rage.
Pain.
Fear.
Lust.
A heavy hand grabbed the side of my head, pinning me as something sharp slid into the side of my neck. I whimpered, flopping weakly against the table.
Mate, whispered the stale scent clinging to the room.Mate in danger.
A low keening noise struggled free of my chest. “Lemme go...”
The hand clamped around my jaw, forcing me to look up at a craggy face looming over me.
“You’re not going anywhere, doll face,” said the unfamiliar alpha. “Well, except into a cell with Bruno. The boss owes him a bonus for a job he did last week, and you’re it. Don’t worry, I just gave you a heat-stim. So, you’ll probably enjoy it, right up until he brings out his knife and starts cutting.” He turned to one of the alphas who’d dragged me in here. “Did anyone search her yet?”
The other alpha patted me down, pulling out Gage’s phone and the cash I’d stolen from him. “Here you go,” he said, handing them over. He leered down at me. “Don’t forget to smile for the cameras, pretty girl. Oh—hey, that reminds me. Did the red-head go feral yet? I’ve got some money down on that shit.”
“Not yet.” The first alpha sounded sour. “I’m right there with you. If he doesn’t lose control in the next couple of hours, I’m out a couple of Benjamins.”
I lost track of the words as waves of blistering heat washed outward from the pain in the side of my neck. The unbearable sensation twisted together with my awareness of my mate’s fading scent, and I groaned in distress.
“Fuckin’ lightweight,” muttered the alpha leaning over me. “Dump her in the cell. Looks like the heat-stim’s already taking effect.”
The other alphas’ hands were like red-hot brands against my skin as they grabbed me and dragged me upright. I hissed and tried to twist away, but they pulled me to my feet and manhandled me out of the room. We went down hallways that seemed to twist and warp around me. Then I was thrown into a bare cell like a sack of garbage.
I cried out as I hit the unforgiving concrete, unable to catch myself with my wrists still zip-tied in front of me. The scentof oak and whiskey was stronger in this part of the building, shredded through with unimaginable distress.
Heavy bars clanged as the cell door slammed shut. A camera in the corner hummed as it turned to focus on me, its single red light like an accusing eye.
“H-Heath?” I whimpered, my higher brain functions struggling beneath the simmering fever rushing along my veins. “Heath?Heath!”
There was no reply. Of course there wasn’t.
I staggered to my feet, moaning as my thighs rubbed together. Slick was pulsing from my pussy, but it hurt, ithurt. The first cramp wracked my belly, and panic swelled inside me as old, carefully buried memories rattled their chains.
The crack and flash of thunder and lightning. Sweaty, grasping hands pawing at me.
Gasping, I dragged and clawed at my clothing, my bound hands clumsy as I tried and failed to get rid of the sickening feeling. Every seam and stitch felt like sandpaper against my skin. Sweat drenched me; I was burning up.
Another cramp doubled me over.
“Heath,” I whispered, the word barely audible. “Gage...”
I wanted to call out for Knox, for that comforting cedar and campfire scent—but my throat closed around the plea. I didn’t deserve to have his name on my tongue. I didn’t deserveanyof them. A pitiful sob hitched my chest.
The door clanged open. I stumbled back, my shoulders thumping against the wall. The biggest alpha I’d ever seen loomed in the doorway. Bigger than Gage. And so much scarier.
The scent of rosemary and greasy leather rolled over me, overpowering the hint of Heath’s musk that I’d been clinging to. I froze, trying to melt through the concrete wall.
The alpha closed the barred door behind him. He pulled out a wicked stiletto knife, running a thumb along the edge like someone stroking a lover.
