Of course, that’s assuming I haven’t already missed graduation...I probably have.
My hands curl into the hem of my shirt, knuckles white, as I try not to dwell on it. The last thing I want is to burst into tears.
“Will you…” I start, then stop, trying to gather my thoughts, but it’s so hard to think with Cass pressed so close.
I’m acutely aware of every place we touch. His arm around my waist, the hand on the back of my neck, and the hard muscle of his chest against my side. Even the heat radiating from his skin is distracting.
Taking a slow breath, I force myself to focus, shoving all the noise in my head to one side.This isn’t the time to unravel.
“Will you let me go?” I manage to ask, but the question hangs there, sounding even more ridiculous out loud.
I mean, I already know what his answer is going to be.
No alpha on Earth would ever willingly release an unmated omega. Not once she’s inside his pack’s walls. But it doesn’t hurt to ask…I hope.
“Let you go?” Cass repeats, like the words don’t quite compute. Then his expression shifts into something harder as it locks onto mine. “Is that really what you want?” he asks. “To be turned loose so you can wander the streets alone?” His dark blue eyes narrow. “You’ll be snatched and fucked so fast by every crazed alpha in a fifty-mile radius.”
His words land hard.
Heat crawls up my neck, humiliation burning bright and ugly.
Heisright.
Omegas don’t get to exist unclaimed in the wild, not safely, and not for long. But hearing it said in such a crassway makes my chest tighten with something sharp and furious.
“You don’t have to be so mean,” I snap. “I know how the world works for omegas.” The second the words leave my mouth, panic hits. My breath catches hard as I brace myself, waiting for him to yell or hit. To do something that will remind me of my place.
But Cassian doesn’t say a word.
He just holds me a little tighter, and my heart hammers against my ribs like a frantic, trapped thing.
“I just—” I swallow hard, forcing myself to keep talking before I lose my nerve. “I just meant…you don’t have to make me wander the streets. You could take me back. To my school.” I nervously lick my lips. “To Danvers Academy.”
For a second, Cass goes still, his face so close to mine.
Then he lets out a sharp laugh. It’s quick. Like it slipped out before he could stop it.
And my stomach drops.
“You want me to take you back to Danvers?” His dark brows lift, like he’s surprised I’d say something so stupid. “You think I can drop you off at an academy and no one will ask a single question? They’ll let me and my pack go on our merry way?”
Embarrassment floods my cheeks, and I look away. My eyes immediately land on his knee, and I grimace. It’s swollen and angry, the skin pulled tight over the joint, red creeping up his thigh in a way that makes my stomach twist.
It looks agonizing.
Good.
The jerk deserves it.
“Look,” Cass says, all amusement gone. “I don’t mean to be a dick.”
It takes everything in me not to roll my eyes.
“I know that none of this is your fault.” He pulls his arm free from my waist, but before I can even process the freedom, his fingers are on my chin. It’s a firm but gentle grip that forces my head up until I have no choice but to look at him.
Then his voice shifts to a gentle purr. “But I’m not letting you go, Tansy.” His other hand slips down in a slow, deliberate slide that ends at the small of my back, holding me in place.
My body betrays me, arching instinctively into his touch. Followed by a sharp, hot spike of fear that lances through me. I fucking hate the programming in my DNA that demands an alpha's touch, even when my mind is screaming to run.
