The chanting grows louder. A witch wraps my wrists in silver. I welcome the pain and pray for death. Hands touch me all over. My skin crawls. My alpha is offended at first that they would dare try to dominate us. Hold us down. Then he yelps because we're shoved forward. A witch invades my body, and it stings. Another grips my cock. Pleasure and pain. I hate it. They keep chanting. My alpha is ashamed, trapped, confused, angry. I'm embarrassed. I feel small.
I pray for death. I welcome the pain.
Nausea crawls up my throat, bringing me back to the present. The stench of burned flesh helps clear the memory. Slowly, I let go of the silver bars, and the burning subsides, replaced by a dull throb. Vision clearing, I focus on breathing.
I don't realize my alpha is the one pulling me back from the brink until the fog clears. We fight together, always, and it's the first glimmer of control he's shown since we walked away from Mona.
This is different from before, I remind myself. I wasn't prepared when Deidre first caught me.
I think through the plan again, the same plan I had before I met my mate. Obey, feign subjugation. Yes, Deidre can control me, but no one else can, and it's weakening. And the moment I can rip that vial of my blood from her neck and burn this house down, I'll be free of them all.
Nothing has changed. I've done this all before.
I drop my head down, hands resting on my knees. The skin is already repairing, slowly.
The delta knows better than to touch me right now, but she's watching me closely, a healthy distance away. She knows I know what's coming.
This is so fucked up.
"I've apologized more in the last few weeks than I have in years," I muse.
I can feel Lily's hesitation. She's listening, but scared. Of me, of the situation. She's right to be.
"Okay…" she hedges, but doesn't move any closer. But then her voice softens. "Silas, I didn't know—none of us knew, all this time, that you werehere…"
Her compassion feels itchy.
I don't turn to face her. Instead, I say, "I'm sorry for what's coming."
Deidre can't change this new thing inside me, this shift in my existence. My omega mate is a part of me now. But the high priestess is going to try to make Lily and me fuck against our will, likely hoping I'll impregnate the little delta. I know that's her plan. She's done it before, in the early days.
It won't work, but might well drive us both insane.
I resume pacing, feeling Lily's fear ratchet. She has a pleasant scent. Like an ocean breeze, the smell of sand in the hot sun, coconut. It's fresh and warm. So unlike this place. But it's sour, too, tinged with terror.
A door creaks, followed by footsteps echoing throughout the empty room. Lily sucks in her breath, staying very still and quiet like the prey she is.
"That smells awful," Deidre whines. I bare my teeth in response. "Really, Silas, it smells like burnt hair down here. Disgusting." She waves her hand at her nose, as if she hadn't burned me with deadly witch fire just last week.
I grip the silver bars again, barely registering the pain, and don't take my eyes off her. She struts slowly, hips swaying,accentuated by the tight red dress. Her long auburn hair is in waves, styled like some movie star out of the 40s. I don't know how old she is, not as old as Kendrick, but older than most. Like the rest of us supernaturals, her appearance doesn't show her age.
"This is why wolves have never taken the lead in the supernatural community.Savages," Pierre spits, trailing after his priestess like a little parasite. I snarl, but keep my focus off him for now. I've tried to kill him many times in the past, but the geas always prevents it, since Deidre expressly forbade me from killing any of her coven. There's a special place in my black heart reserved for that sadistic fuck.
I've got bigger problems right now, though.
"I've offered a reward to bring the girl home. Since you failed so spectacularly, I've had to employwolves," she spits, like we're so beneath her. "All I had to do was whisper omega, and I had several rogues panting to grab her for me."
Most wolves hate witches, but some will do a witch's bidding if the price is right. Mostly rogues, or packs who avoid clan life.
I bark out a laugh and push away from the bars. "You're fucking delusional if you think any wolf, alpha or otherwise, is going to bring her back to you. Doesn't matter what you pay them. They'll never let go of an omega."
She hums. "Then, why not keep her for yourself? You could have brought her back here, spent days inside her." If she hasn't figured out what Mona is to me, she will soon. I can't ignore an express directive from the witch, but my alpha meeting his fated mate gave us the strength to leave after giving her the one thing she'd need to stay alive: her wolf.
My alpha is horrified, thinking of her out there alone with wolves after her. If she follows her instincts, if she does as I said, she'll be okay. She just needs to go north and her wolf will guide her to safety.
I keep my expression blank and don't reply. Deidre narrows her eyes.
"Come." She crooks her finger. I should pretend and obey, but I'm too fucking angry. But then she taps her long, sharpened fingernail against the tiny glass vial hanging around her neck and gives it a squeeze.
