This had to be a joke.
Not just the idea that these men likely had sex with a bunch of women last night, right before I was set to arrive, but also…
That them doing so bothered me far more than the bloodied photographs, the threatening target, and the general air of menace.
Xander moved in front of me then and I shrunk back a step. My better instincts, the ones screaming at me to run, were beginning to take over.
But I was blocked from retreat. Xander’s eyes were slices of pure midnight—dark, foreboding, as they scanned my face with an unsettling intensity. He leaned closer, and for the first time in my life, I was grateful to have a barrier blocking me from the outside world.
“Let’s get one thing straight,” he began, his voice deceptively soft but laced with unveiled cruelty. “We don’t accept you. Not asour mate. Not as our equal. We’ll own you, until we can disown you. You are here to satisfy a fucking clause in a contract, and that’s it.”
A chill snaked down my spine, and I resisted the urge to recoil.
Slowly, he pulled something from his pocket. The other Alphas shifted, a mixture of surprise and intrigue flashing across their faces. Wicked smiles stretched their mouths when they saw the object in Xander’s grip.
He dangled a heart-shaped necklace before my mask's visor, the shimmering metal glinting in the dim light.
“Take off the helmet, Lucy.” He left no room for argument, despite being fully aware of the risk to my immune system. My heart raced as uncertainty clawed at me.What do I do? What do I say?
At my hesitation, he took one step nearer. So close. Too close.
“Take off the fucking helmet,” he commanded again.
Something broke in me. The last vestiges of timidness, maybe. The remnants of the girl who couldn’t ask for more, because she’d always been too sick. Resolve solidified inside me.
I wrapped hands around the base of the helmet, giving it a quick jerk to the left. Air hissed out as the seal was broken. I gasped when the heated air in the house hit my lungs, and the full force of gasoline stench stung my nose. It hurt almost immediately to breathe, but I didn’t put the helmet back on. I held the rim in my right hand, lowering it to rest against my thigh.
Xander’s eyes sparked, something new lighting in them.
He put the necklace on me, his callused fingers grazing my skin and leaving trails of heat. His fingers lingered at the back of my neck, and he leaned forward, mouth brushing my ear.
“You’re in hell now, Lucy. The only way out is to tell Eros you refuse to be matched with us.”
When Xander straightened, taking a step back from me, he pulled the heart to tighten the necklace brutally. A whimper escaped my lips despite my best efforts to keep it inside. I very nearly dropped the helmet so I could claw at the metal and pull it looser. He made a satisfied, predatory sound, then he pulled roughly, forcing me to walk. My skin ached. My chest hurt. My head felt floaty. But I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of showing pain again. I wouldn’t.
They think I’m weak. They think I don’t belong. They want me to be so scared I leave. That isn’t going to happen.
He led me like a dog on a leash into a room with nothing inside save for a stained mattress tossed on the floor. The other Alphas followed close behind, seeming to get off on the show. Bringing us to a stop, Xander tugged the necklace again, making my pulse throb against the cold metal.
“Stay.” He released the necklace, but that one word formed new chains around me.
I looked at the others.
Each of them glaring at me or grinning or… looking like they’d just started the best game they’d ever played. Asher tossed my medical bag with zero concern for the contents. He hit the dead center of the mattress, the kit bouncing a few times before falling over to settle on its side.
Again, I thought about asking for my suitcase.
Again, my throat closed up before the words could exit.
They disappeared with a slammed door.
Three words started cycling through my mind, salt in a fresh wound.
I chose this. I chose this. I chose this.
Still holding the helmet, I lifted it with both hands and stared at my reflection in the visor.
I chose this?
