Elliott places his hand on my lower back and my body tenses beneath his touch as he guides me out of the building. Sometime, while I was in the Dean’s office, the bell must have rung. I see students migrating through the hallway. Has it been that long? How out of it have I been?
Whispers swarm around us as Elliott guides me down the hall, straight toward the exit. Each step we get closer, the more afraid I become of what lies on the other side of these doors. I’ll be alone with him in a car. At least I think he’s alone… there’s no one else here with us now. But why wouldn’t the rest of the pack come inside if they were with him?
He doesn’t make a sound, not a word or even a grunt as we exit the building, taking the steps down to the sidewalk and heading straight to his car. He unlocks the passenger door swiftly, opening it for me to get in. I hesitate. Everything in me isscreaming that this isn’t a good idea and to push him away and run for my life. But my body doesn’t comply. Instead of running, I get inside the car, letting my bag slip off my shoulder. It falls into my lap with a soft thud.
“I’ll take that for you.” He snatches the bag quicker than I’m able to react, and shuts the door. The asshole doesn’t even give me a chance to say anything.
He opens the driver side door and folds his long body behind the wheel. I don’t see my bookbag.
“My bag?”
“Your bag, what?” He grins as his eyes gaze so intently on me, I feel like he can see right to my soul.
“Where’s my bag? I need it please. It has my phone and my books.” My voice gets softer with each word I say until it’s barely a mumble coming out of my mouth.
“The bag is in the trunk. Don’t worry about it. Our omega won’t have a need for a phone.” His voice is cold. Calculated.
“But I do. My brother is supposed to be calling me.” I whimper. It’s then I notice he’s now heading in the opposite direction of my house. “We’re going the wrong way. My house is in the other direction.” I turn in my seat, looking out the back window anxiously.
“That’s not your home any longer.” He glances over at me, his tongue sliding across his bottom lip as he inhales deeply. I swear it looks like his eyes roll back in his head and he lets out a growl. “I told you that you were coming home to your pack.” He lets out a low growl that makes my body tense, makes my heart race with panic.
“Fuck if you don’t smell delicious right now. Your cherry and vanilla scent, laced with fear, is intoxicating.”
No. No. No. God no. I need to go home. There, I can run. But he’s taking me to the unknown, and whatever waits there makesmy stomach twist. I swallow hard, nearly choking on the lump in my throat.
“But my things?” I whine. I don’t really care about them. Well, except for the pictures I have of Storm and our mom. And my blade. But it’s a last-ditch effort to get to my house. To be out of Elliott's presence, if only for a couple of minutes.
“We will give you new things.” He pauses for a moment, his hand coming down on my thigh. He squeezes my flesh with a force that makes me jump, his nails piercing my skin. He gracefully palms the steering wheel with his free hand as we make a right turn, heading further away from safety.
“As you earn them, of course. Belongings are a privilege, Omega.”
What the fuck has my father gotten me into? I turn my head toward the window, taking my time to memorize every building, every turn he takes. So that when I run—and I will—I need to know what direction to head in.
“Why?” I whimper in defeat.
“Why, what?” His voice is harsh, brutal. It’s so intense it causes me to shift in my seat uncomfortably
“Why me? Why do the three of you want me? I’m nothing. Nobody.” My words hang in the air between us as the shame of the truth settles on me.
“I know my father owes a debt to you, but isn’t there another way you could make him pay it back?”
He laughs. One that sounds teasing, but he stretches it out too long, until it unravels into something broken and psychotic.
“Oh, what a clueless little thing you are.” His awful laugh makes my skin crawl.
“There would never be any option. You’re all I’ve been able to think about since that first day I saw you walking down that sidewalk.” He makes another turn, his eyes shifting between the road and me. “Your head down, gripping that same weatheredbag. Each step you took seemed to be a struggle. You called to me. Then you looked up.” His grip on my thigh tightens its grasp before loosening his hold. His hand moves slightly up my thigh, closer to my quivering center as my heart pounds in my chest. Sweat beads on my forehead from the mixture of panic and fear.
“I knew I wanted you that day. You were too young, though. So I waited. I watched you. All while convincing my pack you were the one for us. For me. And then, when your father had no other choice….”
“You’ve been… watching me?” I can’t even look at him as I ask, hoping like hell I misunderstood him. What grown man follows a teenage girl? My brain tries to wrap itself around his words that I just heard. He’s been stalking me all this time.
“Are you deaf? Or did you hit your head? I just told you that.” His words are cold, calculated and uncaring...
“You’re an attractive man. Surely you’d want an older omega, someone who knows more than me. Someone better than me.” My voice cracks as I speak.
“No,” he growls. I whimper in response.
He pulls off to the side of the road, and for just a moment a surge of hope rushes through me. Maybe he’s going to let me go. Maybe he realizes I’m not what his pack wants and I’m a lost cause. Maybe…
