Hayze’s disbelieving stare meets mine, and I shrug, unsure what to make of it. Then, right as Malakai gets in Cross’s face, the door they’ve just passed opens and their argument stops out of necessity—or rather, self-preservation—because that’s Finneas’s voice just beyond the door. My breath catches in my throat. Oh fuck. They’re finally bringing Delilah inside.
The comments under their breath as they herd her into the house have my eyes widening and a hard swallow working down my throat.
“Little cunt hasn’t learned her place yet,” Kiefer growls.
“She soon will,” Finneas murmurs, confidence oozing from him. “This is ours. To use. To fuck. To breed.”
My father laughs. “Indeed. What’s mine is yours.”
“And what’s yours is mine,” Nolan snorts out, chuckling.
My stomach pitches angrily. Silent, I watch for a glimpse of Delilah while my mind scrambles, and I attempt to guess what the next step in their plan for her might entail. Anxiety snakes under my skin, and I turn my head, my eyes locking with both Cross’s and Malakai’s. Their faces are carefully blank as they observe the proceedings. Any trace of their earlier argument has fizzled out, their attention solely on the girl being all but dragged along behind Finneas.
She gives a hiccupping cry as they jerk her forward and she stumbles. That’s when I see what they’ve done.
I suddenly wish I’d never swallowed a single spoonful of that fucking oatmeal. My stomach churns in rebellion as they come closer. Her slim torso is encased in some sort of halter-style contraption made out of leather. They’ve attached a leash to the metal ring situated between her breasts. Finneas grips it firmly, leading her down the hall. I’ve never seen anything like it before, but it looks like something used to control a misbehaving animal. And perhaps that’s how they view her. Every once in a while, our leader’s impatience rises, and he gives a sharp tug that has her crying out as she lurches forward.
Nolan and Kiefer laugh with every stumbled step she takes and help to haul her along. Each has a firm grip of one of her biceps, and her feet hardly touch the floor. My own father brings up the rear, a heat in his eyes that sickens me. “She’s a healthy one, anyway,” he mutters, his eyes locked on her backside. “I’m kinda getting used to the insolence. Makes me hard.” As her steps falter, he grabs a handful of her ass cheek. A muffled cry leaves her, and tear-soaked eyes dart around. She’s looking for help.
And I can’t give it to her.
Kiefer laughs, glancing down. “You wear our cum well.” The smirk on his face makes the scar she left him with pull on his cheek. He’s as ugly on the outside now as he is on the inside. I just never saw it before.
I blink, my gaze focusing in on the splotchy wet patches that cover Delilah’s naked body. It wasn’t enough for them to make us teach her a lesson yesterday. From the looks of it, they’ve done it all over again. The sight ofthemon her has a rampage forming inside my brain. It’s a wild, loud, thumping that beats against the interior of my skull. It’s a revolution. A war.
Hayze’s firm grip on my elbow might be the only thing that brings me back from the red coating my vision. He sidles closer to me as they pass us by, and I watch in silence. Each of my heavy, devastating heartbeats matches the rhythm of their steps as they march toward the gathering room. My breath stalls out.No. Fuck.She looks absolutely forlorn. Lost. And more scared than I’ve ever seen her. I’m terrified that she’s reached a breaking point and of what it could mean for her.
Her anxious gaze finally finds mine. The raw emotion flowing from her is a dull spoon carving my heart out until there’s nothing left but a hollow cavity, incapable of sustaining life. I might die. My head screams in agony.
Hayze’s hand grips my elbow harder, but I don’t know if he senses I’m about to lose it and he has to hold me back or if it’s because he’s as affected as I am and needs to anchor himself before he acts out.
“Twenty-Three, sweetheart, hopefully you’ve learned your lesson,” Nolan breathes softly next to her temple. “But I’d actually rather you haven’t. Becausethe next time you are faced with a correction for your bad behavior, we’ll just declare you ours for personal use, and take turns filling that little cunt day and night until we’ve planted a babe in here.” He reaches out, his hand sliding down, and cups her pussy. She flinches so hard, his response is a satisfied grin.
My jaw is tighter than tight, my fists clenching reflexively. And the only breath I manage to drag in is toxic. It leaves my tongue coated in ash.
And then they’re taking Delilah into the kitchen, and all that’s left for the four of us to do is follow. She’s dragged straight past our brothers while they gawk in surprise. Gannon and Dragan continue to eat their fucking breakfasts, glancing at each other with lecherous grins. Rafe’s gaze casts down quickly. Evren doesn’t look away, but his face stains the color of a beet.
“I’m telling you,” Dragan turns and mutters to Gannon, “I’m gonna make sure I have those perfect tits in my mouth soon.”
“You and me, both. The smell of that sweet cunt has my mouth watering.” Gannon jams a spoonful of oatmeal into his piehole before smirking. “She’s got my appetite roaring. Too bad we couldn’t find her last night, right?” The two of them chuckle, heads bent together as their gazes flick toward the rest of us. Whatever other comments they make, they keep in hushed tones between the two of them.
I don’t even have it in me to frown at their assholery. I’m too busy watching as the Collectiveshoves my siren into the gathering room. Because what else is there for me to do? I feel defeated. Worthless. Most of all… I’m fucking angry. And I fear they aren’t done with her. I feel it in my bones, in my marrow. It might not happen today or tomorrow. But I have a feeling the worst is yet to come.
TWENTY-ONE
HAYZE
The heavy doorto the gathering room has been left partially open. Did my father do that on purpose so we could listen to the proceedings? Absolute quiet descends as the faint rumble of Finneas’s voice becomes audible. There’s nothing to be done… except listen. I gesture to Cross, Arrow, and Malakai that we should sit. There’s no doubt their stunned expressions are a match for mine.
Once seated, my hands clench, gripping my thighs. I wasn’t certain what the Collective would have in store for Delilah today, but they’ve taken this correction further than I ever expected them to. But maybe it was dumb of me to think my father wouldn’t hammer this punishment into her. After all, she humiliated him. And the great Finneas would never stand for that.
“Fuck. If we don’t get to look at her tits and ass, I’m going outside.” Gannon pushes back his chair, and it scrapes over the floor loudly, making us miss part ofwhat’s being said in the other room. Dragan follows him out. That’s a relief, at least.
I blow out a quick breath, gesturing to Rafe. “You and Evren should check and see if Leif and Fenix need any help feeding the animals. We’ll be out in a sec.” My brother nods, as does Arrow’s, but while Rafe gets up and goes into the main hall, Evren remains seated.
“What’s wrong?” Arrow whispers as he ducks his head close to his brother.
But Evren shakes his head, lips mashing together so tightly, it’s clear somethingiswrong, but he doesn’t intend for any of us to know.
