I think I scream or roar. Hands clamp me from all angles.
My body ceases, chest thrashing with each ragged breath, lungs burning as I try to contain the storm inside. In and fucking out—chaos scratches her razor-sharp claws down the marrow of my bones, leaving splinters of madness in her wake.
Red. Everything is fucking red.
“WHAT THE FUCK!” The roar that leaves my chest is feral. It’s years of hunger rolled into one explosive moment, echoing off the walls with enough force the windows rattle.
The door flings open with enough force to crack the wall behind it. The sound barely registers through the searing hot rage, and pain.
Pain.
Aching. Like an open infected wound beneath my skin that will never close and—
“Oh my…” soft. A voice, unfamiliar yet somehow known, pulls me to her. She stands at the threshold, golden waves that curl around her shoulders like silk in the dim light. Her skin, pale and fragile as porcelain, seems to glow from within.
Her eyes lock on mine, and something shifts in the universe.
Red bleeds to a hue I’m unfamiliar with, something warmer, gentler. The rage, for the first time in my memory, submits to something softer, leaving me breathless in its wake…
Her lips part, trembling like she isn’t sure if she should speak, but instead of words, it’s the faintest smile that curves her mouth. It’s…fragile, almost sad, like she walked into the pit on purpose and already knows the monster will eat her alive.
Am I the monster she fears?
No, she should never fear me, she should…
My mind splinters and my teeth snap, jaw aching with the need to tear the softness right off her face.
Her eyes grow glossy and my brows yank together as my chest rattles from the sight, something deep and primal tearing at my insides. It’s a vicious demand clawing through me.
Fix it, comfort her, touch her.
It’s brutal, the way it tears at me. Like my skull is being split open from the inside, pressure behind my eyes making the room tilt. Making my heart slam too hard against my ribcage.
The girl lowers slowly, almost like she’s floating to the floor’s surface. Like gravity bends differently for her and is honored to do so. Every inch of her body folds down in front of me, and my anger intensifies.
Why the fuck is she on her knees for me?
I should be the one at her feet. I should be the one begging to—
No.
I growl, shaking my head and rattling the thought from my skull.
No. What the fuck is going on?
I thrash forward, but my body goes nowhere, a sickened snap sounding as fire curses through my veins. My wrist has snapped and my head swings to the side.
My brothers hold me back. One on each arm. Red and black ropes winding around my arms, binding me to them like an animal on a fucking leash.
“Who is this?” My voice cracks across the room, rough, jagged. “What the fuck are you doing?”
They pull me back harder, an invisible force locking me in like a pathetic little pet, and the rage floods, thick and hot, burning every nerve raw. I thrash, teeth bared, desperate to break free and rip the truth out of them.
And I fucking will.
I’ll tear this entire room apart and I’ll find my—
A whimper, low and devastating, tears the fucking roof off and drops the world flat.
