“Please,no.” I sniff with my plea. “I’ll do one of you. Why all?” My proposal is cut off with murmured laughter throughout the room.
“Maybe you shouldn’t have been such a fucking whore!” one of the guys in the back yells, and the man between my legs whips his head to see who spoke.
I choke on more smoke and hold up my hands, warding him off as he leans in closer to me. Swiveling my hips, I planta foot in his chest and attempt to squirm away, but he grabs my leg and flips me back. I grunt, but his hands hold my hips firmly in place. A few men approach, but he shakes his head.
“I’ve got her!” he growls.
They pause their steps but look eager to get closer.
Orange glow paint covers the men’s gloves or clings to vials on their hoodies. No one’s smeared me with paint yet.
Orange… Of course, these men are allBetas. One man removes his gas mask to reveal his gloating smirk, and my heart sinks.
Ayan laughs before shoving the respirator back down to avoid the smoke. “Lay back, Scout. All my boys are getting a turn to tag you.”
“Fuck you!” I scream, but the guy between my legs grips my throat, cutting off the end of my curse. For one fractured second, I understand exactly what I set in motion.
“Next time, try not tocheaton someone better than you!”
The rest laugh at me, gripping their cocks with an impending threat. Twenty men? More?
I’m in serious trouble. No one is coming to rescue me.
And if I live through this?
I’ll never be the same.
thirteen
My lips splitwhen I exhale. Even with the mask, it feels like I’m breathing through cotton. The smoke hasn’t even been released, and already my lungs feel tight, my pulse sprinting ahead, like it’s trying to escape me.
Standing in the crowd of brothers, I carefully unclip my glowing green paint vial and stash it in my pocket. I’m not here to win points. Not tonight.
I’m here to get her out.
Above us, the ceiling creaks with movement, and dust sifts down in pale sheets around us, turning the air into something we have to swallow. The mice are running. Somewhere overhead, doors slam. Footsteps scatter. Nervous laughter ripples through the men around me.
I let my shoulders loosen. Let my posture sag just enough to blend in. Then I drift away from my brothers and angle toward theBetas.
They part without thinking. Size does that. A few look twice, but there’s no color on me. No obviousmarkings. I keep my head down and my pace lazy, like I’ve got nowhere better to be. As hard as it is, I attempt tofit in.
Ayan’s voice carries from the front. Too confident and pleased with himself.
“Okay, brothers. We’re ready. Counting down!” He flashes his horn. I’m sure he’ll jump in front of us as soon as he says go.
Bodies surge toward the doors, and I mingle in with theBetaslike I belong… Even though I stick out like a bruise on bare skin.
The air cracks with the horn blast. Adrenaline hits hard enough to make my vision sharpen. We rush through as a group, me leaving my own guys. They’ll be fine.
I need to find Scout before anyone else does.
The house swallows us whole. Hallways splinter in every direction. Shouts echo. Somewhere nearby, a girl screams. A brother laughs too hard in response.
It’s difficult to breathe in this mask. Even harder to see. But I make out enough to follow the group in front of me.
For the first ten minutes, I tail a couple of guys until I can get one alone. By his side, he spits out comments that grow more congenial as we progress through the house.
“Maybe some in here?” he asks me, and I nod, encouraging him to enter the room.
