Page 94 of Plug and Drain

Susie swallowed the lump in her throat, the walls she’d thrown up to defend herself falling away as quickly as she’d erected them. “You believe me?”

Arken’s expression finally softened a little as some of the warmth returned to his eyes. “Yes. Yes. Of course I do.” He brushed her cheek again. “You needn’t ever ask that.”

His fingers intertwined with hers, and it wasn’t until he lifted her hand to his lips to kiss it that she realised her entire arm was stained with Oscar’s blood. He glanced at it pointedly. “Besides, it’s obvious there was a confrontation.”

“Oh.” She’d been so unsettled by the omegas’ lies and so worried that Arken would believe them and think ill of her that it hadn’t occurred to her that he’d put two and two together.

“Deadly,” he murmured, his fingertips brushing the tips of her claws, her core shuddering pleasantly from the low rumble of his voice. “However…I will need to deal with your attacker in a more permanent fashion.”

Her lips parted to protest, but no words came out. Oscar had to die—it was his life, or hers because, after tonight, he would be coming for her. She and Arken both knew it.

That was why she had absolutely nothing to say in Oscar’s defence. Even if that made her a bad person.

It was time she drew a line between helping others and standing up for herself. And Oscar was cruel and despicable. He was the last person who deserved her help.

Which was why she nodded resolutely at Arken.

“You have no objections to me killing the wolf?” he asked, sounding surprised.

“Only a request,” she answered.

“And what is that?”

“Make it quick. Don’t make him suffer, if only for your sake.”

“For my sake?” he repeated softly, his fingers combing into her hair as his lips drew close. “My word…it’s been a long time since someone’s been concerned for my soul.”

A thousand replies flitted through Susie’s mind, including the one on the tip of her tongue:

Maybe it’s about time someone looked out for you.

Because he had just saved her from a long, painful, humiliating death, and she’d never been happier to see a vampire—or anyone, for that matter— as she was to see Arken right now.

Here, with her. His body was so close it warmed her, his lips hovering close enough to kiss her.

Her heart pounded in her chest, trying to summon the courage to say those words, or any words at all to express the gratitude she felt in this moment.

And then he stepped back and reached into his coat pocket, extracting a large, flat jewellery case that made her insides curdle.

The warm fluttery feeling inside her vanished as Arken opened the case, presenting her with the very thing she’d dreaded ever since she’d arrived at the academy: a collar.

It was a simple band of polished gold, with no tags or gems. Even so, there was no mistaking what the necklace was, or what it represented.

It was not a gift. It was enslavement.

Arken’s tone was deceptively cordial and left no room for objection as he instructed, “Put this on.”

Chapter 24

The Proposal

Susie

Susie stared at the golden collar necklace. It gleamed in the velvet-lined case that Arken was holding open for her. He was waiting expectantly for her to say something.

She was too stunned to speak. The evening was a jumbled mess in her mind. Her attempts to avoid Arken. The fear of the omegas pursuing her still gripped her, a stark contrast to the moment when she thought she’d gotten away…The sound of Oscar’s piercing shriek as she slashed him…The brief victory she’d felt…The heartfelt moments with Sarah…Even Molly’s idiosyncrasies…All those moments collided and walloped her over the head. She saw stars spinning around her, her breathing still fast and shallow as she tried to untangle it all.

And the culmination of the evening was…this?