Page 63

Soft fingers wrap around my throat, and the instant clash of our abilities sends tremors through my entire nervous system. His eyes are alight with his mastery, wounds completely healed, and he is stronger than I ever gave him credit for. I struggle to free his hands from my neck, buck my hips, all while he shows no signs of stopping.

A loud metallic groan sounds through the tent before six bars of his cage are poised and angled at my head. Fuck. No one gave him another dose. “You…” his arms tremble and his face twists in agony. Tears bud in his eyes, spilling over and down his cheeks. Touching me hurts him just as much as it hurts me. “You…”

Even though I can barely breathe, I croak, “Spit it out, Saren.”

“How could you do this to me?”

I can’t risk using the pulse, and despite Nina telling me never to touch him again, it’s already too late. I’m not letting a Telex fucking kill me. I band my arms around his middle and tear my gloves off in record time. He realizes and bows his back to avoid my touch. Tough shit.

I’m bigger, limbs longer. I make contact easily, my palms against his flanks.

He whimpers and bites his lip, enduring the pain just so he can continue to strangle me.

Stubborn fuck.

I dig my nails into his skin, thrust my hips up harder, and break his hold. Touching a Telex always sends me off-kilter, but despite the lightheadedness and tingling in my fingers, I flip positions. Pinning his wrists to the floor, I suck in greedy inhales while my hair dangles in his face. Only then do I realize the bars are still poised to strike. His fingertips glow purple, and I roll us both out of the way.

“Let me go!” he roars, kneeing me right in the cock.

I call out in pain and snatch a wad of his hair, smacking his head into the snow. He fights me. Fuck, does he fight me. There’s too much skin-on-skin. My fingers graze his arms, chest, wherever I attempt to grab. The little shit even bites me hard enough to pierce.

“Fuck you!” He spits a mouthful of blood into my eyes.

For a split second, I consider calling for help, but that’ll only put more people in danger.

With one hand on his chest, I grab his arm and break it. He screams in pain. Between the broken bone and my touch, I don’t know how he hasn’t given up. It’s like he’s fighting someone else—worse than me. Fear, rage, shame all coat his scent, filling my nostrils and creating a glitch in time. And that second hesitation is all it takes. A bar slams into the side of my head. I fall over. Cradling his arm to his chest, he heaves and heaves.

I watch the tip of the bar bend and sharpen before my eyes. He poises it directly over my heart. “I hate you,” he cries. “I hate you!”

“Saren,” I say carefully, knowing I’m not beating him.

“No. Fuck you, Aryx. If that even is your name. You didn’t give me a chance. You didn’t listen to me!” The bar digs into my chest, already cutting through my skin. Beadlets of crimson trickle down my stomach.

He’s an omega. Did you know that?

It’s a long shot at best, but unless I want to use the pulse again, it’s all I’ve got left. I take a deep breath and let instinct guide me. I pump out my scent. It hits my nose, the air, and finally, Saren notices too. He shakes his head and resorts to mouth breathing.

Fuck.

My eyes drift to his stomach, the giant black scar the pulse left on him. Part of me loves that it’s there, but the other part knows I can’t risk it again.

“Saren,” I whisper.

“Stop it.”

“Put it down.” It’s a quiet command, but a command nonetheless. From an alpha.

He whimpers and presses the bar deeper. It’s close to hitting bone.

“You put me in a cage,” he cries. “A fucking cage! How could you do that to me when I gave you a home?”

A memory hits me. Vivid and so clear it steals my breath.

Crackers.

I love crackers so much. They’re familiar and nice. I can’t help but eat them all. But these aren’t mine. And Saren, that boy, has been…I don’t know. Maybe he’s nice. Maybe he’s telling the truth. But these aren’t mine and he’s watching me.

I burp, wince.