Chapter 37
The ride over to the hotel is the longest twenty-five minutes of my life, and I want to scream as the rotating doors to the lobby move at a glacial pace.
My legs shake as I force myself to walk to the elevator bank, rather than breaking out into a sprint like my anxiety demands.
Fortunately, a hotel keycard isn’t required to get to her floor, and I take a moment to suck in a deep breath during the elevator ride, making a mental game plan.
My stomach lurches as I check my phone to make sure I haven’t missed any calls or texts from Megan, and I see deluge of messages from the pack chat telling me to wait for them.
I can’t wait. This is my chance to make up for giving up on my sister.
I tap the shortcut I have on my phone to use in case of emergencies out of an abundance of caution.
It’ll record everything that happens and back it up to the cloud.
I don’t put it past Bryce to claim that I kidnapped his wife, so I need concrete evidence that she’s coming with me willingly.
I hate that I can’t rely on her not to fall in line with him if that happens.
I hate all of this. How did it get to this point?
The rap of my knock against the door to Megan’s room sounds far too loud. There’s no one in the hall, but my mind still imagines that if we make noise, Bryce will pop out from hiding and catch us before I can get Megan out of here.
There’s no response. I knock again, louder, looking back over my shoulder to make sure no one is around before calling out to my sister. “Megan, it’s me.”
For a long moment, I worry that I’m in the wrong place or she’s gone. But then the door cracks open and Megan’s face appears.
“Come in. Quick,” she hisses, stepping back to let me in and then slamming the door shut again.
I scan her, searching for any signs of injury, but other than her red, puffy eyes and her sallow pallor, she looks alright. Thank god. I tug her into a hug, and she trembles in my arms.
“I’m s-s-sorry,” she whispers, and I squeeze her tighter then pull back.
“Hey. It’s okay. Nothing matters right now other than getting you out of here.” I scan the hotel room with a frown, noticing the open luggage and items strewn around various surfaces. “Where’s your bag? We need to go.”
“I-I didn’t pack anything. I-I’m s-sorry.” She starts to sob silently, working herself up. I need her to focus, but she sits down on the bed and cradles her head in her hands, chest heaving.
“What do you need?” When I get no answer except more sobs, I circle around the room, pulse hammering as I locate her purse then search for any other essentials.
Every second I waste doing this feels dangerous.
“You know what? We’ll replace whatever you need.
Let’s go.” I reach out to grab her arm and pull her up off the bed, but freeze when the beep and whir of the door’s lock goes off.
Megan gasps in dismay, and my omega screams at me that we’re trapped, and I need to hide. I grip her shoulders. “Stay behind me. I won’t let him do anything to you.”
When I turn to face the door, ready to do anything I can to fend Bryce off, my mouth falls open. Because it isn’t Bryce coming into the room, it’s…
“Holden?” Am I hallucinating?
“Well, fancy seeing you here!” The blonde alpha grins at me jovially, but the malice radiating off of him makes me choke back a whine of fear.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
He laughs, the sound oily and ominous. “You’re a hard woman to get a hold of. I had to resort to asking for a friend’s help to get some time with you.”
A friend’s help. He means Bryce. Which means this was all a lie.
My stomach bottoms out, and my throat constricts with anger and fear as I step back so I can see both Megan and Holden.
“You didn’t want my help,” I say numbly.
My sister opens her mouth to reply, but Holden answers for her.
“Of course she didn’t want your help. What could you possibly do for her?
She has an influential alpha as her husband, which is more than most betas could ever dream of.
She doesn’t need help from her omega sister, who is the laughingstock of the internet.
God, you're as delusional as ever. It’s not cute, but I’m willing to overlook it. ”
Something breaks inside me at his words, unleashing the flood of anger I held back to keep up professional appearances when we worked together.
“I’m delusional? What do you think is going to happen here?
That I’m going to be grateful for your interest?
You’ve been lying about sleeping with me and—” My blood runs cold as the full force of the implication of his words hits me.
The alpha stalking me was working to help him.
The times I saw him or Bryce out of the corner of my eye weren’t me being paranoid.
Oh god. My hands tremble, and it takes everything in me to stay standing and not be sick all over the hotel carpet.
His smile sharpens as he strides toward me, still keeping himself firmly in the path between me and the door. Megan starts to sob again, but I can barely hear it over my hammering pulse.
“You think you’re so smart, but you’re really just a dumb omega bitch. I was trying to be nice before when I showed interest, but I’m done playing games. I want you, and now I’m going to have you.”
This can’t be happening. How did I go from talking to Astrid about being happy with my pack to this? A high-pitched whine fills my ears, and it takes a moment for me to register that the sound is coming from me.
“Oh, relax. Just be a good little omega whore like I know you are for that pack, and everything will be fine. I know you’re a knot-hungry slut.”
“No.” I should try to run, but I can’t get my limbs to move. Everything inside me is shutting down as panic makes my vision tunnel.
“Get on your knees, slut.”
The alpha bark snaps me back to my senses. Rather than compel me to do his bidding, it reminds me of River’s lessons. Reminds me that I’m strong enough to resist and that my pack will come for me.
When I don’t listen, Holden blinks at me in confusion, and I spring into action, attempting to bolt past him, but I’m not fast enough. He snags me by my hair and yanks me back. Pain sears through my neck and scalp, then my legs, as the force of it throws me to the ground.
“I said kneel!” he barks again, gripping my hair tighter as he forces me up to my knees because he can’t make me obey.
As Holden looms over me, the strangest urge to laugh overtakes me. I let it out, not caring how crazy it makes me seem. “You’re pathetic,” I say, glaring up at him. “You can’t get an omega, so you stalk and assault me, and then your bark doesn’t even work on me.”
“Shut the fuck up, bitch.” His slap makes my teeth clack together as pain bursts behind my eyes, and I fall over to my side. I taste blood from where I’ve bitten my lip, but he lets go of me.
I look up at Megan, who is staring at us, pale-faced. I don’t bother begging her for help. There’s nothing there behind her eyes. She’s checked herself out from this horrific reality like she always does.
“Ready to change your mind and do what you’re good for?” Holden asks, voice saccharine. “Because you can either give me what I want or I can take it. You fucking omegas think you’re in control, but you’re not.”
“Neither are you,” I bite back, cradling my bruised jaw.
He lets out a humorless laugh. “Oh yeah? If I’m not in control, then why did you get fired? If I’m not in control, then why have you been hiding away with your whipped pack?” The evil smile on his face as he kneels down in front of me is clearly meant to terrify me.
“All it took was a talk with my uncle to get the omega cocktease fired because she was a stuck-up bitch who thought she was too good for me. Then a chat with some fellow upstanding alphas to get your story to AlphaNet.” He lowers his voice, and I have to choke back my yelp of pain as he grips my jaw. “I’m. In. Control.”
Rage floods my system at his confession. I don’t care if he hurts me more. I refuse to let this monster think he’s won. I spit right in his smirking face.
He recoils on instinct, and I scramble backward, putting the bed between us as he lets out a murderous sound of rage.
Out of the corner of my eye, I notice the glint of metal from a half-eaten tray of room service food. I lunge for it, brandishing the steak knife in front of me as Holden advances. “Try to touch me again and I’ll cut off your cock, fucker.”
“That won’t be necessary. He’s leaving.”
For the first time in my life, I’m almost relieved to hear my brother-in-law’s voice.
Holden spins to face Bryce, who holds the door to the room open and inclines his chin toward it. “What? No way. I haven’t gotten what we agreed on!”
Bryce looks down at his fingernails like he’s bored by the alpha’s tantrum. “Not my fault you couldn’t get an omega to behave. Now, get out.” Unlike Holden’s weak bark, Bryce’s makes my omega tremble and has Holden spitting out more curses as he brushes past him and out the door.
Any feeble hope of my sister’s husband not being as much of a monster as Holden vanishes as he locks the door.
He steps into the room, casting a glance at Megan, who is crying again. Bryce sneers at her like her tears are a nuisance, and she stiffens, putting a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound of her shaky breaths and sniffles.
My omega’s panic renews as he approaches me. Unlike Holden, he doesn’t sneer or posture. Bryce watches me with the dead-eyed stare of a serial killer, and any of my remaining rage-fueled courage sputters out.
“Drop the knife.”
The steak knife clatters out of my hand before I can even register his bark.
“If y-you’re trying to scare me, you succeeded,” I say, voice trembling as defeat sets in. “I’ll leave you alone. I’ll never talk to Megan again. Just let me go and—.”
The alpha’s eyes narrow, and he points at the edge of the bed. “Sit down and shut up.”
I try to fight it with everything I have left, but my omega is too terrified to hold my ground.
She’s telling me to listen to the alpha so I don’t get hurt, my instincts betraying me.
My stomach cramps as I sit, and tears slide down my feverish cheeks as I silently beg this alpha to let me leave, unable to even whine because of his bark.
“Good omegas don’t speak unless given permission. Don’t worry, you’ll learn.”
My eyes flare wider, and I turn to look at Megan, who trembles and weeps.
“She’s pathetic, isn’t she?” Bryce asks.
“Your sister tries her best, but she’ll never be enough for what an alpha like me needs.
She understands the rightful order of things.
Meg knows how unnatural it is for an omega to live without the protection of a strong, commanding alpha.
That’s why she agreed to help me get you here. ”
My whine breaks free past the control of his bark, but it cuts off as he glares at me. Fuck, what am I going to do? More panicked tears roll down my face, soaking into my shirt.
“Don’t cry. You wanted to be with your sister, and now you will be.
” He presses the back of his hand to my forehead and smiles.
“Once your heat starts, you’ll forget anything but the joys of taking a real alpha’s knot.
By the end, you’ll be so used up and covered in my bites that your weak excuse for a pack won’t want you.
I’ll have all the evidence I need to show the world that you’re an omega whore who will do anything for alpha dick, not some symbol of omega oppression. ”
“Bryce, please.” Megan’s voice shocks me. She reaches out to him, and he bats her hand away with a growl.
“Go wait out in the hall. I’ll tell you when I need you again.”
She recoils, nodding and scrambling toward the door. “P-please, don’t hurt her.” Our eyes meet for a moment, and I pour every last ounce of pleading and desperate hope toward her, though I know it won’t do any good.