Chapter 11
Mo
Itoss and turn, the sheets soft and the bed impossibly warm, but the chain bites into my wrist every time I move and makes real comfort impossible.
I huff loudly.
Then I sense it.
My eyes snap open. Silas’s massive frame is standing over me in the dark.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” I gasp. “How can such a big motherfucker like you move that quietly?”
He doesn’t respond. He hasn’t spoken to me yet.
His hand grabs my wrist. I struggle to pull away, panic growing, while he holds on firmly. His fingers tighten around the cuff, and I brace for the yank, the drag, the rough handling.
Then, to my complete shock, he unlocks the chain. The cuff falls away with a soft clink.
His calloused fingers find the raw skin on my wrist, and he rubs it gently. The touch is so careful, so at odds with his size, that my breath catches.
I don’t know what to do with gentleness.
Our eyes lock, and he nods toward the bed. Go back to sleep. Then he turns and walks out without a sound.
I lie still for a few minutes, pulse hammering, trying to figure out what just happened. Then I creep out of bed and peer into the living room.
Silas is slouched on the couch. My guard dog for the night. He sits perfectly still, eyes fixed on me. He raises one eyebrow, then jerks his chin toward the bedroom.
Yeah, yeah. Message received, asshole.
I huff, stomp back to bed, and slam the door for good measure. Then I check the window. Sealed shut. Of course.
I flop onto the mattress and consider making a break for it. But then I’d have to grab Charly, Rocky, this pillow, the sheets, and all the soap.
“Fuck it,” I mutter, burrowing into the bed. “Might as well enjoy this while I can.”
I’ll escape tomorrow.
As I drift off, my thoughts keep circling back to the way Silas touched my wrist—the tenderness in it.
What game is this alpha playing?
* * *
Of course, I wake up chained to the fucking wall again.
Silas must have slipped in and locked me back up while I was dead to the world. The bedroom door is wide open, and I can hear the alphas making breakfast in the kitchen. Plates clattering, oil sizzling, someone opening and closing the fridge.
So freaking domestic.
“Playing happy families now, are we?” I mutter, yanking at the chain. Pain lances through my body, every breath like needles in my lungs. I should’ve shifted last night when I had the chance.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Heavy footsteps approach, and Darius appears in the doorway—a glass of orange juice in one hand and a muffin in the other.
Shirtless, because of course he is. All that muscle on display, like I’m supposed to be impressed.
His eyes rake over me, and I can tell he notices something’s off but doesn’t say anything about it.
“Breakfast,” he says, setting the items on the nightstand.
I bare my teeth at him. “What, no latte extra foam? I’m disappointed.”
He ignores the jab and turns to leave.
I need to shift, and soon. I can feel the pain getting worse by the minute. But I’m too proud to show him how bad it really is.
“Wait.” I hate the crack of desperation in my voice. “I need to shift.”
Darius pauses, his broad shoulders tensing. “No.”
“Please.” I grit my teeth, swallowing my pride. “I’m not feeling well. You know omegas heal when we shift. I’ve got a… condition. I need to do it at least once a day.”
He turns back, eyes narrowing. “And give you a chance to escape? Not happening, little omega.”
He starts to leave again.
“Darius.”
He stops. Waits.
“I’m serious. I need to shift. Just once a day. That’s all I’m asking. I won’t try to run.”
“Not today.” Of course, he doesn’t trust me.
Anger flares hot in my gut, but underneath it, something worse. Fear. Real, actual fear, because I know what happens to my body when I go too long without shifting, and it’s not pretty.
“You can’t keep me chained up like this forever!”
“Watch me,” he says, stepping closer. His alpha pheromones flood the room, and my body betrays me, responding to his proximity even as my mind rebels. My wolf whimpers. I clench my fists and dig my nails into my palms.
Stupid body. Stupid males. Stupid alphas.
“When I get out of here—”
“You won’t.” His voice is deadly calm, and that’s somehow worse than if he’d yelled. “You’re safe here, Blue. The sooner you accept that, the easier this will be.”
He stalks out, leaving me alone with my fury and the growing certainty that I’m in serious trouble, not only from the alphas but from my own body shutting down.
I’m seething, ready to hurl the muffin at the wall, but it’s warm, and someone even added a slab of butter. The sugar and carbs call to me, and I swallow them in three bites.
Then raised voices drift from the kitchen. One of them is female and insistent, and she’s arguing with Darius. I can’t make out the words, but whoever this woman is, she’s not backing down.
I like her already.
The arguing stops, and I hear footsteps. There’s a bounce in them, light and quick, nothing like the heavy plodding of the alphas. A beta girl’s face peeks around the doorframe. Younger than me, maybe nineteen, with shiny red hair and a curious smile.
“Hi,” she says. “I’m Lily.”
I don’t answer. Just take her in and try to figure out the angle. Everyone’s got an angle.
She spots the chain on my wrist, and her smile drops clean off. “Oh, my god. They chained you?”
“Darius is such a dick.”
She grins. “He’s my brother.” Then she looks back over her shoulder and steps fully into the room. “Darius doesn’t want me talking to you.”
She turns and yells toward the kitchen. “She’s not some pet, Darius! You can’t just keep her locked up!”
“Stay out of this, Lily. It’s pack business,” Darius replies from somewhere down the hall.
“Bullshit! I’m pack too, and this is wrong.”
His face appears in the doorway, jaw clenched so tight I can see the muscles popping.
“She’s dangerous.”
Lily scoffs. “Gee, I wonder why? Maybe because you chained her up like an animal?”
I snort. “Tell him, sister.”
Lily turns to me, her expression softening. Darius makes a low sound in his throat. “Lily, don’t get too close. She’s feral—”
“Out!” she snaps, shoving him. Actually puts her hands on his chest and pushes. And the incredible thing is that he goes. The hulking alpha retreats from his own sister like she’s the one in charge.
“I’m so sorry about these Neanderthals,” Lily says, turning back to me. She thrusts a bundle of clothes at me. “These should fit better than their stuff.”
“Thanks,” I mutter, surprised by the kindness and unsure what to do with it.
“The guys mean well,” she says, rolling her eyes. “They’re just a little prehistoric.”
“A little?”
She laughs—bright, real, and infectious. I haven’t heard that sound in a very long time, and something in my chest aches at it.
“Okay, a lot,” she concedes. “Just don’t judge us too harshly. We’re not monsters.”
“Could have fooled me.”
Her smile dims a little, but she doesn’t take offence. She plops down beside me on the bed like we’ve known each other forever. “So. Three years alone in the woods, huh? That must’ve been wild.”
I shrug, fingering the soft fabric of the shirt she brought. “Better than being caged.”
She nods at that. Doesn’t push. Just sits with the statement for a second before trying again. “Can I ask how you did it? Living all alone out there?”
“I wasn’t always alone. I had a pet squirrel named Pip. He kept me company for a while.”
“Oh my god, that’s adorable! A pet squirrel?”
“Yeah. Until my wolf ate him.”
Her eyes widen. She opens her mouth, closes it, opens it again. “That’s… tragic?”
“I cried for a week. Mostly because he was delicious.”
She bursts out laughing, and despite myself, I join in. It feels good. Strange and unfamiliar. Rougher than it used to be. Less practiced. But real.
“But in all seriousness,” I say, my voice softening, “I did cry for a week.”
The laughter fades into a quiet that doesn’t feel empty. The first comfortable silence I’ve shared with another person in years. Weird as hell, but nice.
Heavy footsteps. Darius reappears in the doorway. “What do you want for dinner, Blue?”
Without missing a beat: “Mashed potatoes, chocolate pudding, and Diet Coke.”
He nods and turns to leave, but I’m not done.
“Darius.”
He stops. Looks back.
“Why are you being nice all of a sudden?”
He shrugs. “We’re always nice.” I can’t tell if he’s being sarcastic or genuinely delusional.
“Nice would be letting me go or at least letting me shift.”
He shrugs again. “Nice would also be staying with us.” And then he’s gone.
Lily grins, nudging my shoulder. “Damn, girl. You’ve already got those alphas wrapped around your little finger.”
I scoff, rattling my chain. “Yeah. I’m clearly running the show here.”
After Lily leaves, I examine the clothes she brought. A few t-shirts, a pair of jeans, and underwear still in their packaging. I lie back and close my eyes, but I can feel my body worsening by the minute.
An hour later, my skin turns clammy. My muscles seize and cramp. Sweat beads on my forehead, and I can’t wipe it away because my hand is shaking too much to lift.
My breathing goes shallow. The pain moves from my muscles into my chest, heavy and crushing.
I try to call out, but my voice comes out as a rasp. I don’t have the energy to shout. Don’t have the energy for anything.
“Shit,” I mumble, sliding off the bed and sinking to the floor. The chain feels like it weighs a hundred pounds. “This is bad. Really bad.”
I try one more time. Nothing. Not even a sound that would carry past the door.
I should’ve shifted last night when Silas unchained me. Should’ve taken the chance instead of burrowing into those stupid, soft blankets like an idiot.
Stupid, stupid idiot.
The last thing I see before the darkness swallows me is Charly’s stick-figure shape propped against the pillow, watching over me the way he always does.
Useless. Both of us.