Chapter 50
FIFTY
My head reels from the revelation that the Beta I care so much about is related to the Alpha who has ruined the last few years of my life.
I barely have time to come to terms with it before he calls someone and tells them to bring Gage to the interrogation room.
I can only hope that Puck received the call and will be able to keep Gage safe.
My skin tightens with a chill that has nothing to do with the room’s temperature. I am naked and exposed in front of the predator who has spent years trapping me in his web with no sign of escape.
His fingers move rapidly over the phone screen as he types out a message before he puts the top-of-the-line device in his pocket.
“Wait here, Queenie. I’ll be back once my son is taken care of.”
He doesn’t stick around long enough to hear the gasping sob that escapes from me at the thought of something happening to Gage.
I have to be strong. I have to believe that Puck will take care of him as best he can.
I know I am not getting out of this, but maybe my pack can.
Before I can think better of it, I’m rifling through Kieran’s desk. My fingers brush against a firm brick of plastic, and when I pull it out, I sigh in relief when I see it’s a cheap, prepaid cell phone.
I want to call Maverick and Emmanuel, but I don’t have their numbers memorized. I want to tell them how much these last few weeks have meant to me.
But I can’t.
Instead, I call the only number I know by heart - my sister’s.
Of course, she doesn’t pick up. No one picks up numbers they don’t have saved anymore. There are too many spam calls.
Voicemail clicks on, and I sigh at her familiar voice. It soothes some of the fear inside me, even though it’s just a canned message on a recording.
“Hey, sis,” I say softly. “It’s Crys, obviously. I, uh, sorry, I’m calling from an unknown number. Some stuff has happened, and I lost my phone. Can you put me on speaker for Hannah real quick? I’ll wait.” I wait a pause, imagining my sister running to find my sweet little niece and letting her listen in.
“Hey, peanut. I just wanted you to know I love you so much. I’m sorry I’m not going to make it to your party. If I could be there, I would, but something has come up. I love you all the way to the moon, around the stars, out to Pluto, even though it isn’t a planet anymore, and back again.” Tears pour down my face, and I choke up, emotion clogging my vocal cords.
I never thought I would leave a voicemail like this.
“Okay, you can take the phone off speaker,” I say once I regain my composure. “Eve, I’m so sorry to do this to you. Kieran, the Alpha you met, is more dangerous than you know. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m going to be able to escape his wrath. No matter what you hear after this, please know everything I did, I did to keep you and Hannah safe. You sacrificed so much for me over the years, and it was my turn to take one for the team.” I chuckle nervously, but it does nothing to stop the tears flowing down my cheeks.
“Anyways, don’t call this number. This phone is not safe. Don’t call back. Don’t come looking for me. I love you so fucking much, sister. So much. I’m sorry.”
I hang up the phone and shove it back into the desk before I double over, arms wrapped around my stomach, and sob.
* * *
I don’t know how much time has passed when the door to Kieran’s office slams open. I’ve been curled into a ball on the floor since I called my sister. What started as sobs of devastation has become ones of pain.
My insides feel like they’re trying to make the outside their home, and I’m burning up.
It’s another heat spike.
Who knows if the blight bond is causing it, or if it’s all the fizz I’ve taken since my last heat, or being around my scent matches? And honestly, who cares?
It doesn’t change the fact that I’m sobbing and in pain on the floor of the man who wants to ruin me.
The toe of his boot slams into my hip from behind, and I shout in pain, my vision going white momentarily.
“Get up,” he snarls.
His voice has an edge of danger that wasn’t there before, and I feel sick. What happened with Gage? Is he hurt?
Is he…
I roll over to my knees and slowly push myself to stand, but I collapse as soon as I see Kieran.
His pupils are blown out, his hair disheveled, and his lip curled up in a sneer. Blood is splattered and smeared on his white shirt.
Gage’s blood.
I barely make it to the wastebasket before I’m sick inside it.
My sweet, wonderful Beta, what did he do to you?
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic, Crystal. You’ll get over him.” His voice is a sharp drawl that feels like daggers in my ear. I don’t want to see him. I don’t want to look at that blood on his shirt because if I do, I will have to accept that something happened to Gage.
Right now, I can pretend that maybe Kieran got a nosebleed or something and came back up here to change before he goes down to meet his son, whom he is so happy to see that he welcomes him into the fold.
That’s the best-case scenario.
But Kieran doesn’t give me that choice.
He grabs my wrist and yanks, my arm screaming at the force of it. He spins me to face him, and I see the drops of blood on his shirt, and my stomach recoils again.
“You smell incredible,” Kieran growls, shoving his nose into the crook of my neck. “You always smell good, but it’s so much stronger today.”
I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from screaming. His proximity makes my skin crawl, and the bite on my neck aches.
He’s not supposed to be here.
Not supposed to be so close.
He’s not my Alpha.
An unbidden whine escapes from me at the thought of my Alphas. They must be so worried about me and Gage. What is Maverick going to do if he loses us both?
“Oh, someone is needy,” Kieran laughs, completely misinterpreting the treacherous sound. “Is that why you smell so strong?”
Trying to keep my face placid is a losing battle because a cramp hits, and I double over, panting through the pain.
It’s worse than it’s ever been.
I wonder if grief makes a heat harder.
But I can’t think like that.
I cannot preemptively grieve my lost life or Gage. I don’t know if he’s even hurt. He could be just fine.
Slick drips down my thigh, my body betraying me at the worst possible time.
It’s impossible for Kieran not to scent my pheromones, even if he isn’t my scent match. I watch his pupils blow out wide, nearly eclipsing the iris, and his nostrils flare. “Are you in heat already?”
He spins me around, bending me in half as he pushes the faded blue ends of my hair away from my neck. He grips the pained flesh tightly and chuckles.
Terror oozes through my veins.
“My bite is fading already. Interesting. If you are going into heat, this is the perfect time to stake my claim for good.”
I drop to the floor, sobs and whines filling the air as the fear of becoming his Omega forever overtakes me. I crawl across the floor, trying to get to the door, even though I know escape is futile.
Kieran’s rich, booming laugh fills the office around us. “Come now, Queenie. You’re being so dramatic. There are worse things in the world than being my Omega. You’ll never want for anything again.”
“Yes, I will,” I moan, ignoring the urge to rub between my legs and instead digging my fingertips into my abdomen. “I will always want my Alphas and my Beta.”
“Oh, that’s easy then. I’ll just kill your Alphas.” I didn’t think I could feel any more fear, but that did it. “Just like I killed your Beta.”
And if I thought I was falling apart before, I am ruined now.
Completely broken.
Pulverized.
Strong hands wrap around my ankle and drag me across the floor, but I don’t register the pain of my body hitting the hard concrete floor. I don’t feel fear of the crazed Alpha that looms over me.
All I feel is numb.
My beautiful, kind, thoughtful, sweet Beta is dead.
Because of me.
Because I was selfish enough to bring him into my life.
To bring all of them into my life.
I should’ve followed my gut instinct and avoided them, but I was weak.
It’s not fair that this is my life, but it’s worse that I brought them into it.
I deserve whatever punishment I get because Gage’s blood is on my hands.
I will never get them clean.
Something inside me shatters, and a mournful sound, not unlike a howl, escapes my throat. I dive away from Kieran with a speed I didn’t know I possessed and spin, facing him in a crouch.
But I don’t see Kieran anymore.
I see a fucking monster.
He swears and lunges for me, but I spin and jump out of the way. His boot hits me in the middle of the back, though, throwing me over his desk.
I scramble, trying to climb to my feet, but can’t. Kieran throws his body on top of mine. I can feel the press of his cock against my bare ass, his hot breath on the back of my neck.
“You fucking bitch,” he snarls. “Why do you fight me so much? Why won’t you just do as you’re told?” His body presses hard against mine, and I cry out in fear.
I know what comes next.
Every woman does, after all.
It’s not something most parents teach us, but society is more than happy to fill in the gaps as soon as we get breasts.
I start pulling open drawers, searching for anything that I can use to defend myself as his lips press against the back of my neck. As his teeth push through the surface of my skin, my fingers wrap around a small hilt. I trace down to the blade, realizing it’s an ornamental letter opener.
It’s the best shot I’ve got.
His teeth break the surface, and my body bucks and fights the intrusion.
I swing my arm backward, the letter opener clutched tightly, and grin when I strike flesh. Kieran’s swear and the warm trickle of blood I feel dripping onto my naked skin sink into me like a drug.
And then my mind fractures.