36. Chapter 36
36
Whatever the doctor pressed against my mouth left a dry, chalky taste and I gagged. Daniel crouched next to me with a twisted grin. When I met him, I’d thought him handsome, but it must have been his finery blinding me. He’d been the first human I’d ever really conversed with, and his lack of scent intrigued me. Even in the wildlands, Daniel retained his sense of elegance. His black hair brushed away from his forehead, and his mustache twisted in a little curl. He brushed a damp lock of hair off my forehead, grimacing as it came away with a mark.
What did he expect would happen if he dumped me in the dirt?
“Ah, my omega is awake. We’ve been waiting for you.”
My lips moved but the words came out in a slur, my tongue a slug that squirmed ineffectually in my mouth. My hands were bound at the front by discolored white strips of cotton.
Daniel tugged at the neckline of my dress, hissing as the silver claim Ruck left came into view. His eyes narrowed. “Barbaric. You’ve converted to the wild out here, haven’t you? Let your husband mark you like a beast. Your father would be horrified.”
Visible marks were considered vulgar in Breton City.
Most Designated hid them on parts of their bodies that wouldn’t be seen. How Daniel would faint if he knew I harbored more than one. That was past vulgar. It was an unforgivable crime. Sweat prickled on my back.
“I prefer it to the one you left.” My slurred words made Daniel’s dark eyes spark with fire and his fist gathered the material of my dress as he growled.
“Do you know the effort—” He hissed.
“Leave her alone, you beastly man.” My sister cried out, and there was a scuffle on the fringes of my vision. I whined, blinking through the chemical-induced haze. Daniel let my dress go with such force I smacked into the ground.
“The only beasts here are you and your kind,” he sneered.
“Birdie.” I gasped.
My ankles were tied as well, like a hog for slaughter. My blood chilled. I couldn’t move from my prone position on the ground, but I twisted my head, heedless of how the dirt caked my face. Birdie was wrenched between two alphas, and they forced her to her knees. She wore black like she was already mourning. Lace ruffles caged her neck. Her sharp nose wrinkled, and her eyes glimmered with a sheen as she looked at me. Trying not to cry. I wasn’t so strong, letting water trickle down my cheeks with a sniff.
Would my alphas have noticed me missing yet?
Please. If there are gods, let me live. I haven’t had nearly enough time on this land.
“Esta, I’m sorry.” Birdie’s chin wobbled, and it was on my tongue to ask her what for when Daniel brandished a letter from his breast. I recognized my writing, and my stomach sank.
“I couldn’t burn it, not when I thought it would be my last one from you.” She swallowed a sob.
Daniel paced between us, curling the letter into a ball and tossing it into the shadows. My vision blurred on the edges.
“Your sister is a very good liar, but she underestimated how much I wanted you. I faked an engagement to get her to drop her guard. I even hired a tracker to confirm your exact location. Truly, you are not worth the hassle. Look at how dry your skin is, Esta, the calluses on your hands. You would have been pampered if you gave me what I wanted.” Daniel clicked his tongue over the rough state of my hands.
Of course, he would never understand how precious the marks were to me. To him, they were a sign of poverty. Who wouldn’t want soft, silky hands? But I wore the rough pads with such pride. Hope flickered for a moment. Perhaps he might see how different I was from the Esta he knew and let me go?
Birdie’s gaze dropped to the ground, and she stifled a soft sniffle. Guilt bowed her shoulders, but I didn’t hold it against her. I’d never understood the lengths Daniel would go to until his teeth were deep in my shoulder. He rose from his crouch with a satisfied smile.
“I’m married,” and bound in a pack , I added in my head. “You can’t do this to me.”
I blinked away the last vestiges of blur and tried to place where I was. Stars blanketed the sky, but two humans held lamps. Dr. Goodman was behind them, and he turned his head to avoid my gaze, scuffing at the ground with his shiny boot. Two alphas held Birdie between them still, and I wondered how they could betray their own kind like this. One of them sported a birthmark like a strawberry on his cheek, and the other a shock of white hair through his wavy black locks, like a skunk. Dark shapes loomed in the background and the sound of livestock floated through the air. I could see the faint outline of the wooden poles of a corral and a porch with one splintered step.
So familiar to me, even in darkness.
He’d taken me to Hartlock Farm.
Panic barreled through my veins, knowing Bram was inside the barn. The idea of dancing made him turn his nose up, and he wanted to stay with Charlie. Maybe he hadn’t heard? Maybe he would sleep through whatever torture Daniel wanted to put me through. A whine escaped me, and the two alphas holding Birdie rocked forward. Daniel rolled his eyes at them.
“I can do whatever I want. Did you see how they responded to you?” Daniel waved a dismissive hand at the hulking alphas. “Two strong, unbound alphas can’t resist your pretty little noises. Because you’re animals. I mean to remind humankind of that fact. Animals can’t be married, but they can be slaughtered.”
“You’re the only animal here.” I shouldn’t have provoked the man, but he tormented me for too long. Both in actions and the nightmare of his memory. I wanted to cut him down. Even if words were ineffectual.
Daniel kicked his dust-laced boot out and clipped my jaw. Blistering pain rocketed through me as my skull slammed into the ground, and I snorted a lungful of dust down my throat. I rolled onto my back, looking up at the vast blanket of stars. How many miles I’d traveled, only to find myself under the boot of Daniel again? The incredulity of it spilled out of me, and I tasted blood as my chest heaved with an explosion of laughter. Daniel turned puce with rage.
“I’d break your jaw if I didn’t need it later. Don’t provoke me, Esta, or I can easily take it out on your sister.”
My laughter shriveled as I sought Birdie. My brilliant sister curled her lip, about to tell him to do his worst, but a wolf howl cut her off. It was strange, high pitched, and came from near the barn. Daniel staggered back to the porch, snatching up a torch. His eyes searched the pitch black, and he flinched at a sudden gust of wind.
“Of course, there are wolves in the wildlands,” he muttered, a curse under his breath.
There were wolves in Breton City, too, with blunt teeth and a desire to hurt.
I’d rather face the wild wolf that considered me for a meal. I wonder how I ever feared this human cowering in the meager protection of the porch. He waved a hand at the two alphas, pointing into the inky black.
“Investigate. Scare the wolf away with your bark.”
“That’s not how it works.” Birdie rolled her eyes as they let go of her, and I noticed birthmark-alpha squeezed her shoulder. To get her to be quiet? Was it reassurance? They strode off before I interpreted the movement. The howl rose again, reedy this time, more like a whistle.
It was a strange noise, but I was glad to see Daniel pale even further.
Dr. Goodman crept over to Birdie and crouched beside her. “Your kind are descended from wolves, though. Does the bark not bring the wolves under a thrall? Kinship with your ancestors?”
“That’s a myth, a laughable one at that. Only a small-minded human would believe Designated shed fur, moved to two legs but kept a wolf’s brain,” Birdie rolled her eyes, her fear forgotten in her disdain.
“Don’t tell him anything,” I called to Birdie, shooting him a glare. He pursed his lips, irritated by my interruption. “He’s a vulture.”
“I am intelligent. I’m a doctor.” Dr. Goodman argued with a sullen edge.
“You should have your certification revoked if you believe such rot about Designated,” Birdie snapped. Nothing insulted my sister more than stupid questions.
“It’s my nature to be curious.”
“Was curiosity the reason you drugged me?”
Dr. Goodman pursed his lips like he was sucking on lemon. I didn’t shy from his direct gaze, even though my insides quivered. He didn’t need to know that. I knew my gut instinct about him was correct.
Noises carried through the air, shouts, grunts, and a loud bang from the direction of the barn.
“It’s not personal, Mrs. Hartlock. Your future husband offered me a great deal of money to provide information, and he promised to smooth over my reputation so I can return to Breton City.”
Dr. Goodman’s cheeks colored as sat in silence for a moment. What use was there talking to him? He’d traded me in like a product to be sold. He was the perfect man for Daniel to manipulate.
“You’ll find Daniel has no problem betraying his word,” I sneered.
“I promised I’d marry you, Esta, and I intend on doing just that,” Daniel said from the splintered step. The torch cast his face in a ghoulish light. But dread only came when the two alphas returned, dragging a squalling boy between them. I’d heard some choice words come out of Bram’s mouth since I came to the wildlands, but nothing like what he spouted now. The stream of insults brought heat to my cheeks.
“Bram,” I croaked and his furious tirade trailed off. The boy showed through the bluster. His skinny arms wrenched high above his head, and boots dragged in the ground. The white of his eyes was stark in the darkness.
“What have we got here?” Daniel tilted his head, taking in the slight boy with a gleeful expression. “Designated?”
“Yes, but he’s too young to present. He’ll probably be beta though, too scrawny for an alpha.” One of the alpha guards squeezed Bram’s upper arm and swore as Bram kicked out at him like a wild horse.
“Beta, alpha, I’ll kick your big bazoo just fine. Try me.” Bram spat on the ground, only settling when I whimpered. Daniel trotted down the steps, keeping his distance in case Bram decided to send a glob of spit his way. My chest was a vice, and it tightened as Daniel’s expression turned shrewd.
“You make a fair impression of a wolf. Do you do other animals? I could put you in a cage and show you off as entertainment during my wedding. Would you like that, little brat? You could snarl and swear while I make Esta a respectable woman.”
Daniel tossed me a slimy smile, the taunt directed to Bram but meant for me instead. I couldn’t breathe at the idea of Bram being subjected to Daniel. A roar filled my ears, and I searched the endless darkness for a rescue that I was sure would come.
All I needed to do was hold on.
I scrambled for the connection between Ruck, Oliver, and me. In my disorientation, I’d forgotten the tool in my chest. I yanked on it with a rising panic. If they didn’t know I was missing, they would now. Panic rushed through, and it made my head spin. I closed the connection before Ruck and Oliver’s emotions made me throw up.
“She’s already married, you blowhard,” Bram’s face twisted, and his feet pinwheeled in the air as he tried to escape.
“Not for long,” Daniel checked his watch. “When will Mr. Hartlock realize his wife is missing? Perhaps we should give him a beacon, something to hurry him up.”
Birthmark-alpha tied rope around Bram’s arms, and the other moved toward the house as if Daniel’s words flipped a switch inside him. I used my shoulder and feet to wriggle over to Birdie while they were all distracted. She blinked at me through her glasses, the tears making tracks on the dirt on her face.
“You’ll want to watch this, dearest.” Daniel laughed, a lofty, greedy sound, and I squeaked as hands slipped under my armpits and plonked me next to Birdie. Bram was squished in beside us, hissing like a feral cat.
Daniel handed his torch to one of the alphas, who smeared the front door and steps with something from a large container. I wrinkled my nose as the breeze smacked the scent of rotting eggs in my face.
“What is that?” I couldn’t hide the horror from my voice.
“Grease, ma’am,” Birthmark-alpha said from beside us when Daniel didn’t reply. He was too busy staring at the flickering torch with a mixture of glee and satisfaction. My stomach sank like a stone.
Bram trembled beside me, his voice hoarse when he shouted. “If you don’t move the fire away, the house is gonna be a goner.”
Daniel nodded, and the smile that lifted the corners of his lips made me feel like a small child being humored. Bram bristled at the sight.
“How else will your brother know to hurry home?” He flicked his fingers at the skunk alpha who tossed the torch onto the front step.
A harsh whoosh of air stole Bram’s high-pitched wail, and I turned my cheek against the blast of sudden heat. The home built by Mr. Hartlock. Trees from the land, cut and shaped the wooden boards. Mrs. Hartlock made the insides warm, with her smaller, but just as necessary touches.
She’d made the house a home.
Hale, Ruck, and Bram spent their entire lives in this house. Oliver spent the majority of his life there as well. And now it was a tinderbox. The wood, which withstood blizzards, succumbed to flame like a folding tower of cards.
“Noooo,” I moaned, regret so sharp in my stomach it felt like a knife. Bram leaned on my arm, tucking his head into me as sobs stole his bite. Seeing his family home turn into a skeleton through the climbing flames was too much.
“Now, you didn’t say anything about burning down houses and terrorizing people,” Dr. Goodman found his voice, too late, of course. The two humans beside him shifted with silent agreement, their eyes wide with shock. He gaped at Daniel and wiped a handkerchief over the sweat dotted on his forehead.
“I’m paying you generously, aren’t I? That includes your silence and complicity. Don’t tell me you’re having an attack of conscience. When you were banned from Breton City for selling vulnerable Designated to the highest bidder?” Daniel raised his thick eyebrows, and Dr. Goodman shrank backward.
His mouth moved, but whatever pricked him before wasn’t enough to make him care less about his pocket.
He’d sold our kind? My throat burned with acid.
Daniel kicked up some dust and let out a carefree laugh, almost a giggle.
“Birdie, did he hurt you?” I whispered to my sister. A shudder ran through her, but she shook her head. The flames licked the stars, and we both watched with open-mouthed horror. I purred softly so Daniel couldn’t hear. Birthmark-alpha stiffened, making a noise in the back of his throat. I let the noise taper out, not wanting to invite any punishment.
“He insisted on marrying an omega only. But he’s mad, Esta.” Birdie’s lip trembled before she frowned deeply to make it stop. “I’m frightened of what will happen when he gets what he wants.”
“But why me?” I whispered urgently. Daniel was busy admiring the bonfire of the house. Dr. Goodman wrung his hands and watched, startled by the crackle and pops that came as the house succumbed to the voracious flame. The heat buffeted against us, and my cheeks burned as if licked directly by the flames. I couldn’t look at it, the ruin of the place that had been my home too.
“He wants to make Designated pay, all of us.”
The birthmark alpha made a sharp noise, and as we turned, he shook his head. His meaning was clear.
Be silent.
“We need to move back. The house will collapse soon, and we don’t want to be anywhere near it when that happens,” the alpha said.
Daniel jerked his head, and the alphas lifted Birdie and Bram, hauling them further into the blanket of darkness. Dr. Goodman hesitated in front of me.
“Don’t even think about it.”
“Oh, he wouldn’t dream of touching my pretty bride, would you doctor?” Daniel winked at Dr. Goodman who scuttled after the others with his shoulders hunched about his ears. Daniel grunted as he lifted me up, clasping me to his body.
Humans all smelled the same in the dark. Salt crushed into heated skin. Soap dulled musk, if they cared about their hygiene. Baked and bottled filth if they didn’t. I wrinkled my nose as Daniel huffed and puffed, struggling with my weight as he carried me.
He smelled like all the rest. Nothing on the glorying scents of my alphas.
Whatever expensive perfume I’m sure he dabbed on his neck and wrists long since worn off. Now he was forgettable. He was fallible. I’d made him a monster in my mind, with the memory of his blunt teeth trickling into every nightmare.
But Daniel was a human, and there were three powerful alphas coming for me.
“Why?” It was instantly colder away from the terrible fire, and the wind whipped away my quiet question.
Daniel appeared not to hear me, dumping me on the ground unceremoniously. Pain shot up my spine, and I slumped onto the ground with a groan. Daniel turned me over with the toe of his boot, staring down at me.
This was how it would always be if I let him take me from here.
It was more than the cold wind that chilled me. His eyes flickered to my neckline, one I’d stitched twice because I’d been distracted each time I tried to sew it. Distracted by Ruck’s teasing lips. Could Daniel sense it? The love I’d threaded into the dress. How happy and proud I’d been.
“You leave her alone.” Bram found his voice again, thick like the smoke that obscured the stars.
It wasn’t a clear night anymore, and we were hurtling into a hellish nightmare. Everything bright was winking out, and I scrambled not to falter against the terror buffeting my insides. Daniel rolled his eyes, a movement so familiar I tried and failed not to flinch. His lips twitched up. Of course, this was what he wanted.
To see me brought low.
“Why?” I demanded, this time forcefully.
Daniel examined his nails, wiping some invisible smudge onto his tailored slacks.
“I’m a Baron, Esta. Do you remember what that is?” I dipped my head, and he continued. “Breton City only exists because of my ancestors and yet, when I fell on hard times, do you know who offered me help? Your father, of course. Oh, he was flush with new money , stank of it, gauche, and loud in everything he did.”
“He helped you,” I hissed, loath to defend him but still confused. Daniel waved away my protest with a sneer. My tongue tasted like charred smoke, and I blinked back tears.
“Your father didn’t care a damn about me. Business is business. But do you know what irked me? Seeing a Designated succeed where I failed. A Baron should never be below the likes of you. But that’s the beauty of the Hierarchy Laws. Now your kind can walk into a room of the richest, purest bloodlines and pretend you belong there.”
“You liked his money well enough to use it.” Birdie chimed in, and Daniel shot her a filthy look. Bram spat to the side, and Daniel waved his hand in his direction, turning back with a tight jaw.
“ That is what I mean. You’re breeding an army of animals out here and in Breton City. Thanks to the law and luck, you steal opportunities that shouldn’t have been yours. That you didn’t earn.” Daniel’s blunt teeth snapped close to my face, and I shivered.
“You earn anythin’ in that fancy suit of yours?” Bram asked. How was it that the ten-year-old had more courage and bravery than everyone else here? It was also wildly foolish to provoke Daniel.
“Bram, don’t,” I warned him, and he narrowed his eyes mulishly toward Daniel but his mouth closed, for now.
“I made one bad investment, and the rest of town was content to watch me flounder. If not for your father’s charity, the Barons would have been wiped out of the society pages.”
That would have been a blessing for Breton City, but I held my tongue. Daniel dragged his finger across my bodice, tracing my heaving cleavage. Bram spewed curses at him, and skunk alpha shoved a handkerchief in his mouth to silence him.
“I’ll never forget the moment I walked into Mr. Adler’s dining room and saw your father in attendance.” Mr. Adler was the wealthiest person in the city, and his approval was paramount for the upper class to be accepted. “He welcomed me into the room like it was his own rather than Mr. Adler’s, and all my fellow humans watched on. It was beyond humiliating. I thought my financial ruin would be the worst thing I could experience, but I was wrong. It was the realization that my status was below a Designated. A Designated . I knew in that moment our world was doomed, and I would be the man to save it.”
My head was spinning from Daniel, from the chalky residue in my mouth and the billowing smoke. I’d witnessed the stark hatred painted on his face before he sank his teeth into my shoulder. But I never understood why he’d done it and it still wasn’t clear.
“It’s not against the law for a Designated to amass wealth.” Birdie’s soft voice rang like a bell. The roar of the fire behind us almost swallowed it, but Daniel scoffed, hearing the challenge and dismissing it.
“Not yet. But once I’m done, it will be.”
“I don’t understand,” I said, leaning as far away from his touch as I could without toppling over. Daniel’s upper lip curled, and he slid his hand up to grip my face. His fingers mashed against my nose and mouth as he forced my lip up. His fingers cut into my jaw and froze any movement I could make.
“I’m not surprised you can’t put it together, sweetheart. These teeth belong to a beast, and you are as dumb as the animals in that stable. I didn’t expect to find you with your stomach flat. Your body is made for breeding, isn’t it? Precious omega. Do you moan like a bitch in heat while your husband plows you?”
Daniel’s knees crashed to the ground, and he let me go for a moment. But only so his hands could dart under my skirts. He pried my clammy thighs apart, fingers dancing like spiders over my skin.
“Stop.” I used every drop of strength to fight him. My hands and ankles were bound, but I still thrashed at his invading touch. Daniel shoved me onto my back and slapped his hands on either side of my head. His weight settled over my front, and I sobbed.
“I’m going to slaughter your husband,” Daniel whispered in my ear. His lips tasted the rim with a long, slobbery lick. “Once we’re married, I’ll be given the right to vote on behalf of Designated, and with my influence, I am going to destroy your kind from the inside out.”
“W-what?” I trembled, and Daniel brushed his lips against mine. It would have been romantic, if from my alphas. But Daniel made my body want to fold up and disappear.
“You know there is a loophole in the Hierarchy Laws,” Daniel’s breath smelled of coffee. “Even your own kind doesn’t think you’re capable of intelligent thought because, in marriages between humans and omegas, all property reverts to the human. So, once we marry and your father dies, guess who has an empire at his fingertips? I’m going to use his money and my influence to tear down the laws that make us equal, and our marriage will be the first step to showing how heinous you creatures really are.”
He mashed his lips to mine and the betrayal and evil of his touch tasted like iron. Daniel clamped my lower lip between his teeth and bit down until my mouth flooded with a metallic tang. I was bound, battered, and bruised. Daniel wanted to keep me that way.
But I wouldn’t let him do this, not to me or Designated.
I bucked my hips, crying as Daniel’s teeth tore at my lips. The movement dislodged him. I rolled to the side, heart pounding in my ears like a drum.
“You won’t get away with this,” my voice was hoarse, but it echoed into the night. I met Birdie and Bram’s terrified, wide-eyed faces for a moment before Daniel hauled me back. This time, he straddled me, rocking his hips in a lewd movement.
“You were never so spirited before, Esta. Not even when I tried to bind myself to you.” Daniel notched his fingers around the collar of my dress and wrenched it down. The material buckled against his ferocious grip, and Daniel wrestled it over my marred shoulder. His eyes glinted as the twisted red scars became visible. “These healed beautifully. What say we add a matching one to the other side?”
Daniel tugged the opposite sleeve down and froze.
Both my marks were visible now.
“My sweet bride,” Daniel breathed with disbelief. “Such disgusting debauchery? How wild you are to do something so illegal.”
“Take your hands off our omega.” A voice boomed out from the darkness, and Ruck and Oliver stepped out into the light. Oliver pointed his rifle directly at Daniel. He must have retrieved it from the barn in silence. Ruck was holding a hatchet, and the blade glinted in the orange inferno of their house. My chest cracked open, relief and terror overwhelming my senses. My vision swam for a moment. Where was Hale?
“Let her go, or I’ll put a bullet through that fine human skull of yours,” Oliver warned, and I didn’t doubt he would do it. My redheaded, burly alpha was vibrating with barely contained fury. He rolled his shoulders back and showed his teeth. Daniel tilted his head and let out a sharp bite of laughter.
“Well, are you going to introduce me, Esta?”