Chapter 4
4
Hazel
We drove for hours, until well after the sun sank into the distance and blanketed the world into inky dark. At some point, we’d abandoned the interstate, opting for back roads and then finally a long dirt road that never seemed to end. Trees crowded the vehicle from all sides, a tunnel of perpetual darkness and shadows.
At some point, most of the Shepherds fell asleep, leaving only the driver and myself awake to witness my descent back into hell. I kept utterly still, my muscles screaming for relief as Hayden turned me into his pillow, his head weighing heavily on my shoulder and one hand gripping the inside of my thigh. Like I might jump over the row of alphas in front of me and launch myself from the moving vehicle.
Honestly, if I’d thought I had even a sliver of a chance, I would’ve.
We hit a pothole and the entire cab shuddered and jolted, waking the others.
Hayden sniffed my hair, licking the line of my throat before sitting up straight. “ETA?”
“We’ll be at the gate in five,” Vince replied, his rough tone sounding almost bored.
Daryl clapped his hands together once. “Fuck, yeah.” He twisted in his seat to smirk at me. “Almost home, omega.”
I ground my molars together and kept my eyes fixed on my knees. I refused to speak, refused to give them any reason to hurt me again.
Daryl’s fingers wrapped around my throat, lifting my head. “You don’t seem excited.”
Blake’s fingers drummed across the barrel of his gun, his dark eyes flickering between us with interest.
Hayden stroked my leg. “Of course she is. She’s back where she belongs.” He nuzzled into my side as Daryl’s gaze heated, his fingers tightening around my throat as he hummed in agreement.
“We’re here,” Vince announced, turning the SUV.
I glanced around, trying to see out the windows, but everything was dark except for the faint glow of the headlights at the front. Squinting, I made out a crudely shaped wall of wooden planks obscured behind a line of trees. I vaguely realized the gap we were passing through was a gate when I caught sight of men with guns.
My insides trembled as the SUV pulled to a stop and I heard men shouting around us. Excitement crackled like electricity in the air.
Donovan turned from the passenger seat, his gaze finding me. “Bring her.”
Car doors opened, and Daryl yanked me forward by the neck, dragging me out of the truck in his wake. I fumbled across the middle seat, but he didn’t hesitate to keep pulling me until I was at his side.
Hayden crowded against my back, his hands on my hips. “On your knees where you belong.”
I glanced down at the dead leaves and packed earth a second before Hayden and Daryl both pushed me down.
I landed hard on my knees, my hands shooting out to keep me from toppling over. Tiny pebbles embedded into my palms. I wanted to scream, to fight back, but I wasn’t an idiot.
I’d played this game before.
Stay quiet. Stay still. Stay small.
Sitting back on my heels, I kept my gaze fixed on the ground as I felt bodies press around us. Scents mixed and churned, burning my nose and making my stomach roll.
“Friends,” Donovan’s voice boomed into the night, and the voices instantly hushed. “What was stolen has been reclaimed.”
The cheer that rose up made the tiny hairs on my arms stand up.
“I have now seen the error of my ways. The signs I interpreted for my own selfish gain will not stand,” Donovan proclaimed. “Tomorrow night, my brothers and I will do what should have always been done—we will form a pack and claim our omega!”
The roar of the people was muted as his words sank into my skin like knives. Each one a cut that left me bleeding. Dying.
Our omega .
Of course, that was what they’d alluded to when they’d first taken me.
I wasn’t just going to be mated to Donovan. I would belong to all of the Shepherds.
“Tonight, we rest,” Donovan finished with all the glory and flair of a ringmaster in the middle of a circus. The low lighting cast shadows across the ground, and I could see his arms flung wide. “Tomorrow, we take our first step into our glorious future.”
The screams were deafening, and my facade cracked. I flinched, shrinking back as I trapped a whine in my throat.
Fingers grabbed my arms, digging into my biceps as I was lifted.
Tears blurred my vision, and I squeezed my eyes shut. My feet stumbled along an uneven path as Hayden and Daryl led me away from the crowd.
“Don’t cry, baby,” Daryl taunted. “We’ll give that greedy omega cunt all the attention it deserves.” A low growl rumbled in his throat as he stopped in front of a crudely constructed shack made of wood and rusty nails.
Hayden snickered as he grabbed a set of keys from his pocket, letting me go to fumble with the lock. When the metal clicked as the mechanism released, Hayden yanked the door open. “Welcome home, omega.”
Daryl shoved me into the dark mouth of the shack. Tripping over my own feet, I landed hard on my side with a pained cry. I skittered back as fast as I could manage, hoping the darkness could somehow hide me. Protect me.
Hayden yanked on a string, and a single hanging bulb lit the area in a sickly shade of yellow.
I looked around, eyes wide as I took in the stacks of crates lining the wall across from me. Shelves of non-perishables ran along the length of the wall to my right, and to my left was a single pole with a chain hanging from it.
“No.” I whispered the plea as Daryl wound his fist around my hair and dragged me to the pole.
I inhaled, preparing to scream as I spotted the iron collar at the end of the chain. The kind a rabid dog might wear.
Or a disobedient omega.
Hayden grabbed the collar and shackled it around my throat, trapping my hair. Daryl snagged a padlock hanging from the wall by the door and together, they wrestled the iron around me, leashing me to the ground by my neck.
I yanked at the chain desperately, my plan to stay calm completely obliterated. The pole seemed to be fixed with cement, and it didn’t wiggle at all. Panic clawed up my insides, and I couldn’t breathe. The collar was too tight.
Daryl laughed, the grating sound setting off every omega fear impulse in my body. The dirt under me, the biting cold of the iron around me, the loud sounds of the members of the APA celebrating…
It was all too much. Especially when Daryl and Hayden were throwing off some heavily aroused pheromones.
“High Alpha already claimed her cunt,” Daryl mused, watching me buckle under the weight of my panic attack with an amused tilt of his lips. “I think I want her mouth. Have you thought about where you’ll knot her first?”
“Ass,” Hayden answered with a cruel smirk.
Daryl barked out a laugh, throwing his head back. “Missing your boy, huh?”
“He was just a hole to fuck,” Hayden grumbled, looking like he’d sucked a lemon at the mention of Logan.
Daryl clapped a hand on Hayden’s shoulder. “Admit it, brother. You like omega ass.”
“I like watching my fat knot stretch the skin taut, to the point of tearing. His ass was made for a knot, but hers…” A smile ghosted across Hayden’s lips as he watched me. “Hers might rip. Might bleed for me.”
Daryl snarled a little. “I love it when they bleed.” His beady eyes fixed on me, and I cowered under their combined stares.
Hayden crouched, grabbing my chin between his forefinger and thumb. “Will you bleed for me, my little omega whore?”
Fear struck my heart like a lightning bolt, and it was all I could do not to cry out. To beg them to let me go.
I wanted my pack.
More than anything in the world, I wanted to be with my pack.
I wanted Jude’s easy smile. Rhett’s calm demeanor. Kellan’s ferocity. Crew’s safety.
Would I ever see them again?
And what if Donovan and his new pack bonded me before they saved me? Forced or not, alpha and omega bonds were powerful things, not easily undone. And the more bonds, the more tangled it became.
If I was bonded to these five alphas—assuming the only remaining APA alphas were the ones who’d come after me—it would be like hacking off five pieces of my soul to break free of their hold.
The idea of being theirs, of never seeing my pack again, burned away my fear. Rage simmered in my veins, and I jerked out of Hayden’s touch. “I’ll die before I let you touch me.”
Hayden blinked once, seemingly surprised, before he started to laugh. “It’s adorable that you think you have a choice.” He stood, towering over me.
I pushed myself up to my feet, the chain pulling taut and angling my head to the side. Not exactly a position of power, but something in me cracked. Shattered.
If I couldn’t be with my pack, I’d never be theirs. I wouldn’t let them breed me to raise up little monsters—or worse, little omegas—in their image. I wasn’t kidding—I’d die first.
At some point my pack would find me, and I refused to let it be after the alphas of the APA desecrated my body. I wouldn’t make my pack mourn me and live with knowing I’d been used up like a demented child’s doll.
I’d never give them the satisfaction of breaking me and leaving my pack to pick up the pieces.
Daryl pushed in front of me, jabbing a meaty finger into my sternum. “You’ll do as you’re fucking told.” His rank spittle dotted my face.
“No, I fucking won’t,” I gritted out, refusing to look away. “I found my pack, and you aren’t it. I’ll never be yours.”
The outraged shock on Daryl’s face was funny for the half a heartbeat it lasted before he slapped me with enough power to knock me back into the dirt. The entire left side of my face was on fire as I looked up with a bloody smile.
“You had to tie me up to keep me. Had to steal me like thieves because you knew I’d never go willingly.” I spat out a mouthful of blood at his feet. “You’re pathetic.” My gaze flicked to Hayden. “All of you are pathetic.”
Okay, maybe poking the angry alphas with snarky words wasn’t my best idea, but I wasn’t the girl they’d taken before. That girl had been burned to the ground the night the APA compound was raided. I’d been set free by the men who’d adored me, worshiped me, in the short time we’d had.
It was like feeling the warmth of the sun after the bitterest winter. There was no comparison, and I wasn’t going back.
Daryl looked ready to strangle me, and a stupid, suicidal idea niggled my brain.
Maybe I didn’t have to die.
And maybe I could buy my pack a little more time.
They couldn’t bond an unconscious omega, and Daryl was a breath away from snapping. If I pushed him a little harder, he’d break. Probably beat me into a coma. But I could handle a coma if it bought me a few days.
“What the fuck is this?” Donovan’s voice boomed, and the three of us turned to see him standing in the doorway. He stalked into the room, shoving Daryl aside. “I said she was to be unharmed .”
“Bitch won’t shut her fucking mouth,” Daryl hissed. He ground his fist into his open palm, the promise of violence in his eyes.
Donovan growled. “And you can beat the shit out of her all you like after we bond. But she’s to be pure for the ceremony.”
I wheezed out a laugh. “Pretty sure I lost my purity four cocks ago.” Finishing my heat with Kellan, Rhett, Jude, and Crew had seen to that.
Daryl roared and tried to surge forward, but Donovan shoved him back and toward Hayden. “Take him out of here before he ruins it all.”
Hayden bared his teeth in a snarl at his brother as he wrestled Daryl out the door. His eyes landed on me. “I can’t wait to see you break, omega cunt.”
“Can’t wait to see my pack rip your dick off,” I countered, blowing past anything resembling sanity and hoping I could get them both to turn on Donovan to punish me.
“Your pack is finished,” Hayden hissed, not taking the bait but not strong enough to let me have the last word either. “Pack Dutton is dead.”
I lifted my chin in defiance as the door slammed shut.
With a weary sigh, Donovan turned to me. “You’ve become quite the spitfire, omega. If it wasn’t so taxing, it might be adorable. A pretty kitten with tiny claws.” He made a soft tsk ing sound. “But I know what you’re trying to do. Goading my men into a fight won’t change your future.”
“Your men are idiots,” I snapped.
His lips twitched. “This wasn’t my original plan. I would have given you everything you needed, you know.”
I stared at him in utter amazement. “Your plan was to rape me in front of a room full of cult followers. To force me to bond.”
“Yes, and now instead of me keeping my men away from you, they’ll visit you every night. Instead of simply taking my knot, you’ll take all of theirs.” He shook his head, like a disapproving father. “You’ve caused me quite a considerable amount of trouble, you know.”
“Then cut your losses,” I retorted. “Let me go.”
“And deny my followers their proclaimed celestial union? I don’t think so.”
I watched Donovan closely, and the realization slammed into me. “You know what you’re saying is bullshit.”
He arched a brow. “That I’m a divine prophet and my omega-born heir is destined to unite the world?” He scoffed. “Of course it’s bullshit, but I needed a cause to unite soldiers behind, and the division between the designations was perfect. These people were looking for a savior, and we’ll give them one.”
I looked around, my gaze taking in the crates. “You’re working with my pack’s boss. You were talking to his son in the car.”
He folded his arms over his chest but didn’t deny it.
“What—”
He stepped closer, cutting me off. “Enough. I won’t play your little games. Tomorrow night you will bond to us. If you’re smart, you’ll focus on ways to make your new alphas happy and sated instead of furious. Once you’re bonded to us all, I won’t shield you from them again. They’ll have the right to discipline you however they see fit.”
“Abuse, you mean,” I corrected with a rough swallow. “I won’t bond with you or them. I’ll die first.”
“No, you won’t,” he replied. “But you’ll likely wish you had. And what’s your grand plan? Suicide? Feel free, but I’ll have my heir first. If I have to assign guards to monitor your every move, I will. I’ll chain you to a bed and force a feeding tube down your throat.”
“My pack will come for me,” I whispered, feeling some of my resolve crack, because the possibility of Donovan doing exactly what he said was very real.
“I’m sure they will,” he agreed. “Omega pussy is so hard to come by.”
I flinched because it was more than that. They were mine, and I was theirs. We were freaking scent matches. Fated to be together.
“Oh, I’m sorry, is it love then?” He shot me a mocking look. “You think they spent a few days falling in love with you ?”
The door swung open slowly, and Hayden walked back inside.
Donovan frowned. “What are you doing here?”
“Finishing what you couldn’t, brother .” Hayden’s voice was full of scorn and derision as he sneered at Donovan.
Donovan’s lips flattened. “She’s not to be harmed before the ceremony.”
Hayden held up a hand. “Oh, I’m aware. But let me remind you, the only reason those men haven’t turned on you and taken her for themselves is because of me . The only reason any of this is happening is because of me .”
Donovan was silent for a moment. “What do you want?”
Hayden’s gaze moved to me, his lip curling. “Leave me with her tonight.”
Donovan and I both sucked in sharp breaths, but for entirely different reasons.
“Hayden—”
“I won’t fuck her,” Hayden snapped. “But she needs to be taught a lesson.”
“No bruises,” Donovan scowled. “The morale is fragile, and they need to see her as a beacon of purity.”
“Fine,” Hayden agreed with a terse nod, his gaze still locked on me. “No bruises, and I won’t fuck her.”
Donovan glanced down at me. “I’ll be back in the morning.” He turned and walked away, closing the rickety door.
I shivered as Hayden walked toward me, his boots grinding into the dirt with every step until he was directly in front of me. “You’ve been a naughty omega.”
Pressing my lips together, I glared up at him.
He ran a hand across the top of my head. “I can’t mark you… or can I?”
My lungs seized as he reached down and grabbed the top of my shirt. He ripped the material like it was paper, tearing it from my body.
“Stop,” I whimpered, trying to cover myself while scooting away, but the chain was too short, and his hands were everywhere.
My bra was next, then he wrestled my leggings and panties away, tossing the garments on the other side of the room.
When I was naked, I curled into a tight ball, dragging my knees to my chest and sucking in ragged breaths. “Donovan said?—”
“I’m aware of what my brother said,” he cut me off, rage and hate in his eyes. His hands reached for the front of his pants. “I won’t bruise your pretty skin tonight, omega, but you will wear my mark.”
I slammed my eyes shut, lowering my head as he pulled his cock out, taking it in hand.
My mind tumbled into the past, into safety, where I was with my pack. I hummed as I clapped my hands over my ears and felt a wet splash land on my hair. It dripped down the side of my face in a steady stream as he marked me like a dog marked a tree—pissing on me while laughing.
When it stopped, I didn’t look up. I barely parted my lips and took shallow breaths, but I knew he wasn’t done. Not when I heard the slap of flesh on flesh and his grunts filled the room. Not when more liquid hit my knees, my arms.
Surrounded by his sickening stench, I stayed curled into a tight ball and swallowed back my screams.