13. Sadie #2
Suddenly, he took the butcher knife, slashed his palm, and slapped it against Cobra’s open cut.
I groaned.
This was what happened when men refused to deal with their emotions.
I knew I should have purchased those “healing your mind and body through writing” journals back in the fae realm.
A loud crack echoed, and Xerxes’s and Cobra’s heads fell back, eyes wide open like they were possessed.
Black rings glowed around both men’s pupils.
For a split second, my mind tricked me, and I saw galaxies in the glowing dark circles. They reminded me of something, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
As soon as it started, it ended, and they both sat up, gasping.
The don’s eyes flickered to snake eyes, and he leaned forward with a furrowed brow as he stared at his son. “Interesting. Very interesting,” he muttered.
My gut twisted. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that hadn’t been a normal bonding.
However, the don immediately ordered, “Good, now go around the table.”
Whatever had surprised him made him eager to finish it quickly.
I didn’t like it.
But before I could gain the courage to say anything, Xerxes bonded with Ascher. As their eyes burst with light and shadows, I realized what had eluded me the first time.
The bond looked like a lunar eclipse.
Then the don ordered Ascher to bond with Jax. Too quickly, the process repeated itself.
The men were all too happy to slice open their palms, pupils glowing with the antithesis of sunlight.
Finally, Jax turned toward me.
He passed the knife forward, but the don lunged across the table and took it before it touched my hand.
I still hadn’t decided if I was about to bond or stab someone with the knife, because I was more of a split-second decision type of girl.
The don’s relaxed attitude was gone, and the small snake around his neck grew until it was thicker than my torso.
It turned and hissed at me.
Rearing back with my palms up, I shuddered as the snake stared at me.
“What the fuck!” Cobra hiss-screamed. Jax roared, and Ascher let out a creepy bleat. Xerxes pulled out his twin knives, and Aran’s eyes turned midnight black beside me.
What the hell was Aran?
“Stand down, or I will kill one of the girls.”
Out of seemingly thin air, the don produced a glowing gun and pointed it directly at Jess’s head.
Cobra spat onto the table. “What the fuck is the meaning of this? We did what you wanted, Father . ” He said “father,” like it was a filthy curse word.
Jess gnawed on her lower lip nervously, but for the most part, seemed unconcerned about the massive weapon pointed at her forehead.
Which made sense, since she’d grown up with Jinx.
The don rolled his eyes like he was bored.
“I told you that you needed an alpha pack, and you chose the men at this table. If you had asked, I would have explained that I can’t let you bond with a female alpha.
You need to produce an heir, and only female omegas can breed.
Most don’t like the competition of another woman in a pack.
Male omegas are no threat.” He gestured toward Xerxes.
His words were a sucker punch to the gut.
At the same time, my shoulders slumped forward with relief. I couldn’t put a target on their heads by bonding with them; the whole half-breed thing was still a heavy, unspoken issue.
Also, wanted list aside, I wasn’t 100 percent sure that I wanted to bond my life to overbearing men.
Forever was a long time when you were an immortal alpha.
“I only joined this pack because of her,” Xerxes snarled and threw his plate against the wall.
Ascher’s horns lengthened on his head. “Same.”
A low grumble sounded from Jax’s throat. “We are not forming a pack without Sadie. It’s not up for debate.”
The don smiled. “You already did.”
His large white snake showed off its wicked fangs.
“If you bond with Sadie, I will put a bounty on her head. Serpentine City is not a nice place. She’ll be slaughtered within the hour.
Also, the needles Spike stabbed into your necks contained enchanted trackers.
You physically can’t leave the city limits without my permission.
If you try, you’ll explode. From the inside. ”
If I’d been standing, my knees would have given out.
Upsetting.
Also, who was going to tell him that there was already a bounty on my head because I was a half-breed?
Not me.
The don continued casually, “Also, if you bond with her, the enchantment will notify me, and I will immediately put a hit out on her.”
The men deflated at once, shoulders slumping.
I turned to him. “What is your problem with me?”
The don smirked. “It’s not personal, just alpha politics. The don’s son needs to produce the city’s next heir with an omega female. You get in the way of that. But I’m still very excited to have your skills in my Mafia.”
Did he know about my blood skills? Or was he referencing my tiger form?
The don, with the mammoth snake still around his neck, got up and walked away. He casually said, “Moon Goddess, bless us all,” without a backward glance.
His absence didn’t relieve the tension in the room.
The harm was already done.
After thirty seconds of the most uncomfortable silence of my life, I pursed my lips and asked the obvious question. “So we all agree to not sell out a certain half-breed to a certain snake someone, right?”
You could never be too sure these days.
Jax growled loudly, Cobra hissed, Ascher muttered an expletive, and Xerxes just kept glaring at me.
Ascher’s amber eyes glowed like they were on fire. “How the fuck could you even ask that?” He stalked away from the table.
The other three men shoved in their chairs and followed him.
The energy rolling off them was that of death and destruction.
Aran threw a grape at me and distracted me from staring after the men’s departing figures like a pathetic hussy.
Four teenage girls sat at the table in various states of shock.
“What?” I asked Aran.
“No one is going to sell you out to the don. Don’t worry.” She waved a piece of chicken around to emphasize her point.
Walter stood behind her and pointedly looked at the ground like he wasn’t listening.
My shoulders slumped forward, and I banged my head against the table.
The men were now in a pack without me? Check.
I couldn’t join said pack without putting a target on all of us? Check.
Half-breed females were on Serpentine City’s most-wanted list? Check.
Aran chuckled, and it distracted me from my depressed thoughts. She grumbled, “But if you snore, I might just turn you over.”
“Excuse me?” I gasped at my best friend.
She rolled her eyes as she itched at her back. “Oh my sun god, Sadie, lighten up. It’s like a funeral around here. I’m joking.”
I shoved a bread roll in my mouth and said in a muffled voice, “So do you want to talk about why your eyes keep glowing creepily black? Doesn’t seem very fae of you.”
My mouth stilled as I swallowed thickly and thought about it. “Wait, how did you actually remove your mother’s heart? I never asked.”
Aran flung her chair back. “We are not talking about it.”
She stomped away from the table with her head held high and shoulders back like a prissy princess.
Which I guessed she was.
I slumped forward and slammed my forehead against the table again for good measure.
Maybe I could kill myself through blunt force trauma?
Lucinda patted my back softly.
Jinx grimaced and stroked her ferret. “You all need professional mental health help.”
I rolled my eyes. “Obviously.”