17. Sadie #2
Obviously I didn’t think I’d had a dramatic transformation, but I swore all the push-ups and whatever random drug Molly had stabbed me with had improved my muscles somewhat.
I could see more definition.
Maybe I was going crazy.
My chest burned with embarrassment.
A lot of people had been laughing at me recently, and there was only so much a girl could take.
I positioned myself away from everyone else and focused on touching my toes. They’d clearly found their replacement for me.
Who was going to tell her they couldn’t bond with a female alpha because they needed a female omega?
The petty thought made my stomach hurt worse. It didn’t mean they couldn’t have sex with her, or still have a crush on her. There was always going to be some perfect, sweet omega female who completed their pack.
Fully in a depressive episode, I sullenly took one of the small books that Z handed out to each of us.
The title read “Mafia Laws,” and I grimaced at how dense it was.
Unless it had been severely miss-marketed, it wasn’t a romance book with simpering females and gallant men who saved the day. Those were the type of books I preferred to read.
Z said, “Study this and learn the rules. You will have a test in three days, and you can’t fight until you pass.”
“What happens if you don’t pass?” I asked as I flipped through and winced at the ridiculously small font.
“Don’t fail,” Z replied automatically.
“But say, hypothetically, that you failed. What would happen?”
Z fingered the barrel of the gun, and his expression didn’t change. But the scent of burning leaves spiked as he stepped closer to me.
His voice dropped an octave. “Don’t fail.”
“But if you did…” I pursed my lips and tried to look innocent.
Z’s nostrils flared, and his muscles seemed to expand as he took another threatening step toward me.
“Sadie, shut the fuck up,” Xerxes snapped.
His outburst was even more shocking because he’d barely spoken to anyone all day.
My stomach twisted tighter, and my cheeks burned.
Z kept staring at me.
“She’s being fucking annoying. Ignore her,” Cobra sneered, and Z shifted his attention toward the other alphas.
He grinned at Cobra as they shared a toxic-masculinity moment.
I mumbled under my breath about how it was confusing to make us take a test and not tell us the consequences.
“Shut up, Sadie,” Jax said quietly as he leaned closer to me.
Immediate tears swelled in my eyes. Everyone was a rude pig, but not Jax—that was too far.
“Please,” he whispered, and his voice cracked.
My eyes dried as I reminded myself that I was a bad bitch, and I focused on my stretching.
If I weren’t conserving the numb for the fight marathon that was apparently happening in a week, I would have switched it on.
For some fucking reason, I was feeling unnaturally emotional about everything, and it sucked.
What would Molly do?
I straightened my shoulders and focused on a speck of dust on the ground, keeping my head high and eyes averted from the men.
When it was time to leave for the day, thank the moon goddess—I’d been worried they’d keep us overnight in some type of dungeon—I jumped away when Ascher tried to lead me out by my lower back, and he had the gall to growl softly in displeasure.
Apparently, all the men were in a pissy mood, because Cobra slammed the car door like he was trying to rip it off its hinges, and no one said a word the entire way back.
At the mansion, Walter sensed our sour dispositions and quietly announced dinner would be sent to everyone’s room.
“I’m sure they’d all love to have dinner together. Just bring mine to my room,” I snarled as the old man looked warily back and forth among all of us.
A hiss shook through Cobra’s throat. “You don’t get to be the victim here.”
He rounded on me like he wanted to fight.
I saw red. “Oh, I’m just stating facts. Go back to Clarissa and have fun laughing at me. Didn’t take long for you to show your true colors.”
“True colors, alpha ?” Xerxes said and laughed. “You want to talk about true colors?”
He moved quickly past Cobra and lunged at me. The sudden movement surprised me.
My body was sweaty and exhausted from training for hours, and I stumbled backward on shaky legs.
My head slammed against the hallway wall.
The vitriol thrown my way and pain radiating from my skull made me flinch violently.
For a split second, the sharp pain mixed with my sudden fear, brought back memories of someone else lunging at me with a belt.
A loud roar burst through Jax’s chest.
The aggressive sound made me tremble harder, and I closed my eyes while shaking my head, desperate to throw off the pain and orient myself.
Moon goddess, I hadn’t felt so off-balance since I’d been in the shifter realm.
So fucking emotional.
I blamed the torture.
I slowly opened my eyes. Cobra’s jeweled cheek was inches away, his eyes bright with worry.
“Princess,” Ascher pleaded and stepped up next to him.
“I didn’t mean…” Xerxes trailed off in a shaky voice as he suddenly ran down the hall.
There was a loud crash within his room, like he’d thrown something heavy.
A trail of cinnamon lingered in the hall.
Jax’s chest kept rumbling with a roar, and the delicious scents of pine, frost, chestnuts, and lingering cinnamon made my mouth water.
It was all too much.
“No, you don’t get to be mean bastards, then nice. You’ve shown where you stand and how you view me, so don’t act otherwise.” I shoved past the men and ran the other way down the hall toward my room.
Someone said my name, but I didn’t dare look back.
I locked the bedroom door behind me and bent over onto my knees, hyperventilating.
There were four of them and only one of me, and it was overwhelming.
When they were all nice to me, it was amazing.
They were four rocks who produced an overwhelming sensation of comfort and safety.
But when they were mean, it was too fucking much.
Four against one, it was crushing odds.
My heart was being trampled.
The shadow snake sent me visions of love and support, and I cherished its niceness.
After a long, pathetic moment of gasping, I shoved my panic back into the dark recess of my brain and straightened.
Four teenage girls stood in front of me with serious expressions on their faces.
“Aran’s doing drugs.” Lucinda pointed to the bed.
Because that was what my life needed right now…another crisis.