22. Sadie
TAKING IT
Jax’s eyes were slate gray and colder than the ice wafting off Cobra. “First, we are going to ask some questions, and you are going to nod yes or no.”
I wrinkled my nose.
Trussed up on the bed, there was little way for me to express myself. If I wasn’t gagged, I would have screamed expletives at them.
“Did Clarissa hit you after the test?” Jax asked as a low rumble shook from his chest.
I rolled my eyes and didn’t move my head.
When was I not covered in bruises?
It didn’t slip my notice that they were trying to make Clarissa some big baddie when they were the ones who were all over her.
Did men think women were stupid?
Time ticked by slowly as I stared at Jax and didn’t move my head.
Memories of a chair in the fae realm made my skin prickle and my heart rate speed up.
They’d already toyed with me once before, and I wasn’t about to give them a repeat performance.
Why the fuck was I always restrained around them?
The violence in the room ratcheted up.
I slumped against the headboard and closed my eyes. How were we supposed to move forward as a group?
If I was fire, then they were kerosine.
Ever since we’d entered the beast realm, an inferno of violence burned between us.
The exhaustion from sleep deprivation, studying (truly, the worst thing a person could go through), physical exertion, voices in my head, the aftermath of controlling people with my blood, and the emotional upheaval of a pack with an omega in heat were just too much for one person to handle.
My eyes burned—definitely Xerxes and the damn heat hormones—as tears dripped down my cheek.
I just wanted to cuddle with Aran, smoke an unknown enchanted substance, and sleep until I had to fight one hundred terrifying alphas basically to the death.
Was a little peace really too much to ask for?
Ascher’s face fell as he raked his hand through his golden curls. “Fuck, Princess, don’t cry.”
Cobra hissed, “Don’t fall for her fucking games. Grow the fuck up, Kitten.”
His words were biting, but there was an edge of panic in his voice, like he didn’t know what to do.
The shadow snake sent me calming images of love and support.
Jax sighed heavily, and he leaned forward, gently pushing the white hair that was tangled in front of my face.
He asked softly, “How did everything get so messed up?”
Xerxes tilted his head back like he was praying to the sun god. “She rejected us. That’s how.”
My tears dried up.
I made a disgruntled noise from behind my gag and glared at him.
Technically, I’d just agreed with the don’s overt threats.
Xerxes was the one who’d immediately replaced me.
Xerxes’s eyes were hard amethysts as he glared back at me, and his too-pretty features hardened into granite.
If I hadn’t known any better, I’d say he didn’t have any emotions. Didn’t feel anything.
The Black Wolves are hunting him .
Goose bumps pricked my skin, and I squirmed against my uncomfortable bindings.
Ascher held out his palms like he was begging. “Something must have happened to make her…enslave us like that. We need to hear her out.”
“Oh, now you’re all about peace and rationality. Coming from the spy who betrayed us,” Cobra scoffed and dismissed him.
Ascher’s tattoos rippled as he bunched his muscles, horns lengthening. “How long are you go to fucking toss that at me? I’ve fucking proven my loyalty.”
Cobra whirled and charged at him. “You will never prove your loyalty.”
Ascher barreled forward, and their chests cracked against each other. “Oh, but you’re buddy-buddy with the soldier of the woman who fucking imprisoned you your whole life? Grow the fuck up. You use your snakes as an excuse to act fucking unhinged, and I’m tired of it.”
A warning hiss rattled, a predator’s warning, and I closed my eyes.
I really should have bought those gratitude journals.
Peeking through my lids, I looked just in case there was bloodshed, which I definitely didn’t want to miss.
If the girls were here, they would all have been chanting “fight.”
I missed them.
Jax grabbed each of the others by the backs of the necks and dragged them apart.
“We’re a pack,” he said calmly. “Cobra, we can all feel the fact that you were deeply hurt by Ascher’s actions, but that you’ve already forgiven him, so stop posturing.”
Ascher smirked.
Jax turned to him with a snarl. “And we can all feel that you’re worried sick about earning Cobra’s acceptance, so stop riling him up. If you keep this up, you’ll lose it.”
Ascher’s shoulders deflated under Jax’s scowl, and he wrenched himself out of the big man’s grip.
Not done, Jax whirled on Xerxes, who was standing unnaturally still in the corner of the room.
The entire time, he hadn’t stopped staring at me.
“And, Xerxes, stop fantasizing about asphyxiating Sadie and fucking her against the wall. It’s distracting.”
I squirmed and suddenly became very interested in the comforter on the bed. Was that real gold silk weaved into the red fabric? Very artsy.
“And Sadie.” Jax stalked to the bed and leaned over me.
My forehead wrinkled as I waited for him to diagnose my wrongs.
Since I wasn’t fantasizing about asphyxiating anyone, I was not the problem here.
Jax leaned forward until his handsome face filled my vision.
Up close, his gold piercings and chains glimmered in the room’s dim light.
“We’re all going through it right now, and you don’t get to play the victim.
If you have something to say, something to complain about, say it.
Don’t overtake our free will and breach our trust by using us like little marionette dolls.
” His voice trailed off and cracked slightly. “That was messed up.”
My conscience reared its ugly head, and guilt made my chest spasm.
I went back to studying the comforter.
They’d bound and gagged me; it wasn’t like I could say anything to defend myself. A wrong for a wrong—that was all we were.
Sweet cinnamon caressed my nose, a reminder of what I wanted so badly but could never have.
Shame and resignation churned in my gut.
A few weeks ago, I’d thought my scars were my biggest problem. That somehow, everything would fall into place after they were enchanted away. I’d never been more wrong.
It was all too much.
A heavy weight fell across my lap.
Jax was a blurry figure, head in his hands as he slumped across my lap dejectedly.
I slammed my head back against the headboard. The pain distracted me from the pressure in my eyes. Don’t you dare break down.
“Princess.” The bed dipped as Ascher crawled across the other side of the bed and settled next to me.
His tattooed fingers gently traced across my face and wiped away the moisture. He was so tall he sat high above me against the headboard and looked down at me.
Chestnut and pine comforted me, and the knot that had formed in my chest when they’d joined a pack without me loosened slowly.
Xerxes and Cobra stood across the room and stared at us.
They didn’t move.
Both men looked lost, frozen, like they were being approached by an unknown enemy. Both were large and intimidating warriors who didn’t know how to express what they were feeling, so you never knew what they were going to do.
It made them terrifying.
Their eyes darkened as they stared at me.
All four men shared a glance, and the room filled with an unfamiliar tension, like they’d had a silent conversation.
Suddenly, I was extremely nervous.
Ascher leaned down, his breath hot against my face as he untied the gag around my mouth.
Once my mouth was free, I gasped for air and got ready to deliver a scathing retort to their heavy-handed treatment.
The words died in my throat.
A tongue slowly licked across the seam of my lips, and musk engulfed my senses.
Tattooed fingers slowly traced across my jaw and tipped my head back.
Pine exploded across my senses as Ascher deepened the kiss, his tongue strong and sure as he traced my mouth wantonly.
“My sweet princess,” he whispered as he pulled his head back and ran his thumb slowly across my cheekbones.
Our breath mingled, and I struggled to process what had just happened.
Before I could say something awkward and make both of us uncomfortable, a large, callused hand grabbed my jaw and turned my head to the other side.
Warm chestnuts were delicious on my tongue as Jax tangled his fingers in my hair and kissed me deeply.
When he finally released me, I was gasping, and an ache throbbed between my legs.
As soon as Jax released me, Ascher grabbed my jaw again. His mouth was rougher than Jax’s, more demanding, as he kissed me deeply.
Jax’s hands slowly traced up underneath my T-shirt, and his callused palms grabbed me and easily spanned my rib cage.
I gasped into Ascher’s mouth.
Ever so slowly, Jax pushed underneath my sports bra until his hands were flush against my small breasts.
Ascher kissed me deeper, his hand tightening on my jaw so I couldn’t move away from him. Not that I wanted to.
Jax’s callused fingers rolled both my nipples.
I moaned into Ascher’s mouth.
My core clenched, and my eyes rolled back in my head as Ascher gripped my face so hard it hurt.
I drowned in chestnuts and pine.
It was intoxicating. It was everything.
The large men overwhelmed my senses, and with my hands still pinned to the headboard, I could do nothing but squirm beneath their attention.
Suddenly, icy fingers yanked my sweatpants off.
Ascher kissed me so deep, fingers digging into my face so I couldn’t see what was happening.
Ever so slowly, nails scraped down my inner thigh.
Jax pinched my nipples, Ascher slammed his tongue deeper down my throat, and fingers dragged closer to my core.
I kicked my legs out, but hands wrapped around my thighs and mercilessly pinned me to the bed.
A cold tongue slowly trailed up my thigh and lapped delicately across my inner junction.
The scent of frost joined chestnuts and pine.
Need gushed between my legs.
I tried to speak, but I lost my words as Ascher punished me with his mouth.