Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Dax grunted as Sidian slammed him into the wall of the nest as hard as he could, plaster cracking all the way up to the ceiling from the force of the blow.
Several of the photographs fluttered to the ground as their fragile adhesive was disturbed, the sight of them drawing a snarl from Sidian’s lips.
How dare he? How fucking dare he ever think he could do something like that?
“You stupid bitch!” Dax backhanded him across the face and Sidian stumbled back, his cheek throbbing from the impact. “Don’t ruin what little progress you’ve made. You’ll regret it.”
A sharp laugh tore from Sidian’s throat as he pressed a hand to his face, looking up at Dax through vision that was starting to blur just slightly around the edges. His vision seemed almost tinted red, his nose picking up a faint whiff of copper. “You’re a monster. You’re a fucking demon.”
“You are an omega who is good for nothing but spreading your legs.” Dax caught him by the throat, squeezing roughly. “Now get down on your knees like the good little breeder you are.”
The command choked with a vicious pressure that no hand could ever match.
It was agony to push back against it, claws digging into Sidian’s mind in an effort to force him down into the position Dax demanded of him. The alpha’s dominance surrounded him on all sides and threatened to devour him whole if he did not submit, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t.
No alpha had ever earned his submission.
Pack Kincaid ripped it from his body and his mind again and again in a desperate attempt to force him into what they wanted him to be, but Sidian wasn’t that.
Could never be that. It wasn’t in his nature to submit, to give in, to let others dominate him when he ached for some semblance of control over his whirlwind life.
His omega whined, terrified of the ramifications of not obeying the alpha, but Sidian only powered through the pain that lanced through his mind.
It ripped a shout from him, his knees nearly buckling before he forced them straight.
Every single part of him ached, but he spat in Dax Kincaid’s face. “Go fuck yourself.”
It was eerie the way Dax’s face smoothed into a perfectly neutral position as he wiped the saliva off of his cheek. “I’m going to make you wish I were a merciful alpha.”
He moved faster than Sidian was prepared for, a punch catching him in the jaw and sending him stumbling into the wall.
When Dax came at him again, he slid down and around the alpha’s feet, cackling when Dax’s hand broke through the plaster instead.
The cold of the brass knuckles against his hip reminded him of the weapon’s existence, and Sidian slid them onto his fingers as he darted toward the nest door.
A hand caught him by the hair and dragged him back. “No, you don’t, you disobedient little slut. You’re not leaving this room until I’m satisfied I’ve broken you in like you need to be.”
“What if I break you in instead?” The movement yanked at his scalp, but Sidian twisted around and threw a punch directly at that insolent, smarmy, smug little smile.
Dax wheeled back, his hand slipping from Sidian’s hair as it flew to his mouth instead.
The impact shuddered up Sidian’s arm, his fingers stinging, small wounds swelling with a few droplets of blood as he fled into the bedroom.
A glance back revealed Dax’s mouth smeared with claret that he spat onto the hardwood, his eyes blazing with a hatred Sidian had never seen before.
Lilac cowered against the headboard, his eyes wide and disbelieving as Sidian weighed what options he had.
Running for the hallway was the safest bet only if none of the others were in the house.
If they were, it was a numbers game, and Sidian would lose.
He didn’t have any real training and only one weapon, and he didn’t think it would do him much good against the rest of the pack.
That they weren’t already thundering up the stairs was a miracle in and of itself.
“Don’t do this,” Dax said, his voice low, threatening, sending shivers down Sidian’s spine. “If you thought I hurt you before, you would be surprised at what I can do to you.”
“What’s surprising about it?” Sidian demanded, his fingers curling in against the brass knuckles. Don’t let them go. No matter what you do, don’t let them go. “You’re just a psycho alpha rapist like your entire fucking designation. It’s not a surprise when you act the way you’ve always been.”
There were lamps on the nightstands, and Sidian edged toward the closest one, which put the bed between him and Dax.
It also put him against the wall and what was probably the closet, which wasn’t ideal.
The further he was away from the door, the harder it would be to run, but he needed a weapon.
On speed alone, he might not win, and it was Dax’s house. He knew the layout perfectly.
Dax coughed wetly, and Sidian hoped beyond hope that he’d lost at least a tooth or two from that punch. “Oh, little omega, you have no idea what horrors I could visit upon that little body. I wonder what you’d do if I dressed you up and paraded you around like the useless female that you are.”
Sidian flinched despite himself. He almost hated how easy it was to hurt him with those words. “You won’t get a chance, asshole. I promise you that.”
He dove for one of the lamps, and Dax flew at him, sliding across the slick comforter and drawing a soft, startled scream from Lilac’s lips. Sidian’s hands closed around the metal base just as Dax slammed into him, sending them both rolling across the hardwood as something shattered.
Was it the light bulb? Sidian didn’t know. He didn’t care.
“And what will you have gained when you fail?” Dax demanded, pinning Sidian down onto his stomach, flattening him against the floor. Tiny shards of glass were scattered across the wood, but it was the cord that Dax wrapped his fist around. “Honestly, maybe you like it when I’m cruel to you.”
“Go to hell!” Sidian tried to kick him off, but Dax was so much bigger than he was.
The cord was cold as it looped around his neck, digging into his skin and choking a rasping whine from his throat.
Sidian scrabbled at it with one hand while he clung to the lamp with the other, unwilling to relinquish the only weapon he had on hand.
The tension of the cord made it impossible to swing no matter how much he thrashed and struggled, every gasping breath weaker than the last.
Dax dug a knee into the small of Sidian’s back and yanked the cord tighter, and Sidian’s hindbrain set off alarm bells in his head.
His baby, his baby, not his baby. The pain in his stomach sent him screeching and clawing and kicking, broken glass digging into his hands until he gripped a fistful of it.
Though he couldn’t see, he could feel Dax behind him and slapped him as best he could with the glass.
The alpha bellowed, and the cord loosened, and Sidian yanked it from around his neck as he choked air into his straining lungs. Then he threw himself at the lamp, gripping the metal base with one hand and swinging it at Dax’s head with all the strength he had.
It wasn’t much because he was scrawny, an underfed runt of an omega who could barely take care of himself, but the clang of metal against bone still made his heart race.
He darted for the door, intent on putting as much distance between himself and Dax as possible.
This was too much for him. He wasn’t cut out for physical brutality of this level, for hand-to-hand combat, for fighting off an alpha twice his size.
When a hand caught him by the ankle and jerked him to the floor, he barely had time to cover his head with his arms to keep himself from smacking his face off the hardwood.
“I’m so tired of you thinking you’re worth something.” Dax jerked Sidian closer, rolling him onto his back, his knees pinning Sidian’s thighs apart and shoving the nightie up around his hips. No no no.
But Sidian was worth something. He knew that now. No one as special as Roman Kane would give him the time of day if he weren’t worth at least a little.
Rough hands gripped his wrists and pinned them over his head as Dax leered down at him, the heat of his erection pressed up against Sidian through the thin fabric of the panties.
“And now you’re right back where I want you.
How much more adrenaline can you take before the drug kicks in?
How loud are you going to whine for my knot this time? ”
His hold tightened suddenly, impossibly, the crushing strength making Sidian cry out as he squirmed and struggled. Dax’s entire body went rigged, his eyes wide, his mouth falling open to reveal a couple of his teeth were missing, bloody holes left in his gums.
It was the least he deserved for everything he’d done.
His hands went slack, and Sidian broke his hold, dragging himself across the floor to the doorway to grip the frame tightly in his hands.
He watched as Dax’s body jerked and shuddered, a single tear trailing down his cheek.
What the fuck was going on with him? Was he having a heart attack or a stroke or something?
Fuck, that would be such a godsend right now.
“Axel,” Dax breathed, scrubbing his hands over his face, then wincing and dropping them.
He stared at nothing in particular before his gaze settled on Sidian again, staring up at him with an expression that Sidian didn’t know how to describe.
Was he upset? “What the fuck did your alpha do to my pack brother, Obsidian? What the fuck have you done?”
Sidian scrambled backward toward the hallway as Dax caught him by the shoulders and slammed him into the bedroom door, his entire body twitching from the pain as the sharp woodcuts dug into his skin.
“You stupid fucking bitch,” he snapped, spittle flying into Sidian’s face. “My brother is dead. What the fuck did your stupid mutt do to Axel?”
Dax let go of him and let out a scream that sent goosebumps crawling along Sidian’s bare skin, his muscles going slack as he slid down the door, coughing weakly.
Every single part of his body ached, and he drew his knees up to his chest as Dax screamed again, raking his hands through white hair that stained a rusty color where the blood soaked into the pale strands.
What the fuck was he talking about? What was wrong with him?
Sidian had spent precious little time around alphas and had never seen one act like that before.
Mutt. Roman. Had Roman done something? Was he safe? Was he alive?
He had to be. He had to be alive because Sidian couldn’t save them both, but he could kill the monster in front of him to get back to his mate.
As long as Roman survived, they would reunite, and they would find somewhere safe and quiet and raise their children together and maybe have more.
How beautiful would a baby be with Roman’s eyes and Roman’s smile and Roman’s good, pure heart?
Sidian was only vaguely aware he was weeping silently, the panic and pain tangling up in his chest until it was harder to breathe than it had been with the lamp cord across his throat. He was going to have a panic attack, and then Dax was going to kill him in that moment of weakness.
I can’t do it I can’t do it I can’t do it I CAN’T FUCKING DO IT—
Dax jerked himself upright, sucking in great lungfuls of breath before his gaze settled on Sidian once again. He took one jerking, halting step closer, then growled and forced another step. Something was wrong with him. Something was very wrong with him. How could anyone turn out like him?
“I’m going to fuck you like you deserve,” Dax sneered, “and then I’m going to make you watch as I cut that worthless fucking thing out of you once and for all.”
And just like that, something in Sidian’s mind snapped.
It was almost gratifying to see the look of surprise on Dax’s face as Sidian shot toward him, the alpha’s throat flexing with a harsh swallow as Sidian prepared to sink his teeth in deep.
No one threatens my children.