Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
Talon
At first, I think I’m hallucinating when I see Harlow on the chaise across from me.
I pray that I am. I’m willing to die for my mistakes, but there’s no way I am letting her suffer for them.
I yank on my restraints as Bree clutches my face in her hands.
Baring my teeth at her, I growl. How could she do such a thing?
How could she drag Harlow into this? “Don’t touch me! ”
“Baby, you don’t mean that,” she purrs at me as I watch Corbin get further away with Harlow. I need to get her out of here. “It’s fine. It was the only way to get you back,” she says as I blink at her.
“They are planning on marking her!” I scream in her face.
She flinches. Adrenaline and panic surge through my veins.
Gritting my teeth through the bloody torture, I force the shift.
My body is deformed as I try to force the Wolfsbane out of my system.
Bree shrieks, but it works. I feel my bones snapping back into place, and my hands slip out of the restraints.
Shoving Bree aside, she screams as I rush after Corbin.
Before I reach him, he spins, and I collide with Harlow. Her body is tossed across the floor. Corbin also shifts, and we start tearing into each other before three of his seven mates rush into the room. Slater and Kingsley rip into me as they shift, and Corbin shifts back.
Eventually, I am left naked and limp on the floor as Bree wails loudly.
I gasp, watching as Corbin moves toward Harlow.
She is exactly where he tossed her, unable to move.
Teeth sink into my neck, and I cough on my own blood as Kingsley shifts back in front of me.
Yet I can’t tear my eyes from Harlow as she whimpers and pleads with Corbin to let her go.
Kingsley, the prick, grabs my foot and starts dragging me back to the library.
They don’t bother restraining me this time, almost like they’re taunting me.
The adrenaline is gone, and I am struggling to heal.
Bree fusses over me, screaming her outrage at them.
Her hands clutch my shoulders, and all I can do is stare at her in disgust. It’s the first time I truly see her, and the depths she is willing to fall to.
When I started having money problems with the club, and I couldn’t bear asking Thane for help again, she said she had a solution. I never dreamed it was trafficking Omegas. It’s why I couldn’t go through with it. I thought I could, but I’m not that sort of predator.
When I found out that Bree had been luring them, building their trust, only for Vadum to traffic them, it disgusted me.
But I was already in too deep, so I figured I would do just the one job.
Yet when I got the Omega, I realized she wasn’t a woman but a young girl.
So, I gave her all the money I was given for the job and told her to run.
Now Bree has shown me she truly has no limits because she dragged my family into this mess now too.
Bree helps me sit up, which opens my airway.
“Get me your first aid kit, asshole,” she snarls at Kingsley.
He looks down at her and smirks. Using his fingertips, he flicks his ash blond hair from his eyes before wandering off.
Slater stands guard by the door as Bree stands.
She retrieves the whiskey from the desk and sips on it before wandering back over to me.
She tries to pour some in my mouth, but I turn my head away from her.
Tears well in her eyes and she growls. Her canines protrude as anger takes over.
Bree has always had a short temper. She’s beat on me many times, whenever she doesn’t get her way.
For years I took it, knowing how frustrating our line of work can be.
Now I’m beginning to wonder if it is just one of her many faults.
“It will help,” she states. Still, I refuse. I want her away from me. Bree snarls, and I recognize the unhinged glint in her eyes. It’s the one she gets when she is on the verge of losing it. And she does, smashing the bottle against the wall in a fit of rage.
“After what I just did for you, Tal? After everything I’ve done!
” she screams. Slater growls, moving toward her when she grabs a glass and throws it at the wall beside my head.
She reaches for something else, only for him to catch her hand before she gets the chance to lob the paperweight at me.
They tussle, and Slater drags her away as she lashes out, kicking and screaming.
“Let go of me!” she barks, as if he will listen to her.
She kicks off the desk, and he snarls, backhanding her.
I watch as she flies forward, barely catching herself on the desk.
She instantly turns and attacks him, claws out, going straight for his face.
Slater kicks her legs out from under her, and she hits the floor as something hits my foot. Her phone.
She doesn’t seem to notice it fall. With what little strength I have left, I use my toes to drag it closer. Bree unknowingly acts as the distraction I need to quickly snatch it. I place it under my ass, leaning back just as Slater knocks her out.
“Crazy bitch!” he spits at her while she lays face down on the ground. Kingsley returns a few moments later, stopping in the doorway. He groans when he sees her on the floor. “Well, I’m not cleaning him up,” he snaps, thrusting the first aid kit at Slater. Slater waves him off.
“Fuck him. She can do it when she wakes. Hopefully in a better mood, too,” Slater says, snatching the first aid kit and tossing it on the desk.
“What about him?” Kingsley nods toward me.
“He ain’t going anywhere. Come on. We need to mark the Omega. Corbin is convinced it will be the only thing that stops Thane from killing us,” Slater says, nudging him toward the door. I watch them both leave.
Slater is right. If they mark Harlow and force her to mark them, Thane can’t kill them. If she marks Corbin, it will override Thane’s mark on her and make a complete bond. If Thane kills Corbin after that, he kills Harlow.
Once I’m sure they’re gone, I quickly grab the phone.
It’s password protected, but Bree always uses her birth date for her passwords.
For once, I’m glad she does. I dial Leon’s number, but before I get the chance to lift the phone to my ear, I see Bree move.
She groans, and I tuck the phone away, praying Leon picks up.