Chapter 2
two
Jo
“Mabel?” My voice rings out in the empty mansion, but nobody answers.
In fact, there doesn’t seem to be anyone home at all.
The marble floors are impeccably clean, the light from the crystal chandelier reflecting off the polished tiles.
This…this is the kind of place that Mabel and I could only ever dream of.
Suddenly, a scream rips through the air, making me jump as my hair stands on end.
When I turn, trying to discern where the scream is coming from, I find her.
Mabel.
But…she’s covered in blood. I realize, now, that everything is. Red paints the tiles that were spotless only a moment ago. The oozing liquid pours down the walls, and my sister?
Her white-blonde hair is matted to her skull, a once-white night-dress clinging to her skin as rivulets of red run down her body.
“Mabel,” I gasp, rushing to her. “What happened? Are you okay? What—”
“Why didn’t you protect me from them, Jo?” she asks in a small, terrified voice, her eyes fixed on the floor.
My blood runs cold as my stomach drops. “I’m so sorry. I tried to find you—”
Her head snaps up, and bloodshot blue eyes pierce me. Her mouth opens in a bloody smile. “You were too late. And now, they’re all dead.”
She points behind me, and when I turn, I see them. Five bloodied bodies, laying broken under the crystal chandelier.
“You didn’t do this.” My voice is shaky. There’s no way she could have done this. Mabel…Mabel is all that is good and sweet in the world. I got my hands dirty so she wouldn’t have to.
“I was tired of waitin’ around for you to save me, Jo,” she snarls, stepping around me to come next to the bodies of the alphas.
She kneels down next to one of them, running a hand over a slack expression.
“For two years, I waited. Two years bein’ beaten, raped, and drugged.
I waited, and waited, and waited. I couldn’t wait for you anymore. ”
As I stare at the woman who looks exactly like Mabel, I watch with horror as her features change into a woman I don’t recognize.
Wait.
I do recognize her…because it’s me.
“You were too late, Jo. Now I’m just like you.”
My heart beats rapidly as I lurch into consciousness, but everything is still…hazy, and my eyes refuse to open. I must be more tired than I thought.
A dream. It was just a dream. I’ve never been to the house that Mabel’s pack was slaughtered in, and I haven’t laid eyes on her since Daddy sold her off five years ago.
The image of the five alphas dead under the chandelier is just my subconscious recollection of the crime scene photos Declan uncovered. Mabel hasn’t turned into me.
There’s no way.
My lids are too heavy, and it’s only when I try to roll over in bed, and realize I can’t, that it all comes back to me.
The fights. Killing Banesworth. Hiding the body with Kole, Hayden, West, and Sam.
Getting pulled into Brooks’ office and being told I’m being sent to…
My eyes fly open at the thought, my pulse roaring in my ears. Bright lights assault me, and my breathing is labored as my gaze darts around the room.
The cold, yellow-tinged, creepy-as-fuck hospice room.
The Cathedral.
My chest heaves as my heart pounds in my ears. Maybe they haven’t given me any medication yet. Maybe they were stupid and left me unattended. I have to get out of here. I have to—
I go to move my hands, but my wrists snag on the all-too-familiar sharp edge of metal handcuffs.
Fuck.
My legs are freezing, and that’s when I realize I’m in a hospital gown. The blankets are scratchy and too thin, making my omega recoil in disgust.
No.
No, no, no, no, no.
I’m not wearing any undergarments. Which means…
They’ve seen my bite. Hayden’s bite, right on the underside of my breast.
Ice settles in my veins as my vision starts to cloud.
Our bond. He’s probably feeling everything I’m feeling right now. He’s going to panic. He’s going to come looking for me. This is bad. This is really, really bad—
“Ah, Josephine, you’re awake.” Doctor Brooks peeks his head into the room, then comes the rest of the way in, two orderlies at his heels. “We have many things to discuss.”
To anyone else, Brooks’ black walnut scent would be mild and unoffensive.
But to me? Memories of being beaten senseless behind Daddy’s trailer next to a black walnut tree filter through the back of my mind.
I try to fight the panic rising in me—Daddy’s not back from the dead, and he can’t hurt me anymore.
I swallow the lump in my throat, tears stinging my eyes. “I don’t have anythin’ to discuss with you, Doc.”
In the back of my mind, I work on shutting down my connection to Hayden. He can’t feel everything I’m about to be feeling. It’s not right. It’s not fair. He shouldn’t have to deal with the panic of feeling my emotions on top of the stress of me being gone.
Doctor Brooks gives me a sad smile. “Oh, but you do. I have a feeling that you’ve already realized what it is.”
The two orderlies behind him, one beta and one alpha, by the looks of it, eye me with barely disguised interest. Looks like it’s been too long since they’ve been around someone who can talk back.
They’re too far away to scent properly, but a mix of grass clippings and wet asphalt tickles my nostrils, thankfully diluting Brooks’ scent somewhat.
“Don’t give me too much credit there, Doc.” I try my best to give a weak smile. “My mind isn’t quite all there right now.”
Brooks sighs and pulls a seat up to my bedside. I eye him warily as he takes off his glasses and cleans them with a cloth. “Let’s not insult each others’ intelligence, okay, Jo? Both Doctor Whitmore and I saw the bond mark. So, we need you to answer a few questions.”
“And where is Doctor Whitmore?” My voice goes sharp as my courage returns to me. “If this is such a big deal, shouldn’t he be here?”
“I’ll be asking the questions, Josephine,” he snaps, losing his patience for the first time since I’ve met him.
“Firstly, how? How did you get the bite to stick? Between both yours and the alpha’s inhibitors it shouldn’t have been possible.
Unless…was it an orderly? Banesworth perhaps?
No…it’s clearly not a forced bond, the bite is too clean.
Perhaps the Vasiliev bastard? The drugs don’t work on him. ”
“What? No!” The idea of being bonded to Banesworth is so revolting, the words are out before I can stop them. Then, because I don’t want him to even think about Sam, I add, “It wasn’t an orderly, and it wasn’t Kole. Check him if you want—you won’t find a matchin’ bite mark.”
“Then who? I want a name.” He really does sound like he means business, and I’m trying to figure out what I can get away with. I mean, what else can they do to me? They already stuck me in Zombieland. “At least we know it wasn’t Lars Devereaux, seeing as his canines have been removed.”
I stiffen, noting that I don’t feel my necklace around my neck. The one made of beads and the teeth of an alpha who threatened to bond me against my will. The symbol of devotion from my Russian Giant. Gone.
“Where is it?” My words are filled with venom as pure rage fills my body.
How dare they?
How dare they take something so precious from me, when they already have my body at their mercy?
“Where is what?” Brooks asks calmly, like he’s not at all surprised by my rapid switch from panicked to pissed.
“Where the fuck is my necklace, you fuckin’ quack?!” I struggle against my restraints, the metal biting into my skin. “You had no right to take that from me!”
“Oh…you mean…this necklace?” He gives a smarmy grin as he lifts the pile of string, beads, and teeth from his doctor’s coat pocket. “Does FAFO mean…‘fuck around and find out’? It’s quite clever, really. Looks like you’re the one who fucked around and is currently finding out, though.”
“That’s mine!” I cry out, thrashing like a mad woman.
“Maybe I’ll give it back if you tell me who bonded you.” Brooks raises his brow, thinking he has me trapped in a corner.
But…I can’t. Not even for the necklace.
“No.” My rush of adrenaline is wearing off now, and my voice is shaky.
“Jo.” His voice is a warning. “You think I don’t already know that it was Hayden Pierce?”
My heart leaps into my throat. “That’s…ridiculous.
” My words make me feel like I’m betraying the little ball in my chest that I’ve come to recognize as Hayden’s bond.
But…this is more than just protecting him.
If they confirm it’s him, they might figure out we’re true scent matches, and if that happens…
well, they might just figure out a way to keep the true scent match from being able to nullify the drug they’ve been giving us.
Brooks shakes his head, stuffing the necklace back into his pocket. “What did I say about insulting each other’s intelligence, Jo? You two have been hanging all over each other the last two weeks.”
He doesn’t mention Kole, thank goodness.
“Don’t know what to tell you, Doc.” I shrug. “It’s not Hayden.” As if to reassure myself, I tentatively check my bond again. He’s still there, muted, since I’m blocking him off, but there none the less.
“I could just strip search every alpha until I find out who it is.” He tries to sound nonchalant, but I can hear the hint of trepidation in his voice.
If he could just strip search every alpha…then why doesn’t he? If it’s really that simple, why didn’t he do it while I was passed out? My mind races as I try to remember everything Hayden has said to me about his father.
Oh, shit.
My first day, he was offering to give me a tour. “I know all the ins and outs of this place—my old man bankrolled the renovations. I can give you the inside scoop.”
They can’t take the risk. If it’s not Hayden, and they take drastic measures like that, Hayden’s daddy will be pissed. Maybe pissed enough to not give them any more money. As long as Hayden retains his daddy’s protection, they can’t do anything to him.
“Then do it.” I raise a brow, feigning nonchalance. “Sounds simple enough.”
“I will figure out how you did it,” he says menacingly, but then in the blink of an eye, his demeanor changes. “As it happens, this might just work for us.”
I swallow, blinking rapidly. “How so?”
“We’ve never had the opportunity to study how being apart from a new bond mate can affect the psyche up close before.
” He starts making notes on his clipboard.
“Normally, doctors do all they can to ease the symptoms of bond sickness. I, however, want to see just how far it progresses without any external intervention. For now, we won’t sedate you, since that would take away your response to your pain receptors.
But…three days, I think. That will give us enough time to see how an omega handles being separated from her brand new bond mate.
Then…well, we’ve been working on a medication to remove bonds entirely.
I think you’ll be the perfect first live test subject. ”
My blood runs cold. “Wait, you can’t—”
“Unless you feel like telling me exactly who gave you that bite?” He sounds almost hopeful. But…no. I won’t subject Hayden to this. Alphas may get irritable and short-tempered when separated from their new mate, but only omegas succumb to bond sickness.
Plus, if I give Hayden away, his daddy may realize that he’ll never give into his demands to get married and remove any protections he has in place for him. Hayden could end up right next to me in the Cathedral. I can’t let that happen.
“Sorry, Doc.” My resolve hardened, I meet Doctor Brooks’ beady eyes. “Can’t say I have a clue.”
Brooks only gives me a long-suffering sigh before he leaves the room, taking his disgusting scent with him and leaving me with the signatures of the orderlies. The beta orderly approaches the bed, a syringe in his hand.
So he’s the one who smells like he got into a fight with a lawn mower.
“Don’t you put that thing anywhere near me.” I bare my teeth at him. “I won’t be a zombie.”
The orderly only chuckles. “Easy, omega. Like Doc said, he’s not going to sedate you. This is just to make you a little less…violent.”
I thrash against the bed, hoping that if I move enough, he might give up, but then in the next second, the alpha comes around the bed, his grip on my shoulders hard as he holds me still.
Wet asphalt and…gasoline? Together, they smell like someone’s yard after a heavy rain. Which, sometimes, can be a pleasant smell.
Not in this case.
Having my olfactory sensors suppressed for so long, only to have all these scents come at me full force is a special kind of torture.
“Get your nasty hands off me!” I snarl, whipping my head around.
“We don’t want to hurt you,” the beta snaps, sounding angry. “Just stay fucking still!” Then the needle is being jabbed into my arm, the angle all wrong, and I cry out in pain.
“Fuck you!” I yelp, my voice sounding weak, and it’s only when the alpha holding my arms lets go to wipe a tear from my cheek that I realize I’m crying.
He shakes his head at me, as my body goes limp and fuzzy.
The pain is still there, but everything feels…
heavier. Like I can’t quite make myself do anything about how pissed I am.
My eyes stare up at the ceiling, my vision doubling as I try to concentrate on the fluorescent lights.
“You shouldn’t have given her that,” the alpha’s voice sounds like it’s under water, “Brooks said to not sedate her.”
“It was just a little.” The beta is swimming now as he leans over me, my vision going wobbly.
The click of handcuffs coming undone makes me want to rub my wrists, but all I can do is stare at the ceiling.
“She was thrashing around too much. This way we can get her to her room without losing an eye.”
The world moves around me, and suddenly I’m staring at the floor as I hang over someone’s shoulder. “See? Look how good she’s being.” The beta chuckles, and then I feel a finger on my cheek. “We’re going to have so much fun together.”
Vaguely, it registers that they must be carrying me somewhere, and I’ve been trained to get out of a situation like this. But…my body is so heavy. I’m not even sure I want to move.
And then…everything goes dark as I sink into oblivion.