Chapter Ten
Jasmine
Through the control room glass, I could see Kade leaning forward in his chair, his attention absolute.
Behind him, partially obscured, sat another man I hadn't noticed arrive.
.. probably a sound engineer, judging by the way his hands moved over a separate section of the console, making minor adjustments.
The melody wanted to go higher still. I'd sung this progression before, knew where it led, knew the peak it was reaching toward. On the streets, this note had made people stop mid-stride, had cut through traffic noise and conversation to demand attention.
I opened my mouth and let it bleed out of me.
The note emerged pure and powerful, vibrating in my chest, throat, and skull.
I felt it more than heard it through the headphones, felt the way it trembled through my entire body, making my bones hum with the resonant frequency.
The studio's acoustics caught the sound and amplified it, returning it to me crystalline and impossibly clear.
And then something shattered.
The sound came from my left, a sharp metallic ping followed immediately by the cascade of breaking glass.
I jerked my head toward the noise and saw a water glass on a side table now exploding into fragments.
The glass didn't just crack; it burst, pieces flying outward in a spray of glittering shards that caught the overhead lights as they fell.
The tinkling sound of glass hitting laminate flooring filled the suddenly silent studio, each shard making its own small chiming note as it bounced and settled.
Some pieces skittered across the floor, traveling several feet before coming to rest. Others landed with soft thuds, too small to make much noise.
I stumbled backward; the note dying in my throat, cut off so abruptly it left a ringing silence in its wake.
Heat surged through my chest, spreading outward like I'd swallowed something burning.
It wasn't pain exactly, but intensity, a sensation so overwhelming it bordered on discomfort.
My hand flew to my throat, fingers pressing against the skin there as if I could feel what had just happened from the outside.
The ringing in my ears was immediate and insistent, a high-pitched whine that overlaid everything else.
My heart pounded like a runaway train veering off the tracks, my hands were clammy, and my breath was shaky and muffled, as though I was hearing it through water.
I yanked the headphones off with shaky hands and let them fall to hang by their cable.
The room spun slightly. I tried to walk, but everything was spinning. As I pressed my palm against the far wall, I sank to the floor.
What had I done? Would I be punished for it? Locked in and beaten? My breathing hitched as I gasped, trying to inhale. It was too late; the room was growing hazy as the door burst open, and arms were around me instantly.
“It’s okay, Jasmine,” Kade's familiar voice coated the air. “You did nothing wrong, sweet girl... quite the opposite.” I clawed at my throat, trying to breathe. “Quick!” Kade yelled out.
The sound engineer appeared and handed Kade a brown paper bag. “Here, breathe into this.” I tried, but my hands shook too much, so he held it in front of my mouth. “Breathe with me.”
I looked at him, my eyes wide with fear as the room darkened beneath my gaze. “In, now out... that’s it, take another deep breath in, and now out. Keep repeating that.”
My head bobbed in a nod, the room lightening suddenly. “Cliff, grab the first aid kit.” Cliff disappeared and returned with a green bag.
“That’s it, keep going. In... then out. In... then out.”
I was following his guidance more easily now. Even though my breathing was more under control, my whole body was still shaking. I stared at the scattered glass. The pieces glittered like tiny diamonds across the floor, evidence of something I'd caused.
Dangerous. I was dangerous. My voice could break things.
The thought spiraled. If I could break glass with a note, what else could I break?
What else could I damage without meaning to?
And if Kade realized I was dangerous, if he understood that bringing me here was a risk.
I gulped. He'd send me away. Would have to.
Because why would anyone keep something around that could shatter things, that could cause damage, that was too much?
I was too much. I'd always been too much. Too weak for the pack that had beaten me, too visible on the streets, too desperate, too needy, too damaged. And now this!
Kade still held me in his arms. “It’s no use here,” he said to Cliff. “There’s too much glass. I’ll take her to get cleaned up.” Cliff nodded, and I gulped. Too much glass. Too much destruction. I’d done that.
The broken glass scattered across the floor seemed to mock me. Each shard caught the light differently, winking and glittering, impossible to ignore.
My throat ached. The heat that had surged through my chest was fading now, leaving behind a hollow sensation, an emptiness that felt worse than the intensity. I touched my neck again, pressed my fingers against the hollow where my collarbones met, and felt my pulse still racing.
I'd never broken glass before. Never knew I could. On the street corners, I'd sung just as loud, just as high, and nothing had shattered. But maybe it was the acoustics here, the soundproofing that had trapped and amplified the note until it became something destructive.
Or maybe it was me. Maybe something had changed, or maybe this had always been lurking inside me and I'd just never noticed. Another way I was damaged, another way I was wrong.
I took another deep breath in, pulling back from the paper bag, now I felt more in control. Kade’s oak scent grew stronger, filling my nose with every breath I took. Rich, deep, and Alpha.
Kade pulled back and helped me up. My legs still shook, and I fell onto him. He instantly wrapped his arm under my legs and carried me out of the room in his arms. “Come on, let’s get those wounds cleaned up.”
The contact sent a jolt through my entire system.
Heat bloomed beneath his touch, spreading outward in waves that made my chest feel tight and my breathing go even shallower.
Then I remembered what he said. Wounds? I hadn’t realized I’d been hurt.
I was more taken aback by the safety of his arms, the warmth of his hard chest as I curled into it, never wanting to leave.
He placed me down on the edge of my bed, then knelt before me, his hands placed on either side of my legs.
He knelt.
Not crouched, not bent over, but actually went down on one knee, lowering himself to my level. The position put his head below mine, his eyes having to look up slightly to meet my gaze. It was a deliberate gesture of non-threat, of submission even, though Alphas rarely submitted to anyone.
My breath caught.
“Are you alright?” His voice was low and controlled, barely above a whisper, as if he was afraid of startling me with volume.
I couldn't answer. I couldn't form words past the tightness in my throat.
Kade shifted his weight slightly, and then his hand reached toward me. I watched it come, watched those fingers extend, and I was frozen, pinned by the gentleness in his eyes and the careful slowness of his movement.
His palm settled on my leg, warm and heavy on my bare skin. My dress was covered in tiny shards of glass, and I gasped.
“Hey, it’s okay. We’ll get you cleaned up.”
I nodded.
“Are you okay to stand he asked, standing up and holding his hand out to me.”
My pulse spiked beneath his palm. That wariness swooped back over me again. “I'm—” My voice came out rough, broken. I swallowed and tried again. “I'm fine.”
“You're still shaking.”
I was. I could feel it more now, the fine tremors running through my body, making my muscles quiver against my will.
Movement in my peripheral vision made me jerk my head to the side.
Theo stood in the doorway. When had he arrived?
His broad frame filled the space, arms crossed over his chest. He wasn't smiling, wasn't moving, just watching with those dark brown eyes that held unexpected warmth.
The scar running up the side of his face caught the light, making it stand out stark and brutal against his skin.
Another Alpha. Two of them now, my breathing quickened again. Theo's scent reached me, leather mixing with Kade's oak, creating a combination that made my head swim. Too much. It was too much sensation, too much input, too many predators in proximity to my vulnerability.
Kade continued to hold out his hand to me. I looked at it, and he smiled; genuine warmth spreading over his face. “Theo's not going to hurt you,” he said, his voice gentle. “Neither am I. You're safe here.”
Safe. That word. Everyone kept using that word as if it meant something, like it was a promise they could keep. But I'd been promised safety before. Had believed it. Had paid for that belief with bruises and loss and the kind of pain that didn't show up on X-rays.
Theo stepped forward, holding his hands up. “Honey, you’re covered in glass. You need to shower it off before we can patch up those cuts on your leg and arm.”
I looked at my arm and then my leg. Small trickles of blood bled from me. With wide eyes, I nodded to him. He was right. Heck, they both were.
I stared at the outstretched hand, lent forward and took it.