16. Elliott #3
“Good morning, John. How is our patient today? Does he like our red room?”
“It appears he does not,” Mooneyham said, looking at his phone. “His heartrate and blood pressure have steadily risen since we came in here.” He turned the screen toward Freedman to share the information. “A high state of tension will help bring on his heat.”
“Excellent,” Freedman replied, looking me over. I felt exposed and vulnerable in the green silk robe and slippers. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to bring in number one before we do anything else.”
“Fine with me,” Mooneyham said.
Freedman pressed a button on an intercom I hadn’t noticed before because it blended into the red wall.
“Number one, please,” he said, then let go of a button.
A door to my right opened, and the first thing my eyes latched on to was a broad chest. I looked up into a face I knew.
With a gasp, I backed up, bumping into Dr. Freedman, who brought his hands up to hold my upper arms.
“So, he recognizes you,” he said to “number one.”
The alpha smiled a cruel smile. “I knew he would,” he said.
“You must have left quite an impression,” Mooneyham commented.
“Not enough of one,” Edge said.
Edge, the horrible alpha who had given me my debilitating fear of them. The one who had promised me on a daily basis—sometimes an hourly one—that he would have me.
I started to shake, starting at my knees and then rising higher until my teeth chattered.
“Nothing to say to me, baby?” Edge asked me.
Baby. I’d forgotten he’d called me baby. Or, more likely, I’d blocked it out.
“What are you waiting for, Elliott? Greet the alpha.” Freedman shoved me toward Edge. I stumbled, and the big alpha reached out for me, but I dodged him, running into a corner.
White, blinding pain hit me like a semi-truck, every nerve-ending screaming in agony. I heard my howls of agony as though at a distance. When the pain subsided, my ears rang.
Edge scooped me up and threw me on the bed. When I could focus on his face, I saw that he was laughing.
“Go on, baby. Beg me for it. I’ve been waiting a long time for this.
” Kneeling on the bed, he advanced on me, crawling up my body on his hands and knees.
“I bet you can’t wait for me to split you apart with this.
” He grabbed his crotch, which looked like it was about to rip the seams of his pants, in a lewd gesture.
I couldn’t speak. I could barely breathe.
Dr. Freedman walked over to the side of the bed.
“I didn’t want to punish you, Elliott, but you can’t run from the alpha.” He looked at Mooneyham, who was staring at his phone. “Why isn’t he going into heat?”
“I don’t know. He’s freaked out, no doubt about that, but I don’t see any movement in other sectors.” He looked up at me. “Elliott, don’t forget what we talked about. It won’t happen unless you cooperate.”
“He can’t hold back a heat, John,” Dr. Freedman said, watching me lie there like a pinned bug on the bed with Edge looming over me, his pheromones choking me.
Edge reached for the tie of my robe. “I’ll make him go into heat!”
“Stop!” The command was sharp. “You’re not giving the orders here, we are, alpha.” Reaching for the intercom, he pressed the button. “Remove number one!”
“What? I haven’t even had a chance to do anything!” Edge made a grab for my bare leg, and I struggled to get out of his grip. Then three burly men appeared and dragged him away. He yelled curses as they pulled him out of the room.
With Edge gone, I could breathe a little easier.
Freedman and Mooneyham stood in the middle of the room consulting one another. From what I heard, they didn’t understand why Edge hadn’t put me into heat right away, especially combined with the red room.
I didn’t know, either, unless my revulsion and fear overrode my natural instinct.
Or, Ben’s and my combined attempt to end my heats had actually worked.
“Is he broken?” Freedman asked, turning to survey me lying on the bed.
“More than likely, that alpha was broken,” Mooneyham said. “You got your fear fix. I admit it was a good one, but let’s bring in the alpha I chose, shall we?”
I covered my face, trembling from head to toe and unable to stop crying.
Seeing Edge again had been a nightmare come to life.
If my body had responded to him, I would have died of shame.
These men expected me to go into heat. Most likely, they wanted to observe to see if there were any differences in an omega x’s behavior as compared to other omega test subjects.
They also might hope I would get pregnant.
This is what my plotting had brought me to.
I heard the door open and footsteps entering the room. Another alpha, no doubt.
Anyone is better than Edge, I told myself. Elliott, you have to cooperate, like Mooneyham said. If you do, you’ll see your father again.
Taking deep, stabilizing breaths, I removed my hands from my face and faced the new alpha, who stood at the end of the bed.
I stared through my tears, unable to believe what I was seeing.
The new alpha they’d brought in…the one Mooneyham just said he’d chosen himself…was the ops alpha—my ops alpha—Jet Russo.