Chapter 7
River
My throat closes up before I even realize it.
The words I yearned to say were there, clawing to get out, but nothing—only a strangled gasp that burns like smoke in my chest. My tongue feels heavy, my lips numb, almost as if fear itself has stolen my voice, keeping me from screaming that this isn’t what I want.The silence grows thicker, pressing around me like a suffocating fog.
“Aww, would you look at that. My little guinea pig is so excited she’s at a loss for words.
” He moves behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders, gripping tightly as he lowers his head, his lips flush with my ear.
“We’re going to have so much fun breaking you,” he whispers for only me to hear.
When did he stand up? How did I not notice it? Was I frozen in fear?
“No,” slips softly from my lips.
Elliott steps out from behind my chair and reaches out to shake the Dean’s hand.
“Thank you for all the tutelage from your fine institution to ensure our little omega is the best for our pack.” “Of course. It was our honor. I can’t help but say we are a bit shocked that an alpha with your prestigious background chose an omega from, shall I say, a less desirable family.
Are you and your pack sure of your choice?
We do have other candidates that may be more suitable for breeding. ”
Please….
Choose someone else. Anyone else but me.
I keep my lips pressed firmly together as tears well in my eyes.
“No, thank you. River is everything we want. And while this little chat has been lovely, I believe it’s time for us to go.”
My stomach lurches at the sound of those words, my hands trembling in my lap as I focus on trying to catch my breath.
“Come, River,” his alpha growl bearing down on me to obey.
Reaching down, I pick up my bag. Slowly, I rise, telling myself, I can do this. I can find a way out of this.
When he takes me home, I’ll fake needing to go to the bathroom, and I’ll climb out the window and run. I’ll get as far away as I can, and I’ll call Storm. I should've told him last night what Dad did, but I didn’t. Fuck if I don’t regret it now.
Elliott places his hand on my lower back and my body tenses beneath his touch as he guides me out of the building. Sometime, while I was in the Dean’s office, the bell must have rung. I see students migrating through the hallway. Has it been that long? How out of it have I been?
Whispers swarm around us as Elliott guides me down the hall, straight toward the exit.
Each step we get closer, the more afraid I become of what lies on the other side of these doors.
I’ll be alone with him in a car. At least I think he’s alone…
there’s no one else here with us now. But why wouldn’t the rest of the pack come inside if they were with him?
He doesn’t make a sound, not a word or even a grunt as we exit the building, taking the steps down to the sidewalk and heading straight to his car.
He unlocks the passenger door swiftly, opening it for me to get in.
I hesitate. Everything in me is screaming that this isn’t a good idea and to push him away and run for my life.
But my body doesn’t comply. Instead of running, I get inside the car, letting my bag slip off my shoulder. It falls into my lap with a soft thud.
“I’ll take that for you.” He snatches the bag quicker than I’m able to react, and shuts the door. The asshole doesn’t even give me a chance to say anything.
He opens the driver side door and folds his long body behind the wheel. I don’t see my bookbag.
“My bag?”
“Your bag, what?” He grins as his eyes gaze so intently on me, I feel like he can see right to my soul.
“Where’s my bag? I need it please. It has my phone and my books.” My voice gets softer with each word I say until it’s barely a mumble coming out of my mouth.
“The bag is in the trunk. Don’t worry about it. Our omega won’t have a need for a phone.” His voice is cold. Calculated.
“But I do. My brother is supposed to be calling me.” I whimper. It’s then I notice he’s now heading in the opposite direction of my house. “We’re going the wrong way. My house is in the other direction.” I turn in my seat, looking out the back window anxiously.
“That’s not your home any longer.” He glances over at me, his tongue sliding across his bottom lip as he inhales deeply.
I swear it looks like his eyes roll back in his head and he lets out a growl.
“I told you that you were coming home to your pack.” He lets out a low growl that makes my body tense, makes my heart race with panic.
“Fuck if you don’t smell delicious right now. Your cherry and vanilla scent, laced with fear, is intoxicating.”
No. No. No. God no. I need to go home. There, I can run. But he’s taking me to the unknown, and whatever waits there makes my stomach twist. I swallow hard, nearly choking on the lump in my throat.
“But my things?” I whine. I don’t really care about them. Well, except for the pictures I have of Storm and our mom. And my blade. But it’s a last-ditch effort to get to my house. To be out of Elliott's presence, if only for a couple of minutes.
“We will give you new things.” He pauses for a moment, his hand coming down on my thigh. He squeezes my flesh with a force that makes me jump, his nails piercing my skin. He gracefully palms the steering wheel with his free hand as we make a right turn, heading further away from safety.
“As you earn them, of course. Belongings are a privilege, Omega.”
What the fuck has my father gotten me into? I turn my head toward the window, taking my time to memorize every building, every turn he takes. So that when I run—and I will—I need to know what direction to head in.
“Why?” I whimper in defeat.
“Why, what?” His voice is harsh, brutal. It’s so intense it causes me to shift in my seat uncomfortably
“Why me? Why do the three of you want me? I’m nothing. Nobody.” My words hang in the air between us as the shame of the truth settles on me.
“I know my father owes a debt to you, but isn’t there another way you could make him pay it back?”
He laughs. One that sounds teasing, but he stretches it out too long, until it unravels into something broken and psychotic.
“Oh, what a clueless little thing you are.” His awful laugh makes my skin crawl.
“There would never be any option. You’re all I’ve been able to think about since that first day I saw you walking down that sidewalk.
” He makes another turn, his eyes shifting between the road and me.
“Your head down, gripping that same weathered bag. Each step you took seemed to be a struggle. You called to me. Then you looked up.” His grip on my thigh tightens its grasp before loosening his hold.
His hand moves slightly up my thigh, closer to my quivering center as my heart pounds in my chest. Sweat beads on my forehead from the mixture of panic and fear.
“I knew I wanted you that day. You were too young, though. So I waited. I watched you. All while convincing my pack you were the one for us. For me. And then, when your father had no other choice….”
“You’ve been… watching me?” I can’t even look at him as I ask, hoping like hell I misunderstood him. What grown man follows a teenage girl? My brain tries to wrap itself around his words that I just heard. He’s been stalking me all this time.
“Are you deaf? Or did you hit your head? I just told you that.” His words are cold, calculated and uncaring...
“You’re an attractive man. Surely you’d want an older omega, someone who knows more than me. Someone better than me.” My voice cracks as I speak.
“No,” he growls. I whimper in response.
He pulls off to the side of the road, and for just a moment a surge of hope rushes through me. Maybe he’s going to let me go. Maybe he realizes I’m not what his pack wants and I’m a lost cause. Maybe…
But he doesn’t open the door. Instead, he reaches across my lap, opening the glove box, and pulls out a roll of duct tape. I want to move, to stop him, but I can’t. My legs are like dead weight, my heart pounding so loud in my chest I think it might leap right out and leave me here a frozen shell.
I can only watch with terror, with shame as he rips off a piece with his teeth, with such ease it is more than alarming. He smiles as he glares at me. “Time to shut you up.”
I reach out, ready to fight, and he takes hold of my hands gripping them tightly with his massive one.
All I can do is fight to breathe as he places it over my mouth, breaking the momentary spell that’s fallen on me.
I move to push him, but he’s too strong.
He’s an alpha. He’s bigger, stronger. I’m nothing but an omega, and a weak one at that.
It’s no use fighting him. With one motion, he holds me still and presses the tape over my mouth and I shiver from the reality of his cruelty.
I close my eyes, hoping somehow that this is all a bad dream, but deep down in the pit of my queasy stomach, I know it’s not.
“Your father's claims of your obedience are lacking.” He snaps before letting out a heavy breath.
“But I do love a good fight,” he all but purrs as I’m left unable to respond.
“When you learn to speak when spoken to, and not to question your alphas, I’ll remove it. Can’t stuff my cock in your mouth if it’s taped, now can I?” He shifts the car back into gear and takes one quick look backward before pulling back onto the road.
“Our pack has been looking for the perfect omega. One who listens, obeys, and covets us. In return, she’ll live a life of luxury, never wanting for anything. Not to mention you’ll get to be fucked by the three of us and bear our children.”
I try to talk, but with the tape on my mouth it all comes out an undistinguishable mess.
“It’s okay, guinea pig, you’re going to give me great joy breaking you in. Not to mention Ray hasn’t stopped yammering about his Sweetmeat.”
Just the mention of that name has my skin crawling, the same as it did last night when I’d heard it myself.
“I can take care of your father for you. I’ve seen what he does to you behind closed doors. It’s taken everything in me not to rip his throat out. To place him on my table and filet him.”
My eyes go wide. I reach for the door handle, not even caring how fast he’s driving.
I need out of this car, and I need out now.
Grasping the piece of metal in my fist, I push, but nothing happens.
He laughs, the sound rolling out of him lazily; cruel in its ease.
As though my fear is nothing more than a punchline to some sadistic joke.
“Keep fighting, it’s making me so fucking hard right now.” He sticks his arm out, gripping my wrist, pulling my hand toward him, placing it over his very rigid cock. His wretched scent of burnt rubber surrounds me.
“I bet your pussy is just dripping, isn’t it?”
I try to pull away, but he doesn’t let me. He keeps my hand firmly in place where it is. “Oh, little guinea pig, you don’t think I’d let you escape from me that easily, did you?”
His words hit me harder than any weapon, cut deeper than any blade.
I'm not getting out of this. My life is officially over. My only solace, my only thought left is now Storm can finally live with the pack he deserves. Without worrying about me.
Maybe this is for the best. At least that’s what I tell myself as I turn my head away from him, dropping it back against the seat and staring out the window.
The world blurs past in streaks of gray and green, my pulse loud in my ears.
I try to memorize every twist of the road, every landmark, even as my vision swims.