Monsters Like Us
RHYS
She was trembling.
Not the delicate, pretty tremble of an Omega in heat begging for a knot.
No. This was raw fear, teeth chattering, eyes glassy, pulse hammering so hard I could see it fluttering under the thin skin of her throat.
Beautiful.
She stared up at me with those wide, wet green eyes, lips parted on shallow breaths.
Then her gaze slid sideways to Saint.
The moment she looked at him, something cracked in her expression.
Not fear but betrayal.
“You promised,” she whispered, voice so small it almost disappeared into the room. “You said you’d protect me. That you wouldn’t hurt me.”
Saint flinched.
Actually flinched.
The Alpha that had just torn throats out in the Pit like they were paper flinched like a kicked dog when his mate looked at him like that.
“What’s the difference between you and those other Alphas?” she asked, voice cracking on the last word. “They wanted to mark me too. They just didn’t ask.”
The room went still.
Kane’s grin faded for the first time all night.
Saint’s ears practically drooped; he stared at the tattoo gun in his hand like it had suddenly grown teeth.
Scarlett’s eyes filled again, tears spilling silently down her cheeks.
“Please don’t do this,” she said—to Saint, not to me. “I will never forgive you.”
Saint’s hand shook.
The tattoo gun trembled in his grip.
I tilted my head, studying the scene like a painting I hadn’t quite finished.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
I released her hair slowly, fingers trailing down the side of her neck, over the spot where Saint wanted his **S**.
Her pulse jumped under my thumb.
“You think we’re the same as them?” I asked, voice low and almost gentle.
She swallowed but didn’t answer.
I leaned in until my lips brushed the shell of her ear.
“They wanted to break you,” I murmured. “Rip you open, use you until you bled out, then throw you away when the novelty faded.”
My thumb stroked once, slowly, deliberately over that perfect patch of skin.
“We want to keep you.”
Her breath hitched.
“They wanted your body for one night,” I continued, lips grazing her earlobe. “We want your soul for every night after. We want your fear, your tears, your screams, your pleasure, every filthy, broken piece of you. And we want it forever.”
I pulled back just enough to meet her eyes.
“So no,” I said softly, deadly calm. “We are not the same.”
Saint made a small, wounded sound.
I glanced at him.
He was staring at Scarlett like she’d just ripped his heart out with her bare hands.
The tattoo gun hung limp in his grip.
Kane shifted beside me, grin gone, eyes black and unreadable.
I looked back at her.
“You’re right,” I said quietly. “We could force you. Hold you down. Ink our names into your skin while you scream. We could knot you until you forget your own name. We could make you hate us.”
I smiled, “But we won’t.”
More tears slid down her cheeks making my cock harden even further.
“Because hate is boring,” I continued. “And we don’t want a broken toy. We want a mate. A willing one. One who chooses us—every day, every night, even when she’s terrified. Especially when she’s terrified.”
I brushed a tear from her cheek with my thumb.
“So here’s your real choice, little one.”
I leaned in again, lips brushing hers, just a ghost of contact.
“Run. Fight. Hate us. We’ll enjoy the chase. We’ll enjoy the fight. And when we catch you and we **will** catch you, we’ll fuck the hate right out of you until the only word you remember is **ours**.”
I pulled back, eyes locked on hers.
“Or…”
I let the word hang.
“Stay. Let us mark you. Let us claim you. Let us love you the only way monsters know how, completely, violently, forever.”
I smiled again.
“And you’ll learn to love us back.”
She shook her head.
“You’re completely mad,” she whispered, appalled. “Love should not be violent. It should not be forced.”
The words landed between us like a thrown gauntlet.
I didn’t move.
I simply watched her green eyes glassy with tears, lips swollen, her chest rising and falling in shallow, panicked breaths.
Utterly, heartbreakingly beautiful in her refusal.
And then Saint stepped forward.
The tattoo gun slipped from his fingers and clattered to the floor.
He stared at it like it had burned him.
Then at her.
“I…” His voice cracked, gravel-rough, barely used. “I don’t want to hurt our mate.”
He looked at me, pleading, desperate, eyes wide and shining with something dangerously close to guilt.
“If she doesn’t want it… I won’t.”
The room went deathly still.
Kane’s breath caught, sharp, and surprised.
His black eyes flicked from Saint to me, waiting.
Scarlett released a long, shuddering sigh, relief so raw it almost looked painful.
I tilted my head.
Studied Saint.
My sweet Alpha stood there naked, blood still drying on his skin from the Pit, shoulders slumped, looking like a kicked dog who’d disappointed his owner.
I felt something twist in my chest.
Not anger.
Not disappointment.
Amusement.
Dark, delicious amusement.
“Oh, Saint,” I murmured, voice soft as silk and sharp as broken glass. “You beautiful, sentimental fool.”
I stepped forward, casual, unhurried until I stood in front of him.
My hand came up, cupped the back of his neck, firm, and possessive.
He leaned into the touch instinctively, whining low in his throat.
I leaned in until my lips brushed his ear.
“You think denying her the mark protects her?” I whispered, just for him. “You think letting her run, letting her hate us, letting her pretend she has a choice… is kindness?”
He shivered.
I tightened my grip enough to make him gasp.
“It’s cowardice,” I said softly. “And I don’t tolerate cowards in my pack.”
His whine turned pained.
I pulled back just enough to meet his eyes—wide, wounded, shining.
“But because you love her,” I continued, thumb stroking the side of his throat, “I’ll forgive it. This once.”
I glanced at Scarlett, now curled against the wall, eyes wide, tears clinging to her lashes.
Then back at Saint.
“You may keep your reprieve,” I told him gently. “No ink tonight. No forced claim.”
Relief flooded his face.
“But know this,” I added, voice dropping to a lethal whisper. “The longer she denies us… the longer she suffers. Not from our hands. From her own. From the ache we’ll leave burning inside her. From the emptiness she’ll feel every time she tries to pretend she doesn’t crave us.”
“She’ll break herself before we ever lay a finger on her.”
I released Saint’s neck.
Kane spoke up.“Fucking romantic, Rhys,” he muttered. “You always did have a way with words.”
I ignored him.
My gaze returned to Scarlett.
She stared at me, terrified, fascinated, shaking like a leaf.
I leaned down until my lips hovered a breath from hers.
“You’re right, little one,” I murmured. “Love should not be forced.”
“So we won’t force it.”
I straightened.
“But we will wait.”
I turned toward the door.
“Until you beg for it.”
Kane followed.
Saint lingered longest.
He stared at Scarlett, vulnerable in a way that made even my cold heart twist.
Then he picked up the discarded tattoo gun and padded after me.
The door clicked shut behind us.
Leaving her alone.
And burning with the knowledge that we weren’t going anywhere.
We’d just given her time.
Not freedom.
And time for monsters like us…
Was the cruelest weapon of all.
But for now… let’s go have some bloody fun.