Chapter Twenty-Five
ARINA
My heart was racing, my breaths frantic.
I’d packed my backpack, stuffing it full of basic necessities and illegal suppressants. I’d emptied my piggy bank, tucking the cash in the front zipper of the bag, and now it was time to go.
Still, even knowing how urgent it was for me to get away from here, my feet felt glued to the floor.
I was terrified.
My parents had kept me completely sheltered over the last three years, monitoring my every move. Now, I was facing freedom, and I had no idea what I was going to do. Everything was about to change, but the same would be true if I stayed.
I would either be bonded and bred by the Stone pack, or I could flee.
The decision was easy.
Acting on it, not so much.
I tried to control my breaths as I crept down the hall toward the living room, gripping the wooden baseball bat so hard my fingers ached.
If I could make it to the back door without getting caught, I could dash across the yard, wade through the small creak, and make it to the thicket of trees on the other side.
After that, I had no idea, but I had to put as much distance between me and this house as possible.
My gaze flashed to the clock on the wall. The Stone pack would be arriving in half an hour, unless they were fashionably late. That was enough time for me to get a couple miles away if I hurried.
A floorboard creaked beneath my boot, and I froze.
I brought the bat only as a precaution; I didn’t want to use it.
I wanted to slip out without my father noticing and make a clean getaway, but I didn’t trust myself to be so lucky. I’d fight if I had to because I wouldn’t let him hand me over to a pack I didn’t know.
Mother never would have allowed it.
If I was going to bond into a pack, I planned to do it the right way. I wanted to meet alphas and court them and find someone who complemented me, not be forced into some shady deal against my will. Especially not so my father could make some quick money.
Fuck this plan and fuck him.
I paused at the end of the hall and peered into the living room. No sign of him. That was good and bad because it bought me a few more seconds before I’d have to use the weapon in my hands. But I didn’t know where the bastard had snuck off to.
Maybe he was in his bedroom, getting ready the way he had advised me to. Or maybe he was out front, waiting for the Stone pack to roll into our driveway.
My insides turned. Hopefully, the latter.
A noise came from the kitchen, dashing my hopes. Not only was he still in the house, but the back door was connected to the kitchen. I’d never get by him unseen.
“Damn it,” I mouthed, taking a steadying breath.
I could go out the front, but there were plenty of neighbors on our street. They would be witnesses, and if asked about my whereabouts, I was sure they’d all cave.
No, out the back was still my best option. It was my best chance of getting away without being seen.
It looked like the bat would come in handy after all.
Another step put me at the doorway between the living room and the kitchen, and I steeled my nerves. I leaned forward to peer around the frame and saw my father standing with his back to me. He was working at the counter, probably making an afternoon snack.
I readjusted my hold on the bat, stepping closer.
If he turned around, there was a good chance he’d put up a fight.
Even with a bat, I’d lose.
It would be best if I could knock him out before he saw me. At least, he wouldn’t know what—or who—hit him. Despite how fucked the situation was, and how much I wanted to hate him for selling me and my freedom, he was still my father.
I didn’t think I could handle the hurt or fear in his eyes if he watched the bat coming toward his face…
Another step, then another. Each one made my heart race faster, and I started to shake.
I could do this.
I could do this ? —
“Ari, are you ready?” he called without looking back.
My stomach dropped, and a lump formed in my throat, but I didn’t stop.
I took another step and swung as hard as I could, aiming for the back of his head.
The sickening thunk echoed through the silent kitchen, and I squeaked when his body dropped to the floor. The sound of him hitting the tiles was unsettling.
I froze, staring down at my father’s unmoving form. His eyes were closed, and his head lolled to the side. I didn’t have the strength to check for a pulse.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. Sort of, anyway.
I was sorry that he put me in this position and gave me no alternative.
Not for hitting him.
He deserved that.
All at once, I dropped the bat and ran for the backyard. I carefully closed the door behind me, doing the only thing I could to cover my tracks at this point, and broke into a sprint.
I barely felt my feet pound against the grass as I tore across the yard. Water splashed my leggings as I hopped across the large stones disrupting the stream, and plants caught on my clothes as I darted into the woods.
I was doing it.
I was going to get away…
Hope lit up my insides, and I pumped my limbs harder, running as fast as I could.
When the house had nearly disappeared behind me, a voice said my name.
“Arina.” It was so close, it made me scream. “Where are you going?”
I stumbled to a stop, dread sinking through me when recognition set in. I knew that voice, and it didn’t belong to my father.
Blinking, I spun on the spot and found myself face-to-face with the last person I wanted to see.
Zero.
He was wearing a T-shirt with a demented clown face across the front, the same thing he wore when I met him with Hallow.
“Why are you running from me, little pet?” He flashed me one of his stupid grins, and I wanted to slap it off his face.
“Get away from me,” I snapped, backpedaling to put space between us. “I have to get away from the alphas, and that includes you.”
“Oh pet…” He shook his head slowly, taking calculated steps through the underbrush. “You can’t escape me. You’re my scent match. We belong together.”
My stomach pitched.
He knew the truth.
How did he find out? When?
I panicked silently, taking more backward steps and trying to keep my balance.
It didn’t matter if he knew or not. The truth didn’t change anything. I was getting away, and he couldn’t stop me.
“I don’t belong to anyone,” I gritted out. “Fuck you!”
My skin heated, and I whirled around, prepared to run deeper into the woods to escape him. However, the trees had disappeared.
I was surrounded by an enormous circus tent, the red-and-yellow-striped fabric walls stretching high overhead to a dark ceiling I couldn’t make out. I blinked again, trying to make it disappear, but stringed lights overhead popped on, lighting up the arena around me.
“What the hell?” I whispered, completely in shock.
Where were the woods? Where was my house?
I had to escape.
I had to get away…
“You look stunning,” Zero teased, and I looked down at my hoodie and leggings—what I wore when I ran away—but they’d been replaced. I was wearing a knee-length, striped dress with a corset and tights, something Bobbitt would have chosen.
My jaw fell, and I felt the blood drain from my face.
“How did…”
When I turned to look at Zero again, he wasn’t wearing his T-shirt anymore. He wore a plum and crimson jumpsuit with a matching jester hat. His white hair nearly glowed, and his face was covered in twisted clown paint.
In one hand, he twirled one of his knives.
“I want you to perform for me, Arina,” he said, his voice low and growly as he stepped closer. “Show me what makes you worthy of the Knotty Sideshow.”
“I-I…” The closer he got, the harder it was to think. His alpha aura was suffocating me, pressing down on me, making me feel small. I opened my mouth, but no words came out.
How could I possibly prove my worth if I had no skills? I’d done nothing but stand in front of a target for him.
What could I really contribute?
“Show me what makes you worthy of me,” he said with a dark cackle.
I couldn’t move. I couldn’t think. I could only stare as he stopped right in front of me and trailed the tip of his knife blade over my collarbone and down my chest. Goosebumps pebbled my skin.
“What’s the matter?” He smirked as the knife dipped lower, skating over the front of my dress, and stopped when he reached my thigh. The cold kiss of the metal made me shiver. “Got stage fright?”
“I-I can’t prove myself,” I muttered, hating how childish my voice sounded.
Here he was, a fucking psychotic, sexy clown god, and I was a naive, talentless nobody.
“Aww,” he mocked with a frown that contradicted the giant blue smile painted on his face. “That’s too bad. I guess you’ll just have to do whatever I say.”
This time, I laughed. “Yeah right, fuckhead. I’m not doing anything for you.”
He tsked his tongue and dragged his knife up the inside of my thigh, the blade snagging on the tights I wore. I didn’t move, afraid he’d cut me if I did, but every inch the blade crept higher, the harder it was to breathe.
“You’re my pet,” he said matter-of-factly. “You’re our pet. Our circus slut to order around, whether that be in the ring or down on your knees.”
His laugh echoed around us, and he withdrew his knife, tucking it into the sheath on his hip.
I swallowed hard, trying not to let his words affect me, but they punched a hole straight through my chest.
Circus slut…
On my knees…
Did the alphas really plan to use me like that to keep my place in the circus?
Heat swirled in my belly, sinking lower, despite the twinge of humiliation making my cheeks burn. I hated him, and I hated what he was saying, but the thought of him closer, of his hands on me, did dark, twisted things to me.
I might have hated the thought, but my body certainly didn’t.
“You’re demented,” I spat.
“And you like it.” He smirked, stepping so close that my chest bumped against his torso.
He dragged a knuckle along my jawline, making me tense.
“I can smell your scent bleeding from between your thighs, omega. You can’t hide what you are, and you can’t hide your desire for my knot. Your pheromones betray you.”
My thighs clenched together, and I could feel slick soaking into my tights. It was dripping down my legs, making them stick together.
My heart dropped.
Shit. The suppressants had stopped working.
“Get away from me,” I said weakly, batting his hand away.
“Not a chance, little pet.” A growl rumbled in his chest. “Not until you dance for me.”
“Dance? For you?” I squawked a laugh. “You’re funny. Makes sense why you’re a clown.”
His eyes darkened. “It wasn’t a request .”
Every fiber of me wanted to obey, to prove myself to my scent match. But my stubborn streak won out, and I shook my head defiantly.
“Not a chance.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
He snapped his fingers, and an eerie, carnival tune came to life from somewhere in the distance. It was broken and missing a few beats. Like a cursed lullaby.
In a flash, Zero grabbed me by the throat, his grip hard enough to bruise, and I winced.
“Stop. You’re hurting me,” I begged, the choked words coming out between strangled breaths.
“I told you to dance,” he growled out, his voice hardly sounding like his own. “Now, dance.”
My muscles snapped to attention at the bark, and I moved my feet back and forth to the slow tune of the carnival song. He kept his grip on my neck, his fingers twitching against my pulse. Then, he moved with me, guiding me around the tent in a slow, deranged waltz.
“Look at you,” he said, still wearing his shit-eating grin. “Such a perfect circus pet. A toy for us to play with. To use, abuse, and destroy ? —”
I shivered at the words, opening my mouth to say something smart, but he let go of my throat and spun me around. I wobbled, catching my balance, and when I faced him again, I was in his arms.
My breath caught.
“You can lie to yourself, little pet,” Zero said, his voice low and growly. He dipped lower, brushing his lips along my neck, and I trembled. “And you can lie to the rest of this fucking troupe, but you can’t lie to me.”
His hands found my waist, and my pussy throbbed with need. My body was alight, my insides burning, and all I wanted was to feel more of him.
“Say it,” he said, nipping at my earlobe.
“Say what?” I moaned.
I shifted and slick gushed down my thighs, dripping to my knees. If he kept on, there’d be a puddle on the floor, but I didn’t want him to stop.
“What do you want?” His teeth grazed over my shoulder, making me whine.
I closed my eyes, my mind hazing over as he pressed his mouth against my throat and sucked it gently.
Ffffuuucckkk.
I couldn’t hold it together anymore.
What I wanted most, more than anything else in that moment, was ? —
“You,” I breathed, fisting the front of his costume and pulling him closer. “I want you, Zero.”