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“Donovan said she’d been unfaithful, and if she was so determined to be a harlot, then he’d give her what she wished.” Hazel started to shake. “Every man in the compound lined up. She was strapped to the table, and each took their turn…”
I flinched, barely holding back the urge to drag her into my arms.
“I lost track of how long it had been happening. Long enough that the woman stopped screaming. Stopped crying. But the smell.” She gagged a little. “It was so strong. So potent. Like a sex bomb had gone off.” She shuddered at the memories. “I thought I was having a panic attack. Like a boulder was on my chest, and I was so hot.”
“Oh, babe,” I murmured. I’d heard and read about enough omega awakenings that I knew what she was describing was just that.
Hazel cleared her throat. “Everything stopped. Donovan looked at me, and I’ve never seen someone look that unhinged. And then the Shepherds stood up, all of them growling and snarling.” Her eyes drifted shut, a look of absolute disgust on her face. “I got aroused by this woman’s suffering.”
“No,” I snapped, not willing to hold back anymore as I grabbed her hips and hauled her onto my lap. My shoulder screamed at the movement, but I didn’t give a fuck. I needed to comfort her. I wanted to soothe her. “No, Hazel. Don’t think that.”
Her eyes opened and they were flooded with tears. “It’s what he did, Jude. The divine mergings. The punishments he made me sit in on. He knew they aroused me, and he did them?—”
“He did them because he was a sick fuck,” I spat. “Would you tell a rape victim it was their fault if they had an orgasm when they were attacked? It’s fucking biology. He could’ve chained me down and sucked me off, and would it’ve been my fault if I got hard?”
“No,” she whimpered.
I sucked in a breath and went for the one comparison I knew would get through. “Was it Logan’s fault that he came when they were abusing him?”
She reared back, appalled. “Of course not.”
“Then it isn’t your fault either that he found a way to exploit you and your designation.”
“But it wouldn’t have happened if I was a beta,” she argued, but her tone was weaker now.
“Bullshit, babydoll,” I replied with a firm shake of my head. “I was there, remember? I saw a taste of the fucked up shit you endured for almost four years. None of it was your fault, and while your designation made you special, they treated most beta women like sexual slaves. If anything, your heat being delayed for years likely saved you.”
Tears spilled over, crashing down on her cheeks. A sob ripped free of her chest, and before I could pull her into me, she dove for my chest. Burying her face against my neck, she wrapped her arms and legs around me and held on for dear life as she cried out years’ worth of pain, fear, and anger.
I wished I had the ability to purr for her. To comfort her like only an alpha could. I’d never really considered my designation a disadvantage until now.
All I could do was hold her close, rubbing her back and letting her know she wasn’t alone. That she’d never be alone again.
41
Hazel
I lost track of time while Jude held me as I fell apart. It wasn’t until his phone chirped with an alarm that made him jump, that I realized I’d fallen asleep on his lap.
My eyes were gritty and sore as I moved enough to let him dig the phone out of his pants, but I still didn’t get off of him. With the others gone, I had the all-consuming urge to hold onto Jude with everything I had.
His lips tipped up as he hit a few buttons. “Ready for visitors?”
“Calla?” I asked, hope lifting my tone.
He nodded. “Looks like Elizabeth and Grant are with her.”
I scrambled off Jude, excited to see my best friend and her parents. Elizabeth Dutton had been my mother’s best friend since they were in college. If I couldn’t have my own mother, Elizabeth was the closest thing to a mom I could get.
I knew all of Calla and Crew’s dads, but Grant was the one I’d known the best. Maybe because he was a professor and had the most flexible hours, he was always home and helping with the kids.
Jude and I went to the front door, pulling it open as a large red SUV came to a stop. The back door opened and Calla tumbled out with a bright smile.
I hurried down the steps and met her in a bruising hug. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Oh, babe,” she whispered, her arms tight around my back, “I’ve been so worried. Everything go okay?”
I nodded, feeling a blush creep up my cheeks. I was pretty sure the law of besties had an exclusion clause about oversharing when one bestie was screwing the other bestie’s brother. As much as I wanted to fill Calla in on everything, telling her the way her brother had railed me probably wasn’t going to happen.
