I slip into my sneakers and out of Adler’s house in a flash, legs quaking. With bedraggled hair and last night’s makeup smeared around my face, I must look a total state. My lungs tighten as I approach the huge fucking gate. I try the handle, but it’s locked. A beeping control pad on the wall demands that I type in a code.
What kind of punishment is this?
Although I doubt it’ll work, I try the obvious ones. 1-2-3-4… 0-0-0-0… Nada.
I look up, squinting as the sun blinds me, and decide that I have no choice but to climb it. If I make it up the tall tree on my right, I can then straddle the gate and drop to the other side. With any luck, I won’t break a leg in the process.
Adrenaline pumping through me, I carry out my plan. My history of tree-climbing comes in handy. As a kid, I’d often go way higher than any of my brothers dared, much to my dads’ dismay.
Branches scratch at my skin as I make it up the side of the tree. When I shuffle over onto the top of the gate, I cling to the edge with my fingers then hang on to lessen my fall before letting go. I land a little clumsily, but I’m in one piece and on my feet. Damn, I’m like a prisoner making her great escape. I’d almost feel proud of myself, if the circumstances were different.
Now on the main road, I break into a light jog. My mind races with each slap of my sneakers on the sidewalk. The sun is only just rising, yet its rays feel like they’re searing my skin; even my eyes hurt from how bright it is. Is it normally this bright at 8am? The rays seem to have turned into laser beams.
The farther I get from Adler, the worse I feel, like a rubber band stretching to its limit. My head pounds to an erratic drumbeat that seems to reverberate through my bones, and despite the prickly heat, I’ve broken out into a cold sweat. I stop to wipe my clammy hands on my shorts before I press on. My competitive nature is all that keeps me going, refusing to be beaten by my stupid body.
I power through my discomfort as I speed up, the wind racing through my hair. Apart from a few golf carts whizzing past, the streets are empty as I weave through campus until I make it back to the Omega Village gates.
“Morning, Sabs!” Margie—OV’s badass security guard—waves her wrinkled hand in greeting as I pass her kiosk at the entrance. I don’t stop to chat like I normally do, raising an arm in acknowledgment.
Margie is super protective of all the omegas in her care. Despite looking like a sweet old lady with a lilac-rinse perm, she can be lethal. If she found out that I accidentally bonded, Iwouldn’t be surprised if she hunted Adler down with her trusty Taser or the gun that she fondly nicknamed Big Billy.
I don’t stop until I reach Stella House. Somehow, I manage to stagger up the porch steps, dragging my body up by the railing before letting myself inside and collapsing to the floor in a heap. Shaking, I crawl across the hardwood, making it to the stairs before shuffling down on my ass to make it to my room in the basement.
By some miracle, I make it into my bathroom, using the last of my energy to switch on the walk-in shower before stepping under the spray, fully clothed. Ordinarily, I could do a run like that without breaking a sweat, but bonding has squashed any of my stamina. I don’t know how long I stand there, staring up at the water spilling over me, lost in a daze.
“Gotta wash his scent away…”
I spin the dial until the water is scalding, hoping it’ll burn away the memory of Adler’s touch. When that makes no difference, I scrub at my skin with the loofah until it’s red and raw, as if soap somehow possesses magical properties that can erase a bond. If only.
Suddenly, I catch a hint of Adler’s scent on my hair, breathing him in like an addict getting a quick hit. One whiff of it gives me an explosion of dopamine before it’s swept away by the suds.
Suddenly, Drax’s face pops into my head. The caring, steadfast, gentle, inked giant I treated so badly. A sob escapes my lips. I rarely cry, but the thought of him renders me unable to stop. What would he think of the situation I’ve found myself in? Would he even care?
I sink to my knees, the water hammering my back as I bawl. All of my limbs hurt, yet instead of relaxing my sore muscles, the steam only seems to irritate them further. Nothing matches the comfort of being safe in Adler’s arms. Is that how my life is goingto be from now on? Powerless to my own body’s urges that crave the presence of a stranger?
I don’t know how long I stay here before a sudden onset of shivers brings me back to reality. I’ve gone from burning hot to icy cold in seconds, my teeth chattering as I wobble out of the shower, wrap a towel around me, and flop to the floor in defeat.
As much as I want to pretend this isn’t happening, it definitely is. I catch sight of my reflection in the mirror—swollen, red eyes, my skin a peaky white with an almost greenish hue, and the black mascara trailing down my face makes me look like a horror movie character. I push my wet hair aside to confirm that Adler’s bite mark is also still very much there. A mark that binds me to the only person who can make me feel better.
I grab my soft, pink Stella House bathrobe and wrap it around me. Its fluffy heaviness helps with the shivers, but it doesn’t stop the creeping feeling of despair eating me up from the inside and the realization that I can’t do this alone.
I need help.
Swaying slightly, I retrieve my purse—discarded in a heap in the corner of the room—to dig around for my cell phone. I hit dial on the first Stella I reach in my contacts—Delilah. My hands quiver as I wait for her to answer, hoping that she picks up.
Seconds later, my friend’s beautiful, cheerful face fills my screen. She’s glowing, the happiest I’ve ever seen her.
“Sabs?” I sense her concern instantly, her smile vanishing. “Where are you? What’s wrong?”
I pan the camera up so she can see me properly, choking down more tears that are threatening to fall. “I’ve made a terrible mistake.”
“Your neck…” Her eyes widen. “Is that a…?”
A delicious tremor runs through me as I brush my fingers against the puncture marks. For a second, I feel a flash of theeuphoria that rocked through me the moment it happened, but then I’m plummeted into what feels like a black hole of anguish. “A bond mark, yes.”
After reassuring Delilah that no one had hurt me and it was purely an accident, she’s not completely hyperventilating anymore, but her expression is still grave.
“Why isn’t he with you? You shouldn’t be alone after bonding! You know what that can do to an omega. It’s dangerous!”
