Page 45 of Sweet Torment

“No! NO!” My body’s weak from running, from fighting a losing battle. He fumbles with his belt, his movements getting sluggish from the blood loss. His hands are shaking.

Something really bad is about to happen to me.

I scream.

“Mine,” he slurs, undeterred, but his eyes are unfocused. Then he collapses.

His full weight slams me to the ground, knocking the air from my lungs. His face lands directly between my thighs. He’s not moving. Unconscious. Maybe dying. Two hundred pounds of alpha deadweight with his face pressed against my bare vagina.

“Get off! GET OFF!” I push at his shoulders, but it’s no use. My pants are tangled around my ankles. I can’t get leverage. I’m stuck. Pants down, his face between my legs.

The crashing through the underbrush is close now. No attempt at stealth.

“Carter!” Nathaniel’s voice. “Where the fuck⁠—”

They burst through the trees. Nathaniel and Maverick freeze, taking in the scene. Their brother’s face between my legs, blood everywhere, me mostly naked and pinned.

“What the—Carter!” Nathaniel drops beside his brother, checking for a pulse. “He’s bleeding out. Mav, help me!”

But Maverick’s eyes are locked on me. On the exposed skin between my legs. His face twists with rage. “You fucking bitch. You lured him in and tried to kill him?”

“No, I⁠—”

He grabs my arm, yanking me out from under Carter’s body. The movement scrapes my back against the rough ground. I cry out as he drags me across the forest floor, rocks and sticks cutting into my bare ass and thighs. My head bounces against the hard-packed earth, and for a moment, the world goes fuzzy. This is different from Carter’s taunting cruelty. This is brutal. There’s no game here. No pretense. He’s going to punish me for whatever he thinks happened here. There will be no reasoning.

“Mav, we need to stop the bleeding!” Nathaniel shouts, pressing his hands to Carter’s wound.

“In a minute,” Maverick snarls, still dragging me. “After I deal with her.”

I try to kick, but my pants are still around my ankles. I try to claw at his hand, but he just grips tighter.

“Please—” The word tears from my throat. I hate myself for begging, but I’m beyond pride now. “I didn’t—he attacked me⁠—“

“Shut up.” He stops dragging me and stands over me with murder in his eyes. “You’re going to pay for what you did to my brother.”

I don’t know what he’s planning. But I’m about to find out. And I know, with a certainty that freezes the marrow in my bones, that whatever it is, I won’t survive it.

15

FREDDIE

The scent of her melts my brain.

It’s not just a scent. It’s her. Sweet, warm, and everything good I’ve ever known.

But beneath the sweetness is a note that ignites a violent need within me. She’s in heat. My cock has been rock hard since we first caught her scent. My first priority is to kill anyone who’s touched her. Then, I’ll give her whatever she needs.

But only if she wants it.

Because terror is woven into her scent. My fingers flex. Someone will pay for that.

“Fifty yards,” Owen growls beside me, his whole body vibrating with violence.

We know there are three alpha scents and our girl.

Three against her.

We’ve been tracking her through this nightmare preserve, following the winding trail she’s left behind. Every broken branch tells a story of her running, stumbling, trying to escape. It’s torture knowing we’re not fucking fast enough.