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It was broad daylight, and she didn’t have a stitch of clothing. A car honked somewhere nearby, the jarring sound sending her soles stuttering over the gleaming wood floor. She didn’t want to go out there. Grabbing hold of the jamb, she swung around to the right. Throwing her whole body against the door, she slammed it in Rey’s face, shaking fingers throwing the pathetic excuse of a lock. It wouldn’t stop him, or Beau, who she heard pounding down the hall.
Bathed in brilliant golden light, Devin slid down the smooth wood at her back. She knew she should get away from it, that they’d hurt her just by busting through the damned thing, but she still brought her knees to her chest. Hugged them tight as the tears began to overflow. Bitter and hot, they trailed down cheeks warmed by her anger. Flush with her rage despite the fine trembling of fear that shook her limbs.
“Open the door.”
Calm. Collected. Devin wanted to hate Rey for how natural the words sounded as they filtered into the room. Labored breathing underlined the demand, proving Beau wasn’t half as in control. Grinding the heel of her palm against her chest, Devin’s head made a slow arc. Left, right, center. She wasn’t opening a damned thing.
He gave her the illusion of control. Didn’t barge in, no pounding fists. Voice coming nearer, deeper, he murmured quiet words of comfort through the door. The richness of his purr muted but no less unforgiveable as he plied her senses, using it against her. Their bond hummed, urgent whispers to obey seeping through her body. Making her limbs heavy, thoughts stumbling as Devin clung to her anger. Keeping it close to purge the hazy warmth invading her.
She wanted the caustic inferno to swallow her whole, but knew it wouldn’t. Not as she battled the internal pull his every breath had upon her. Slapping clammy palms against the floor, Devin struggled for a full breath around the cruel hunger to surrender.
“I want to go out. Do things,” Devin whispered into the too full silence. “If you’re going to make me a slave to your needs, then you give me that, Rey.”
“Sweetheart, I won’t let—”
“You promise me I can go outside, and I’ll do whatever you want.” Devin swallowed hard around the cold lump rising in her throat. She beat at the discordance of the bond, the short-lived ache helping nothing.
“You’ll do what I say regardless, girl.” Still so calm, the arrogance of an Alpha threaded through his voice. Lending it the heavy weight of a command, giving her no option to refuse.
The scream slammed into the back of gritted teeth. It fought hard to be free, pounding away at her temples as she rose from her defensive huddle. Between one strained breath and the next, she made her decision.
Devin ripped the door open, the flimsy lock coming apart under the violence of her rage. Omegas were small, weak. They had a breaking point, too. Having long surpassed what she thought herself capable of enduring, she embraced the crimson mist overtaking her. Clutched it to her breast, letting it infect every part of her and pushing it through the bond. Forcing him to feel it. To feel her and the last fuck she had to give crumbling in sweet decay.
Rey didn’t fall to his knees. He’d prepared this time. The bond raged. Roared with all the violence of an Alpha as his will pushed and shoved at her. Demanding, refusing to be ignored.
“Is that so,” she asked in a grinding purr, lips spreading wide in a smile that fast approached deranged. “Are you prepared for that, Rey?”
A flicker of unease. The delicate bloom of uncertainty crushed under the chill of pride, but not before Devin saw it. She chuckled, the sound hoarse and raw. The scrape of fingernails over rotted wood as she stepped towards him, a slow sashay that promised pain. Line in the sand drawn, she stalked her prey.
“Stop this, Devin.”
“You think using my name is going to help?”
“Enough,” Rey said through a thundering purr, taking her arm to drag her closer. Forcing her to feel his heat, his brows crashed together when she didn’t melt against him.
“I tried playing nice,” Devin said in a singsong, trilling her fingers against his chest. “You brought this on yourself. Just remember that, mkay?”
“The fuck is wrong with her,” Beau murmured as he eased towards Devin’s back. Blocking her exit in case she tried for the front door again.
“Nothing’s wrong with me.” Devin scoffed, giving a slow shake of her head. “I told you I would make you regret ever laying eyes on me.”
“You need rest.” Rey took a step back, the fine lines around his eyes deepening when Devin stood her ground.
“What I need isn’t your concern, apparently,” Devin said, swaying as the bloody haze thickened. A roar built inside her head, drowning everything beneath the unbearable weight of it. “Let me go.”
“Never.”
Beau cleared his throat, looking between the two. “Get her back to bed, Rey.”
“If you hadn’t forced it—”
“Me?” Beau barked a caustic laugh, cupping Devin’s elbow. Pushing her a step forward, he compelled where Rey thought to cajole. “She would have gone for it if you hadn’t gotten all up in her head.Youdid that.”
Even now, they were ignoring her. Arguing amongst themselves as they drove her down the hall. She’d had enough. Devin closed her eyes, dragging in a slow breath. Savoring the richness of Rey’s scent for what would be the last time. She wouldn’t let him kill her by slow degrees. Wouldn’t succumb to whatever twisted needs he thought to enact on her. His lips might say he wouldn’t do it again, but she knew. Felt it all the way down to the marrow of her bones.
He'd never give her what she needed. Would always take and take. Rey would make more demands, each tearing away a little more of her soul until—poof—no more Devin. Reduced to a dead eyed breeder, a thing for him to amuse himself with.
She didn’t need to, but envisioning the bond as a tangled golden thread connecting her to him gave her something to hold on to in the real world. Fists at awkward angles, she clutched at the shimmering bond as if it was a tangible thing. Ripped at it, shredding it beneath fingers that turned to claws. Digging it out of her flesh, determined to scrape it from beneath her ribs.
