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I growl, frustrated with him and even more frustrated with her. I leave him there, return to the hall and race down to the far end where another oak doorway leads to a large winter porch. I nearly crash through the glass doors that lead to my private garden, though the name is…off. Garden? Pshh. It’s just rocks. Rocks and a few tall trees with black trunks and grey leaves. What’s Echo gonna think when she sees it? She, who can make gardens grow from the center of her palm?
It’s a winding path down to the garden house from the main house. The main house, Dragnovic Manor, is the first house anyone sees when they approach the property and is where I meet with my sheriffs and the other useless Alpha fucks who work for me. The garden house is where Betas who work for me conduct their business. That’s where they put my Omega. Not in my bed, but out here with the help. Like that’s what she is to me. A tool. Not my queen.
I enter through the kitchen, startlin’ the cooks. Pans fall. Glasses break. Betas workin’ there shout apologies after me, but I don’t care about the shit they’re cookin’ when I’ve caught another far, far more tempting scent.
The smell a’ earth and so many flowers. Nectar and sap, honey and syrup. I throw open the doors to the third-floor guest bedroom and see Echo against the far wall, fightin’ in a large king sized bed where she’s been restrained to the wrought iron headboard. My own restraints clatter behind me like the metal sleeves of a wizard’s cloak. When I see her face, I go fuckin’ insane at the sight of her terror.
And twice as mad at the sight of her seein’ me and exhalin’ in relief.
“Adam, please…” She yanks up on her good wrist and I can see she’s rubbed it raw from pullin’ and the fucker, Loveless, didn’t bother to untie her.
My claws slash through the bindings as I haul my ass up onto her bed, the metal rail a’ my hospital bed draggin’ across her lap. I shove it off her and brace one arm on either side of her body. She’s wearin’ nothin’ but a paper-thin hospital gown, same as me, and I’m shocked by how fuckin’ frail she looks in it.
“Jesus, Omega, you always this fuckin’ pale?”
“You’re the pale one,” she says, but her teeth are chatterin’. It’s cool in here, but not cold. I edge closer, hoverin’ over her, not missin’ the way she shrinks beneath my shadow. I damn near howl in triumph when she balls her hand into a fist and touches it to the center of my chest. She paws at me tentatively, like she’s tryna pull me even closer than that.
The fuck did they do to her?
“Echo, you…”
“Shh.” She lifts a finger to her lips and scoots even closer to me. Against the blood red silk sheets, the dirt smudges on her face stand out in relief. She’s fuckin’ filthy.
“Need to get you cleaned up, baby.” I lift a hand and tuck a strand — nah, a clump — of hair behind her ear. She doesn’t seem to notice, her gaze shiftin’ around to the edges of the room and the med staff movin’ around in it.
“Shh! They can hear us.”
“Who? My crew? Just tryna heal ya, Echo.”
Her brows furrow. “They chained me up. Just like Trash City.”
“Not like Trash City, I promise. These are my guys…”
“And gals,” Loveless shouts from the edge of the room. I ignore her with a growl — a warning to stay the fuck out of what’s between me and my Omega.
“But they…they separated us.” She bites her lips between her teeth and tips her forehead down. If I thought she had somethin’ livin’ in her hair before, I’m sure of it now and I grunt — anger is the only thing keepin’ me from laughin’. “I told them not to, but they did it anyway. I didn’t know where they were taking you and I…” She sniffles, then she clears her throat loudly to try to compensate for the fact she’s clearly about to cry. Fuck. Fuck this. Fuck everyone.
“Omega, don’t you fuckin’ dare.”
Her eyes flare with challenge before dropping to my chest and filling with water all over again. “But you’re hurt, too. You got bit and you’re not…not healing…and I didn’t know where you were going. If you’d be alright…”
“Echo, don’t start pretendin’ you care if I’m hurt. Pretend any better and I might start fuckin’ believin’ you, and you don’t want that.”
But she isn’t listening. She shakes her head and rubs her eyes. “It’s not right.”
“Omega, I’m fine.”
“I can’t…can’t sleep.”
“Haven’t slept?” Rage spikes again, threatening to peak. My hand in her hair curls around the back of her head. I clutch her to me and shout over my shoulder. “Everyone, get the fuck out!”
Ward stands in the doorway next to Loveless, both women lookin’ seven shades a’ concerned. “Dragnovic. We need to keep testing…”
“Ward!” My voice changes and twists, softened by the way Echo shakes in my arms, by her gentle concern, by the tears on her face. Her vulnerability splits me open. I’m nothin’ but sand swept away by the wind. “Loveless, wait. Can I move ‘er?”
“Let me just check her…”
“Need to move her. Not keepin’ her here.”
