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“I amnotan investment,” I growled.
“That’s where you’re wrong. Your father traded you to me for a hefty favor, and I need to recoup my losses.”
Trying to stall, but also devastatingly curious, I asked, “What kind of favor?” Whatever it was, it couldn’t have been worth trading his daughter’slife. Was my father really that much of a monster?
Reed smirked viciously, all too happy to fill me in. “He gave usyouand a venue to hold our quarterlyeventsin trade for pushing through some legislation that gives him the rights to redevelop the downtown strip of Silver City’s riverfront. Once those properties are torn down and rebuilt, he will have the potential to earn billions in profit.”
“And we’ll make a nice little cut from every sale,” Huck bragged with dollar signs in his eyes.
The truth sank through me like an untethered anchor in the deep sea. My heart dropped to my feet. I’d always known my father had betrayed me, but hearing it stated so bluntly and learning the ins and outs of their dealstung.
My own flesh and blood hadn’t cared about me more than money and opportunity. I’d been worthless to him. No…worse. I’d been so valuable he’d treated me like an asset. A thing. Apossession. And Anton viewed me just the same. I was a chess piece they moved at will. Chattel to be traded or sold whenever it suited them.
I’d never felt so dirty and meaningless.
“I’m nothing if not a businessman,” Anton smirked, his glacial eyes glittering with opportunity. “There were other developers that propositioned me for the same deal. I almost accepted one of them until your father sweetened the bargain by offering me his delectable Omega daughter to seal our arrangement. If only you’d behaved like a good little Omega, you would have been growing round with our child. You could’ve lived a life of luxury.”
Reed groaned as though the idea of me bred turned him on. My stomach soured, and I barely contained the urge to wretch when his hand snaked down my body to splay over my stomach like he was envisioning what would’ve happened if Anton had successfully stopped me the night I ran.
“All you had to do was take care of your pack and we would have spared no expense on your upkeep. But you had to fight back, didn’t you?” Anton prodded, the question rhetorical. He wasn’t looking for an answer. He wanted to put me in my place—beneath his shoe. “You had to run, and now look at you. A whore for another pack who only wanted a warm hole to sink knot-deep into. You’re ruined goods, Demi Leigh, and soon, you won’t be our problem any longer.”
I shoved at Reed again, trying to dislodge him from where he pressed against me. Tsking, he grabbed my wrists and pinned me like a butterfly to the back of the van. He grinned as he held me hostage, enjoying my anger and disdain.
I growled, furious. “I’m not your pet,” I spat. “Fuck, I’m not apetat all. I’m a person. An Omega. I don’t deserve to be treated as property. That’s all I’ve ever been to you.” Derision dripped from every word.
Anton’s eyes flashed with challenge. “You’re wrong. Omegas are meant to serve. They need an Alpha to obey. It’s biological. A part of your nature you’ll never escape. Detest it all you like, but Alphas are superior. You’re nothing without us. I’m the one in charge here, Demi.” With a flick of his hand, he motioned to Doctor Jenkins, who crossed the lot from where he’d been lurking in the shadows since we got off the elevator.
“It’s ready for you.” He handed a syringe to Anton before being dismissively waved away, and my entire body grew cold.
No! Not again!
“You belong to me until I say otherwise. You’re an asset of Pack Silver, which makes you mine to do with as I please. And today is your reckoning.” He popped the cap off the needle and despite how much I struggled in Reed’s hold, regardless of how much I screamed and fought back, I couldn’t stop the sharp jab in the fleshy part of my outer thigh. Tears tracked down my face as Anton held up the empty syringe with a cruel, vindictive tilt to his lips. “All set. Your future awaits.” He nodded toward the van.
Tears dripped down my cheeks as I glared at him. The power was out of my hands. I’d been kidding myself to think I held any at all with Anton, Huck, and Reed. I couldn’t change what was happening and probably had little time left before whatever he’d drugged me with kicked in.
But I still had choices, and one of those was to use my remaining time as wisely as possible.
My throat was raw from screaming, my voice raspy as I pried for more information. “How did you do it?”
“Do what?” He peered down his nose at me like I was barely worth his time or the energy it took to hold a simple conversation.
“Erase my name from the Omega database.”
He cocked his head, eyes crinkling in the corners as his gaze narrowed. “How do you know about that?”
“I have my ways.”
“And I have mine.” He was silent for a beat, so quiet I didn’t think he’d deign to answer me until he shrugged a shoulder, deciding that conceding this small bit of information couldn’t damage him. “It’s the first rule of business, and one you’d do well to remember. Money motivates people. You can buy just about anything these days, including paying some lowlife who makes minimum wage to scrub a name off a list.”
I scoffed. It was always about money or power. Often, both, all wrapped up together in a neat little bow.
This manruinedmy life. And for what?
All the loathing I felt for him built in my chest until I couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Ihateyou.” There wasn’t a strong enough word to convey just how much enmity I held for Anton and his pack.
He huffed a sarcastic, unamused laugh. “Trust me, the feeling is mutual. You’ve been nothing but a headache and a disappointment. It’ll be so sweet to watch your downfall.”
“No. It’ll be sweet to watchyourdownfall.”
