AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You can’t actually give it back.” Hunter lifts his hands. “The check is symbolic. The money’s already been deposited.”
A dizzy wave crashes.
This debt has been hounding me since I was old enough to count.
I was a charity case.
An omega raised for sale to the highest bidder.
A girl whose mother sold her for a check just like this.
The debt’s half the reason I suppressed my awakening. Because I knew what’s happening now would happen then—I’d have shitty choices on the mate marketplace because alphas treat a girl differently when they’re buying her wholesale.
I built my life around a plan to run and pay back the debt in installments from an offshore account.
Or just run.
Now the noose is gone.
The check folds in my clenching palm. “So, you own me now?”
“Lilah, no.” Hunter reaches, but I skip away. It’s the weirdest feeling. The more pissed I am, the more I shake, the more his scent calls to me, begging me to sink into his arms—the poison and the cure.
“You can’t buy me. This—”
“No. Let me explain. Please.” There’s a frantic tone in his voice that I’ve never heard before—he’s always so smooth and too cool for drama. “It’s not a transaction. It’s what we owe you, okay? Take it as compensation or damages or just what we owe you for putting you through hell.”
I look at the zeroes again.
This changes fucking everything.
The clock’s still ticking on my heat, but I don’t have to wait around for a pack willing to shell out whatever crazy price is set as the base bid.
I can pick anyone I want.
I’m free.
“Take it,” Hunter says softly.
I’m torn between giddy and bitter, numb at the same time I’m freaking the fuck out.
But then, because Hunter Wyvern gets off on exploding my brain, he goes down on one knee. He clasps my hands in his warm palms, instantly stopping my shakes. “I’m sorry.”
I suck honey-soaked air through my teeth.
Don’t give in.
Do not give in.
“This doesn’t change my mind.” A wisp of breathiness sneaks into my voice. I clear my throat, knocking out the nettles. “I can’t join your pack. You don’t even have a pack.”
“I know.” Hunter squeezes my fingers. “All you have to do is follow your dreams. It’s our job to convince you we’re part of them.”
His words are vines, little tendrils drawing me closer and tighter. Making me question. Making me doubt.
I tear away from his demon-hot hands and bolt.
But the check’s still clutched in my palm.
