Chapter 90
JESSICA
“Get up.”
I blink hard, trying to shove the sleep from my head.
Rrot stands just outside the bars, leaning lazily against the doorframe like he’s got all the time in the world.
He tips his chin toward me. “Come on, princess. Don’t make me hand–feed you.”
“You,” I spit, rage surging so fast I don’t know what to do with it. I slam the bars so hard the metal rattles, but I want more–I want to rip them open, claw through them, get to him.
I want to tear his fucking throat out.
“I brought you food.”
“Fuck your food!” I scream, my hands white–knuckling the bars, my body trembling with the force of it. “You set me up! You planned this! This is your fault!”
He stays perfectly still, lazy, leaning his shoulder against the stone like he’s bored.
“You did this,” I choke, slamming my fists against the bars again. “You put me here. You made them think I-” My voice breaks. I can’t even say it. Can’t even get the words out. “You made them think I killed him.”
His eyes flick, darkening. “I didn’t make them believe anything. I just showed them what they wanted to see.”
“You lying, scheming piece of shit.” My throat burns, my vision swimming. I grab the bars and shake them so hard my arms ache. “I’ll kill you, Riot. You hear me? I’ll rip your goddamn throat out-”
“Settle down.” His voice is calm, almost amused, like my rage is a joke to him. “You’re not going anywhere. You’re caged. You’re done.”
“Fuck you!”
“Eat, Jess. Stay alive.” His voice drops, heavy with something wicked. “You’re no good to me dead.”
I lunge at the bars, slamming both palms against the cold iron. The metal vibrates under the force, but it holds. “I am not yours.”
His hand shoots through the space between the bars–fast, brutal–fisting a handful of my shirt and yanking me forward so hard my ribs slam against the
cage.
“You are now.” His breath ghosts over my face, low and lethal. “Grayson’s gone. The pack’s abandoned you. And I’m the only one left.”
I claw at his wrist, shoving, scraping, but he doesn’t let go. His grip is solid, bruising, like he’s daring me to try harder.
“You planned this,” I spit, twisting, shoving against him. “You set me up. You led me to Theo. You wanted me caged,”
“I gave you options.” His gaze drags over me, slow/dark, possessive. “You just walked into the right one for me.”
“You wanted me to burn for this. You wanted to destroy me.”
He finally shoves me back, like he’s tossing something useless. I stagger, catching myself on the stone wall, breathing hard.
“I don’t want you destroyed,” he says, voice smooth as poisoned honey. “I want you broken. I want you to see what’s left when they’ve all turned their backs on you.”
1/3
10:28 Sat, 23 Aug
Chapter 90
I hurl myself at the bars again, my hands raw, desperate to reach him. “Grayson’s alive. He’ll come for me.”
60%
Riot’s smile flickers, his jaw ticking like the crack in his mask almost split. He steps closer, pressing his palm flat against the bars, leaning into it until his body heat sinks into the cold metal.
“Maybe he will.” His voice drops to a taunt, deliciously cruel. “Maybe he’s already dead. Maybe his wolf’s in pieces. Maybe they’ll only find scraps of him like they did his clothes.”
My stomach heaves. My vision blurs. I slam my fist against the bar, the pain slicing up my arm. “Fuck you.”
Riot’s hand flashes through the bars again, this time cupping my chin, forcing my head up, his grip rough enough to bruise. His thumb drags along my jaw like he’s tasting ownership.
“Tick–tock, little wolf,” he whispers, his breath hot on my skin. “You’re mine now. And whether you like it or not, I’m the one who’s going to keep you
breathing.”
He shoves me back again, grinning as I stumble, panting, seething.
I lunge, but he’s already stepping away, already walking, already turning his back on me like I’m nothing but a trapped thing waiting for the blade.
“Riot!” I slam the bars, my throat raw, panic tearing through me. “You sick fucking bastard! Riot!”
“Run,” he murmurs, a cruel glint in his eyes as he swings the door shut behind him. “Come on, little wolf. Run.”
I backpedal, slamming into the stone wall. My lungs are caged. My pulse thrashes like it’s already trying to claw its way out.
“You called me back,” Riot purrs, dragging his knuckles across the bars as he pockets the key. “Didn’t you miss me?”
“Stay the fuck away from me.”
His grin cuts wider. “Make me.”
I lunge. My nails find his skin this time–gouging, tearing–but he’s faster. His hand shoots out, fisting the back of my neck, slamming me against the wall so hard the breath is punched out of me.
“You think this is still a fight?” he snarls, his breath hot and vicious on my ear. “You think you get to say no to me now?”
I claw at his arm, kicking, shoving, but he’s locked in–his body a cage, his hand an iron collar around my throat.
“Five nights, Jess,” Riot growls, pressing me harder against the stone until I can feel the shape of his rage bleeding through his skin. “Five nights until they gut you like a rabbit. Unless…” His grip loosens just enough for me to drag in a shaking breath. “Unless you decide you want to live.”
His mouth brushes the edge of my jaw, a soft, brutal graze, “Beg me to mark you.”
4 go still.
“That’s what you want, isn’t it?” His voice drops, dark and dangerous, every word wrapped in heat and poison. “You want to be free? You want to survive?” His fingers thread into my hair, yanking until my neck arches, forcing me to meet his eyes. “Then beg me to claim you.”
“You’re sick.”
“Am 17” He drags his thumb across my lower lip, slow, taunting, watching the tremble in my jaw like he’s feeding off it. “Because right now, Jess, I’m the only one who can pull you out of this grave they ve dug for you.”
I twist, trying to break free, but he’s already spun me, shoving me down to my knees, his palm heavy on the back of my neck.
“Beg me,” he growls, low and lethal. “Say you want my mark. Say you want to be mine.”
“I’ll kill you,” I spit, hatred burning so hot my throat scorches.
2/3
10:28 Sat, 23 Aug &
Chapter 90
His laugh cracks through the silence, rough and vicious. “I’m counting on it.”
60%2
33
His grip tightens. “Beg me, Jess. Say it, and I’ll take you out of here. I’ll keep you breathing. No one will touch you–not Grayson, not Killian, not anyone.”
His breath is fire against my ear. “But I won’t save you for free. I’ll save you because you’ll wear me. On your skin. In your blood.”
He pulls back just enough to look down at me, all wicked grin and dark, consuming hunger.
“You can be mine, or you can rot.”
Riot nudges my chin up with two fingers, tilting my face to his like I’m prey he’s about to devour.
“You’ve got five nights, little wolf.” His thumb taps my lips, slow, firm. “Five. And when I come back tomorrow…” His grin sharpens. “You better be ready to beg.”
He shoves me off, turns, and stalks out of the cell, slamming the door shut with a clang that rattles through my bones.
