Chapter 93
JESSICA
It’s been three days.
Or four.
Of the worst.
I don’t keep count anymore. Riot made sure of that.
All I know is I need to get out of here. I need to get to him.
I don’t know where they’re keeping Grayson. I don’t know if he’s alive. I don’t know if I’d be able to feel it if he wasn’t.
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He’s not my mate. But there’s a reason he could always hear me. And I think it’s the same reason I can still feel him now-
barely, barely there- like a thread stretched so thin it could snap.
I press my palm to my chest. I squeeze until it hurts. Until I feel that tiny pulse of something. Of him.
Grayson’s still fighting. Which means I have to, too. I don’t care if I die. But I care if I die before I see him one more time. Before I tear Riot’s throat out with my bare hands.
My wolf is losing its patience too. It’s the heat. It’s starting. I bite my fist to keep from sobbing. I can’t–I can’t let Riot see me like this. I can’t let him smell it.
But it’s too late.
The door creaks.
I jerk upright, heart slamming, breath ragged. My nails dig into the cold stone at my sides, scrambling for the brick I’ve been hiding.
“Well, well, well…” he purrs, dragging his knuckles along the wall as he strolls in like he owns me. “Someone’s finally warming up.”
My stomach flips. My wolf yelps, desperate, frantic.
“Get out,” I rasp, shoving the words out between clenched teeth.
But my scent betrays me. I can smell it. Fuck–I know he can smell it.
Riot tilts his head, eyes glittering. “You’re sweet today.”
“I’ll kill you,” I snap, curling tighter, trying to pull the stench of me back into my skin.
He comes closer. Drops to a crouch, eyes sliding over me like he’s already won. “You can kill me later, pretty. Right now…” His nostrils flare, his smile twisting. “Your body’s saying something else.”
I shove my fist against my mouth, biting harder until I taste copper.
“You’re calling for him, aren’t you?” lot whispers. “Your precious Alpha. He’s clawing at his chains just to get to you. I bet you’re burning up for him.”
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His voice drops, velvet and venom. “Poor little thing. Does it hurt? Does it ache? Do you miss the way he touches you?”
I whimper.
“Please…” I choke. I don’t even know who I’m begging. “Please, 1–I need-”
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“Oh, I know what you need.” Riot’s hand grips my throat, tilting my head back until I’m forced to meet his eyes. “But see, I’m not in the business of giving bitches what they beg for.”
I claw at his wrist, but I’m weak, the heat softening me from the inside, turning me into something pliable, something breakable.
I’m drowning in the pull, in the ache, in the fucking bond that shouldn’t exist.
Grayson.
Where are you?
My wolf screams his name.
And maybe I think–1 feel something, scream back.
Riot leans in, brushing his nose along my jaw, inhaling like I’m dessert.
“Maybe I should drag him here,” he murmurs. “Make you watch while I break him. Or maybe-” his tongue flicks over his teeth –“maybe you’ll beg me to help you through your heat instead.”
I slam my forehead into his nose with everything I have left.
Bone cracks.
He stumbles back with a growl, blood spilling from his nostrils.
I scramble. Grab the brick. Launch myself at him.
He catches my wrist, twists it back hard enough to make me yelp. The brick clatters to the ground.
But I don’t stop thrashing.
I can’t.
Grayson’s out there. Grayson’s still fighting.
I will burn this whole fucking pack to the ground before I let Riot lay another hand on me.
“You think you can take me?” Riot snarls, dragging me to my knees by my hair. “In your condition?”
“I don’t care,” I pant, yanking against him, dragging my nails down his forearm until I feel skin split. “You can kill me. But I’ll fucking maul you first.”
His hand tightens in my hair, his other hand catching my jaw, squeezing until my teeth grind together. I tried to pull away but he shoved me into the ground before I could do anything to hurt him.
“Stop squirming,” Riot growls, pressing his palm against the back of my skull, grinding my face harder into the stone. “You’ll only
make it worse.”
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Fuck you.
I twist, I shove, I bite at the air like I can snap his fingers off if he comes close enough. But he just leans in, low and brutal against my ear. “You’re not going to him,” he whispers. “Not tonight.” His fingers tangle deeper into my hair. “Tonight, you’re mine.”
I freeze.
The door creaks open. I hear the footsteps–light, quick, deliberate. Omegas.
I try to lift my head but Riot’s weight keeps me crushed.
“Dress her well,” he commands, cold, sharp, decisive. “It’s the full moon tonight.”
His thumb brushes the side of my throat–a mockery of something gentle.
“I want to finally claim her.”
My stomach flips.
My wolf snarls, writhes, thrashes–but I know the sound that tears out of me is a whimper.
No. No. No. No.
I can’t–I won’t–I won’t let him-
Riot’s weight vanishes, his boots scraping backward. I twist to look up, panting, heart cracking my ribs.
He grins down at me like I’m already wearing his mark.
“Clean her up,” he tosses to the Omegas over his shoulder. “I want her glowing for me tonight.”
His gaze drags over me, lingering on the tremble I can’t stop. “And make sure she’s soft enough to beg‘
The door slams shut.
Silence.
Then–I feel hands on me.
I jolt, thrashing instinctively, but there’s too many. One grabs my arm. Another fists the back of my shirt. Another pins my ankle. Small hands, quick and efficient, but still strong enough to drag me.
“No–no–don’t fucking touch me-“I twist, snarl, slam my elbow backward–one lets out a pained grunt but they don’t stop.
They haul me to my feet, my legs buckling, muscles too fried from Riot’s grip, from days without shifting, from the gnawing heat that won’t let up.
The Omegas shove me forward, marching me out of the stone room, my bare feet scraping against the rough floor. I plant my heels, I drag, but they pull harder.
“Let me go,” I rasp. “I’ll kill you I’ll rip your fucking throats out–”
One of them cuffs me across the face. Sharp. Quick Enough to make my ears ring
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“Alpha’s orders,” the Omega snaps, grabbing a fistful of my hair, yanking me along. “You’ll walk or we’ll carry you.”
I spit blood onto the floor and keep struggling.
I will never walk for him. Never.
But my wolf–it’s betraying me.
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The heat’s getting worse. Sharp and brutal, crawling under my skin, making me ache for something I hate. I bite the inside of my cheek until I taste metal. No. Don’t give in. Don’t you dare.
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They drag me through narrow halls, down crumbling stairs, into a room that smells like lavender and polished stone–a room that shouldn’t belong here, not in this pit.
They shove me into a tub of hot water.
I thrash.
They hold me down.
I kick. I claw. I curse until my throat burns.
But they scrub me anyway. They clean the blood, the dirt, the sweat. They brush my hair until it gleams. They dress me like I’m some fucking prize–soft, sheer fabric, white, laced with gold. Like a fucking bride.
I choke on the growl tearing through my throat.
My wolf is pacing, whimpering. Begging.
But not for Riot.
For him.
Grayson, please–please–find me.
“Stop,” I rasp, shoving weakly at the hands that won’t stop touching me, won’t stop fixing me, “Don’t–I’m not–stop-”
The Omegas yank the dress into place, tug the golden ties tight around my waist, press soft slippers onto my feet.
They smear something sweet on my wrists and throat. Something floral. Something sticky.
My stomach twists violently.
They’re making me smell ready.
The Omega yanks my chin up, forcing me to look at her.
Her lips curl in a smirk. “You’ll be perfect for him now” She pats my cheek like I’m some house pet. “Soft enough to beg, just like he
wants.”
I jerk my chin out of her hand, heart hammering, voice cracking out raw and desperate.
“Please…” My chest heaves. “What are you doing this for? Why are you helping him? Please.”
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Her lips press tight, her throat bobbing.
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“Please,” I push, the word breaking on a gasp. “Why? Why would you help him do this to me? You know what he is. You know what he’s going to do.”
Her grip falters just a little, her eyes darting to the others like she’s begging them to keep moving–to keep this cold.
“Shut up,” she snaps, but her voice cracks on the edge.
“He’ll kill all of us,” another Omega whispers, his voice a broken thing. “Just like the Alpha.”
My eyes widened in fear and I thought my heart just stopped. “W–What do you mean just like the alpha?”
The other Omega’s gaze darts to the door, to the hall, panic starting to fray his features.
“The alpha is ” her voice trembles. “The alpha is dead.”
“Which Alpha?” I demand, spitting blood, my heart slamming into my ribs. “Which fucking Alpha?”
The boy flinches. His eyes dart to the girl.
She won’t look at me. Her jaw clenches so tight I hear her teeth grind.
Finally, she mutters–cold. Flat.
“Grayson’s father.”
I stagger.
The weight crashes down so fast my knees almost buckle. Grayson’s father. Not Grayson. Not Grayson.
My wolf claws at my ribs, gasping, crying, desperate to reach him–Grayson, Grayson, please, please answer me, please—
I squeeze my chest until my knuckles go white. I can still feel him. Faint. But there. There. He’s still fighting. He’s still mine. He’s not
gone.
The Omegas yank me forward, dragging me down the hall again. If the alpha is dead that means Riot is already moving with his plan. He got everything now. He got the power of the alpha.
That’s why he’s claiming me.
W–What about Pierce? My brother?” I rasp, stumbling, my feet scraping against the floor as I fight for answers. “What happened to him?”
The Omegas freeze,
They don’t look at me.
The girl’s hand tightens around my wrist until it stings.
“He’s gone,” the boy mutters. His voice is flat, too flat. “He escaped.”
I jerk toward him, heart hammering “He what?”
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Chapter 93
The girl yanks me harder. “He fought them off. Took down three guards. Ran. He’s gone. No one’s seen him since.”
My pulse spikes. Hope claws up my throat–but it’s fragile. It’s wrong.
The boy’s voice drops lower. “They called him a traitor.”
“He’s been marked,” the girl whispers, dragging me faster now. “On sight. Kill order.”
No.
No, no, no-
They branded him as a traitor. They’ll hunt him. They’ll hang his body from the gates if they catch him. My brother.
“He’ll come back for you,” the boy says quietly, like he’s trying to soothe something already broken.
But the girl cuts in, sharp. “If he’s smart, he won’t.”
I choke on a sound. Half a sob. Half a snarl.
Why do feel like Riot has already won?
