Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

CERENITY

T here's nothing sharp in sight in this house. I've looked for kitchen shears, scissors, a knife, and it's like the fun police blew through here and confiscated everything that could be used as a weapon.

"Fucking asshole," I grunt, knowing it's Tommy's doing. "I'll show you."

I took a nap on the couch earlier after searching for an exit, but now I need to take action. My face feels like a mass of bruises, even though I know it's just my eye and lip that have been hit.

Tommy has to come home eventually. Heavy frying pans now sit piled up next to me as I eat a sandwich, my foot tapping against the sofa as I wait.

God, I would do almost anything for a pair of panties and maybe pants. My cheeks blush as I shake my head at the ridiculous thought, but I have some modesty issues. Sure, I'll wear crop-tops, slits in my dresses, and ogle Auggie's eight pack of abs, but I draw the line at not wearing panties.

Taking the last bite of my sandwich, I chew faster as I hear the door unlock and begin to open. Tommy is chatting with Jasper, which makes my lips curl. Sure, go out and have a wonderful day while you leave me to lounge in a cage.

It's a really gorgeous cage, but nonetheless, that's what it is if I can't leave.

Standing, I pick up a pan that has some good weight, glaring at them.

"Bluebell," Tommy says, brow raised as he closes the door behind him. My blood pressure rises as I hear the damn thing automatically lock behind him. "What do you have there?"

"The knives seemed to have up and walked away," I say coolly before I chuck the damn thing at him.

Jasper and Tommy gasp as the latter ducks, but the other knucklehead gets hit in the shoulder with the pan. I can't muster up any kind of compassion as I grab another makeshift weapon from the pile.

"I want to leave… immediately," I growl. Jasper breathes deeply as he stares at me, and my stomach flip flops. This alpha shouldn't be looking at me as if I hung the moon.

So why is he?

"I don't think that's going to be possible, Tiny," he says with a smirk. "You've made quite the mess for yourself for being so petite."

"He's right. You were almost roadkill there," Tommy says, crossing his arms. I notice the slight wince where I clobbered him with the frying pan, but he acts as if it was a glancing blow.

Maybe I need to aim lower.

"I'm fine," I mutter, using the pan to point at him. "Arthur enjoys using his underlings to help him with his bad behavior. I'm sure he thinks I'm dead."

I am weaving slightly on my feet, and I hate how weak I feel. Last night was terrifying, I ache everywhere, but most of all I have a lot of unanswered questions. How far did Arthur take things?

I was knocked out for long moments in time, and while I was sore when I woke up, I don't think it was from a penis or knot. Wouldn't it hurt more as it's my first time? I'm an omega, so I'm made to take knots and rough fucks, but I don't deserve to be treated like I'm less than a person.

"Look, you're tired. Have you even eaten?" Tommy asks.

He's being an alpha, and it makes my lips curl.

"No, Daddy, I'm fine. I just ate," I sass. His pupils blow wide, and I remind myself that badgering the bull isn't in my best interests. "I want to speak to Augustine, my business partner. Let me go."

"I'm afraid we can't do that," Jasper murmurs, making my breath catch. "Arthur and his guys did a number on you, and I can see you weaving on your feet?—"

"No! I know that I sound like a brat, but my track record in Chicago isn't great. I'm still in Chicago, right?" I ask, lips pursed. I know this is where they live, but there's trees for miles, and I can't see any other neighbors out the window.

I'm having a hard time believing anything right now, and I grip the handle of the frying pan harder as paranoia and anxiety makes me spiral a little.

"Yes, Bluebell, you are," Tommy says calmly, taking a step forward. My eyes narrow because that's the tone you use with a freaking crazy person. I may be acting like one right now, but I have good reasons for it.

"Easy there."

"Don't tell me to take it easy," I growl. "I've been hit by a truck, kidnapped, traumatized, thrown into a dumpster with fucking rats in it, and left for dead. And now I've been kidnapped again!"

I'm screaming now, however my eyes still track Jasper as he starts to move toward my left side. He thinks I don't see him, but I didn't survive this long by being an idiot. I'm missing a lot of information, and I fucking hate it.

People die when they don't have all the facts, or they make mistakes. Tommy is a great example of what happens when you don't ask enough questions, and I don't want to follow that path.

I am just missing so much of the bigger picture that it's hard to grasp what the important questions are.

"Why are you keeping me here? I'm a Goddamn prisoner in a cage, Tommy. Jasper, I swear to God, if you take another step, I will beat the tar out of you," I grunt.

Jasper stops immediately, smirking as he realizes that I've been tracking him.

"Sounds like fun," he murmurs, licking his gorgeous lips. Wait, what? Absolutely not. Down girl.

Fuck, I blame my upcoming heat for this. Do not slick, do not!

"Go away, Casanova. I'm not biting over here," I tell him, resisting the urge to roll my eyes.

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone shoot Jasper down. This is entertaining," Tommy says with a chuckle. "Look?—"

I know that's not what he meant, but I force myself to look closer at them, realizing there's flecks of blood on their faces and arms. Taking a step back, I swallow hard. I may beat the fuck out of someone with a frying pan, but I think this is a little out of my wheelhouse.

Swallowing hard, I pick up another pan, so I have one in each hand and stretch my neck.

"Why do you look like you're getting ready for war, Tiny?" Jasper asks, brow raising at my stance.

"I just noticed that you're both covered in blood. Care to explain that?" I ask, not expecting an answer.

"Arthur needed to be taken care of," Tommy says with a shrug.

"What exactly does that mean?" I ask. My heart is pounding, not because the bastard didn't deserve it, but because someone cared enough to do anything about it.

"You were half dead when I pulled you out of the dumpster," Jasper says. "Your little bestie also came by the gym explaining how you had issues with Arthur a little after it happened."

"Auggie," I whisper. "He's here. I want to see him."

"You're awfully tangled up in knots about this guy," Jasper teases me. Glancing at my weapons, I wonder if his head is as hard as it looks. I do not want to be thinking about anyone's knots right now.

Tommy's nostrils flare, and I wonder if he can smell how wet this argument is making me. Fuck. What I wouldn't give for heavy duty, scent dampening, granny panties right now.

"Focus," I snarl, more for me than them. They both snap to attention though, so I call that a win. "What I hear is jealousy, and you don't fucking know me. I'm the omega you fished out of the dumpster, as you oh so helpfully reminded me. So why am I here?"

"Because you're mine!" Jasper yells at me, making Tommy close his eyes in defeat and my jaw drop. "What I want to know is why you can't tell you're my fucking scent match? We are biologically meant to be together, and you're just thumbing your nose at this."

We're what?! Fuck.

My legs fold underneath me and I fall to the ground, my frying pans coming down with me.

"Bluebell," Tommy says gently. "It can't be that bad."

"I use an alpha pheromone blocker spray," I explain numbly. "I have no idea what you two smell like."

"Why? Don't you want what all little omegas want?" Jasper asks sarcastically. I think I hurt his feelings, but I'm having a hard time being able to control what my mouth may say right now.

"To get packed up?" I ask with an almost hysterical laugh. "Absolutely not. I think I've never heard of anything worse. I want to keep my choices. If I never scent my scent matches, then biology won't have a chance to strip me of options."

Jasper blinks at me for a second as if my words are breaking his brain, and I sigh.

"If Arthur is dead, which while I'm appreciative of, I'm not ‘let's throw my life away' kind of appreciative. Can I go home?" I ask.

"Impatient and sassy," Tommy mutters, still sounding amused as he walks closer. "You have quite the arsenal of cooking pans here, Bluebell. Were you planning to bludgeon us into submission?"

"You hid the knives," I remind him, sulking as I tuck my legs underneath myself. "I have a business and a life in another fucking state. I don't understand what you want from me."

"I want to get to know you," Tommy murmurs. "I don't share well."

"Wait, what?—"

Jasper lunges forward and pulls away the pans from me as Tommy pulls my arms over my head, pinning them to the couch cushion above me. My breaths are exploding from my chest as my eyes widen as I look up at him, feeling oddly betrayed.

Is history repeating itself?

"Shh, I'm not going to hurt you," Tommy says softly. "I would rather cut a limb off with a rusty saw than hurt a hair on your head."

"Oddly romantic," Jasper says with an eye roll. I have to admit he's right as the large mafia leader straddles my body. He's not soft anywhere, his muscles prominent, and his thighs reminding me of tree trunks.

He could snap my neck with two fingers I'd bet. Shuddering at the morbid thought, I force myself to breathe. My intrusive thoughts can't be allowed to get the better of me right now. The second he straddled my body so he could look down at me, I stopped breathing entirely. He has a way of consuming everything, and I don't know how to feel about that.

I'm not supposed to want anything to do with either of them. They're fucking kidnapping alphas.

"I have to say I'm not impressed by the romantic efforts, if that's what these are," I say coolly. My skin feels a little overheated, even though my heat is a ways away. I think it's just these two hot as fuck alphas.

Jasper, pushes his hand through his blond, wavy hair as he moves my weapons farther away from me before sitting on the couch by my head. Tommy is leaning over me in such a way that I had to drop my head back on the couch cushions in an effort to find a little space.

"Such a tough cookie," Tommy grunts. "How long have you been using your nasal spray, Bluebell?"

"Six and a half years," I tell him. The first one I used made my nose hairs burn and was God awful, but the formula and my supplier have gotten better over time. Corbin, a mafia leader, is who I get my alpha blocker spray from now instead of some sleazeball dealer off the street and I haven't had any issues with it.

"It's not addictive, so don't give me a lecture, Daddy."

I definitely have daddy issues, and I'll fully own up to that in my head. Tommy's smirk is too damn hot to stop calling him that, I don't see anything wrong in the indulgence.

"I'm going to spank your bratty ass," he growls. "You're not taking that shit anymore, is that understood? Do you know how long it'll take to wear off?"

My body starts to sweat as I panic. I've been trying not to think about this, and I close my eyes for a second as I think about the fact that it's been over twenty-four hours, maybe closer to thirty-six now that I last used the inhaler style spray. Fuck, I may not be addicted to the damn thing, but I am very dependent.

"I don't know," I whisper, a wave of anxiety crashing over me, and making my ears ring.

"Woah, Cerenity, breathe," Jasper barks, making me shudder. These two brutes couldn't calm anyone or anything down. They're just too big.

"I'm trying to, douchebag," I gasp, my eyes snapping open. "Backing the fuck up may help."

Tommy releases my wrists as if I was on fire and backs up, and like magic, my lungs open again.

"I've never gone without my inhaler in the entire time I've been using it," I tell them. "I have no idea when it'll wear off."

"Why would you cut a part of yourself off from the world, Bluebell?" Tommy asks.

I never thought about it like that. Instead, it's always been about protection from the outside world.

"The world isn't a safe place for omegas," I say slowly, as if they're small children. They haven't heard a fucking word I've said, so maybe if I say it slower, it'll sink into their thick skulls.

"If I can't smell alpha pheromones, then it's one less way that I can be manipulated by one. Alpha barks aren't as effective on me either, because I'm in a club several nights a week, so it's usually too loud for me to hear. Auggie would probably castrate anyone who tried."

"Is Augustine like your security? He didn't look very scary when I saw him earlier," Jasper grunts.

Wrapping my arms around my waist, I shake my head. "I have security at the club, Auggie is my business manager and best friend. Clear the wax out of your ears, boys. I hate repeating myself," I tell them. "He's my safe place to land. I don't know either of you, and I don't care what biology says, I want nothing to do with you."

"How do you know biology is choosing you for me too?" Tommy asks. God, they're both so fucking full of themselves.

"Would I still be in this house if you didn't think I was yours in some fashion, Daddy?" I ask him.

"Fuck, the way you say that makes me want to take you over my knee, turn your ass red, and then fuck your perfect cunt," Tommy growls. "I want you to fucking beg for it, though, Bluebell. I'm not interested in rape. I have no doubt that time will come where you'll whine for my cock."

My eyes roll back in derision so hard it's a miracle they come back down as he squeezes his tiny cock. Okay, I may have felt it against my body at one point when I was fighting with him, so it may not be a micropenis after all.

I'll never tell.

"It'll be a cold day in Hell, Daddy," I say. "Cows will fly, bunnies will bark, and I'll see seven impossible things before breakfast."

"Only seven, baby girl?" he purrs before he yanks me off the ground to stand in front of him, making me gasp. "I'm sure we can outdo even that. You're here because I felt pulled to you, and I wasn't sure why. I knew the second you slipped on the stairs and you perfumed so beautifully for me that you were mine, though."

"Why should Augustine get to have you to himself if we're yours?" Jasper asks, as if it's the most normal thing in the world to hold me against my will.

"This isn't real life," I say, exasperatedly. "You can't kidnap someone, keep them in your ridiculous house, all under the guise of ‘we need to get to know you.' Also, your jealousy is showing a little bit, Jaspy."

"Ugh, no, please don't call me that," he groans as I hold back a smile. He doesn't deserve my smiles. I refuse to fucking be kidnapped dammit!

"Eh, I think I could be persuaded to let it go if you do me a solid and unlock the front door," I purr, knowing it'll never happen. My mind is already wondering if it would be too dramatic if I took one of the chairs and broke a window.

They haven't really hurt me, but I can't stay here. I need to get back to the safety of my apartment, my tiny closet nest, and most importantly my vibrators before my heat hits.

My skin already feels too tight, though it's hard to decide if it's because of the alphas in front of me, or my heat.

Breathe.

I can't have a panic attack in front of these men. They'll just freak out with me. I'm completely fucked, at sea without anyone who understands me, and I attempt once more to try to get the guys to let me go.

"I have a medical condition, and my medication is at my apartment," I tell them. "You're incapable of keeping me here, because you don't fucking know anything about me! An unknown omega, with special needs, how the fuck are you going to navigate that, douchebags?"

My anger is getting away from me, but it's too late now to do anything about it. Tommy picks me up bridal style, and I slap him across the face.

"Let me go!" I snarl. He could have easily picked me up over his shoulder, but I'm still a bit out of it and I probably would have puked on him. Tommy barely got away the first time. I'm glad he's a fast learner, but I don't like the intimacy of being in his arms.

"Can't do that, Bluebell," he murmurs as he begins to walk across the house toward the stairs. "I think you're lying to me, and that won't fly with me."

"Now you pissed off, Daddy," Jasper teases me.

I wiggle to try to get away from Tommy, but it's different from when this happened last night. I may not know what he has planned, but the fierce tone he used earlier when he said he wasn't going to hurt me was intense.

The issue is, a man like this doesn't have to physically hurt me. There are other ways to hurt a woman and an omega.

Shoving and slapping at Tommy does nothing except make Jasper grab my wrists to keep me from doing it again.

"Fucking wildcat," Tommy grunts. "No wonder you pissed the dead asshole off. Arthur thought he was God's gift to women."

"He wasn't," I mutter, getting confirmation that the alpha really is dead. He can't hurt me anymore, but there's a long line of people who can. "I like about three people in the entire world, and you're definitely not them. Trust me, I'm more trouble than my worth. Just let me go."

"Can't," he says, blowing out a breath as his heavy footsteps walk toward a room. "I haven't dated in five years, Bluebell. Hooked up with a beta rarely, but even sex hasn't been interesting. I'm tired of not finding someone to connect with."

"I didn't even think my scent match was out there," Jasper says honestly. "I kept feeling drawn to you at the fundraiser, but then Wren went into heat while she was there and things got a little crazy."

Memories come back to me of how damn brave that omega was as she clawed her way from heat cramps, almost looking as if nothing was happening unless you really paid attention. Wren Rivers is my damn hero in a lot of ways. Both of those omegas are going to do big things, and I want to help.

I can't fucking do anything if I'm forced to play house with these damn alphas though.

"Why are you taking me into the room?" I ask. The words Tommy said aren't really processing for me, not after I was in that fucking van with Arthur.

Tommy stops as he hears the panic in my voice, the idiot really focusing on me for a second.

"You think… fuck me," he grumbles. "I'm not taking you in here to hurt, rape, or do anything of the like, Bluebell. Also, in case your memory is spotty, no one raped you last night either, I had a test run to check."

My jaw drops in shock as he continues walking, tossing me onto the bed like a sack of potatoes. The feeling of relief that Arthur and those men didn't violate me quickly is overtaken by Tommy's words.

"You did what? I mean, what kind of test?!" I screech, wincing at my tone. The lamp looks like a pretty great weapon, so I lurch forward, yanking the cord out of the wall and launching it at Tommy. This time, Tommy manages to duck out of the way, but the lamp breaks on Jasper's chest.

"Fuck, woman. Could you chill out?" Jasper gasps. "Tommy's sister had a rape kit done. We had to know how far they went."

"I… what?" I'm absolutely in shock that they thought this was okay. "On what planet did I land on that consent doesn't exist?"

"It exists still, just not for you," Tommy says, walking around the bed. Jasper dusts off his shirt of any glass before moving toward me. "You're really going to hate me for this, Bluebell. I hope you don't have to pee."

Screaming, I try to fight them off when they grab my wrists. My brain vaguely tells me that they're being gentle, but I'm overwhelmed and anxious. Everything feels ten times worse than it is, though finding myself chained to Tommy's bed with my wrists over my head is pretty awful.

For the omega who hates having her choices taken from her, it's happening quite often.

"Bastards," I hiss. The shirt Tommy gave me is riding up my thighs, and I hold them tightly together, fucking tired of not having real clothes.

Jasper rolls his eyes as he throws a blanket over my legs.

"You're the one who is being a brat," he says. "Give us a chance, Cerenity."

What if by doing that, it takes every one of mine away?

Neither one of them understands that.

"I can't," I rasp, tears beginning to burn behind my eyes.

"Then welcome to your new home, Bluebell," Tommy says with a shrug. "Next time I'm back, maybe the scent blocker will be out of your system."

That could be hours or days.

"Are you fucking serious?" I yell as they walk away, leaving me shackled to Tommy's bed. "Fuck you!"

My breaths come faster as I drop my head back on my pillows. The light is wrong in here, these blankets are scratchy, and I'm freaking the fuck out.

I'm alone again, with no one who understands, having a panic attack.