Chapter 2

My heart squeezes painfully in my chest. No. They would— will —care. But it doesn’t matter. They won’t do anything to help me.

They can’t.

And despite the situation surrounding me, I wouldn’t ask them to. I wouldn’t dare. Never again. Not when the stakes are so high.

All our hands are tied, each of us being suspended like puppets, unable to break free from our binds, just the way Idris wants it.

Dropping back onto my haunches, I let my hands fall to my knees, keeping my head bowed in submission. It’s not something required of me, but after all my years living here, I’ve learned a thing or two. One of them is that nothing makes Idris Savas happier than being the biggest alpha in every room.

Lilith may be a bully, picking away at stray ants who dare to crawl into her space without permission, but Idris is an exterminator. He demolishes those smaller than himself with a smile on his crooked face, then dances on their prone, dead bodies.

He’s the Devil, I’m sure of it.

I feel Lilith slowly, silently move away from me, and even with my eyes on the floor, I can vividly imagine the baffled look on her face. It hurts and angers me in equal measure.

“I have no idea what happened, sir,” she simpers, feigning shock. “She was having one of her fits, and I ran to check on her, but she’d already fallen.”

Before I can contain it, a scoff spills from my mouth, filling the oppressively tense air. The room goes dead silent, and I swear, no one breathes. Without looking, I sense the men behind my back go eerily still.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

The organ in my chest hammers so hard my ribs ache. My palms grow slick against my rough, thick pants, and my breaths begin to saw in and out of me. I squeeze my eyes shut and bite my cheek, focusing on the pain and keeping every other outward reaction hidden.

I can fall apart later when I’m alone.

Heavy footsteps make their way across the shiny marble, and the slow, methodical gait lets me know exactly who’s closing in on me.

I squeeze my eyes tighter just as a quiet male voice whispers in a pained rasp, “Oh, fuck no.” Malachi.

I wish he’d say more. I wish any of them would. I know they can’t intervene, and that my fate is sealed, but I wish I had something to hold on to. To distract me. Something like one of their warm, soothing voices that, more often than not, coat me like a weighted blanket.

They remain silent, but their slight pheromones increase with every step Idris takes toward me, and I cling to their scents, willing them to do their job and soothe me.

Except it doesn’t work because overpowering their faint scents is the oppressive tobacco and charred meat smell I loathe. It’s so strong it lodges in my already irritated lungs, making my eyes water.

“What do we have here?” Idris coos, his polished leather shoes halting right behind me. I don’t need to see them to know they’re so shiny; I could use them as a mirror. I’m the one who polished them last night before bed, just like I do every single night. “What have you done, Andromeda?”

His voice is soft, almost soothing.

It’s a lie.

Something I’ve learned from first-hand experience over the years.

Unlike with Lilith, there is no choice in whether or not I can ignore his questions. I may be destined to be nothing more than a beta, but I’m still susceptible to an alpha’s bark. Their will. Their demand.

Omegas are notoriously defenseless to an alpha’s bark. It’s nearly impossible for them to deny one’s orders, or so I’ve been told. Betas have a bit more resolve to work through the bark, especially a weaker one.

Unfortunately, when it comes to Idris Savas, the head of the Savas Cartel and my pseudo-stepfather, no one is immune.

He’s an Alpha Supreme.

More than that—he holds my very existence in his palms, as well as those I love. I can’t ignore him.

So, with that in mind, I grit my teeth, dig my nails into my thighs and apologize. “I’m sorry for my clumsiness, sir. It’s my mistake.”

He tuts me. “Yes,” he breathes, placing his large, hot hand on the top of my head. I fight a cringe as his sweat penetrates through my hair. It takes tremendous concentration to choke back a gag, but I do so, willing my body to remain still. “Quite the mistake it was.”

“I’m sorry,” I repeat, not knowing what else to say. There’s nothing else to say. “I’ll clean it up, sir.” As soon as you all leave because I’ll be damned if I move an inch while I’m being watched like an animal.

It makes me feel like I’m in one of those zoos I’ve read about in Koen’s history books. I’ve always thought them strange. It’s borderline abusive behavior to trap creatures meant to exist freely and put them on display for humans to enjoy gawking at.

In this house, at this moment, I completely sympathize with the poor animals, and it makes me thankful zoos no longer exist.

I hate being on display.

Idris’ fingers dig into my scalp, tugging roughly on my tight bun before his hand falls away. I hear another sharp inhale, but no one moves or speaks up. No one comes to my rescue. There will be no white knights here today.

There never are.

Lies, my brain shouts. They would rescue you if they could, and you know it.

Again…I push that line of thinking deep down into the dark recesses of my brain. It’s no use.

Idris’ weighted steps move in a slow circle around my hunched body, crunching on broken shards of glass with every daunting footfall, turning them into sharp confetti.

He stops in front of my body, and his hand appears once more, gripping my chin. It’s soft at first, but my instincts know better. Something primal deep down inside of me is achingly aware that this man… this alpha, is a predator, and I his prey.

Idris tips my chin up, and despite the voice screaming inside my head to run, I allow him to force my head back. My eyes remain closed, fighting with every terrified nerve ending in my body to save this one last thing for myself.

I should have known better.

“Look at me,” he barks. Before his voice has even truly reached my mind, my eyes are springing open against my will with a force that leaves me dizzy.

Black eyes peer down at me with a coldness that has my sweaty spine tingling and my aching knees trembling. There’s so much dominance in his gaze I find myself sinking deeper and deeper into myself, yet my body remains frozen in his grasp. In his web.

Predator.

Idris Savas isn’t a bad-looking man. Well into his fifties, he’s on the older end of the scale for being such a powerful and influential alpha in our territory. Typically, dominance and stature wane with age, but for Idris, it’s only grown. He’s known in Anddad. Respected. Feared.

He’s also adored. Coveted. Lusted after.

Bile fills my throat as I think of all the women and men who have literally thrown themselves at him over the years—my mother being one of them. From a physical aspect, I can understand the appeal.

Idris is over six feet tall and well-built. He takes care of his appearance almost obsessively. As though he knows it’s what draws people into his trap before they’re even aware whose presence they’re in.

Much like Lilith, his jaw and cheekbones are severe, as is his pronounced nose. His face is covered in a long, thick silver beard. It matches the shoulder-length, wavy silver and black hair that sits in a knot at his neck. As always, he’s dressed sharply—his clothes, much like his appearance, are a facade, a trick.

A lie.

This alpha may look distinguished and intelligent, but he’s nothing more than a monster in disguise seeking his next victim. And his sights are on me.

He cocks his sculpted face to the side and licks his lifeless lips as he takes me in on my knees before him. There’s no rush or worry about who’s watching this all go down silently from a few feet away or who could arrive any minute, interrupting us.

If anything, I think he enjoys the audience.

“Say it again,” he murmurs, a sick gleam reflected in his blackened eyes. My heart kicks up a notch, verging from erratic to downright dangerous speeds.

Say what?

My brain races, seeking the correct answer. My brows furrow as I take my best guess. “I’ll clean it up?” It comes out as a whispered question, and I hate it. I hate how weak and terrified I sound, but I can’t help it. This man has a hold on me, physically and mentally. I’m stuck.

His lip twitches and his eyes somehow shine in a victory I don’t understand. His nod is slow. Measured. Like he’s drawing something out. Something I can’t grasp.

“Yes,” he purrs. “You will.”

Obviously .

“Fucking hell,” is sighed from somewhere to my left. “Leave the girl alone, Idris. We have things to do.” A pause before he clicks his tongue. “The meeting’s in five minutes.”

My stomach clenches, knowing that one statement just made things inevitably worse for me. If there’s anything Idris hates more than being looked down on, it’s being second-guessed or challenged. It’s one of the many reasons he’s refused to create any bonds or a pack. Why he despises omegas and only employs betas.

The only alphas Idris associates with are his sons and second in command, and only because they’re significantly less dominant than him.

Though, something in my gut tells me that won’t always be the case. I dismiss it, like always, knowing it’s just a dream.

Idris doesn’t even look at his second when he addresses him, refusing to pull his terrifying gaze from mine.

“Is that so, Luciano?” He says slowly, if for no other reason than to piss the man off. “I guess I better get to the point, no?” His grin is wide as he steps away, letting his hand drop from my face so abruptly I fall forward. He nods once, glancing at the glass surrounding me. “Clean it up then, girl, and be quick. Apparently, I’ve got things to do.” A bark.

Of course.

My body burns with the heat of his words. They penetrate my blood vessels, whooshing through me like the very blood that keeps my racing heart beating in my chest. They become me, and I them until nothing else exists.

I try to resist, even for a second, but it feels like my bones will snap if I don’t obey the command.

My flaming skin itches, knowing that so many eyes are upon me as I’m degraded before them. Everything inside me aches to cry out. To scream about the injustice of this. Of my life. To beg my mother to save me—to pull me from this hell she forced me into after we’d already lived through a different kind.

But I can’t do that.

I can’t scream. I can’t cry. I can’t beg my mother for help. I can’t do anything but nod and bend to his will.

“Father,” Malachi rasps. I can hear the pain in his voice. The way this is bothering him so deeply. It soothes something in my chest. “Please don’t hurt her,” he begs weakly, somehow suppressing his instincts. “Stop this. It’s too—”

“Enough,” Idris bellows, his head snapping to the men out of view. “Do not subject yourself to such pathetic behavior as to beg before me.”

“But,” Cai tries again. My arms shake with the force of holding on as I will myself to fight Idris’ command now that he’s distracted. It’s so painful that my teeth chatter.

“Shut your mouth,” he barks loudly.

Someone sucks in a breath, and Cai’s jaw audibly snaps shut. It sounds like it hurts, and I internally cringe, even as my own jaw grinds to obey.

“You will watch, and then you will be punished,” Idris continues, chastising his youngest son. My soul aches for Cai. He’s such a sweetheart. So kind and good. It’s rare these days.

And if things don’t change, he’ll become a shell of himself under his father’s oppressive hand.

Idris huffs an exasperated breath and shifts toward me. His foot kicks out, sliding a large shard of the golden orb toward me, water from the vase accelerating its trajectory. It collides with my wrist, scraping along the sliver of exposed flesh. “Do as I said or suffer the consequences.”

I know what the consequences are, and I refuse to allow them to happen. Not again.

“Yes, sir,” I grit out, the words spilling from my dry, cracked lips without my permission. I move to stand, needing to gather the supplies to clean the mess like I need air to breathe.

I’ve barely moved an inch before he’s on me again. “No,” he barks. The one word is so loud and harsh that I cower and whimper in submission. “With your hands, Andromeda. You destroyed my property with your clumsy, unsightly body, and you will fix your mistake the same way.”

Something that feels a hell of a lot like a whine builds in my throat, but I swallow it down, meeting his eyes. “Sir?” I can hear the tears in my voice, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. I can’t even move to wipe them away.

A menacing growl sounds from the group of men still out of eyesight, but I already know who it’s from. Warmth blossoms in my chest, colliding with the fear and sadness, temporarily drowning it out.

“Enough, Father,” Calix snaps. “Leave her alone. She did nothing wrong, and you know it.”

Idris laughs, a deep, booming sound that makes me jump. My palms land on a small shard of glass, and I whimper. Idris glances down at me and holds his hand out. “Wait, girl.” I freeze.

He’s fucking with me.

Turning to his eldest son, his successor, my friend, Idris grins. “If you cannot stomach some punishment, perhaps you are undeserving of my position when the time comes.”

I keep my eyes locked on Idris, refusing to turn my gaze toward the other men. The men whose broken, pitying eyes will no doubt break my will to breathe, let alone get through this. When Calix doesn’t respond, his father turns his head slightly, his cold, calculating gleam locking on someone else.

“And you, boy?” He sneers. “Will you take your brother’s place should he fail to lead like a true king?”

King? This man is utterly delusional. He’s a gangster at best. A demon at worst.

Malachi doesn’t skip a beat before his scoff fills the tense air, his previous reprimand already forgotten. Must be nice. “We all know you’re too stubborn to die, Father. There’s no point planning your succession.”

My lip nearly twitches at that. The statement—the deflection—is so very Cai that it further warms my insides.

Two down. One to go.

Let me hear you, big guy.

Idris chuckles, nodding in approval, though I’ve no doubt he’s faking it. I don’t believe for a second the man has it in him to truly find humor in anything. He turns his body slightly, his eyes flicking to someone I can’t see but know without a shadow of a doubt is glaring right back at him.

I can just picture his thick black beard shifting as his jaw clenches. His beautiful honeyed eyes would be narrowed with the force of holding himself back.

The two alphas stare at each other in a silent battle of wills. Of dominance. We all know who will win, but the fight is just as important. Just as telling.

“Be done with this,” he rumbles, his deep voice like a hot bath, soothing my aching muscles after a long day. Alastor. “We all know what happened here, and it wasn’t Indie’s—” he breaks off with a rough growl, sending shivers down my spine that have nothing to do with fear or chills. “ Andromeda’s fault,” he corrects, sounding incredibly irritated by my first name. Internally, it makes me smile. “It was her,” Alastor spits.

Lilith gasps, gaining my attention. Her hand is on her chest, indignation written all over her annoying face. “How dare you a—”

“Shut up.” Idris releases a growl in response to their debate, and for a moment, I worry this will turn into a full-blown challenge here and now. But Idris quickly squashes it, giving them both his back and dismissal, all in one fell swoop. He turns back to me and juts his chin out.

“Clean it up. Now.”

The bark in his voice has my back bowing and my body snapping to attention in seconds.

This.

This is what my life here will consist of from now until I die. There is no escape. There are no white knights or fairytale endings. There is no happily ever after.

There’s just me. A child of a widowed beta mother and a long-gone alpha father who will never amount to anything more than I am at this moment.

A servant. A pawn. A toy.

Nothing.

My hands burn. My knees sting. My skin throbs and rips. Every particle and shard of glass finds a way to dig into my flesh. The powdery pieces from the weight of Idris’s shoes are even worse. They burrow into my sensitive, thin skin and beneath my fingernails.

It hurts.

But the pain is nothing compared to the way I ache on the inside.