Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

BELLA

A knock on my door startles me from my near nap. I haven't been sleeping well these past few days since the mating ceremony, and I haven't left the bedroom. If I do, then I'll run into one of the Carbones. They're still staying at the mansion as they iron out contracts with the De Luca pack. In reality, I think my fathers are doing it just to drive me insane.

My whole body locks up as Alpha Liam steps inside and shuts the door behind him with a soft click. My fight or flight instincts are kicking in and everything inside of me tells me to run. But I don't run. Because that would be silly. And where would I go?

"I expect you know why I'm here," he clips. I contain a flinch.

"No, Alpha."

He sighs, stuffing his hands into his pockets. I study his face. He looks older than I remember—his skin lined and drawn, but still as handsome as ever. It pisses me off. I often wonder how it's fair for a person's insides to never reflect on their outside. How can such evil dare to be housed in such a pretty shell? Liam is all things debonair and refined, but I know better. I know what lurks beneath.

"I need you to understand something. You are not here out of the kindness of our hearts. Not anymore. You serve a purpose, and that purpose is simple." His eyes darken as they flit over my face without emotion. "You need to get those men under control, do you hear me?"

Frowning, I shake my head. "I don't understand. Did something happen?" My stomach curdles and dread sets in.

"You are running out of time, Bella , and I am running out of patience. You should have been mated off like a good little bitch and been done with it," he snaps. "But since you've decided to suppress your own heat, you've brought embarrassment down on this pack."

I blink at him, my mouth opening and closing, but no words come out.

He scoffs, a wicked smirk tugging at his lips. "You thought we didn't know about the pills? You're even dumber than I thought you were."

In a flash of movement, Liam's hand connects with my cheek in a resounding smack that sends me sprawling to the floor. Pain blooms across my face as I catch myself on my hands, stunned by the sudden violence.

"You stupid girl," Liam snarls above me. "Did you really think you could defy the laws of nature forever?"

I push myself up slowly, fingertips brushing the tender, reddened skin of my cheek. I grind my teeth against the need to spit blood at Alpha Liam. My fingers twitch with the urge to grab a weapon and solve this little problem here and now.

"Your little act of rebellion is over," he continues coldly. "Your heat has finally presented itself, and you WILL be mated as the pack demands. We've already begun preparations for the auction next week."

My blood runs cold at his words. An auction. Exactly what happened to Rosa.

"Alphas from packs across the country will be arriving to place their bids. And you WILL accept whichever alpha pack we choose for you. For the good of the De Lucas." Liam's eyes are hard and pitiless as he stares down at me.

"You can't force me to mate, Liam," I spit out. My mouth is full of blood. The blow to my face landed harder that I originally thought.

Liam smiles cruelly. "Oh, but I can, and I will." He steps closer, looming over me. "You belong to this pack. To me. And you will do as you're told."

I glare at him defiantly even as I sway slightly from the blow. "I don't belong to anyone," I growl. "Especially not a monster like you."

Rage flashes in Liam's eyes and he backhands me viciously, sending me crashing into the dresser. I cry out as pain explodes through my skull. Trinkets and perfume bottles shatter around me.

"You ungrateful bitch," he seethes. "After everything this pack has done for you, this is how you repay us? By fighting your very nature?"

I push myself up on shaking arms, blood dripping from my split lip. "My nature is my own," I rasp out. "It's not for you or anyone else to decide."

Liam scoffs. "Your nature is to be claimed and bred. To serve your alpha, whoever we deem worthy of you." He grips my chin roughly, forcing me to meet his gaze. "And in one week's time, that's exactly what will happen. Alphas will come from far and wide to inspect you, to bid on you like cattle. And the highest bidder will mount you and fill your belly with more alphas to feed our fucking empire, as is your purpose. We are gods, Belladonna."

Liam releases my chin roughly and steps back, his cruel eyes still boring into mine. "One week, Bella. One week until you fulfill your destiny and secure the future of this pack."

He turns to leave but pauses at the door, glancing back at me with a malicious smirk. "And just to ensure your cooperation, know this—if you try to defy us, if you make any attempt to escape or disrupt the auction, it won't be you who suffers the consequences. It will be your mother."

My heart seizes in my chest at his words. "You wouldn't," I whisper hoarsely. "She has nothing to do with this."

"Oh, but I would," Liam says coldly. "Your mother's fate rests entirely in your hands now, Bella. Her continued safety and comfort depends on your obedience. Defy us, and she will pay dearly for your insolence."

With that final, chilling threat, Alpha Liam wrenches open the door and strides out, slamming it shut behind him with a resounding bang that echoes through the room.

Cold water rushes over me as I swim my tenth lap. Theres a small indoor pool just outside the gym in one of the many buildings on the property, barely big enough to call it a real lap. My jaw still stings from the force of Liam's hand, but my pride is even more wounded.

Anger simmers inside me as I slice through the cool water, each stroke a futile attempt to outpace the rage and helplessness clawing at my throat. The chlorine stings my eyes but it's nothing compared to the bitter sting of Liam's words echoing in my head.

An auction. Like a piece of meat to be sold off to the highest bidder. The very thought makes bile rise in my throat even as a small, traitorous part of me trembles with something shamefully close to anticipation. I viciously crush that flicker of weakness. I won't let my biology, my omega nature, turn me into a willing slave. A broodmare to pump out alpha spawn.

But as much as every fiber of my being rails against Liam's decree, as much as I long to fight, to lash out... I can't. Not with my mother's safety hanging in the balance. Liam's threat was clear—any resistance from me would result in dire consequences for her. And I can't let that happen. I won't be the reason she suffers.

So I swim. I pour all my fury, all my fear, into each powerful stroke, pushing my body past the point of exhaustion. Physical pain is a welcome distraction from the emotional turmoil raging inside me.

I don't know how long I swim for—minutes—hours. Time blurs as I lose myself in the mindless repetition, in the burn of my muscles. But eventually, I have to surface.

I break the surface with a gasp, sucking in heaving breaths as water streams down my face. My arms tremble as I grip the edge of the pool, the adrenaline of my furious swim finally ebbing away and leaving behind only a heavy, leaden fatigue.

I allow myself a moment to just hang there, eyes closed, cheek pressed against the cool tile. The sting of chlorine in my nose and throat is grounding.

Damn the alphas. Damn this whole twisted pack and their archaic notions of an omega's "purpose." I want to scream, to rage, to tear this whole rotten empire down brick by brick until nothing remains but rubble and ash.

But I can't. My mother's face flashes through my mind, her gentle smile, the way her eyes crinkle at the corners when she laughs. She's already lost so much. I can't be the reason she loses anything more, even if it means sacrificing my own freedom. My own future.

I'll bide my time. Play the obedient omega for now. But this isn't over. Not by a long shot. Liam and the rest of the pack may think they can control me, but they've underestimated me for the last time. I'll find a way out of this, a way to save both myself and my mother. I just need time to think, to plan.

With a heavy sigh, I haul myself out of the pool, water cascading off my body as I stand. Rivulets run down my skin, dripping onto the tile below. I grab a towel and start drying off mechanically, my mind still churning with dark thoughts.

As I towel the chlorine from my hair, a prickling sensation on the back of my neck makes me glance up. I startle when I see Sam sitting at the edge of the pool, his eyes fixed on me with an inscrutable expression.

I freeze, the towel hanging limply in my hands as we stare at each other in tense silence. My heart stutters then begins to race. Why is he here? Anger and humiliation war with a traitorous flutter of longing in my chest.

After what feels like an eternity, Sam rises slowly to his feet, never breaking eye contact. He takes a measured step towards me.

"Bella," he says, his voice low and controlled but with an undercurrent of something dangerous. "We need to talk."

I lift my chin defiantly even as my fingers tighten on the towel. "I have nothing to say to you, Sam." I'm proud of how steady my voice is.

His jaw clenches and he takes another step, closing the distance between us. I have to tilt my head back to maintain eye contact. He's so close I can feel the heat radiating off his body.

"Nothing to say?" he asks, a dangerous edge to his voice. "After everything that's happened, after you just abandoned me with the Carbones without a word, you have nothing to say to me?"

I flinch at the accusation in his tone but I refuse to back down. "I didn't abandon you," I snap. "I did what I had to do. For both of us."

Sam scoffs harshly. "Bullshit. You ran, Bella. Like a coward. You left me to clean up your mess with the Carbones while you scurried back to the safety of daddy's estate."

Red hot anger surges through me and my hand itches to slap the sneer off his devastatingly handsome face. How dare he call me a coward when he has no idea the sacrifices I've made, the threats hanging over my head. Over my mother's head.

"You have no idea what you're talking about," I seethe through gritted teeth. "No idea what I'm going through, what I'm up against. So don't you dare stand there and judge me, Sam."

Something flashes in his eyes, there and gone too quickly for me to decipher. His gaze rakes over me, taking in my dripping form, the angry red mark on my cheek, the defiant set of my jaw. For a moment, his expression softens and I see a flicker of the old Sam, my Sam, beneath the cold mask of fury.

"Bella," he says again, quieter this time. Almost pleading. "Talk to me. Tell me what's going on. I can help you, if you'll just let me in."

I feel my resolve waver for a split second, the magnetic pull to confide in him, to unburden myself of the secrets and fears weighing me down, nearly overwhelming. But I can't. I can't risk it, can't put him in danger too. This is my fight. My sacrifice.

I take a step back, putting some much needed distance between us. "I can't, Sam," I say, hating how my voice breaks slightly. "Please, just... just leave it alone. Leave me alone."

Hurt flashes across his face followed by a resurgence of anger. "I can't do that. I won't. Not after everything we've been through." He steps forward again, crowding me until my back hits the wall. "You owe me an explanation at the very least. I might not be an alpha, but I feel like you're supposed to be mine. That didn't stop just because you left."

"Sam..." I begin, my voice strained. "You don't understand. It's not that simple anymore."

His brow furrows and he grips my shoulders, his touch searing my damp skin. "Then help me understand. Because from where I'm standing, it looks like you turned tail and ran at the first sign of trouble, leaving the four of us to face the fallout alone."

I wince at the bluntness of his words, at the hurt bleeding through his anger. "I didn't have a choice," I whisper hoarsely. "The alphas, they... they threatened my mother, Sam. If I don't go through with the auction, if I try to fight this, he'll hurt her. I can't let that happen."

Comprehension dawns in Sam's eyes, followed swiftly by a fresh wave of fury. His grip on my shoulders tightens reflexively. "Excuse me, auction ? What auction?"

The raw fury in Sam's voice both thrills and terrifies me. I've never seen him so incensed, his entire body practically vibrating with barely contained rage.

"The auction I was just warned about an hour ago," I say numbly, the words tasting like ash on my tongue. "Where I'll be sold off to the highest bidding alphas. To be claimed and bred for the good of the pack."

Sam's eyes blaze with a dangerous light. "Over my dead fucking body," he snarls vehemently.

He pulls me flush against him, one hand remaining on my shoulder while the other cups my face almost tenderly, his thumb brushing over the mark on my cheek. I shiver at his touch despite myself.

"Listen to me very fucking closely," he says intensely, his gaze boring into mine. "I don't care what those alpha bastards have threatened. I won't let them sell you off like property. You're not theirs to auction."

My heart pounds at his fierce declaration even as hopelessness claws at my chest. "You can't stop it. They'll kill you. Or they'll hurt my mother. I can't... I won't let you put yourself at risk for me."

Something wild and desperate enters his expression. "Damn it, don't you get it? There's nothing I wouldn't risk for you. No length I wouldn't go to keep you safe."

He takes a shuddering breath, his forehead coming to rest against mine. I feel his heart hammering against my chest, matching the frantic rhythm of my own.

"I love you," he confesses rawly. "I'm in love with you, Belladonna. Have been for years, even when I was just your bodyguard. Watching you, being near you but never able to touch unless you asked for it, it was torture. But I did it, because being close to you…"

Sam's confession hangs in the air between us, raw and exposed. His dark eyes bore into mine with an intensity that steals my breath.

"I love you," he repeats fiercely, his hands sliding from my shoulders to cup my face. His thumbs brush over my cheekbones reverently even as his grip remains firm, unyielding. "I've loved you for so long, even when I knew I shouldn't. Even when every fucking rule said a beta bodyguard had no business falling for his omega charge."

My heart hammers against my ribs, each beat screaming his name. Sam, Sam, Sam. This man who's been by my side for years, my silent shadow, my unwavering protector. I think a part of me has always known his feelings ran deeper than duty, but to hear the words spill from his lips now, with such unbridled passion, it ignites something ravenous inside me.

"Watching you all those years, so close but never close enough... it was a special kind of hell," he rasps, his voice low and gravelly with emotion. "Seeing those alpha pricks sniffing around you, knowing they only wanted you for status and power, not caring about the incredible woman you are... Fuck, it killed me. But I stayed quiet, stayed in my place, because I thought that's what you needed from me."

He shakes his head, a wry, pained smile twisting his lips. "But I can't stay quiet anymore.

Sam's grip tightens on my face as he presses me firmly against the wall, his body molding to mine. I can feel every hard plane and angle of him, the coiled strength thrumming just beneath the surface.

"I can't stay quiet anymore," he repeats, his voice a low, urgent rasp. "Not when you're in danger. Not when they want to take you away from me and sell you off to some undeserving bastard."

His eyes blaze into mine, twin pools of inky darkness swirling with fierce devotion and barely restrained desire. "I won't let them, Bella. I won't let anyone take you from me. You're mine, damn it. You've always been mine, even when I couldn't have you."

Sam's words pour over me like molten lava, igniting a conflagration in my blood. The intensity of his confession, the raw, unbridled need, it steals my breath and sends liquid heat pooling low in my belly.

"Sam," I breathe, my hands coming up to clutch at his shoulders. The sculpted muscles bunch and flex beneath my fingertips. "We can't... It's too dangerous. If they find out?—"

"I don't care," he growls, cutting off my weak protest. "I don't give a damn about their threats or their archaic laws. All I care about is you. Keeping you safe. Making you mine in every way that matters."

Sam claims my mouth in a searing kiss, his lips demanding and desperate against mine. I gasp into the kiss and he takes advantage, his tongue delving deep to stroke along my own. It's a kiss of possession, of claiming, and I melt into him, my own desire rising up to meet his.

His hands slide down my body, gripping my hips and yanking me flush against him. I can feel the hard, insistent press of his arousal against my stomach and I moan, my hips rolling instinctively to create delicious friction.

Sam tears his mouth from mine, trailing biting kisses along my jaw and down the column of my throat. "I need to feel you on my cock, omega."

His teeth close over my pulse-point and I cry out, my head falling back against the wall. He laves the sting with his tongue before sucking hard, no doubt leaving a vivid mark. A mark of his claim.

"Sam, please," I whimper, my nails digging into his shoulders. The heat of his body, the scent of his desire, it's overwhelming, drowning out the rest of the world until all that exists is him and me and this all-consuming need.

With a growl, Sam reaches down and hitches my leg up over his hip, opening me to him. His other hand makes quick work of the ties on my bathing suit bottom and then he's pushing the scrap of fabric aside, his fingers delving into my slick heat.

"Fuck, you're so wet for me already," he groans, his fingers stroking and searching until they find that sweet spot that makes my hips buck against his hand. "So fucking perfect."

I cry out, my head thrashing against the wall as pleasure races through me like lightning. "Sam! Oh god..."

He drinks in my cries, his eyes black with lust and possession. Withdrawing his fingers, he brings them to his mouth and licks them clean, his tongue swirling obscenely. The sight makes me clench with need.

"You taste like heaven," he rasps. "I might not be an alpha, but I'm claiming you anyway."

His words, so filthy and erotic, send fresh pulses of desire through me. "Then do it," I breathe. "Make me yours, Sam. Claim me."

With a snarl, he frees his straining erection from his shorts and notches himself at my entrance. In one powerful thrust, he sheathes himself to the hilt, stretching and filling me so perfectly. We both groan at the exquisite sensation.

Sam sets a punishing pace, his hips snapping against mine as he drives into me over and over. The wet slap of skin on skin echoes in the pool room, mingling with our harsh pants and guttural moans.

"You feel so fucking good," he groans, his breath hot against my neck. "So tight and perfect around my cock. Like you were made for me."

Each powerful thrust seems to brand his claim on my body, my very soul. I cling to him, my leg hitched high on his hip, opening myself fully to his possession. The drag of his thick length against my nerves is exquisite torture, stoking the inferno raging in my blood.

Sam changes his angle slightly and I see stars, a choked scream escaping my lips as he hits that magic spot deep inside. "There!" I keen. "Oh fuck, right there, don't fucking stop!"

"Harder, Sam! Please!" I beg, my voice breaking on a sob of pleasure as he continues his relentless pace. My nails rake down his back, scoring his skin and urging him on.

Sam snarls against my throat, his hips snapping forward with punishing force. The wet, filthy sounds of our fucking fills the room, echoing off the tiles. He hitches my other leg up, wrapping both around his waist, and the change in angle has me seeing stars.

"Fuck, Bella," he groans, his voice strained with pleasure and exertion.

With a growl, he captures my mouth in a brutal kiss, his tongue delving deep to plunder and possess. His pace becomes erratic, his control slipping as we both hurtle towards the edge.

"Come for me, baby," he commands roughly against my lips. "Let me feel this sweet cunt squeeze my cock. Mine, you're fucking mine!"

His words are my undoing. With a shattered cry, I detonate in his arms, my walls clamping down on him like a vice as ecstasy rockets through my veins.

Sam follows me over the edge with a guttural shout, his hips stuttering as he spills himself deep inside me. I feel each hot pulse of his release, painting my insides and marking me from the inside out as his.

We stay locked together, chests heaving, hearts pounding in sync as the aftershocks roll through us. Sam rests his forehead against mine, his breath fanning warm across my face. Slowly, he lowers my trembling legs back to the ground but keeps me caged between the hard planes of his body and the pool room wall.

"Bella," he murmurs, his voice raw and wrecked. His dark eyes search mine, still blazing with the force of his passion, his possession. "Tell me you felt that. This connection between us. It's real and it's fucking powerful."

I swallow hard, my heart still racing. I can't deny the intensity of what we just shared, the way our bodies move together like they were made for each other. But the reality of our situation crashes over me like a bucket of ice water.

"Sam..." I begin, my voice shaky. "What we just did... It doesn't change anything. I'm still supposed to be auctioned off?—"

"The fuck you are," he growls, his hands tightening on my hips almost painfully. "I don't give a shit about their bullshit traditions or threats. You're mine, Bella. I won't let anyone else have you."

"And how do you plan to do that?"

His lips quirk as his eyes gleam with something sinister. "If you think for one second that either me or the Carbones will let another pack have you, then you've underestimated how fucked up we are over you, Belladonna."