34. Jade

thirty-four

Iwake up in the back of a car. My thoughts are muddy, but the scents in the car are immediately wrong. This isn't my pack. Where am I?

I carefully push myself up, trying to see, and realise the next set of problems. My wrists and ankles are tied with cable ties. It's actually hurting, badly.

Adrian? What happened to Adrian?

"What happened to the man I was with?"

In slow motion, Trevor looks over his shoulder and smiles at me from the driver's seat. "You're awake. How lovely."

My stomach drops violently, and I taste bile. This is worse than I could have imagined.

"The man." My throat is so dry I have to clear it twice before it's clear enough to work. "The man who was with me, is he okay?"

Trevor laughs.

The laugh triggers memories, and I hear Adrian shouting and a thud.

"Is he dead?" I shout and pull at the ties.

"I don't know. I didn't bother to check." His eyes meet mine in the mirror. "You left me."

Three words that send terror rushing through me. I keep my face still and don't even twitch.

My breathing gets heavier. I can't think of anything to do. What should I do?

"You're my omega."

"No, I'm not. I never consented. We went on a couple of forced dates in my mother's living room. That doesn't give you-"

"That gives me all the rights!" Trevor roars. "You belong to me. I need you!"

I cower in the seat. There's nothing I can do. I'm helpless. He's going to hurt me.

Sven, Kandi, and Adrian flash in my mind. I have to fight for them. I'm not the same omega they found on the Omega Refuge doorstep.

Trevor drives, muttering crossly to himself. He does that a lot. It's a really disturbing habit. His hair is messy and oily, like he's been thrusting his fingers through his brown hair over and over. His eyes are pinched at the sides like he's squinting, and he's got big black shadows under them. His face is gaunt like he's lost weight.

In my mind, when I remember him, I remember a bigger, more scary-looking alpha. But…I inhale and pause. There's something off about his scent.

It smells like alpha but not.

I catalogue information as fast as I can. A white bandage is wrapped around his hand, with an innocuous little bow. It's clean on the top, but when he turns his hand, it's filthy. He drums his fingers on the steering wheel. Is he nervous?

I look up and try in vain to see out the windows. There's nothing but the tops of buildings and the grey sky.

"Where are you taking me?"

"Shut up!" He roars, his tendons stand out on his neck, and his skin turns a mottled red.

He looks crazy.

What is it about his scent? It's wet grass and something else, something that smells like a chemical.

Trevor snarls and opens a tiny vial that he pulls out of his pocket. He uses his teeth to take the top off, and then tosses whatever is in it down his throat.

We drive in silence for a long time, though it's probably not that long at all. Time's lost meaning as I focus on one goal: escape. My hands are numb by the time we stop. But we don't just stop on the street. He drives into an underground carpark. The darkness is terrifying, but I push my fear aside.

It's critical that Trevor doesn't think I'm resisting. I need to push back the time until he starts hitting me, delay it so I can escape.

He gets out of the car and pulls open the backdoor, grabbing me by my hair and dragging me from the vehicle.

My scalp explodes in agony. I swear, he's torn it off. I hold the cry between my teeth as he sets me on my feet, then picks me up by my waist and throws me over his shoulder. I'm relieved he's let go of my hair, but the throbbing gets worse. I swipe at the tears that have run out of my eyes reflexively with my bound arms. The stench of BO is super strong, and I realise the clothes that might look clean are actually filthy.

He carries me through a door and into a huge dirty stairwell. The stairs are marble or fake marble, with rubber linings. There are railings on both sides of the stairwell, scratched and scuffed, and the walls are an off yellow colour that I don't think is intentional.

He carries me up nine flights. I know because I count the doors. Four of them, while I'm trying to stop my face from bouncing into his back.

I don't know what happens, but he grips me harder, his fingers biting into the back of my thigh.

I grind my teeth and refuse to make a sound. Even when I want to cry at the feeling of how bad it hurts.

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his keys, stabbing them into the lock and opening the door. It barely stays on its hinges, but he doesn't seem to notice.

I scowl at the inside of his house. Wait! It's not a house. It's a huge, big, empty space. A filthy space. Is that a shit on the floor? And a bucket of urine? I glance around, taking in all the needles. My skill crawls. There is no furniture. Is he planning on killing me? Fear sends chills down my body.

It's almost worse being here than if he took me to a house. There's no hope here. Less opportunities to escape.

He throws me down on the ground.

I cry out despite my intention not to. My hip aches badly, and I know I'm going to be bruised. But it's the skin around my wrist that bothers me. When I look down, I see that I'm bleeding.

I sit up and watch warily as Trevor paces the apartment. He's acting crazy. Acting insane. The pacing, the manic whispers. What's wrong with him? I glance around, spot the needles again, and look back at the alpha. Is he having a drug-induced breakdown?

"Trevor, are you okay? You seem a bit upset?"

He whips around as if he forgot that I was even there. His eyes flash with something, and he stalks towards me, grabbing me by my throat and pulling me up to my feet. He doesn't let go.

I wheeze and kick, but it does nothing. His eyes look wild, inhumane.

"Did you find him on purpose? Just to hurt me? To scare me? Did you know I've been looking for him?"

"Him? Trevor, I don't know what you're talking about." My voice rips out of me, a hysterical whisper as I fight for air. It's hard to swallow, and fuck, it's hard to breathe with my heart racing and pounding the way it is. My eyes ache with a growing pressure, and there's a dull roaring in my ears.

I think he's going to kill me.

Fear flutters in my chest like a bird trying to fly. He's going to kill me, actually kill me, and I have no idea why.

"What are you talking about?" I rasp out as I start to get weaker.

"Ivan!"

"Ivan?" I repeat. His fingers squeeze, and then he hurls me across the room. I bounce off the floor several times before I roll to a stop.

I lay there, sucking in air and coughing. My head throbs painfully, and all I want to do is bawl.

"That mongrel, that piece of shit who ruined everything! You fucking whore. Sleeping with the enemy." With each word, I hear him stomp towards me. Fear beats in my chest. There's no time to escape.

I curl into a ball as his boot crashes into my back. Pain spreads and spreads. Memories of the last time this happened crash through me. I can't let him keep me down. I need to get up.

"How did you know?" He roars at me.

I curl up tighter. "I don't know what you're talking about." My shrieks echo around us.

He squats and grabs my wrists, yanking them towards him. I get a flash of silver and scream. But suddenly, the pressure on my wrists is gone. A moment later, my feet throb as circulation returns. I lay there panting, and then try to push to my feet. Does he think I'll stay here? Does he want me to run? Can I even run? I don't know how hurt I am but it feels bad right now.

I turn my head and meet those muddy brown eyes.

"Sven. That Sven cunt. He's back. How? After all this time, how? How do you know him? How?"

I blink blankly at Trevor, but he doesn't seem to see me. His face is scrunched up in pure fury.

"Sven?" I whisper, almost to myself.

Trevor reaches out and casually slaps me. The side of my face goes numb. "You tried to escape. I'm going to punish you for that. It's going to hurt. But, first, I want to make sure you can't get away from me again. I need you. They said they'd give me more if I gave them something of value, and you're the something I need. You have to understand. I need this."

I frown, confused, but the door crashes open behind us. Trevor moves faster than I can react to and hoists me up and against his chest. He backs further into the room.

We step into a sunbeam, and all I see is the dust motes floating around, but then I hear a sound that has me snapping my head to the door.

I know that boot.

Sven.

"I remember you now. George O"Reilly, right? You're that little prick who killed my pack. You look different from the last time I saw you. Bleeding out on your mother's lawn. I've regretted saving your life every day since it happened," Sven speaks with a coldness I've never, ever heard come out of him.

Trevor sneers.

"It took me a while to find you. Well done to you. Nice work covering up who you are." Sven paces towards us, and Trevor steps back, allowing me to see my alpha clearly. "But the jealous, greedy filth that you are will always come to the surface like fat in water."

Fuck, he's beautiful. My alpha.

"You okay, Jade?" Sven glances at me, just for a second, lingering on some of the marks that are already spreading across my skin.

"Fine. I'm perfectly fine." Lies. I'm totally not fine.

Trevor tightens his hold on me and shakes me hard. "Shut up." He looks away from me. "How did you know Jade was mine? How did you find me?"

Sven laughs. "I didn't. I had no idea. You were just the piece of shit who hurt my omega. Mine, George. Not yours, never, ever yours. But I'm getting sick and tired of you trying to take what's mine."

Trevor is breathing hard and fast, and I'm getting concerned now. His erratic behaviour could come out at any moment.

In the window, I spot a figure slipping out from behind the curtain, and then another taller figure.

I avert my eyes at once, lest I give them away.

Trevor grips me tighter and leans down so our faces are pressed together. Cheek-to-cheek. His breath stinks, and though I try to pull away, he holds me still.

"See that man there? He's the one who beat me almost to death, put me in a hospital, so badly broken they needed to repair my whole face," Trevor says to me. "That's the man you love. A guy who beat a kid."

"You were a year younger than us," Sven says in a bored tone. "You were a clinger, and you were jealous as fuck. You cut the brakes on the car," Sven says flatly. "The first thing I did when I got back was check. I was right about you, you little shit. Always following us around. Trying to force yourself into our pack. Jealous and evil."

I've fallen silent, listening in horror to Sven's venomous words.

"You killed them," Sven says coldly.

Trevor laughs. "They were just meant to have a minor accident, they weren't meant to die. But of all of them, you should have been in there. It should have been you!" Trevor hisses.

I struggle, but he clamps down on me again.

Trevor is sweating. He spits a curse and actually spits over my shoulder. I cringe away, but his fingers dig into my ribs and hold me tight.

The smell of wet grass has strengthened, but so has the chemical smell. I gag as it steals my breath.

"Jade is mine."

"Jade is her own person. She doesn't belong to anyone, least of all you," Sven says calmly.

Trevor's whole demeanor changes. I can feel it rush through him. He laughs lightly. Panic rushes through me, but Sven doesn't look at me. I can't tell him.

"Tell them you belong to me, darling."

I clamp my mouth shut. I'm afraid. Terrified. He literally has me pinned to his body, unable to move.

"Tell Sven you love me and you belong to me."

I tremble in his arms, unable to force the lie past my lips. Please, help me. My eyes dart to the side, searching for help, but there isn't anyone there.

Trevor's temper switches back on, and he grips my hair, pulling hard. "I'll show him then."

"What? Wait!" I scramble, attempting to fight him off, but he yanks my head to the side and smiles. I can see it out of the corner of my eye.

"Wait!" I scream. I don't know what he intends to do, but something instinctual is causing my fear to explode all over the place. "Trevor! Wait!"

"You should have said the words. All you needed to do was say the fucking words."

I tear my fingernails through the skin on his arms, but it doesn't do anything. I feel powerless. Weak. I hate it.

"STOP!"

He ignores me, laughing again as he brings his lips to my neck.

Fear makes my legs weak. I look up, straight at Sven, his eyes are wide. He"s got a hand stretched out, he's running towards me. I see it all in slow motion.

"Please," I whisper because it's the only sound I'm capable of making.

Trevor laughs again. An evil sound that makes me feel sick to my stomach. I get a plunging feeling of being unable to stop anything, of being out of control.

I stare at Sven. Wishing things could be different, wishing it were his teeth that were sinking into my neck.

The pain is excruciating.

I sob as Trevor worries his teeth in the wound. Sven is closing the distance, but it's going to be too late.

The bond is going to be there.

Trevor was right. I belong to him.

The thought shatters my control.