35. Jade

thirty-five

Igo mental. I rip myself free of Trevor and turn, kicking him squarely in the balls. He makes an oof sound and spits my blood into the air.

I don't care. I hit him again, my knuckles crunching into his nose. He reels back, but I chase him, slamming my small fists into him again and again. This is for the pain he caused me. This is for a year and a half of fear. I swing again. That is for my pack. That is for Sven. But, this time, I kick at his balls again. When I can't get there, I change the angle and stomp them. That's for me.

Kandi runs across the space, darting quicker than a cat. She leaps, kicking out, somehow slamming the heel of her boot into the back of the fucker's knee as he struggles to his feet. I don't think he's got balls left, but his self-preservation instincts have kicked into gear.

He crashes down, but she wraps her arm around his neck, yanking his head back. I arrive a moment later, with all the fury and fear I have in me. I draw back my leg and kick the fucker right in the family jewels a third time.

He lets out a high-pitched shriek that makes me smile in satisfaction. This fucker thinks he can bond me? Does he think he can take me? Fucking bring it!

I don't realise I'm growling the words until Adrian slams a kiss to my lips.

"That's my girl."

His words draw me away from the red mist in my mind, and I'm suddenly raw, looking around the empty apartment with a sob caught in my throat.

"No, let me," Adrian says urgently.

Adrian pulls up Trevor's sleeve. "It's so incredibly convenient that you're an addict, Trevor. It makes everything so much easier, and I've got a special mix, just for you. I had time to think about a special way to end our journey together while I was trying to catch up to you. Now, poor, poor boy, this is going to hurt, but the drug that goes with it is going to ensure you can't even make a sound."

Trevor shrieks, screams, his eyes bulge. Kandi casually slips a gag into his mouth.

"Shut up. No one cares."

Sven wraps his arms around me and hugs me hard, dragging me back away from my pack pinning my monster down.

"I kicked his ass."

"Oh, darling, you were perfect."

"I remembered what you taught me."

"You did exactly right," Sven purrs.

I crane my head, ignoring the pain in my neck. "You came for me."

"I will always come for you. We will always take care of you."

"Kandi, get him down on his back," Adrian snaps and ties an elastic band around Trevor's arm.

My eyes widen as I watch. Holy crap, they're going to kill him. Am I upset by this? No, not at all.

"Wait! What are you doing?" Trevor suddenly shouts through the gag. "No! No! Don't do this, please. I don't want it!"

Adrian mutters and puts a black hood over his head.

"That's better," Adrian says coldly. "I think this one looks good." He strokes his fingers over a vein.

"Adrian?" I ask weakly.

"Get her out of here, Sven," Adrian says without looking up.

Sven immediately lifts me up and carries me towards the exit. I don't protest.

But when I look over his shoulder, Kandi and Adrian are staring at me.

My pack…wait. I don't feel a bond?

"I can't feel a bond," I say out loud.

Sven stops walking and looks back. "He's a beta, isn't he?"

Adrian leans down and sniffs. "Yes, he's using some kind of alpha replacement drug. Good, that will make our story look better. There are theories that bonds won't take if there is enough chemical interference. And he was just a beta. Perhaps his bond was so weak she was able to reject it?"

"I'm not bonded?" I'm confused. "Oh, wow, I'm not bonded." I burst into tears.

"It doesn't matter, love. The minute he touched you, he was a dead man. That bond wasn't staying," Kandi growls. My sexy beta looks like she'd light the world on fire for me.

"Erase all traces of us being here."

"Sven, I'm well-trained. I know what I'm doing," Kandi snaps.

"Good. We'll be in the car," Sven says evenly. With that, he rapidly takes us out of the room. We're down the stairs before I can think. He takes me straight to an SUV with its windows blacked out. He gets in the back and reaches immediately for the first aid kit.

"Sven," I whine.

"It"s all right, baby, I'm going to clean this up so it heals nice and easy."

He dabs a wet cloth to my neck, and it burns. I whimper, but he presses his head against my shoulder and whispers to me.

It takes me a while to hear what he's saying.

"I'm sorry. I was so scared. I'm so sorry."

He says the words on repeat as I sit there, stunned to finally hear them.

"You mean it?" I croak out.

"Yes. I mean it. I'm sorry I was scared."

I twist in his arms, throwing myself at him. We end up sprawled in a twisted mesh of limbs against the back of the door.

"I want to bond you," Sven whispers the words, and my heart jolts in my chest. "I am your alpha, and I belong to this pack."

"Please, bond me," I whimper. "Now. Right now." I can't go another moment without him.

Sven presses a kiss to my temple. "Are you sure? We can wait. I"ve been seeing a therapist since I met you. I"ve been trying to change. I've taken classes and spoken to people like me. I'm a mess, Jade. Are you sure?"

"Yes, you are. You've been all alone, fighting this war on your own, and you didn't have to. But you're my mess, Sven. I'm a mess. Adrian has his issues, Kandi has hers. But we make each other stronger when we're together."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"Then stop running from me. Stop hiding. I want you to do it now. Alpha, now. Please."

Sven leans in closer and presses his lips to mine. The kiss is long and sensual. It's just me and my alpha. Nothing's going to hurt me.

He kisses down my jaw to my neck on the other side. He brushes his teeth over the spot.

"Take your pants off," Sven whispers.

I hurry to do it. It's not easy in the back of the car, but I get it down. By the time I turn back around, Sven has his pants down. His cock is in his hand, and he's slowly stroking himself.

"Come sit over here," Sven purrs.

I don't have to be asked twice. With his help, he gently pulls me up so I'm straddling him, and then plunges up into my dripping pussy. I'm aching everywhere, but all that matters is this. I put a hand on his shoulder and a hand on his cheek and stare into his eyes.

"Sven!"

"Hold on, love, this will not last very long."

He thrusts up while he's guiding my hips down. Each movement shoves me more completely onto him. I pant as he sucks on the spot on my neck on the other side from where Trevor tried to destroy me.

The anticipation is driving me crazy. I need him.

"You're so fucking wet. I love it. Shh," Sven presses his lips to mine. "You're moaning so loud, we don't want people to know you're here."

I clench around him, laughing lightly as he hisses.

"Fuck, you like knowing people are out there and might be listening to us fucking, huh?"

"I like it," I admit.

"You like me claiming you in public?"

"Yes!" I snarl. "I want you to claim me in public. I want you to make everyone see that it's you I need to be with, and I belong to you."

"You want my knot?"

"Yes!" I hiss.

"And my bond?"

"Yes!" I wail as he thrusts up, forcing his knot into me.

I scream as I tighten around him, plunged into an orgasm that's so strong I see stars. His teeth find the spot on my neck and sink deep. The bond flares up between us, alive and healthy and so strong.

I lean forward and clamp my teeth on his neck. The bond connects like a circuit, and I feel all our pack flare brightly.

Time ceases to have meaning. There is only him and me. Locked together. In the back of my mind, I can feel the flare of Adrian and Kandi, but it's overshadowed by the vast expanse that is Sven.

He feels safe. Solid.

I cling to him, not aware I'm crying until he's swiping my tears away from my cheeks.

My breath saws in and out of my lungs, and I'm hot and sweaty, but I don't care. I don't care about the aches, the pain, nothing matters. My pack is complete.

I nuzzle closer to him, barely jumping when the door opens, and Kandi climbs into the car through the drivers side. She pulls the door shut and swivels around, gripping my hair gently.

"Hey, beautiful."

"Hey, you."

"You okay?"

"I'm great," I murmur back.

"Yeah, I can see that. It's good. We're almost finished."

The door opens, and Adrian climbs into the passenger side of the car.

"Nope, we are finished." Kandi smiles and strokes my cheek.

I don't remember the drive home.

I'm tired and overwhelmed, and once the orgasm high wears off, the aches and pains return with a vengeance, sapping it out of me.

I wake up much later to Adrian carefully removing the last parts of my clothes.

"This a fetish of yours? Cause you know, I'm down for it."

Adrian's lips quirk up. "You'd let me fuck you while you're asleep?"

"If I woke up with your cock in me, Alpha, I'd be the happiest omega in the world." I frown as he gently feels the bruise on my back. "But maybe tomorrow."

"Doctor's orders, a couple of days without sex. Maybe a week," Adrian murmurs and prods another tender spot.

"No!" I whine.

Adrian snickers again and massages my shoulders. "Just think of all the teasing you can get done."

I huff and lean into him when he climbs up on the bed and settles beside me.

"Is Trevor…" I stop, the words sticking in my throat.

"He's dead. He died of an overdose. It turns out he was an opiate addict. That's why he was so out of control and crazy. He'd drained his parents' fortune. Doesn't have a job. He's just really good at convincing people he's someone else. When he's not high, he can't function. Couldn't. He's not a problem anymore."

I sigh. "Is Sven okay?"

"Sven is…more okay than I've ever seen him. Don't worry about us, you just need to heal."

"Thank you for saving me."

"Oh, sweetheart, you kicked his ass. If we hadn't been there, you would have escaped and gotten away."

I frown. "What?"

"After he bit you, you kicked him hard enough in the balls that he wouldn't have been able to walk," Adrian says matter-of-factly.

"I did?"

"You fought back and kicked ass."

I did, I think with a little smile. I kicked his ass.

"He hurt Sven's pack on purpose."

"Yeah, he did, baby. Our alpha's going to need some time to grieve for that."

I groan and turn into Adrian's chest. "Everything aches."

"Go to sleep. I'm going to stay here and keep you safe. Sven is patrolling the house and upgrading all the security. Kandi is keeping him under control."

I curl up in my alpha's arms, listening to his soft murmurs, and fall into a dreamless sleep.

No more nightmares for me.