Page 45 of Dark Revolution

Chapter 15

Jaxxon

Blood roars through my ears,and in my mind, I’m staring down at Annalise, her legs wrapped around Roderick as he pounds into her. Her whimpers are nothing but pleasure. She’s not even trying to fight. Closing my eyes, I scream to the sky, begging the gods to take this nightmare away from me.

Once I can claim Annora, then maybe I’ll have peace. A soft caress brushes over my heart, a shadow of the bond I lost, and tears fall, hot and angry, down my chest. Rage fills my soul at the empty space, and I want nothing more than to hold Annora, to let her scent soothe me. Pinpricks skitter along my spine as a new sensation takes root where the emptiness once was.

It’s so small, so soft, I almost miss it, but there, underneath all that grief, is a wave of tenderness, as if someone is kissing my soul and squeezing my heart back together. How can this be? Memories flood my system in a tidal wave bringing me back to awareness. My cock is hard, lodged inside another female.

Fuck. Did I actually find a beta to ease my growing tension? Breathing deep, I freeze, shock filling my core until I can barely breathe. It’s Annora. Looking down, the first thing I see is all the blood. It coats her skin in bright crimson that could rival the cloaks of the High Echelon and is just as incriminating.

I hold still, not wanting to cause her any more discomfort. My knot is nowhere near ready to come out, and even if I wanted to try yanking it, I can’t. Her pussy holds me in a death grip, rippling along my length as aftershocks thrum through her body. Her dark hair is matted against her skin, and I ease it aside to assess the damage.

Skin, bones, and tissues lay flayed before my eyes as blood still seeps from the wound. Once we can separate, I’ll have to tend to it, so it does not become infected. Guilt racks my body, sending my mind spiraling. How could I have done this? This was not at all the plan. I was going to ease her into being bedded by me, not forcing it onto her.

She already thinks of me as a monster, and I know this hasn’t changed her mind. Reaching out into our bond, I flit through her emotions, sussing out how she’s handling all of this. Shockingly, she’s calm, resigned. A deep well of sadness underlines all the emotions, but not all of it’s from me.

Bending low, I gather her into my arms, holding her as close as I can. I lap at the wound, cleaning it as best as I can while she sleeps like the dead in my arms. She wasn’t even close to estrus. My assault on her must have been horrific. I don’t deserve an omega like her, to ravage her like an animal.

Her soft whimpers go straight to my heart as I rock her back and forth, pouring out all my care and desire into our bond. Even in her sleep, she’ll know that I care more about her than the very air I breathe. Minutes go by, and my knot begins to soften. With a seasoned omega, I could have probably pulled out, but I can’t risk causing her any more pain.

I wait until I’m limp before pulling out, wincing at the flood of our combined fluids mixed with blood. I am every bit the monster she accused me of being, and nothing will change that fact. Cradling her in my arms, I bring her to the shower, keeping the water tepid as I wash her down. She’s unresponsive to everything I do to her, and it’s only the fact that I can still feel her in the bond that’s keeping me sane.

Though I was prepared to fight every danger that came her way, I never expected it would come from me. Sitting on one of the shower benches, I cradle her tiny form on my lap as I clean out the wound. At least in my delusional haze, I didn’t do horrendous damage. I’ve seen claiming marks that rendered the omega unable to use their limbs. After it heals, Annora will be able to carry on like nothing ever happened. Only the scar will remind her of tonight.

She whimpers and burrows deeper into me as I turn the spray directly on the bite, needing to get any possible bacteria out. Purring, I soothe her the best way I know how. Once she’s clean, I lay her in the bed and rummage around for some bandages and salve. She still takes my breath away, even with the dark circles under her eyes and her hair wild about her face.

Taking as much care as possible, I wrap the mark before pulling the blanket up to her chin. She sighs, the contented sound going straight to my cock, but I won’t allow myself any of her pleasures unless she asks for it. Hopefully, with the new bond in place, I can keep from slipping under like that again, but I’ll live the rest of my life, never touching her as a show of repentance if I have to.

I’ll see to her needs in her time of heat, but that will be it. Sorrow winds through my heart and skitters along the bond, turning her small smile into a frown. I have to get out here. Staying here, looking at the damage I wrought on her body is too much. Even now, from the slivers of exposed skin, bruises litter the surface.

Walking over to my datacom, I swipe to turn it on and search for Langston’s contact. His face is pulled down into a concerned frown, his eyes bristling as he answers. “I need new nesting materials. I’m going to gather the current ones, and I need them to be burned. I also need to speak with you when you arrive.”

I swipe again, removing him from the screen. It will be hard enough to ask him for this request, and I don’t need it to be any more difficult by answering questions over a tiny screen. Minutes go by, and Annora still doesn’t move. Her breathing is deep and regular, so no nightmares seem to haunt her dreams.

A teasing scent of her arousal reaches my nose, and I breathe a bit easier, knowing she’s not reliving this nightmare. The sharp knock at our door pulls me from the bed. Gathering all the soiled linens, I stuff them into a bag and pause. The knock comes again, but I need just one more minute.

Flinging it open, I hand Langston the bag, but he pushes through, new materials piled in his arms. “What did you do to her?”

“What makes you think it’s anything like that?” Guilt gnaws at me, but alongside it comes a wave of jealousy. Are they somehow connected in a way that he knows?

“Omegas don’t just give up their nests. Something happened to it. Did you punish her and get carried away?”

I wince as the accusation hits close to home. “I think I had a flashback. I don’t know exactly what happened, but I came to, and she was wearing my claiming mark.” Langston’s eyes widen as the stench of aggression rolls off of him. “I looked her over, and she’s not injured. I’m not feeling any emotional damage through the bond, but she’s still asleep.”

Pushing past me, he storms into the room, and it takes every bit of my remaining sanity not to tear him apart for being that close to her while she’s so vulnerable. The level of aggressive possession I felt for Annalise is not even a tenth of what I feel for Annora. Until our bond filled my void, I had no clue how shallow my connection with Annalise really was.

Until Annora, I never thought I could possess the depth of feeling I have towards her. It’s the fact that I was granted this knowledge through my betrayal that keeps me just outside the door while Langston looks her over. He peels back the edges of the bandage, and my lips curl in a warning snarl.

He flashes his teeth at me, aggression polluting the air, but still, I remain by the door, a near-silent sentry watching over my sleeping omega. Putting the bandage back, he scoops up the new nesting material and puts it in the corner. “Mark it before she wakes up. Your scent may be the only thing that keeps her calm.”

“I know how to manage an omega,” I snap back, already regretting getting him involved in this issue.

“Obviously, you don’t, or you would have controlled yourself.”

“Don’t you think I know that? Don’t you think I’m screaming in my own brain every time I look at her? I don’t know what the fuck happened. One minute she’s spewing hatred at being an omega on me, and the next I come to, and she’s like this.”

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I cradle my head in my hands. “In all my missions, in all my times defending the crown, I’ve never had something like this happen. Everything went black.” I glance back up at Langston, and his lips soften a touch, but the air around him is still turbulent. “My mate was taken from me, leaving a gaping hole where she used to be. Annora...she’s so like her. Her scent, her hair, her eyes. Something in me snapped.”