Page 47 of Dark Revolution

Chapter 16

Annora

Searing pain.Agony. I toss about on the bed, forcing these feelings out of my brain. I had nightmares for years after my parents were killed, but eventually, they stopped. Why am I having them again? I roll over, stopping as pain blossoms throughout my body, bringing back everything that transpired between Jaxxon and me.

For a moment, I lie there, panic and agony sweeping through me. The physical pain is there, but that’s not the object of my torture. Regret, pain, and sorrow sear through me, all emanating from deep within...but it’s not from me. I still and close my eyes, following the threads of pain until I reach my bond.

It’s still such a new sensation. The fact that I can feel everything Jaxxon is going through right now. Yes, the physical pain he’s in is so intense it takes my breath away, but underneath that is the enormity of the guilt he feels towards what he did to me. He feels so much, much more than I ever thought an Alpha was capable of.

The events of last night play through my head, and I begin dissecting them as a way to keep from sobbing at his emotions as they threaten to overwhelm me. What he did to me was tortuous in a way that I never even considered. It wasn’t the physical acts he did to me - it’s the fact that he called me another woman’s name...another omega.

It would be stupid to think I was his only conquest but to call me by her name. How could he do that? I attempt to move again, taking inventory of everything that hurts. There’s an odd soreness between my legs that twinges every time I move, but even as I go to stand up, that discomfort brings memories of his length deep inside of me, and I can’t stop the flare of arousal that hums through my body.

At some point, he would have had to break the barrier. Would I have preferred a gentler coupling? Of course. Most omegas hope their first interaction is kind and loving, but I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t admit that the forcefulness in which he took me still makes my blood burn when I think about it.

Reaching down, I slide my fingers across my lips, moaning as I graze the spot Jaxxon so thoroughly abused last night. “What did I say about touching my pussy?” My pulse quickens as I jerk my hand away and look up at the mighty Alpha that turned my world upside down in just a matter of minutes.

I reach out through the bond, touching on a twang of humor instead of the anger I was expecting. Bonds were spoken of in hushed tones, a sacred union between Alpha and omega. Not all Alphas gave the claiming mark, but those who did made the relationship deeper because of it. I can now intimately understand what they mean. It’s so much easier to feel his emotions than to constantly have to guess.

Beneath the humor is a deep hunger that calls to me, begs me to partake of him too, but he holds back, nothing like the Alpha that took what he wanted from me last night. Remembrance slams back into me, sending an icy chill through my heart. No matter how alluring he is, there’s still the matter of the other omega.

I don’t know completely how the bond works, so I don’t know if I can go digging for the answers myself. However, I do feel like he at least owes me this. I shouldn’t have to resort to secretive, back-handed searches. If he’s going to call me by another name, then I have every right to know who she is.

Looking up, I search his eyes, looking for any clue the bond isn’t giving me. His face is rigid, mirroring the thread of pain that slithers along the threads of our bond, turning my stomach with the intensity. I raise my hand to cup his cheek until my own pain nearly blinds me. How could I have forgotten his claiming mark?

I don’t have to say a word; he’s right there by my side, scooping me up into his arms despite the agony etched in his face. What happened to him? Again, I slide along our bond, hoping to find something new, but it’s all a tangled mass of pain, guilt, and regret. I’ve never known a man, much less an Alpha, to feel this much sorrow over an act they’ve committed.

There’s no way in hell Caulder would even have the capacity to feel these things, and yet, my proud Alpha wears them like an open wound that continues to fester. Neither of us speaks as he brings me into the bathroom and floods the space with light. He sets me on the lid of the toilet and starts to work at the bandage, keeping his movements gentle and light.

As long as I’m not moving the arm, the pain is a dull throb, a sensation I can possibly drive out from my mind if I concentrate hard enough. Each time Jaxxon moves, however, his brows scrunch up and release as if he’s trying to keep the pain from me. Looking past him, I catch his back in a reflection from the mirror, a strangled gasp lodging in my throat.

Blood seeps into the white cloth, turning the shirt a queasy shade of rust. My Alpha is hurt, and here he is tending to me as if his wounds mean nothing. I turn my gaze towards him, and he sighs for a moment before dabbing some ointment onto my shoulder. A hiss escapes my clenched teeth, but after a moment, the searing pain morphs into a dull ache.

Without saying a word, he reaches down to the hem of his shirt and grips it in his hands before rending the cloth in two. A strangled cry gurgles up from his gut as a residual stab of pain rankles through the bond. From there, he rips a strip of cloth off and starts to tie one end of it before slipping it over my head and easing my arm inside.

The makeshift sling takes a lot of the pressure off, easing the throbbing until I feel almost nothing. Jaxxon fiddles with it a bit, never meeting my gaze. “Annalise was my mate long before I met you.” He pauses and looks up, his gaze zeroing in on mine. I open my mouth, questions burning through me, desperate to get out. A small smirk dances across his face as Jaxxon lays his finger against my lips. “Please allow me to attempt this before bombarding me with all those questions you have. I can feel them swirling between us. I promise to answer everything...just after this.”

He pauses for a moment, and I wonder if he’s actually going to tell me or stew in his thoughts. “I thought she was my one and only. The High Echelon, much different than the rulers you know now, granted her to me despite another Alpha desiring her.”

“Roderick?”

He nods, pain simmering between us. “He wanted her. It wasn’t about the bond. It wasn’t about joining with an omega that could complete him in every way. You see, Annalise was the most beautiful omega in the High Sanctum, but I didn’t care about her externals. She was sweet, kind, and her body responded to me in a way it never did to Roderick. He was near feral in his anger. We were given permission to bond while he was away on a mission, but he found out.”

Jaxxon pauses, staring out into nothing. Unable to see him in this much mental agony, I reach out with my free hand, smoothing it across his cheek. He grasps it and holds it against him, nuzzling into me. I can feel his gratitude, his desire to repay me for being so kind, but I’m not being kind. Not really. I’d like to think that anyone would see his suffering and want to help ease it.

Planting a small kiss on my palm, he smirks as my pulse quickens at that small, innocent touch. “I don’t know how he found us. We hid away, somewhere no one should have been able to track us down. Not too far from here, in fact. But it was different then. Life bloomed everywhere. Even in this, what you call the Dead Lands.”

Unease curls through my gut at his words. The Dead Lands have always been just that - dead. What could he possibly be talking about? Jaxxon’s eyes stare me down, unnerving in their feverish intent. It’s like he’s trying to convey something to me, something he doesn’t want to say but wants me to figure out.

A moment later, the look passes, and instead, he again looks behind me, unable to meet my gaze as he continues. “I had just finished knotting her, claiming her, when I was ambushed. I was knocked out, unable to do anything to stop them as they took Annalise and me to a secret facility.”

Pausing, Jaxxon winces as he slides the remaining tatters of his shirt to the side, revealing an insignia on his chest that I’ve only seen in the history communiques. My gut plummets as my brain tries to piece this puzzle together. Nothing he’s saying, nothing he’s showing me makes any sense. For him to have that mark, he’d have to be older than my father, but here he is, an Alpha in his prime.

“Roderick took her in front of me, placed his claiming mark over mine. Back then, it was still illegal to kill a mated Alpha. To do so would be to cause death to the omega as well. But Roderick was a conniving bastard. He found a way to have Annalise and kill me in the process. Well, not true death anyway. After all, I’m still here.”

He gives a dry chuckle at his poor attempt at humor before sobering. “I was forced to watch as he took my mate before knocking me out. Next thing I know, I’m coming too, and it’s a hundred years later. My mate is dead, my family is dead. Everything I ever knew or held dear is gone.”

My jaw goes slack as my brain finally kicks into gear. Cryosleep. That’s the only way this is possible. News of the old facility going under shocked us all, but as far as we knew, everyone in there was either transferred out long ago or dead.