Page 16

And snaps into place.

I gasp for air as my eyes snap open. I know there are others here, but the world is a blur. My lungs tighten to the point of pain, and I know… I know I need to breathe, but my lungs won’t expand.

I can’t—I can’t remember how to breathe. I can’t remember. My chest is getting tighter and tighter, but my brain won’t work. I can’t… I can’t breathe!

My ears fill with static—buzzing, ringing, screaming. My vision darkens, and I know—I know I’m not, but I’m trapped. I’m trapped in a tunnel, and the walls are closing in, and I can’t—I can’t get out! Oh, gods! I can’t get out!

This isn’t real. This isn’t real. This isn’t real. It can’t be. He’s not yours. Not your Mate.

The next minutes of my life pass in a series of flashes and blurs. I must remember how to breathe, but I don’t know when it happens. Every time I look up, the wolven seems to get closer and closer. The fire in my chest flares and somehow—in an instinct-driven need for self-protection I know I’ll never be able to recreate again on purpose—a thick, flexible sheet of something appears, immediately covering my Bonds and wrapping around them. It’s similar to Caelan’s onyx wall, I think, but at the same time… not.

Right away, my hearing returns. The Bonds dim, like I’ve turned down the volume on a radio. I have no idea if he can sense what I’ve done, but right now, I don’t care. It was too much. Too overwhelming. Like it was burrowing into my soul while half of my soul was simultaneously shattering.

The following minutes are a blur, little more than a spinning cyclone of fear and anxiety, flashes of moments and faces, shouts and mocking, cruel words. Sometimes I don’t even know if what I’m experiencing is happening now, or if they’re ghosts from the past, refusing to leave until I’m finally broken.

Only one moment stands out, crisp and clear amongst a haze of panic and terror. One moment. A few seconds when beautiful green eyes collided with mine and refused to let me look away. Immediately, I panicked—Vaelenor, that’s Vaelenor. Those green eyes so full of hate when they should be bright with love and adoration, but they’re not. They’re⁠—

No.

My Omega’s voice demands my attention. It’s confident and sure, so unlike the way she normally sounds.

These eyes are different. Brighter. More alive. Like the ivy that grew outside our balcony.

I blink, realizing she’s right. These eyes—they’re not Vae’s. I take a deep breath, trying to focus. Green eyes the color of the fronds of the willow tree where mother and I used to escape. The thought soothes me.

Until dismay starts to creep in, followed by confusion. I have the overwhelming sense that I’m disappointing this person, and the shame swallows me whole. My chest aches when I force my eyes away, unable to bear the thought that I’m not… not enough.

Instantly the chaos returns, as though I’ve jumped into swelling rapids with no life vest and no hope.

Mate?

My Omega’s plea stabs me in the heart, and she whines, a piercing, painful plea that breaks my heart. It echoes in the air—or maybe that’s me. Maybe I make the sound this time, a primal scream for someone—anyone—to save me.

Or maybe it’s all in my head, like the furious sound of an Alpha that I know is a hallucination because none of these males would react to my distress with that kind of feral rage.

I should be used to losing time by now.

I’m not.

When I come to this time, all my senses return with me. It’s jarring, like everything just surged back online with no warning. My knees ache enough to demand my attention, and when I glance down I realize I’m on the stone floor, kneeling beside a table set between two couches.

Couches where four Alphas— including one I’ve never seen before—are seated, watching me with expressions ranging from pity to disinterest.

I’m prey, surrounded by predators.

My first instinct is to find help. My gaze darts to the male closest to me, whom I immediately recognize. Despite only seeing him once, I’ll never forget that night at my father’s house when this male—Gavran—saved me from one prison, just to throw me in another.

I look away, knowing I’ll find no help there.

Directly across from him on the opposite couch is the unknown Alpha. He’s large—larger than Daxen and possibly even Vae. His long brown hair is pulled up in a top knot, and his clear grey eyes aren’t cruel, but they aren’t kind, either.

I don’t know who he is, but the chances of an unknown Alpha helping me are laughable.

My gaze flicks to Vae, standing behind the new male and looking at me like he doesn't know who I am. The moment our eyes meet, he looks away.

I expected that… but it still hurts.

There’s one last male in the room… and somehow, despite knowing logically that this is all real and happening, I have yet to so much as look at my newest Fated Mate.