Page 151 of Drown My Sorrow

KeaganAged22

She is so beautiful, but my heart is breaking into a million pieces. This is worse than the time Shale’s dad beat him almost dead. It’s worse than the time Beau got stabbed. It’s worse than the week I had no food and was seriously sick when I was alone.

She’s so scared of the world that she wants to have her heat in this filthy cave on the floor like an animal.

I wonder if she hates herself that much or everyone else. She sits cross-legged on the mattress and stares up at me.

It’s damp and musky. There are no blankets and pillows. Just this stained, gross mattress.

I don’t want to do it like this. I want to yell at her, rail at her, try to force her to see what I’m seeing when I look at her.

Try to show her how much better she is than us.

She is a rare flower. We are just the trash that everyone left behind. I hate everyone, every single person but the ones in this cave. But her, I’d do anything for her. Anything at all.

I peel off my top, watching as she gasps and gets all adorably nervous.

“Is this your first time?”

She looks down at her hand and refuses to meet our eyes. I stop undressing and just watch her.

She can’t be serious? How can she be a virgin?

“No one wanted me!”

She says it like she’s telling a truth, like she’s waving evidence again.

I blink at her. How can I tell her I want to peel skin from everyone she’s ever met? I want to make them ache the way they’ve made her ache. I want to put the fear of Daane into their eyes. Make them scream, make them bleed. I’ll have them crawling to her, begging forgiveness.

Because I’m the monster.

But I’m her monster, and I want her so badly, I think I might die if I can’t have her.

“Everyone on this planet is an idiot,” I rasp out hoarsely. She’s going to be ours, just ours forever.

I throw the unnecessary material away, impatient and so ready to begin our forever right now. I’m careful when I strip out of the last of my clothes and sit on the mattress beside her.

She nervously shifts away from me, but I pull her close, stopping her retreat. She watches me silently.

“I’m not going to fuck you yet. We need you to be comfortable, so we’re going to hug and talk.”

“Hug?”

“Yes, just hug!”

And I do that. I just hug her until she’s relaxed, and then I coax her into relaxing some more while I seduce her.

Before her heat hits fully, I take her virginity, promising that, one day, I will make this omega mine, no matter what I have to do.

PresentDay

The Raines family is large, and the alpha energy in the room could topple a small empire. I’ve done the rounds, and, by my assessment, Erin, Zaden, and Callan come close to our levels, but no one is stronger than Shale, Beau, and I.

I watch pack Bradley’s five members–Erin, Shane, Brayson, Finn, and Locke–slowly move into the room and join Pack Mirakill. They are dangerous, maybe as much as we are, because of their devotion to their respective omegas. But the MC’s omega is syrupy sweet, and Locke is clearly unhappy to be back here. Zaden, Ianto, Ranger, Mills, and Valen are getting quieter and quieter the more people arrive. The watchful eyes are searching for danger.

I don’t know if having the packs so on edge makes me relieved or not.

Bethany is brought in next with Pack Crow. She’s got a mane of white hair and three very uncomfortable-looking alphas. Hunter, Crow, and Saint nod to the other alphas but focus on us, maybe realising that we are the biggest threat.

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