Page 46 of Drown My Sorrow

Kelly lands heavily beside me and starts heaving.

Ezy manages a few more steps and drops to his knees.

“Right, Mitch, you grab Ezy. He looks the lightest. I’ve got Gael, and, Keagan, you grab Kelly.”

When Shale picks me up, I’m surprised to find myself lifted bridal style into his arms. He carries us back to the hotel room we left hours ago and puts me in a bed.

He’s gentle when he bathes my feet and bandages them and even more when he checks my wrists. When he lifts me up and carefully dribbles electrolytes into my mouth, I want to cry. I try to guzzle it, but he refuses to let me.

I finally become aware of more than just me and find Kelly being looked after by Keagan. I don’t think that the alpha is as gentle as Shale was to me. Maybe we don’t deserve gentle.

Shale moves to Ezy and silently repeats the process.

When the three of us are lying in bed, Keagan and Shale wave off Mitch. He disappears with a wink and a grin.

Shale stands at the door, watching us with a foreboding expression on his face.

“Why?” I ask. “Why are you punishing us for hurting an omega who doesn’t want us?”

Keagan growls. The sound is low and menacing, and I have to admit, a part of me is deeply afraid of this vicious alpha.

Shale simply shakes his head. “As long as you live in willful ignorance, we won’t help you. We will simply punish you, an eye for an eye. But when you stop fighting her pull, you won’t find enemies, you’ll find home.”

He scans the room and grunts.

“Tomorrow, you’re moving into House Daane. So, pack up, and be ready at midday. Any more attempts at escape will be dealt with more aggressively. We were lenient tonight. You only ran two clicks. You were fighting the currents and getting nowhere. Stupid. Start using your brains and eyes or I’ll fucking make you.”

They turn and walk out, leaving us in a dark hotel room. I stare at the hotel room ceiling, absolutely exhausted but unable to get my mind to stop racing.

The day’s events play out over and over.

How did we think we could get away so easily? We seriously underestimated the enemy.

Are they right?

No, Aspyn clearly doesn’t want alphas.

This is just three feral alphas on a power trip. They have to be feral. Who goes around bonding other alphas against their will? But then I remember the feeling through the bond. Beau finding something I have never felt in the arms of that beautiful omega.

Ezy is right. These alphas are our enemies.

We are going to have to start fighting them the right way. The smart way.

A way that gets us off this island and out of their lives.

Chapter eleven

Aspyn

Aspynaged16

I sit at the café and fuss with my hair, trying to hide the scar. No matter how much I brush over my face, I can’t help but imagine a vivid neon sign aimed right at it. Either I look like a mop or my scars are visible. There is no in between, but I can’t stop fussing.

“I can’t do it, Daniel. I need the job, but I can’t leave my daughter alone for that long,” my mother says in a long whine of what reeks of desperation. Yes, we are that desperate. Our situation has gone past dire.

I try not to listen. Daniel is Mum’s boss, and he wants her to fly with him for work. He’s a foul man about fifteen years younger than her, and it’s clear from the way he touches her what he wants. He simply pretends I don’t exist.

I’ve tried to tell Mum I’ll be okay, but the truth is I won’t. I still wake up screaming from cramps. Sometimes my leg locks up, and I fall. My balance is terrible, and I struggle to do normal things. I’m learning but not fast enough.

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