Page 66 of Toy No More

I just want this nightmare to be over. So that I can go home and hug Skyler tightly, tell him how much I love him. Drink something, probably. Have a cig.A lot of them.

When I notice the few who were at the Zane house acting as if they have no idea what’s going on in front of the others, I know this is far from over. Having filled the empty warehouse with every unsavory character that works for this organization, Jasper stands at the front like an actor on a stage, and he gives the best performance of the night, indeed.

He announces the horrible news of what happened to his father. We had only just driven up there for a meeting when we found the house in flames. Solomon Zane’s dead body laid motionless at the entrance and near it, a striking warning message—a yellow bandana.

I can’t help but be impressed by Jasper’s ability to convince everyone, even myself almost, that he carried deep love for his father, no matter their differences. As he shouts, his words echoing against the concrete walls, I feel his anger. I believe him when he calls for the Yellow Snakes to be brought down for what they did. I believe him when his voice trembles at the mention of his late father. Others do, too.

Just like that, he has the entire organization riled up and motivated, with him as the spearhead on top.

I am horribly, terribly way over my fucking head in this world.

The reality of it hits me with a strength of a boulder.You fucked up, Kobe. This isn’t an action movie you’re watching. It’s really happening and you’re in too deep…

For the first time in my life, I do feel like the small, weak, dumb omega, completely out of place and utterly powerless among the alphas who reel with anger and lust for revenge all around me. My shallow breaths echo in my head. The surrounding sounds come through as if I’m underwater and by god, am I drowning.

I blink sharply at the shadow being cast over me as someone comes up to me. Having to lean back against the wall so I don’t lose my balance, I focus on Jasper.

He approaches like a prowling beast. Slowly, with a fiery intention in his eyes. To my horror, he doesn’t stop at the expected distance one should. Instead, he puts himself so close against me that my breath hitches in my bone-dry throat and my heart skips. Hands in his pockets, he leans in, his lips hovering next to my ear.

“You really should at least act the part,” he whispers, those rough, growly tones from somewhere deep within his chest buzzing through my skull.

I don’t know what to say or do. He can sense I’m struggling with this. I might not be capable of hiding that, but I could make it seem like I am just surprised at his course of action. “Why not tell the truth?” I ask carefully, meeting his gaze. “Wouldn’t that be more of a—”

There it is.Something inside him snaps.

Whatever the color of his eyes could be described as—a bright blue sky, a clear sea water—it turns into prickling ice, frozen and carved to a scalpel-sharp point. His pheromones hit me in the face, filled to the brim with rage and nothing else.

Jasper scrunches up his nose as he pushes his words through his clenched teeth, almost baring them at me like an animal. “You really think you are better than me, don’t you? Deep down, you really believe it, huh?”

The scent grows stronger, so much so I nearly choke up. The surrounding alphas notice. I feel prickly eyes staring down at us, and I can’t move a finger.

But I have to.Fuck,I have to deescalate this somehow.

I open my mouth, but he continues. “Questioning my methods, as if you fucking know what would be the right thing to do. Picking out the one…the exact omega who’s mine, out of all of them, to screw around…” I stare back at him, words stuck inside my throat. My lungs and heart feel like they’re about to collapse. Everything in me screams that I’m in danger. “A sensitive, kind little omega with his sweet little family,” he spits the words out, still under his breath, in a way that makes them sound like a joke. “Maybe you really aren’t made for this sort of life.”

I take far too long to realize it’s not just me reaching my stress level. No, it’s the pheromones radiating out of Jasper as if he’s a broken nuclear reactor that make my vision blur and my stomach upturn and throb.

With a blink, his scent choking me is all I can think about.

It seeps underneath my skin. Makes air unusable. It pushes against my ribs, my throat, pounds against my skull to get it and fill it to the brim until my brain threatens to push out of my ears.

I try to fight against it, holding my breath and clenching my fists, but Jasper stares at me with the cruel determination of a thousand burning suns. I never knew anyone could release this amount of pheromones.

He enjoys it. As I meet his eyes, maybe with some naïve hope that he’ll stop, I see how much he does. His entire face is lit up with sadistic pleasure. “This is who you are, isn’t it? No matter how hard you try to hide it or make people ignore it,” he says, cutting deep with each whispered syllable.

I start to feel heavy andwrongin myself. As if my own skin is rejecting me. His…no, he—everything that Jasper is, his pure essence—is bubbling inside me, traveling underneath every muscle and around every cell. Nothing makes sense anymore. The more I try to get a grip on my body, the further away I get. Further away into pain and nausea and panic. The horrendous, inescapable panic. A sense of dread like nothing I’ve experienced before.

“Nothing but an omega. Your body and mind are weak. Pathetic. Shattering into a million pieces at the slightest pressure. And your slutty little hole is probably leaking slick right now. One more push and you’ll happily bend over, begging for my cock. All that because of the power I have over you with my pheromones alone.”

Am I hyperventilating? Are my knees still holding me up? I can barely focus my eyes. My mind is folding on itself and Jasper’s voice is all I hear, booming inside my skull, replacing my own thoughts.

I need to make this stop.

He might be right. I might do anything, anything I can, to stop this right now.

The little snort of disgust near my ear somehow tethers me back to reality somewhat. “So I’m warning you…and this is your last warning. You better stop acting like an alpha. Like you have a voice or any real power. Because you ain’t one. You never will be. You’ll never be the role you so desperately try to fit, and that’s why you’ll never have my omega or any other. You’re nothing but an object. A tool. Do you understand?”

Like a zap of electricity passing through me, Apollo’s face flashes in front of my eyes.

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