“The only alpha I’ll ever want to bond with is my pack,” I croak out, my mouth going dry. “They’re my scent matches.”

He scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest. “Scent matches mean nothing. They’re a fairy tale that have no place in reality. I was your mother’s scent match and she still went and ruined herself by getting pregnant with another man’s baby.”

“But—but she was forced to for work,” I sniffle. “You said she was forced to be a prostitute.”

“She wasmine!” He roars, his dominance growing so thick in the air it becomes suffocating. It makes me shove myself backward into the wall, even though there’s nowhere for me to go. He takes abreath, seemingly trying to pull himself together. “And soon, you will be too.”

The first wave of cramps hits me and I collapse onto my side. The coolness of the concrete beneath my cheek is a quick reprieve from my skin and body feeling like it’s on fire.

I’ve had horrible, torturous heats with no relief before. The heats I spent being sold to betas seemed endless.

But now, I feel like I’m going to die.

“What—what did you give me?” I croak out.

“So you’re stupid and naive,” Alpha Niall laughs. “I already told you, the finest drug on the black market for artificial heat induction.”

“This—this doesn’t feel like a normal heat.”

“Of course it isn’t. The way this drug is made is truly fascinating. Maybe I’ll explain it to you one day. All you need to know is it’ll make all of your heats, even the ones spent with only betas, feel like a cakewalk unless you submit to me.”

I shake my head. “Why—why does this even exist?”

Alpha Niall shrugs.

“Some people will pay a premium to spend time with an omega in heat. So of course others made it possible for that to be an option at any point in time, regardless of where an omega is in her cycle. It’s got to be strong enough to put omegas right back into heat, once they’ve finished one.”

Another wave of cramps hits me. It feels like I’m getting beat up from the inside of my body. Slick pools between my legs, drenching my panties. A whine leaves the back of my throat. It’s a desperate, needy sound, but I refuse to put into words what my body is screaming for.

Because my body is screaming for an alpha’s knot. For an alpha’s bite. And there’s one right in front of me.

“Ahhh, there’s that delicious sound,” Alpha Niall chuckles. “When omegas are in heat, they crave bonds. And you’ll crave mine.”

“N—no,” I grit out, through clenched teeth, shaking my head again, pressing more of my face against the cold concrete.

“Well, it’s only been a few minutes, I’m sure after a few hours of this, you’ll submit to me properly.”

It’s felt like an eternity since he injected me with this drug. I don’t know if I can handle a few more hours of this torture.

A cry bordering on a scream rips from my throat.

“You’re just doing this to yourself,” Alpha Niall says, crouching down in front of me and brushing some of my hair away from my face in the most tender gesture he’s ever made towards me. “You know, believe it or not, I don’t enjoy seeing you in this pain.”

“Liar,” I spit out, fighting every instinct in my body to lean into his touch, despite how repulsive I find his stench.

He barks out a laugh.

“I never said I didn’t enjoy seeing you in pain, I said I don’t enjoy seeing you inthispain. I enjoy making you hurt myself. There’s something so cathartic about feeling you fall apart under my touch.”

I jerk away from him.

“Don’t touch me,” I hiss, baring my teeth at him.

I feel like a feral animal. Like I’m going to go crazy. Maybe I’m already halfway there.

CHAPTER 44

Chase