Page 12 of Hangman's Knot
They seem to come to the same conclusion and Julius nods once. Cool. "Me."
Eden looks between them, confusion clear on her face, apparently having missed their silent conversation while she was sulking over the potatoes.
Before she can ask what was going on, Julius turns to her. "You'll be with me for your work assignment, omega. Let's get it set up. We'll go to the warden first."
It was easy enough to grease the greasy fuck's hands a little more and get the omega placed with him in the workshop. At least in there it would be a little quieter and out of the way of roaming alphas who would harass her or worse.
Usually, it was just him and Luke in the back. Maybe the little omega could finally settle a bit without all the prowling alphas around them and stop filling his nose with the acrid scent of her terror every hour of the day. It was going to make him fucking sneeze, and you fucking know they didn't keep Puffs Plus Lotion tissues in the commissary.
Chapter Five
Eden
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Julius had said that she was supposed to go with him to his work assignment, which was how she found herself following his terrifying form silently to a new part of the cinderblock prison.
The minute they parted ways outside the mess hall, she couldn't help but miss Tenor's presence and the way his protective arms had wrapped around her and made her feel so safe and secure in the crowded hallways. She felt exposed and vulnerable without him by her side, even with Julius there.
They don't make it two metres before an alpha is lunging forward to snatch her against his body. He smells vile, like body odour and aggression and grass, and Eden has to swallow the shriek in her throat.
But Julius is quicker, and he has the alpha pinned to the wall in a second, his hand around the man's throat. When he speaks, his voice is booming, carrying loudly enough so everyone in the hallway can hear.
"The omega belongs to my pack. Anyone who touches her, dies."
As soon as the other alpha releases her, she huddles in close to Julius' side, her arms tight around herself and her whole body trembling.
Eden wants to vomit as his scent fills her lungs, an undeniable challenge to any alpha around them, the most noxious and aggressive pheromones an alpha could produce. Yet the threat was not against her. It was for her. When he walks away, she follows as close as she can possibly get to him without touching him.
No one else bothers them.
The workshop is loud with the buzz and clang of machinery and tools, but there are not many people present. The few that were there seemed content to focus on their own work while the scent of metal and wood and fibreglass filled the space and covered her scent, finally allowing her to relax slightly.
Julius leads her through another door into a back room where they are completely alone. The room is cluttered with machines on every wall and surface, and there's several metal pipes and tools sitting on a large central table.
It was as if they had entered a secret hideaway, separate from the chaos outside. It was quiet, and the solitude was comforting to her buzzing omega nerves.
Eden lets out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding and suddenly feels like her body might give out at any minute as exhaustion overtakes her. Her legs threaten to collapse under her weight and she feels herself begin to teeter precariously.
"Hey," Julius says, and his voice sounds softer than she has ever heard it yet as he approaches her slowly. "You're okay. Just breathe, little omega."
She's breathing. Wasn't she breathing? Yes, she was breathing. Oh, she was breathing very fast. Very fast. Too fast.
She couldn't stop. It felt like she couldn't get enough oxygen. The world starts swimming before her eyes.
"Hey!" His voice is less kind now as he demands her attention. He barks at her with a tone only an alpha could make. "Eden, look at me."
Her eyes snap to meet his, unable to resist the demand.
"Breathe with me," he instructs firmly. "Breathe in," he sucks in his breath to the count of five. "And breathe out," he exhales again to the count of five.
She obeys. She can't not obey him. He told her to look at him. He told her to breathe. She could do that. She could obey him, and she wouldn't have to worry about anything else while she was obeying him, because he would take care of everything else. All she had to do was listen to him, and obey. She breathes out with him.
"Good girl," he praises softly, and the words wrap around her in an embrace. "That's a good girl. Now take another breath."
They do it again, breathing in for five seconds, holding it, and breathing out for five seconds, again and again until her breathing slows and becomes more regular. His scent fills her nose, and it's strangely floral for an alpha. Like... icy lilies, or some poisonous flower, dangerous and lethal.
"You're okay," he murmurs, his eyes soft and earnest. "We won't let anyone hurt you."
