Page 32 of Branded By Shadow
13
An Alpha's Rage
Damon
I’d been an utter fool. The thought roared, clawed through my mind as we dissolved from the loading dock. The metallic taste of shadow travel burned my tongue, but I barely felt it over the acidity of my rage.
We materialized in the Shadow Chamber with a rush of displaced air. Complete darkness swallowed the space, carved from black stone deep beneath the estate. No windows. No surveillance. No witnesses. Just us and the weight of the earth pressing down from above.
Cora gasped, her body struggling against the disorienting effects of our violent displacement. I held her upright as she swayed, mygrip bruising on her arms, keeping her from collapsing while her mind caught up.
“Where…?” She blinked hard, trying to orient herself in the near-total blackness. Her eyes hadn’t adjusted yet, couldn’t see the way mine could in the heart of House Hades. “Where are we?”
“The Shadow Chamber.” I released her, and she stumbled back until she hit the curved wall. “The safest, most secluded place in the Blackwood Estate.” My voice was flat, devoid of everything but a chilling purpose. “It’s built to keep the darkness of the Shadow Realm from escaping. I feel I may repurpose it. For arrogant, lying Omegas.”
Understanding dawned on her face. She took in the featureless walls, the absence of any perceivable exit, the oppressive shadows that answered only to my will.
“Damon, please—”
“Please what?” I cut her off. “Pretend the lab didn’t happen? Ignore that you ran? That you deliberately hid the full extent of your power from me?”
“I wasn’t trying to actually escape.” Her back was flush against the wall, her fingers splayed against the rough stone for support. “I just needed to get you both away from Theo, from the staff.”
I took a step closer, crowding her against the unforgiving rock. “Don’t lie to me. Not now. Not here. You’ve lied enough.”
I didn’t know what infuriated me more, her deception, or the fact that I had so willingly fallen for it. I’d let myself believe her softening was real. And all this time, she’d been playing me.
Cora opened her mouth to argue, then clamped it shut. Smart. Excuses would only make this worse.
I stopped directly in front of her, close enough that she had to tilt her head back to meet my eyes. The fragile trust from the night before felt like a phantom limb, an ache for something that had been amputated. “That vulnerability in the nest… was that just another part of the act?”
“I wanted it to be real!” The admission burst out of her, desperate and raw. “I thought… I actually thought you saw me. That I meant something more to you than just property.”
“Then why run?”
“Because you proved me wrong!” Her voice cracked, anger bleeding through the fear. “The moment Alexander appeared, you forgot everything. You forgot Theo, you forgot my research. All you cared about was proving you were the bigger Alpha.”
The accusation hit harder than it should have. Because she wasn’t entirely wrong. Alexander’s appearance had triggered every possessive instinct, to the point that I’d lost focus on the actual reasons for the visit. But that didn’t excuse what she’d done.
“I’m an Alpha, Cora.” I slammed my hand against the stone beside her head, the impact echoing in the dead air. “Territorial dominance is what I do. And you knew that the moment you agreed to our deal.
“I suppose I was the only one who ever intended to fulfill the terms. Isn’t that right, Dr. Ellis? You hid your strength from me. You let me believe you were helpless. You manipulated me.”
“So what if I did?” She lifted her chin, defiance warring with the fear in her eyes. “You’re a hypocrite, Damon. You kidnapped me, you locked me up, you forced a claim on me. You knew what Alexander was, you knew he was the one who hurt me, and you still let your pride turn my life’s work into a war zone.” She took a ragged breath, her next words honed to a razor’s edge, designed to cut as deep as possible. “You’re no better than him. Alexander would have been a kinder master.”
The words landed, and for a moment, the inferno in my chest went silent, replaced by something cold and absolute. The rational part of my mind simply ceased to exist. All that was left was the raw, primal wound. She would choose the snake who’d poisoned her over me. After everything, she still saw me as the greater monster.
The last thread of restraint inside me shattered, a clean fracture in my control.
I grabbed her by the throat, forcing her down until she was kneeling before me. She struggled, but I held firm, working my belt buckle with vicious efficiency. Her eyes widened in horrifiedunderstanding. A split second later, she shoved against my thighs, her hands trembling but defiant.
“Don’t—” She choked on the protest as I pushed my cock to the edge of her lips.
“You thought you meant something to me?” I forced her jaw open and slid into the wet heat of her mouth. “You’re mine. And it’s time you learned what that means.”
She gagged, her body convulsing against the invasion. I held her fast, one hand fisted in her hair while the other gripped her jaw. My voice dropped to a guttural command. “Look at me. Take it.”
Her eyes met mine, full of fury and humiliation and something else I couldn’t name. She tried to turn her head away, but I kept her in place, watching her eyes water as she fought her own body’s reflexes.
