CHAPTER 23: NO ONE BUT ME 1

FIA

I had been in this cell for more than twenty-three hours. I knew because I’d been counting. Counting the seconds. Counting the minutes. Counting every breath that made my ribs ache against the cold stone wall I was leaning against.

The mate bond was a constant throb in my chest. Like a bruise that wouldn’t heal. I’d been trying to shield it. Trying to keep my emotions locked down tight so he wouldn’t feel them through the connection. So he wouldn’t know I was breaking.

But I was tired. So tired. And the shield was slipping.

I could feel him on the other side of it. His contempt. His anger. It bled through the bond in waves that made me want to curl up on the thin cot and never move again. But I wouldn’t. I refused to give him that satisfaction.

The worst part wasn’t even him. It was the pack. I could feel their hostility like needles under my skin. Every time one of them walked past the dungeon entrance, their hatred would spike through like it was alive and hit me square in the chest. They despised me. All of them.

Footsteps echoed down the stone stairs. Multiple sets. I heard them before I saw them. Three omegas appeared at my cell door carrying a tray. The food smelled good. Warm bread and some kind of stew. My stomach clenched with hunger.

The first omega smiled at me. It wasn’t a kind smile.

She tilted the tray. The food splashed onto the floor in front of my cell. The bowl clattered and rolled. Stew seeped between the cracks in the stone.

"Oops," she said.

The second one laughed. "That’s the only way an omega like you deserves to eat. Off the ground. Like the animal you are."

I stared at the spilled food. At the bread soaking in the stew. At the way they were all watching me. Waiting for me to break down. Waiting for me to cry or beg or show them I was weak.

I laughed instead.

It came out sharp and a little unhinged. I saw all three of them flinch.

"We’re all omegas here, aren’t we?" I said. My voice echoed off the stone walls. "Does treating me worse make you feel better about your own lives?"

The first omega’s face twisted. "You little shit."

She reached through the bars. Her hand was going for my hair. For my face. I don’t know what she planned to do, but I didn’t give her the chance.

I grabbed her wrist and twisted. Hard. Against the bars.

She screamed. The sound was high and piercing and satisfying in a way that probably said terrible things about me. I held her there for another second. Let her feel it. Then I let go.

She stumbled back, cradling her wrist. The other two were staring at me like I’d grown fangs.

"We should get Timothy," one of them hissed. "Get him to open the cage. Then we can teach her a real lesson."

"Really?"

The voice came from behind them. Deep and cold and unmistakable.

The mate bond thrummed. He’d been hiding it. Keeping his presence muted so I wouldn’t feel him approach. But now I could feel everything. His rage was a living thing. Hot and violent and sharp.

I wondered if that rage was for me. Or for them.

The three omegas spun around. Their faces went pale. They dropped into bows so fast I heard one of their knees crack against the stone.

"Alpha Cian," the first one stammered. "We apologize. She was just making our job very hard and we—"

"Silence."

They shut up immediately.

Cian stepped into view. I could see him properly now. He looked intimidating. Dangerous. The way he had at the wedding and shortly after he found out that I was not Hazel. All that sharp edge and barely contained fury. I found I liked it better when he was poisoned. When he’d looked vulnerable and mortal and not like something that could tear me apart without breaking a sweat.

His eyes swept over them. Over the spilled food on the floor. Over me now pressed against the back wall of my cell.

"I understand you think you’re doing this on my behalf," he said. His voice was quiet. That made it worse somehow. "But the next time any of you do this again, there will be blood. Lots of it."

"We’re sorry, Alpha," they whispered in unison.

"Scram."

They ran. I heard their footsteps echoing back up the stairs. Fast and frantic and scared.

Then it was just him and me. And the bond between us that I couldn’t escape no matter how hard I tried.

He turned to look at me. Really look at me. His gaze moved over my face. My dirty clothes. The bruises on my wrists where the silver cuffs had been.

"How has prison life been going?" he asked.

I blinked. "Did I just watch you do a good deed on my behalf?"

"Well." He shifted his weight. "If you give lower life forms the gift of trampling on what should belong to you, it won’t be long until that disrespect finds you."

"You call your servants lower life forms?"

"Are they not?" He tilted his head. "But I actually mean omegas. If they don’t know their place, it can be quite catastrophic. You would know what I mean given how high you flew to the sun. Given the audacity you had to trap in this union."

The words stung. I turned my face away from him.

"I don’t want to talk to you anymore," I said. "Leave."

He cleared his throat then. "But you did save my life. And I for one know how to be grateful. So... thank you."

My heart fluttered. I hated that it did. Hated that those simple words could affect me when I knew they meant nothing. When I knew he’d keep me back in this cell the second I pissed him off again.

I forced myself to look at him. To meet his eyes.

"If you want to be grateful," I said carefully, "there are two things you can do. Release me and reject me."

He chuckled. The sound was low and dark and sent shivers down my spine.

Then he moved. His hand went to the cell door. I heard the lock click. Heard the iron swing open.

I moved back. My shoulders hit the wall. There was nowhere else to go.

He kept coming. One step. Then another. Until he was right in front of me. Until I could feel the heat coming off his body. Until I had to crane my neck to keep looking at his face.

"I’m not paying a debt," he said softly. "I’m simply being kind. So I will do none of that. And we both know, no matter how much you want to pretend that is the case, you do not want me to reject you."

His hand came up. I thought he was going to touch my face. Instead, he braced it against the wall next to my head. Caging me in.

He leaned down. His lips brushed my ear.

"But I will do you one better. How about... No one will torment you but me, omega."

His voice was sultry. Dark. It slid over my skin like silk and made wetness pool between my thighs. I wanted to shove him away. Wanted to scream at him. Wanted to do anything except stand there feeling my body betray me.

I shook my head. Forced myself to meet his eyes again.

"And what exactly do you want," I said, "since you’re here? We both know you didn’t suddenly grow a heart."

He studied me. His gaze moved over my face like he was trying to read something written there. Then he reached behind his back and pulled out papers. Printed pages that had been folded.

He placed them on the floor. Right in front of my feet.

I looked down. Saw the words printed across the top. Contract. Agreement. Terms and conditions.

"This is the contract?" I asked.

"Yeah." He straightened up. Put some distance between us. "You came back to me after all."

"I was poisoned and dragged here."

"Yeah. Saved by me, my people and my drugs. You owe me your life."

His voice changed. Went cold. Ice cold. The kind of cold that made frost patterns on glass.

"And if you want any semblance of freedom here, sign it. Refuse, and you’ll remain locked in this room until you break." He paused. Let the words sink in. "And trust me, I will make you break."

I stared at him. At the papers on the floor. At the choice he was giving me that wasn’t really a choice at all.

My hands were shaking. I curled them into fists to hide it.

"Can I read it first?" I asked.

"Of course." He smiled. It didn’t reach his eyes. "Take all the time you need, omega. I’m not going anywhere."