Page 132 of The Packaged Deal

“That’s my girl.”

His words draw me away from the red mist in my mind, and I’m suddenly raw, looking around the empty apartment with a sob caught in my throat.

“No, let me,” Adrian says urgently.

Adrian pulls up Trevor’s sleeve. “It’s so incredibly convenient that you’re an addict, Trevor. It makes everything so much easier, and I’ve got a special mix, just for you. I had time to think about a special way to end our journey together while I was trying to catch up to you. Now, poor, poor boy, this is going to hurt, but the drug that goes with it is going to ensure you can’t even make a sound.”

Trevor shrieks, screams, his eyes bulge. Kandi casually slips a gag into his mouth.

“Shut up. No one cares.”

Sven wraps his arms around me and hugs me hard, dragging me back away from my pack pinning my monster down.

“I kicked his ass.”

“Oh, darling, you were perfect.”

“I remembered what you taught me.”

“You did exactly right,” Sven purrs.

I crane my head, ignoring the pain in my neck. “You came for me.”

“I will always come for you. We will always take care of you.”

“Kandi, get him down on his back,” Adrian snaps and ties an elastic band around Trevor’s arm.

My eyes widen as I watch. Holy crap, they’re going to kill him. Am I upset by this? No, not at all.

“Wait! What are you doing?” Trevor suddenly shouts through the gag. “No! No! Don’t do this, please. I don’t want it!”

Adrian mutters and puts a black hood over his head.

“That’s better,” Adrian says coldly. “I think this one looks good.” He strokes his fingers over a vein.

“Adrian?” I ask weakly.

“Get her out of here, Sven,” Adrian says without looking up.

Sven immediately lifts me up and carries me towards the exit. I don’t protest.

But when I look over his shoulder, Kandi and Adrian are staring at me.

My pack…wait. I don’t feel a bond?

“I can’t feel a bond,” I say out loud.

Sven stops walking and looks back. “He’s a beta, isn’t he?”

Adrian leans down and sniffs. “Yes, he’s using some kind of alpha replacement drug. Good, that will make our story look better. There are theories that bonds won’t take if there is enough chemical interference. And he was just a beta. Perhaps his bond was so weak she was able to reject it?”

“I’m not bonded?” I’m confused. “Oh, wow, I’m not bonded.” I burst into tears.

“It doesn’t matter, love. The minute he touched you, he was a dead man. That bond wasn’t staying,” Kandi growls. My sexy beta looks like she’d light the world on fire for me.

“Erase all traces of us being here.”

“Sven, I’m well-trained. I know what I’m doing,” Kandi snaps.

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