Page 21 of Clawless

I couldn’t hide my smirk, but it wilted as he captured my other hand and eased off Reed’s corsage, before setting it on the nightstand. I tried to penetrate the gold sheen in his eyes, but he’d taken his dinner tie from his pocket and was focused on binding my wrists together. When he was finished, I couldn’t help tugging against the fabric. It wasn’t tight, but it was a solid knot. His eyes darkened as he watched me, and I felt the first trickle of unease in my belly. I licked my dry lips. “Is this the alpha knot? Do I have to prepare myself for something now?”

His head whipped up from the study of my hands. For a moment I was sure his wolf was staring out at me, before he said in a voice of gravel, “Yes and no. That knot is something different, but you do have to prepare yourself. And know I’m doing this for your safety, Vail. Until you find your wolf, and learn your place, you can’t be trusted.”

“What?”

The word was barely out before he reached over to open a drawer in the nightstand. I tried to push myself upright with my elbows to see better, but it was an awkward position, and he was sitting in the way. But then he turned, something flashing in his hands, and he was swinging his whole body over me. My pulse leaped at the sudden motion, but it was the look on his face that made me rear back against the bed. Whatever this was, I didn’t have a hope of preparing myself. Because he was digging a knee into each side of the bed, not pressing down with his weight as much as caging me in. And something inside me – my wolf, or my bruised heart, or just that primitive part of my brain that sensed danger – told me to buck him off. To squirm out from under him and run. But there was nowhere to go. No inch of space between us. I lifted my bound hands between us, ready to rake my nails along his face, when he squashed them under his chest.

His mouth was so close to me, I could taste his breath. And feel the heat in his words when he commanded, “Don’t fight me, Vail!”

But that was exactly the wrong thing to say when I was trussed up and at my wits’ end. I began to buck and kick, my head snapping forward as I tried to connect with his skull. I missed, but one of my elbows caught his ribs and his breath shot out of him with a grunt. The next moment his alpha power pressed down on me, twice as heavy as his actual weight. I tried to scratch him again, but he knocked my hands out of the way.

“Look!” He was holding a metal band. It was only as thick as my little finger, but a brilliant gold in the lamp light. I stopped struggling long enough to ask, “What is it?”

“It’s an omega cuff. You wear it round your neck. It will keep you safe.”

I stared at the gleaming necklace, and the only word I could think of was choker. Because it was such a tight fit, it would grip my throat if I put it on. Some girls probably wore them for fun, but it looked cold and hard, a small pendant swinging from the center. “Is it a tracker? So you can find me if I run?”

His lips twisted. “It’s just jewelry. But it marks you as mine. Which means you can’t ever take it off.”

I went still under him; not so much giving up, as too numb to move. “Ever?”

“Until I say so,” he relented. “But there’s no clasp, Vail. It only comes off when I decide you don’t need it anymore. And it’s going to take a while for you to earn that trust.”

I felt his words like claws raking along my heart. He had told me actions spoke louder than words, and mine hadn’t measured up. But tying me up and threatening to collar me were nothing compared to the heavy distrust in his voice. I’d tried to explain. I’d said I was sorry. But none of that had made a dent in his suspicions. I was a liar, a manipulator who betrayed her friends, and a coward who would run at the first chance she was given. So he was taking that chance away altogether.

“Do it, then,” I whispered, turning my head so I didn’t have to look at him. “Just don’t expect me to thank you afterwards.”

Seventeen – Vail

Sometime in the night I felt the bed dip, and I struggled to come up out of my chaotic dreams. But the room was warm, and my eyelids were too heavy to open. Once Jasper had put his chain around my neck, he’d curled up beside me, his thumbs brushing over my cheeks as my tears leaked into the pillow. I hadn’t looked at him; hadn’t given him anything but those few tears. The only real temptation had been when he’d shifted, but that just made me curl away from him even more. I couldn’t stand the thought of his wolf trying to comfort me. Not when the man trusted me so little, he had to collar me like a stray dog.

The next time I opened my eyes, the sheets were cold and I couldn’t hear anyone moving around in the suite. My hands were also untied, which I only realized when I touched the choker at my neck. It felt cold and slippery under my fingers, the little pendant nestled in the dip of my throat like a mocking kiss. Not that kissing had been on Jasper’s mind. This had been all about reminding me how badly I’d fucked up.

Until you find your wolf, and learn your place, you can’t be trusted…

I forced myself out of bed and went straight to the mirror. Early sunshine was peeking through the closed drapes, and there was enough light for me to take in my appearance. I was still in the black underwear I’d worn to the dance and my skin looked sickly white next to the dark fabric. The only splashes of color were my shadowed eyes and Jasper’s jewelry. I leaned forward and gave it a tug, but as promised, it didn’t move, and I couldn’t find a clasp to unlatch it. Instead, I studied the pendant. The disc was gold, and engraved with the head of a howling wolf.

It really is a dog tag.

The thought made my empty stomach clench, and I braced a hand on the vanity. I stared at my reflection, soaking up all the hurt and anger I could see in my eyes. There were no more tears. I was done with those. But I couldn’t help looking at the bed in the mirror and feeling like ten kinds of a fool. My side was a tangled mess, but Jasper’s looked barely touched. And I’d been thinking he was planning on a romantic night, maybe finally making love to me and claiming me for his own.

Instead, he’d fucked with me on a whole different level.

But if he thinks I’m going to lie down and take it, he has another thing coming.

Straightening my back, I gave my reflection one last bitter look. I needed to remember Cocky Jasper didn’t exist anymore. Scary Alpha was now in charge. And first thing first, I needed to make sure I was alone. Which was a quick process, despite the size of the suite. Because Jasper had left a note on the nightstand next to Reed’s faded corsage. A few quick lines, telling me he had to leave early for pack business and Liam would take me back to the academy. Breakfast was in the kitchen and clothes in the closet. I ground my teeth over the simple note, but pushed my emotions down deep. Getting all hysterical wasn’t going to get the noose off my neck. I needed to channel some of Reed’s calm and treat this the way he would. Like it was a political game, and nothing personal.

True to his word, Jasper had left a complete school uniform in the closet, only it was the version with the short skirt, and a gold-colored blazer instead of the Marshall red. After a blistering shower, I dressed and wound my wet hair into a tight bun. I didn’t want to linger in the room long enough to dry it, but I did stop at the writing desk in the corner. Pulling open the drawer, I took out the hotel’s leather binder and quickly put its contents to good use. When I was finished, I gathered my things and headed into the kitchen. The refrigerator was stocked with cold breakfast dishes, with some more packed into microwave containers, but I just wanted to get the hell out of the suite. Grabbing a banana and a croissant, I headed for the door. I hit the lobby button in the elevator, and wasn’t surprised to find Jasper’s goon waiting when I arrived.

“Morning, Ms. Marrow,” he said, falling into step beside me. “The car is in the basement.”

“I’ll just be a moment,” I told him, and marched up to the reception desk. An older woman game me a practiced smile, even though her eyes kept flicking to Jasper’s goon. “Morning,” I said in a cheerful tone, taking the letter I’d written from my pocket and placing it on the desk. “I was hoping you could send this for me. I don’t have a stamp, but I can pay…”

The receptionist was nodding and smiling, but a large hand came down on the elegant envelope, swiping it off the counter before either of us could react. I gaped up at Jasper’s goon. “All correspondence goes through the Alpha,” he told me, and I watched in disbelief as he tucked it inside his black coat. “You can call him from the car, if you like.”

The woman at the desk was stepping back, her attention suddenly focused on her computer. I felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment and hissed at him, “You can shove my foot up your ass, if you like. Give me back my letter!”

The asshole just shrugged. “Cause a scene, but no one will stop me from carrying you out of here over my shoulder.”

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