Page 179 of Psycho Beasts

Still, I squinted and debated it.

I wasn’t a coward.

Before I could plot my path, Xerxes shoved his palms into his face and turned away. He muttered to himself, “What the fuck is wrong with you? Stop it.”

Sun god, he had a nice ass.

I would have risked the kneecap pain and crawled toward him—his thick butt cheeks were beacons of light in a dark world—but I got distracted by the gouge marks that covered his back.

Dried blood streaked across his skin, and the marks were so deep it looked like he’d been whipped.

Suddenly, I felt like utter shit.

Nausea churned my stomach, and I scurried backward away from him. “I’m so sorry about your back.”

He didn’t turn around.

Just hunched his shoulders further downward and muttered expletives under his breath.

He seemed distraught.

I shoved my knuckles into my mouth as it dawned on me.

Holy sun god, I was a man-eater.

Fuck.

Before I could gain the confidence to report myself to the appropriate authorities, there was a loud banging on the door.

Cobra yelled, “Xerxes, what the fuck are you doing? We can feel your pain.”

Oh great, now they were going to see what I’d done to him and I’d be carted off to the don for punishment.

My brain churned as I struggled to remember the consequences for abusing an omega.

Something about disembowelment, but I couldn’t remember if I was also going to be set on fire or just shot with a bullet through the brain.

Xerxes hunched even lower until he was crouching with his arms around his legs. He didn’t answer, but his entire body trembled.

I deserved the fire.

“Fuck, Xerxes. Are you okay, man?” Ascher’s fist joined Cobra’s.

Jax’s voice was much calmer than the other two’s. “Stop banging and shouting. That’s not going to help him. You’re making it worse. He’s probably just having a nightmare. You know how it’s been for him. He’s okay.”

“He’s not okay,” I responded instinctually, then slapped my hand over my mouth.

Xerxes hunched deeper into himself.

There was silence in the hall.

I grimaced as Xerxes’s hairy crack was clearly on display. Not a pretty position.

After five minutes of nothing happening, I wondered if the alphas had gone somewhere else, and debated informing Xerxes that I could see his butthole and he should probably put on pants.

I opened my mouth to apologize again but was cut off by the metal door creaking.

Suddenly, it was pulled off its hinges and tossed into the hall by a snarling bear that let loose a bone-chilling roar.

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