Page 45 of Psycho Beasts

My gut told me there was going to be a lot of chaos in our future.

Chapter 9

Ascher

INFERNO OF RAGE

I shoved my hands through my unkempt hair and fought the urge to snarl like a wild animal.

Just barely, I kept control of the fire raging through my soul.

Walter pointed out yet another massive bedroom with a four-poster bed, hearth, and bathroom en suite. He was giving us a tour of all the rooms before we decided which ones to take.

Truthfully, I didn’t hear a fucking word he said.

Piece by careful piece, I rebuilt my facade of indifference.

My face was stony like hard marble, while my chest burned with an inferno of rage.

Nothing could stop the pain.

With every cell in my being, I wanted to slam my fist into the wood carvings that neatly decorated the arched hall. Xerxes had old money, and his house was a mansion of exquisite caliber.

I didn’t give a single shit.

All I cared about was Sadie, and the wicked black-and-green bruises that covered every inch of her skin.

I kept my expression bland and pretended I was unbothered and calm. A chill person like Jax.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The fires inside my chest burned me alive, and I had to bite down on my tongue to stop myself from screaming.

Scream at Sadie for putting herself in harm’s way; scream at the fucker Spike for hurting her; scream at the don; scream at everyone.

The more Sadie put herself in danger, the more one thing became apparent: I wasn’t like the other alphas.

I couldn’t let her put herself in harm’s way because she had her own convictions and blah, blah, blah. She was a fucking princess.

My princess.

My fingernails dug into my palms hard enough to draw blood.

I’d always known I had issues with women. The syndicate had been a vile place, and I’d thought I was different from my father. Better.

But the truths of my past still haunted me.

Growing up, I’d learned that women were commodities. Sluts that were good for fucking and nothing else. If you gave them too much, they’d take it all. Greedy, lazy whores that used their bodies.

My teeth dug into my bottom lip, and blood flooded my mouth.

The mantra of a woman’s purpose had been hammered into my head from a young age. My father had made sure of it.

But in one respect, he’d failed.

For each slap he’d doled out to a woman, I’d received a worse beating. It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together.

My father was fucking unhinged.

---