Page 24 of Met Your Mate

"Casey," she whispers in between sniffles, her tears having slowed a bit ago.

I lean forward a bit, hoping to see more of her beautiful face. "Yeah baby?"

"I-I'm sorry."

"What? No." I decline her words. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Freya."

Another sniffle. "I got you into this mess and now you're all hurt and stuck here, too."

Removing one of my hands from her hair, I tickle her cheek with my middle and pointer finger until she tilts her head back to look at me.

Smiling softly at my omega, I respond, "If there's anything I might be upset about, Freya, it's that I wasn't a part of this mess to begin with. But I understand why you kept it from me, from us, so there is nothing to apologize for."

When she opens her mouth, probably to argue, I put my finger between her teeth. "No, no, baby girl. You chose us for years. You have to let us choose you too."

I don't know if it's my finger in Freya's mouth or my words, but her eyes spark and her breath hitches. Like the little brat I know her to be, she swipes her tongue against the ticklish tip of my digit and pulls away.

The heat in her gaze doesn't fade, but insecurity trickles into her eyes and voice when she whimpers, "Mine?"

My heart does a somersault in my chest like it's trying to reach her through my fucking flesh. "Yours," I declare, my voice thick with emotion.

As quick as lightning, my omega snatches my forearm and nudges her canines against the thundering pulse in my wrist before I can react. My breath gets caught in my throat at the sheer possessiveness glinting in her eyes, but there's also a question there. One final ask. And one I am one hundred percent certain of the answer.

"I'm yours, Omega."

Little teeth puncture my skin, but the pain quickly fades into a pleasant warmth.

My soul twines with hers as much as possible without an alpha to solidify our bond, but the connection is bright and fizzy.

It's mine. It's ours.

I'm hers.

Chapter Twenty-One

FREYA

I'm feeling so ridiculously emotionally raw that I'm fuming. I fell asleep I don't know how long ago, only to find myself waking up in a similar basement cell as the ones used for isolation.

I don't think it was a normal nap I had either. With all the drugs being waved around and pumped into my system while in this place and at the academy, I'm sure they drugged me to move me here.

Where here is, I don't know, and it's taking everything in me not to panic that I won't see my mates again. Our bonds don't tell me shit about how far apart we are because they were weak to begin with.

I have no idea how long it's been since I was taken from campus, but I've lost all hope I will ever be returning. Either I am never leaving this place, I'm leaving in a body bag, or I escape. The latter possibility is laughable.

As pretty of a thought that is, I shut that shit down and try to enjoy the dim lighting of the new scenery. If I never saw a white light ever again, that would be ideal.

If there is an after with this hell, I'll make sure my new home far, far away by the ocean somewhere has warm lights. Yellow and dimmable, preferably.

Something tickles my chest as I take a deep inhale, making my eyes shoot open and my neck cramp as I snap it up to see what kind of creepy crawly is disturbing me. Except, there are none that I can see.

I'm dressed in something that looks like a T-shirt dress, but far nastier and holier than anyone would ever wear by choice. I hate that someone had their hands on me while I was unconscious, but let's be honest, it's not the first time that's happened.

Gravel crunches beneath my skull when I let my head fall back to the ground. Just as I'm about to release a sigh, a shuffling sound has my breath getting lodged in my throat.

Stiffening, I try to calm my already rapidly beating heart.

Who's in here with me?

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