Page 170 of Psycho Alphas: Part One

Icoulddo this for her.

There was a growl, and I heard a sharper whimper. I flinched, eyes darting back to see Thistle fighting the Alpha who held her. Gun to her head or not, he had to pin her to the ground. Her wild, violet eyes were fixed on me, a huge hand clamped over her mouth as he crushed her fight to dust.

Those beautiful galaxies glittered with tears and terror, wider than I’d ever seen as she watched.

She wanted me.

I’d pushed her away, and she still wanted me.

I shouldn’t have looked.

“Lover…” Bella’s voice was ice cold, and I felt the tips of her toes brush against my chin, nudging me to face her once more. “Do I need to cut her eyes out and wear them around my neck to make you see me?”

My gaze snapped back to her, shoving down my growl. I needed to end this, so Thistle didn’t linger in her mind.

My fingers curled around her ankle and drew my teeth against her skin.

I didn’t turn, this time, when I heard Thistle’s choked sob.

She’d turned from prize, to an Omega who was mine to protect, and that was the conviction I clung to now.

She’d lived her life with no protection, rejected by everyone who was supposed to love her.

I’d seen glimpses of those scars, even when she fought so hard to cover them up, to pretend she was okay.

I wouldn’t be another knife in that wound, slowly bleeding her to death.

Mate or not, I loved her.

And I could paint her a picture of what love might look like—without destiny, without scent matches, it was a gift that was mine to give. So much more than those canvases of black my own scent match had left me with.

I shut my eyes as my teeth broke flesh, and I made an offer that would be my end.

FORTY-FIVE

KNOX

Time wasn’t moving like it should and there was a sharp ringing in my ears as I collided with a pack bond.

Bella was in the centre of it, a poisonous queen.

Panic gripped me.

“Welcome to the pack, Brother.” Rodrick’s breath was hot in my ear. I could sense his own excitement, like I could feel the heat of his body behind me, and the pressure of the gun against my back, keeping me still.

I wasn’t afraid of that bullet tearing apart my flesh, though. But how quickly it might be turned on her—that was what shook me to the bone.

An image of Thistle flashed into my mind. An hour ago, perhaps? She’d stopped before me, eyes wide and teary, a fresh bite on her neck.

“You can just bite me. And then everything w-will be perfect.”

I would take it all—Rogue and a dozen other demons, if it meant her. If it meant even one more night of my life waking to her in my arms, every touch of hers enough to chase away my monsters.

Too late.

But… but she was safe now.

She should be.

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