Page 88 of Psycho Alphas: Part One

Shit.

She was mine. That meant I had to protect her.

“We can’t… fuck.” My voice was rough as I forced myself away.

Fuck?

Why had I said that? She’d only kissed me.

But her scent was a beast on its own, with vicious demands that were stacking in the air like a poisonous smog. Smog I was about to suffocate in.

But…

Shit.

Knox’s boundaries were in flux when it came to her, but if I claimed her…

A pillow fort and cuddles were one thing, but I couldn’t put her in more danger.

“Technically, we wouldn’t be, if you wanted to use the?—”

I caught her cheek, sitting up. “We can’t. If he catches you down here?—”

“No, no. You don’t understand, Ihadto see you. He’s messing with my brain. I knew if I came, and I saw you, it would all be different.”

“Is he hurting you?” My voice was made of gravel. I shouldn’t ask.

What would I do if she said yes?

WhatcouldI do?

“He’s uh…” Her lip wobbled, eyes darting from mine uncomfortably. “Well... he hasn’t hit me. And he hasn’t fucked me.”

He uh…hehadn’t?

I blinked at that, surprised.

“But I don’t know how to survive him,” she whispered. “And I’m scared if I don’t, you’ll hate me.”

I shook my head, not totally sure what she meant by the first part, but stalled by the second. “How could I hate you?”

She ducked her head, fists closing in my shirt like she couldn’t look me in the eye.

Okay.

My mind was reeling. If he caught her down here, he would lose it.

I needed to fix this now.

Get ahead of it. Now I’d met her, I knew I couldn’t survive watching him break her. She wasn’t the sunshine scent match I’d thought she was, but she was… more than that.

Somuch more.

There were lines he would cross with me that he hadn’t with her. Maybe because she was lucky, but maybe because he didn’t want to.

But if his viciousness was kept to me, I might still be able to protect her today.

TWENTY-TWO

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