Page 176 of Toxic

That’s when Soren turned around and looked at Liam for the first time—and… flinched.

"What the hell?" he blurted out.

It was like I’d been struck by lightning, my blood pressure spiking, my glands tingling. My vision turned red, and I knew I was losing myself.

It was imminent—in a few seconds, I would brutally kill Liam and end up in prison.

My head tilted back, and a blaringly loud roar came through my throat. I’d never made a sound so deafening. My neck glands bulged in two seconds, and my vision turned more and more crimson. I zeroed in on Liam’s face and made a jump…

But Soren’s body stopped me mid-air!

His whole weight wasn’t enough—he bounced off my chest, and would have fallen if not for my reflex. I could never hurt him, not him, no matter if he cheated on me with a thousand men—my arms caught him as he was already falling to the floor. My growl—a continuous streak tearing from my vocal cords—echoed around us.

Liam jumped back, hitting the wall with his back, panic-stricken, making whimpering submissive sounds—instinctive sounds betas were wired to make in the face of a charging alpha in fighting mode. He fell to his knees, making himself as small as possible.

My body, primed for killing, tried to free itself from Soren's embrace, but his hands gripped me desperately, stopping me in my tracks. I was so fucking ready to continue the attack, merciless, conclusive—but he just wouldn't let me.

"No! No! Skye! I beg you!"

I could barely see him through the red filter clouding my vision. I could do only one thing to save myself from jail and spare Liam’s life. The fighting mode was taking over more and more. My field of vision continued to narrow, and my neck glands pulsed painfully.

Running away was my only option.

I jumped, landing on all fours! And like this—like a wild wolf or something feral—I stormed out of the apartment, feeling like the biggest idiot (or cuck) in the world.

Only one conclusion was reverberating in my frenzied head now, completely unable to think logically: Soren clearly had more guilt toward Liam than I had suspected. Shaking with anger, I bolted down the stairs, avoiding the elevator, and ran to my car. Some people stared at me in shock as I passed them—I was sure my red eyes were almost glowing. An alpha in fighting mode was no joke.

I sped out of the parking lot within a minute. Soon my phone started ringing, but I silenced it. I didn’t want to answer because, honestly, who answers the phone when their world has just collapsed?

SOREN

When I heard the knock on the door, I’ll admit, I thought Skye had come back early and something was wrong with the code entry panel. But when I opened it and saw Liam, my jaw nearly dropped. I had never told him our new address, so his visit was at best… strange, if not straight-up stalker-ish. A shiver of unease ran down my spine, especially when I saw how horrifyingly thin his face was. He looked scary.

"Liam? What are you doing here?"

He smiled, but it was the kind of smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

"I thought I’d pay you a friendly visit."

Wow, strange wording. I swallowed hard. Not good—him being here was something Skye definitely wouldn’t appreciate. But what could I do? Shut the door in his face?

"Well, come in then. Skye’s not home."

"I know."

Uh-huh, so he knew and waited for this moment. Even more reason to feel uneasy. I let him in, but I stayed close to the wall, one hand over my stomach. It was only the beginning of the third month, and I wasn’t showing yet, but I didn’t want to risk him… what? Kicking me? Crazy thought, Liam wasn’t a monster.Was I overreacting? Probably, but something was off about his energy, a weird vibe surrounding him.

He looked around for a moment. "So, this is where you live."

His eyes scanned the surroundings. I had no idea what he was getting at, but I needed to figure it out quickly.

"Liam, why are you really here?"

Silence. He walked over to the bedroom door and just stared at the bed for a while.

"Visiting a friend of ten years. Is that a crime? So, this is where he fucks you?"

I rolled my eyes. Yep, I was scared, but I was also myself and couldn’t stop the comment:

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