Page 14 of Gift from the Nexus

“Just like her whore of a mother who allowed a wolf to crawl between her legs as well.”

My mother’s Nexus was wolves.

“Someone within the Nexus was a wolf.”

“But usually Nexuses with wolves—”

My thoughts are drowned out when the piercing pain of four knives penetrating my side engulfs all my senses. No, not knives I quickly realize as Max retracts his claws then digs them deeper into my raw and battered flesh. His massive partially shifted paw holds me down easily no matter how much I scream and attempt to buck my hip away from him.

“This is exactly where I’ll mark you once we’re bonded.” He growls low in my ear before snatching his claws out so quickly, my blood sprays across the floor.

I was so consumed with how his paw can easily stretch the entire width of my torso, with the ability to slice me so completely he could have my insides hanging out, I forgot that Donald’s hand is lying across my heart. That’s until the burning begins.

“We’ll all be leaving a mark on you, Willow.” He chuckles as his hand fully ignites into flames.

Fuck. He got a fire element as well.

My chest swells with pain from the inside out and a silent scream gets stuck in my throat as all the air rushes from my lungs. My own fire, both element and flame from my dragon, fights relentlessly to escape and extinguish his inferno. I can’t see the mark he’s leaving behind, but I know it’s a perfect impression of his hand, I feel the outline like a cattle brand seared to my skin for life. I’ve never been burned before, so I have no clue if his hand on my heart is here to stay, and that thought, that fear, sends my beast into a frenzy.

The suffering, tormented feelings and impressions being passed from her to me make more tears and sobs bubble to the surface. Her animalistic nature is overwhelmed, desperately mourning the mark of our mate and the possible permanentdamage done to my body by a man that’s not ours. It’s driving her mad, to the point I can barely contain her. She wants out, to be free.

Please, please calm down. Everything’s going to be okay.

My soft pleas are mere whispers in my mind. It’s painful to use that much mental strength to direct my thoughts straight to her, and it takes every bit of concentration and coaxing to soothe her enough to where I can reinforce the cage I have built around her for now.

“Do not bite if you can’t refrain from drinking. I can’t have you draining her while I’m collecting her blood as well,” Franklin orders gruffly, drawing my attention to the individual catching his attitude.

At the end of the table, Bryce stands there, almost transfixed on the blood pouring from my wounds as well as the tubing. The longer he stares, the more the whites around his irises merge into crimson. When his eyes snap up to mine, like he could sense I was staring holes into him, the slow smirk that stretches across his face reveals and elongates his sharp pearly fangs.

“I won’t feed. Only nibble.” He hums, causing my veins to thud wildly beneath my skin.

The thought that he’s about to inject me with his venom and have my body betray me by withering in unwanted, undesired pleasure is going to send me over the edge. Moments ago, I was breaking, needing this to be over. Now with this predicament in front of me, I welcome the pain like a lifelong friend. I’ll embrace it, become one with it.

His teeth pierce through the soft skin on my thigh easily, painlessly, and heat begins to spread throughout my body, causing my panic to rise faster, fiercer. Quick, short pants are all I can allow myself to take through the knot lodged in my throat and my eyes nearly bulge out of my head when he lifts his gaze to me and winks.

As soon as that heat reaches my core, I cry out, on the verge of begging him to please stop, but the plea never has the chance to leave my lips.

That familiar tingle swiftly shifts into a gut-wrenching cramp that has my body attempting to curl in on itself and a fever like no other sweeps through my blood. It’s so hot, I swear it has my skin melting away. This is an affliction I have never felt before in my life. It’s ten times the torment my first shift was, and at this moment in time, I’m sure I’m going to die from it.

The shrill that tears from the depths of my soul is so magnified, I no longer hear the chuckles coming from Donald, Max, or Franklin if he’s even having a reaction. My wails bounce off the concrete walls and return to me, creating a haunting echo, a symphony of my suffering.

I don’t know the time that passes as I give myself over to the sensation. There’s no fight in me, no brave face, no hiding how much this hurts like I always tried to do anytime Donald or Franklin did something to me. All there is now is pain as they each brand me, stab me, bite me, burn me, bleed me dry.

I flinch, craning my neck as gentle hands grasp my cheeks and wipe away my tears. The movement is excruciating, and it doesn’t take much for them to turn my face back to theirs.

“Open your eyes,” Trex whispers quietly.

My mind is so foggy, delirious, it takes me a second to recognize the fact he’s the only one who hasn’t done anything to me. At least I haven’t been cognitive enough to notice him knocking at the barrier of my mind.

It takes considerable effort to peel my soaked lids open and when his face comes into view, I don’t know what to make of the mask he’s wearing. Part of him seems so uninterested in what his “brothers” are doing, and the other part seems completely fascinated with me.

“Open your mind to me, and I’ll make all the pain stop. I’ll take it all away,” he mumbles inches away from my lips.

Never.

He may not be actively participating in my torture right now, but he’s still a part of this Nexus. He’s been standing in his little corner, allowing this to happen to me. The whole hero amongst the villains bullshit won’t work on me.

“Pretend to pass out, Willow.”

---