Page 7 of Despair

“Food.” His voice was rough, barely more than a growl, but it was a word.

Despite his still huge and naked body on top of mine, an overpowering rush of relief crashed over me. His humanity was returning.

“Y-yes. I’m hungry,” I said.

He grunted and lifted off me, exposing my skin to the cool air. Goosebumps immediately crawled up my arms and down my torso at the loss of his heat, but I still breathed easier without his closeness and scent filling my nostrils.

There had been pleasure when he mounted me, but it had come with a lot of pain. On some level, I would almost have preferred it to just be agony and nothing else, because then it would have been easier to deal with. Now…

I forced myself to turn over so I could keep a wary eye on 351 as he crouched down to pick up a tray by the cell door. Breakfast must have arrived while I was out cold.

Some might call what he’d done to me last night rape. I might have too, were it not for the pleasure that had coursed through me with every rough thrust 351 made into my protesting core. But despite everything, despite how much his brutal cock had hurt me, the fact that he had ensured my body’s enjoyment meant I couldn’t ignore what I’d known since the first time he took me: he was a slave to his instincts. If I’d had no choice in what happened to me, he’d had even less.

At least I’d signed the contract that landed me here of my own free will. He’d had no say when they stripped him of his humanity.

But that didn’t mean I didn’t shrink back when he walked back to the mattress, tray in hand, and the hugeness of him reminded my aching body of the strength and ferociousness he’d taken me with while I’d howled and sobbed for mercy.

351 frowned down at me, clearly displeased, and I clasped my hand to the back of my neck with an involuntary whimper.

But instead of forcing me into submission again, he set the tray in front of me and went to fill our cups from the sink, and I breathed a shaky sigh of relief. Perhaps the return of his speech, however limited, meant he was capable of fighting whatever primitive alpha instincts were telling him to put his female in her place.

He returned with our now filled cups, placing mine on the floor next to my end of the mattress before he sat down on the other side of the tray.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

351 grunted. “Eat.”

Seemed I was allowed to feed myself today, then.

I picked up one of the chunks of bread and carefully dipped it into what looked like leftover stew from yesterday, making sure not to brush against the alpha’s hands as he dove in.

We ate in silence, but even though I made sure to keep my eyes on the food, I could feel his gaze on me the whole time. When I finally dared a glance at his face, it became clear that he was studying me. His eyes tracked every move I made, every flutter of my hands as I tried to stop them from shaking.

“Why?”

I drew in a sharp breath at the unexpected sharpness of his voice cracking between us.

“Why… help? Risk…” he growled, clearly irritated with his limited vocabulary.

“They were hurting you,” I said, flashes of his bloodied back finally easing my hands’ trembling. The reminder that I was in here because I had tried to put a stop to the horrors I’d seen somehow soothed me. Despite everything, it had been worth it, because I couldn’t have turned my back on this. “All of you, the women too. I couldn’t let them continue.”

“Dumb.”The word was spoken with so much anger, my heart picked up speed in another uneasy pitter-patter. “In danger. Can’t protect.”

“I know I can’t protect anyone when I’m in here too, but I couldn’t have gone to the media without proof. Pictures wouldn’t have been enough, they had to see—“

“No,” he interrupted me, agitation drawing his lip up in a silent snarl. “Females don’t protect.Iprotect! Mate.”

“Oh.” I swallowed hard. I guessed now was as good a time as any to straighten a few things out. “Look, I know… I know you can’t help being all wrapped up in instincts. It’s not your fault—it’s the drugs. Like I couldn’t help… the heat. They drugged me too. What happened between us. The… the bite. It wasn’t our decision. I know that, and deep down you must too. I am not your mate. Not really. We didn’t choose—“

“Ichoose,” he growled, something dark flashing in the depths of his eyes that made me recoil as my heart slammed into my throat. But I wasn’t quick enough, and he snatched me by the neck before I could get off the mattress. His big hand closed around the top part of my throat and jaw, squeezing just tight enough to labor my breathing.

I gasped and clawed at his hand with my fingers, the panic I’d managed to settle since the return of his speech ramping up tenfold as I stared wide-eyed at the furious alpha.

“Mate,” he snarled, blazing eyes narrowed.“Mine.”And then he reached out with his free hand and touched my chest exactly where thethingburied behind my ribs was squirming anxiously.

“Bond.”

I blinked, my frantic clawing at his fingers around my throat stilling. “B-bond?”

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