Page 133 of Bonds of Hate

I’d thought I could scare Maya long before we ever got to this point. Keep our secrets. Maintain the tragic status quo.

Another crash from above. Closer this time, practically right outside the door.

But maybe it’s better this way. The lies were a heavy burden to carry. If the truth kills me, at least I’ll finally be put out of my misery.

I make myself look at her, gaze lingering on the pretty heat flush on her cheeks. She really is lovely, the exact type of Omega meant to stand at Logan’s side as his queen.

The metal doorknob turns, followed by a male sound of frustration.

“It would take days for him to break through that door,” I tell her, because that small bit of reassurance will make up for the truth that I refuse to put into words. “Our heat will be over before he thinks to go down to the armory and put together something explosive.”

The terrible joke doesn’t land. She sucks her cheeks in, which makes her look a bit like a livid chipmunk, and takes a deep breath with the clear intention of shouting at me.

Logan throws himself bodily against the door, making the hinges rattle. Maya lets out a surprised shriek before slapping both hands over her mouth.

She scrambles back in a crab walk, tripping over the edge of my nest in her haste to press herself against the wall.

I wince in reaction as Logan continues to take out his rage on the door, banging and scratching on the metal in a way that reverberates through the space. The door holds as well as I hoped it would.

“We’ll be safe in here,” I whisper, not sure if I’m reassuring her or myself. “He can’t get in.”

The banging stops, sudden silence somehow more ominous than the sounds of his rage.

“Omega,” Logan croons, his voice darker and more hypnotic than anything I’ve ever heard before. “Let me in, Omega. Let me tend you.”

The entreaty in his voice cuts through me like a blade. My body responds instantly, helpless need flaring through my veins despite years of practiced resistance. I’ve spent so long pretending to be a beta that sometimes I forget how deeply my Omega biology has wired me to respond to him.

Logan scratches lightly at the door, a visceral reminder of how that same movement would feel on my bare skin. “You don’t have to do this on your own.”

A hand slips into mine. It feels so good just to be touched, a sensation I didn’t know I’d been missing so acutely until now.

I look at Maya to see a whirlpool of conflicting emotions in her eyes.

Anger and fear, I expect.

The empathy takes me by surprise.

She looks at me as if she understands, as if the horror of this broken and impossible bond doesn’t disgust her like it should. Like it would anyone else.

“You rejected him?” she asks, nodding when she sees the answer in my stricken gaze. “You need to remind yourself why. It will make it easier to resist him.”

But that memory is a contradiction, made up of both the best and worst things that ever happened to me. Just the thought of taking that walk down memory lane is enough to set me shaking.

Logan senses my weakening.

His tone turns cajoling, with no hint of the rage that I know simmers just under the surface. He might just kill usboth while speaking in that same measured tone. “You need me. You need your Alpha.”

I desperately wish that I thought his words were a lie.

My hands grip Maya’s shoulders, only loosening my grip when she noticeably winces. “You have to distract me.”

When her lips touch mine, I expect desperation — the frantic need of two Omegas trying to distract themselves from the Alpha they both crave. But Maya surprises me.

Her kiss is gentle, almost reverent. Her lips press against mine with a tenderness I haven’t experienced in years, maybe ever. There’s no demand in it, no expectation. Just comfort freely given when I need it most.

Something cracks inside me. A wall I built long ago to protect myself from feeling anything at all.

My eyes burn with unexpected tears. I can’t remember the last time someone touched me with kindness rather than out of obligation or duty. The sweetness of her gesture cuts deeper than any cruelty ever could.

---