Page 32 of Claimed By the Alpha Wolves

My brain melts further into horror as I realize I was wearing a pale pink dress, much plainer than this one, but still the same color, the day my brother died. My stomach turns, and I struggle to breathe. This was all his plan. I’ve been falling into it without even knowing it.

Kurt is manipulating me, dressing me how he wants, throwing my worst trauma in my face again and again. I need to get away from him. I need to run.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, his eyes roaming over my face. “Did you catch a cold last night when thatbuffoontipped your boat and catapulted you into the water? I didn’t see it, but I heard about it. I almost think a good, well-meaning alpha should scoop you up just to keep you from a life with an absolute moron.”

We continue moving across the ballroom. Around us, other couples are laughing, joking, their faces bright with color and mirth. Inside, I feel like a graveyard.

When will this dance end? When will he stop touching me?

“I’ve never forgotten how beautiful you are, Faye,” Kurt says, lifting a finger to brush a lock of hair out of my face. “Have you been thinking about me?”

“No,” I manage to say, as a shudder runs down my back from his touch.

Bile is rising in my throat, and if it weren’t for the humiliation of vomiting on the dance floor, I would happily ruin his suit.I need to get out of here. I need to get away from this monster. Before he kills me too.

I wish I could summon the courage, the boldness I feel when I’m around Cayson. Going back and forth with him is easy. When Kurt is near me, it feels like my brain leaves my body, floating above me and monitoring the interaction as though it’s happening to someone else.

His hands tighten on me again and I pull away from him as much as I can. I watch the lines of his face sharpening as he pulls me in again, our bodies warring, trying to create and reduce space at the same time.

When Kurt leans close to me and takes a deep breath, the hairs on the back of my neck raise. “Even for an omega,” he says, shaking his head, “you’re so weak. It’s clear to all of us that there’s something broken inside you, something broken in that brain of yours. You know that, right? All the other alphas you’ve been flirting with, they can sense as easily as I can that there’s something fundamentally flawed inside of you.”

I swallow. My throat feels like a knot. I glance around the ballroom, wondering if I can catch Addilyn’s eyes, if I can get her to come to my rescue, but I see no one I know, and no way out of this. My legs tremble, and I realize that if this lasts much longer, I’ll collapse.

“Poor Faye,” Kurt whispers, turning us so we continue dancing, but far enough away from others that they can’t hear what he’s saying to me. “So undesirable. Maybe I’ll choose you as my mate, just to save you. To keep you safe. Would you like that?”

“That will never happen,” I say, my voice coming out foreign to my own ears, and it wouldn’t. As much as he wants to hurt me, an omega is a mate for life. He’d never hurt himself just to hurt me.

I stare at the collar of his shirt, not being able to stand the thought of meeting his eyes. I just pray that the dance will end soon. That my nightmare will end soon.

“Oh, Faye,” he says, hooking an arm around the small of my back and pulling me even closer, so I can feel the bulge in his pants pressing against me. “What you’re forgetting is that I’m an alpha. Anything I want to happen, happens.”

My knees go weak and Kurt laughs, his hands tightening on me to hold me up. I’ll pass out, and Kurt will ferry me away from the ballroom, and when I wake up, I’ll be as dead on the outside as I feel on the inside.

The music shifts, turning to another song, and dancing partners change. Black dots swim in my vision.

“I’ll take the next one.” Ezra is suddenly there, and I have to hold back a sob of relief as he pulls me away from Kurt and into his arms.

I cling to him, trying to get my legs to stop shaking. Trying to take deep breaths to calm the lightness in my head.Ezra is here. Kurt won’t be touching me anymore. I’m free of him.

Serra, to my surprise, also swoops in, hooking her arm around Kurt and pulling him away from us as Kurt glares back at me. I try to look away from the anger in his face, but it’s impossible to, until Serra says something that draws his attention.

As soon as Kurt isn’t close to me, some of the blood returns to my brain, and I’m able to breathe again.Thank the gods for Ezra.I might not want an alpha, but I needed one at that moment.

“Are you okay?” Ezra asks, his scent washing around me, and it feels like wrapping myself in clothes right from the clothesline.

“I am now,” I murmur, embarrassed by how it comes out.

I know he’s not looking for an omega, and I’m not looking for an alpha, but I can’t deny that I feel better when I’m in his arms. Ezra simply radiates a calmness that makes me feel safe even when faced with Kurt, which is something I never imagined would happen.Maybe it’s because he’s an alpha.I don’t know, but it’s something.

We move around the ballroom, and Ezra expertly keeps me away from Kurt, who looks annoyed at the way Serra is chatting to him the brief times I glimpse him. Ezra’s every move issmooth, like he wakes up dancing and doesn’t stop until the night. I don’t have to think when I dance with him; he simply guides me about where to go without a word.

“Thank you… for dancing with me,” I manage.

“It was no problem at all,” he says, but I can’t tell if he means it.

Kurt’s gaze catches mine again, and I flinch. If he wasn’t distracted by Serra, I have a feeling he’d be over here demanding I dance with him again. Not many omegas are brave enough to ask alphas to dance though.

“Was that you?” I ask him, tipping my head in Serra’s direction.

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