Page 66 of Moon Kissed

Something flickered in Nia’s eyes so fast, I almost missed it. Clearing her throat, she simply replied, “Thank you. I would appreciate that.”

With that, we set off for the mess hall. Stepping inside the loud, bustling cafeteria, it struck me how normal it was. No one had any idea that they were laughing, joking, flirting, and tossing the ball back and forth on top of a crime scene.

And they’ll never know. Orion burned him up and flushed him down the drain. Not a lot of things can beat a wolf’s nose, but fire is one of them.

“Ugh, this is disgusting. What the hell’s in this?”

Badr’s voice stole my wolf’s attention, as it always would until the blasted bond died. She turned my head toward him against my will.

“It’s corn beef and cabbage,” Paxton said. Seemed he had recovered from his impromptu floor nap the night before. “It’s what you said you wanted.”

“I was wrong.” Badr shoved his plate at him. “Get me the chocolate chip pancakes instead. Thanks, man.”

Paxton took it and went off without a word. I muttered as he brushed past me.

“You must be so tired of that.”

Paxton stopped dead. “What? Were you talking to me?”

“Someone should,” I said softly, drawing closer. “Someone should actually talk to you like an equal instead of barking orders at you like a servant. Aren’t you tired of that? Aren’t you tired ofhim, and hisPaxton, get that, Paxton, fetch thisbullshit? And for all your loyalty to him, what does it get you?” I laughed. “Oh, yeah. Punched in the face.”

His jaw clenched as hard as his grip cracking the plate.

“You should stand up for yourself, Paxxy.” I trailed a finger up his thigh, making his limbs wind tighter than a bowstring. “Use your voice. You’re the most famous omega in Wolf Nation history. You were chosen by Luame herself to be the father of the greatest generation of shifter wolves. Stand up for yourself. Tell these assholes how you’re going to be treated.”

Paxton cut me a sideways look.

“What do you think?” I asked.

“I think you’ve been locked away in your ivory temple too long, Princess Priestess. Only reason you can say all that bullshit with a straight face.”

My smirk froze on my lips. “What?”

Paxton laughed in my face. “Stand up for myself? Use my voice? Condescending bullshit that only an epsilon would say.”

“Mmmhhm,” Nia sounded, earning a glare from me. She shuffled off whistling like she didn’t say anything.

“Let me tell you what it’s like in the real world, Volana. Take you on a little tour in the life of an omega,” Paxton hissed, dropping his voice. “In the real world, an omega who says no to an alpha is punished—hard.They’re made an example of so that they never get it into their heads to say no again.

“When I was eight, I refused to do Liam Maddox’s homework, so he commanded me to jump off the top of the jungle gym.”

My eyes popped.The little sadist made him do what!?

“I broke both legs,” Paxton dropped without inflection. “They healed too fast and not properly, so the nurse had to break them again. And before you ask, no, she didn’t give me pain meds.”

I winced. Just because wolves healed fast didn’t mean we didn’t feel pain. To have both your legs broken twice in the same day, I couldn’t imagine going through that at only eight years old.

“Afterward I complained to the teacher, and you want to know what the bastard did? He punishedmefor disrespecting an alpha, and made me stay late every day cleaning the school with the janitor for the rest of the year.”

“Paxton, I—”

“When I was ten,” he gritted, plowing on. “Stacy Franklin had a crush on me and decided I was her boyfriend. She stole my first kiss under command, but when her daddy found out she was kissing an omega boy, she got scared and saidIforced myself onher.

“I was kicked out of school the next day.”

My stomach churned. I thought I heard every variation of every horrible confession from my time in the temple, but sexually assaulted and falsely accused before your eleventh birthday? That was a new level of awful.

“When I was eighteen, a couple of alpha boys stole a rich guy’s car and crashed it. I saw the accident and ran to help them.I pulled them out of the twisted fucking heap and dragged them clear before it blew up.

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