Page 17 of Feral: Part One

There’s no gentleness in Kael’s touch as he drags me across a small courtyard and into the main part of the house. It’s just as gorgeous as the pool house but warmer, lived in. It feels like a home, the rest of the pack littered around the living room as we step inside. It’s not fair how gorgeous they are just lounging around—Malik with his long silky hair and lean muscles on display, sweatpants hanging low as he sprawls out across an armchair, Thane beside him with that deviant smirk of his, and Preston straddling his thigh.

I almost come right there, staring at what has to be the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen. He’s got this soft look to him but he’s radiant, the Omega stuffed into a sweatshirt and shorts that barely peek out of the bottom. The way he’s caressing his bellytells me that he’s pregnant which just reaffirms why Kael is protective of him.

It makes me wonder if Riley is right and all of the news reports are wrong. Maybe there was a reason they tried to overthrow their family. Or maybe they weren’t overthrowing anything and the narrative was twisted. Regardless, I’m now standing in their house, wondering what is going on when my gaze falls on the final member in the living room.

He doesn’t seem to belong here, an Alpha in a crisp suit, cold green eyes slicing through me from across the room. One leg is crossed over the other as he leans back in an armchair, his expression a mixture of slightly amused to intrigue.

Kael sits me down on the edge of the couch, his hand firm on my shoulder. “We had Slate out in the pool house so he could get acquainted with the new setting. Being here was a bit much for him.”

I frown at the lie but don’t correct Kael because he’s not entirely wrong. Being here is a bit much and neither of us want me here. The Alpha’s stare doesn’t waver as he observes me. It dawns on me that this must be someone from the council but I have no idea why he’d be here. I don’t know what the protocol is for Wolfscorge or why no one explained shit to me.

The Alpha smirks as he stands and then steps up to me. “I’m Raphael Montgomery. I’m here to inspect the mating bite that was supposed to have taken place when Slate arrived.”

Fuck.

My eyes dart over to the corner, Preston staring at me curiously. Unlike the others of this pack, he seems to be enraptured by my presence. He’s almost vibrating, the arm around his chest keeping him there but the way his tongue darts out to lick his lips, I realize that I’m just prey to them.

Even to another fucking Omega.

Raphael clears his throat, drawing my attention back to him before he dips his eyes to my shoulder. I sigh and peel off the sweatshirt I donned at one point to cover up my scars, revealing the skin I always try to hide. My shoulders sag as I look down, expecting to see the mass artwork I’ve splayed across my skin but it isn’t there. Most of the knicks and cuts are barely welts now, the slices from this morning faded to mere scars.

Confused, I reach up to touch the scarred bond marks, preparing myself to find the jagged skin and finding nothing. Kael’s teeth marks are there but they’re healed. Everything else is just like… it’s justgone.

The other men in this room are just as confused as I am.

“What the fuck?” I whisper.

Raphael is the only one unphased as he has no idea what I’m reacting to. He inspects both sides of my neck and then shakes his head. “It seems the bite you gave him at the main house was only temporary because I don’t see any new marks on this Omega. That will be rectified immediately and I will sit here until it is completed.”

He sits back on the couch and crossing one leg over the other, waving his hand like we’re about to put on a fucking show for him. My eyes widen as panic claws up my throat, and I stand abruptly, shaking my head. “No,” I whisper. “Another bond might kill me and I’m not stupid enough to think that this pack will keep me when it’s time to part ways.”

Raphael merely shrugs. “That is not your decision to make. While it isn’t protocol to demand this step, this is the last test your pack will have to go through to gain their freedom.”

Forcing a bond like this is hell. It’s also justwrongand I’ll be tethered to a pack that doesn’t even want me. I try to reason with myself that this is only for survival but this feels like some dystopian shit that’s all been twisted around. This isn’t rehabilitation. It’s something else.

A sudden warmth wraps around me, like a blanket in this cold hell. The panic dissipates as I look around for the source, Preston throwing me a small smile, his gray-blue eyes sparkling. I don’t understand what he’s doing or why it’s helping but it’s keeping me in one piece.

Raphael leans back, his words edged with irritation. “Slate, I understand this isn’t a good situation. Unfortunately, it’s either this or the institution, and I assure you, the institution is far worse. At least here, you have a chance of joining the real world.”

More lies. Riley said that I wouldn’t be getting out and I’m more inclined to believe her than this Alpha that makes my skin prickle. I look over at Thane and then twist to look up at Kael before focusing on Raphael again. “Can I just die?”

Raphael frowns, his expression almost human for a moment, before it hardens again. “No, we don’t perform that kind of operation here. Now, Thane or Kael, please bond this Omega, or I’ll let the council know you are no longer interested in cooperating with this program and would like to be sent back to jail.”

I can’t do that to them. Even if I don’t want to be here and I want nothing to do with Kael and his pack, I can’t do that toPreston.I’m not even sure why it matters to me but it’s like the thought of hurting him is unacceptable.

“Just do it,” I push out. “Just get it over with.”

Thane

The living room is tense as we’ve all shifted, silently trying to decide who is going to do what. Kael has Preston on his lap now, Malik beside him. My cousin just keeps glaring at Slate and I know for a fact that if Kael is the one tasked with bonding the Omega, he might just kill him.

“I’m not doing it,” Kael snarls.

Case in point.

Slate’s just standing there, waiting and yet, he’s a gorgeous, defiant mess, glaring back at us. His arousal permeates the air despite the situation, although I’m sure that’s more because of Preston. Either way, I can see beneath Slate’s carefully coded surface. He’s probably needed an Alpha for years, and what Kael and Malik gave him wasn’t enough to calm him.

What I don’t understand is how the scars are gone. Something Kael did changed our newest Omega and it makes me believe that Slate is exactly where he’s supposed to be.

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