Page 9 of Forbidden Bonds
I have a bad feeling the infamous alpha is going rogue.
The long days of travel back to my former home world under the heavy cloud of Ethan’s censure are taking their toll on me. I just want this to be over, to have a place to hole up, decompress, and find some blessed peace.
Peace is not yet mine. If I’m honest, it probably never will be mine again. Not that I’m sorry to escape the Uncorrupted. But the Empire seems to be simply the lesser of two evils.
Whatever Ethan Black’s current intentions, I think it’s likely I’m going to be dumped into the hands of some government agency, where I will be poked, prodded, and questioned, before they lock me up and repeat the cycle for days and weeks until they can decide what kind of threat I represent, at which point they will probably lock me up somewhere else and monitor me for the rest of my life.
At some distant juncture in the future, I can only hope they arrive at a measure of trust that will allow me to isolate somewhere, on my own terms.
I’m not hopeful.
I am the only known mind-reading omega. They lost me once. I am certain they will put me down rather than risk that happening again.
Despite the rough hand life has dealt me, I’m not bitter about my fate. I intend to cooperate fully. But the simple truth is, I trust my fate here over a life with the Uncorrupted, where I was doomed to be bred by their ironically corrupted form of alphas. Anything, even death, is preferable to being a plaything for a sick alpha… or alphas. The thought of bringing an innocent life into that situation makes me want to vomit.
Thankfully—and I use the term in the loosest sense—Ethan Black saved me.
An event I’m doing my best to erase from my mind.
But what does he plan to do with me now? The feeling that something isn’t adding up increases as the busy streets of downtown Chimera flash past the windows.
The prickling sensation of unease intensifies as the vehicle enters the underground parking complex of a nightclub. A flashing sign readsPeppermint Moon, catching my attention before the SUV is swallowed up by the concrete structure.It looks prestigious to my untrained eye, the kind of nightclub that caters to dynamic elites.
What the hell are we doing here?
I glance across at Ethan as the vehicle slows then smoothly comes to a stop, but he gives nothing away as to this curious location. All I get is a pulsating hatred for me constantly emanating from him. The glimpses I’ve caught into his mind have all been of his fantasies about brutally killing me.
I get why he hates me—who could blame him?
“She’ll forgive you,”I told him afterward. God, I pray that she does, the omega who claims his heart.
I doubt she’ll forgive me, but that’s okay; they’re my dues. And I’ll take the guilt with me to my grave… which, as the vehicle door opens and I cautiously lean forward to look out of the car, could happen sooner than I thought.
All I see is the man holding the door open and two more waiting by an elevator with the air of club security. Ethan exits on the other side and circles the vehicle to join them.
I hesitate.
Ethan doesn’t touch me. He shoves his hands in his pockets, as though even accidental contact would be a betrayal. His voice, when he finally speaks, is bereft of emotion. “Walk. Don’t make me drag you.”
We follow the two betas to a private elevator.
Ethan ignores me as we ascend. He is tired now, and his mind gives a jumble of emotions regarding his mate rather than cohesive thoughts. They are making me even more unsettled, and I elect to stop snooping.
“Don’t ask me to forgive you,” he growls. “I’m not Lilly, and I don’t have a forgiving bone in my body… She’s my world.”
His jaw clenches hard enough that I hear the grind of teeth. For a second, I think he’s going to reach for me, shake me, hurt me. Instead, he turns away, shoulders rigid, as if even looking at me is contamination.
Lilly is his mate, the omega he betrayed because of me. The one he shares with another alpha by the name of Ryker Sherwin in a highly unusual menage situation. Alphas do not typically like to share a mate.
There is a line of excuses I can cling to. How I was backed into a corner by Cohen, how I didn’t know he was mated. But none of that matters, especially not to him. My words forced him, a mated alpha, to put his hands on me, another omega going through her heat. I need to take responsibility for what I did.
“I know,” I say quietly. “I envy her for being your world, even after all of this.”
He turns his head to look at me, and something flickers in his eyes. Not anger this time, but grief so sharp it pierces me. It’s gone in a blink, buried once more under the cruelty he wears like armor. Turning his head to face the elevator doors again, he swipes a hand down his face. The smile that appears is without humor. “You’re not a total bitch. Just another viral victim fighting to survive.” He side-eyes me, but I see only coldness there. “Just so we’re crystal clear, I don’t give a shit about you or what you’ve had to live through. You’re about to become someone else’s problem.”
My earlier pep talk about meeting my fate with dignity really hasn’t worked, and now my fear of the unknown has the blood draining from my face. Self-protection drives me to check thoughts, half-expecting him to be ready with some sadistic scene, only to find his attention focused on the elevator door and nothing else.
The doors open before I can succumb to a panic attack, directly onto a plush, very luxurious, and notably empty office. As we step out, a second elevator on the opposite side of the room opens, and a tall, handsome alpha with striking green eyes dressed in business pants and a white dress shirt emerges, frowning at Ethan.
