Page 5 of Prodigy & Tybalt
“Hurts,” I bit out through clenched teeth, pushing at the fucker’s chest but finding my arms heavy and weak.
“Find something else to look at,” an exceptionally-deep voice growled, shaking my ribs. A few snarls answered him from the building site, but far weaker.
“She needs medical care,” that deep voice—Shade—commented as he moved into my blurry line of sight. I gritted my teeth against the spike of pain, but it wasn’t physical. It burned like acid inside me, in the parts no one could see, and I gasped.
“It’s not what’s hurting her right now,” Tybalt said, tightening his grip on me and ignoring all my attempts to free myself. He ducked his head, his lips brushing my ear as he spoke. “I know you don’t trust me, and my words mean nothing to you, but this won’t fuck you up forever. I know it hurts, but the pain will fade. You’ll be okay.”
I managed to scoff, even as the next swell of pain made the world tilt.
“I was rejected by my mate, too,” he said in that low voice only for me as he swung me up into his arms. “I can help you through it.”
Yeah, because he seemedsoaltruistic.
He beat up your abuser,a little voice reminded me, the memories softening my heart, making the tears come faster.
The world shifted and swayed as he walked. No, ran. I slammed my eyes shut at the whirling buildings, the water, the sky spinning as dizziness sank its teeth into me.
“Is it you touching her?” Shade asked, closer than I expected.
“No,” Tybalt sighed. “It’s the bond. I think Sweetie marked ChaCha.”
The moment I heard the words, I knew that was the hot lance piercing my chest, driving pain into every part of me until I wanted to scream. My mate had marked someone else, chosen someone else, put his teeth in someone else.
It was the final nail in the coffin. He didn’t, and would never, want me. I would forever be rejected.
3
Prodigy
“Tyb, what the fuck?” I demanded when he came running from the direction of the dock to where we’d parked our bikes, the omega passed out in his arms. “I told you to look after her.”
“Take it up with Sweetie,” he growled, surprisingly angry.
I shouldn’t have been surprised—I knew what he’d been through. But they were both part of the Alpha Knights MC, both under my care and command, and I had no idea how the fuck I would soothe these tempers. I understood the choice Sweetie had made. There was no world that existed where he’d leave ChaCha, not a year ago and certainly not after ChaCha was kidnapped by the darkest, most degenerate men and abused for days on end. But I understood Tyb’s rage too, and how close his memories must be to the surface, how just the sight of a rejected mate must rake up his trauma.
I sighed, dragged a hand through my messy hair, and nodded. “Get her on a bike. And I mean it, Tybalt. Take care of her.”
His glare was a challenge, but I allowed it because he was right. Of course I knew he’d look after her, and repeating the order was unnecessary. But seeing anyone in this state got my hackles up, and triggered every last one of my protective instincts.
I wouldn’t lose anyone else to a sadistic, monstrous alpha. It was what drove me on every raid, what had pushed me to create the Alpha Knights in the first place. We couldn’t save everyone, and deep down I knew it, butfuckthat. No one I took into my care would die.
Not again.
I openedmy mouth to tell Tyb to stop pacing because it was driving me mad, but the omega came violently awake. She threw a fist at my face so fast I hadjustenough time to catch it, alpha reflexes saving me from a broken nose. My thumb stroked the warm silk of her hand of its own accord as I lowered it back to her side.
I smoothed a frown from my face, keeping my expression neutral as I released her hand, anticipating more blows. The small touch was confusing, especially because I wanted to do it again.
Her scent was pleasant—more than pleasant, she smelledgood, a calming mix of lily, mint, and fresh laundry, and my base instincts wanted me closer. They urged me to inhale right over her throat where the scent was the strongest. It wasn’t the first time I’d had this response to a scent, but this was… stronger.Compelling. Strangely reminiscent of meeting Tyb for the first time.
“You’re okay, you’re safe,” I told her, giving her space as she came fully awake, her mouth in a flat line that warned me to be careful. Any alpha who thought omegas were weak and harmless had never truly met one; they were fierce, dangerous creatures who could take down a massive alpha given enough determination. I’d seen it happen. “Do you remember me from the house in Liverpool? I’m Prodigy, president of the—”
“Leather wearing boy band,” she cut in dryly, pushing herself into a seated position on the sofa Tyb laid her on in the eastern wing of the clubhouse. “Yeah, I remember. Where’s the unfriendly bastard?”
“Pacing a hole in the carpet over there,” I replied, amusement smoothing the tension from my smile until it was genuine. “We held off getting you checked over by our medic; letting some random guy assess you while you were unconscious didn’t seem like a good way to earn your trust.”
“No shit,” she muttered, rubbing her eyes, her skin a beautiful, lustrous gold but her face almost wan, dull. Her eyes—a remarkable shade of forest green—were flat and heavy despite the humour in her voice. Part of me didn’t want to know what had happened to her in that pristine, minimalist apartment, but the rest of me needed to know so I could make a care plan for her. So I knew how badly she’d been hurt, what kind of recovery she needed, and whether she needed to be ensconced in the sanctuary and left alone immediately.
She should have been in the sanctuary now, andwouldhave been if not for Tyb’s sudden burst of possessiveness.
