They’d be coming, I was sure.
This alpha had shaggy hair, and dark eyes that looked on the brink of madness. A packmate joined him, one hand placed on his arm, something calculating in his eyes. They darted from me to the hallway I’d come from.
No, no, no.
A whine of frustration slipped from my chest as I tilted my head, exposing my neck. “I…” The words almost died on my tongue, but I forced them out. “I want a dark bond.”
It was like the last of the light died from the first alpha’s eyes.
It happened so fast I barely saw him move. But his fist was in my hair as he dragged me up so viciously I let out a whimper of shock.
My fists, covered in oversized sleeves, balled uselessly against his stone-hard muscles as I?—
My lungs seized, tears burning my eyes, but I forced myself not to fight.
This place was my punishment.
Quick.
Do it quick.
The Sisters always told me it was harder for me to go to heaven because of all the harm I might cause before I die.
“Corruption is rot flooding up from hell. That is what you are.”
So, I had to skew the balance.
This dark bond was my plea for salvation.
I’d never felt that love like the Sisters said they did. I’d always been alone, knowing how much harder it was for me to earn that safety.
The alpha’s grip was painful as he bowed over me, tilting my neck, and I was crushed against him, his scent of pine swallowing me up.
Not mine… but not the worst.
I’d been cold for so long.
Unloved.
Alone.
Please, I prayed, tears tracking my cheeks, bones clattering for how hard I was shaking as I felt teeth clamp down on my neck.
Please save me.
Save them, too.
An aura exploded into the air. Unstable and vicious.
Teeth dug into my flesh when something crashed into us.
I was flung to the side.
I caught the furious scent of ironwood and ember that had lingered in their cell.
He… was the last alpha in the pack—the one I hadn’t met.
Vandle.