Bring it.
We keep staring. His deep-set brown eyes, barely visible through the mask’s holes, are focused and unblinking.
Unwavering.
Shit.
My resolve starts to falter, and my heartbeat picks up. There’s something about being looked at that steadily, that completely, when you haven’t been seen by anyone in three years. It gets under your skin whether you want it to or not.
Look away, asshole.
I grit my teeth and hold his eyes.
After what feels like an eternity, he looks away. Small victory.
I win, ass crack.
But then again, I’m being kidnapped. So, not much of a winner after all.
I shift my attention to the other alphas walking ahead. Their heads are close together, voices low. I can’t make out what they’re saying, but it makes my stomach twist. Whatever they’re planning can’t be good.
So I do what I do best. I taunt them.
“What’s with the dollar store Halloween getups?” I say. “Trying to hide your ugly mugs?”
The alphas ahead turn. They ditch their masks, revealing rugged faces that look like they belong on some outdoorsy billboard. Annoyingly handsome, every single one of them.
“Looks like Sleeping Beauty’s awake,” Darius says. I’d heard one of the others use the name.
Amber eyes laughs, low and sharp. “She bites, she curses, and she looks at us like she wants blood. I’m already obsessed.”
I roll my eyes, more for myself than them, but Clown Boy squeezes me tighter, reminding me who’s in control.
Then Amber Eyes adds, “It’s Halloween, sweetheart. We wanted to make the hunt extra special.”
I freeze.
Halloween. My birthday. I’d completely lost track of time out in the woods. I’m twenty-one today.
Some fucking coming-of-age celebration this turned out to be.
“Happy birthday to me,” I mutter.
Amber eyes grins wider, catching the shift in my expression. “Oh, it’s your birthday? How fortuitous. We’ll make it memorable.”
I bare my teeth. “Oh, it’ll be memorable, alright—when I rip your eyes out.”
He chuckles.
“I can’t wait to fill up that smart mouth of yours,” Darius says.
“You come near me, and I’ll bite your dick off,” I snarl.
“I’ll have you begging for it in no time,” he replies, all fucking smug.
“Well, don’t come crying to me when I turn you into a eunuch.”
The big fucker carrying me shakes with suppressed laughter, and I look up at him, surprised. His whole body trembles with it, this silent, rumbling amusement that I can feel through his chest and his arms and everywhere we’re touching.