Chapter 59: DEVASTATION

ASHER

We made it back to campus just as the sun was rising, students were starting to emerge from the woods. Their shifts complete and their runs finished.

Reed and I walked in silence. Far enough apart that no one would question it but close enough that I could feel him through the bond.

The bond.

God, the bond was real. I could feel Reed’s emotions bleeding into mine. His satisfaction, his possessiveness, his exhaustion from the rut and underneath it all, something that felt like concern for me and it made me sick.

“Go to your dorm,” Reed said quietly as we reached the edge of campus. “Clean yourself up, and rest. I’ll find you later.”

“Don’t,” I said.

Reed stopped walking and then turned to look at me. “Don’t what?”

“Don’t act like you care, don’t pretend this is anything other than what it is.” I met his eyes. “You claimed me because your rut demanded it, because I was in heat, because biology made you and not because you wanted me.”

Something flickered across Reed’s face. Through the bond, I felt a spike of emotion I couldn’t identify.

“Get some rest, Asher,” Reed said, finally ignoring everything I had just said, typical Reed Jackson. “We’ll talk later.”

Then he walked away and I stood there watching him go, feeling the bond stretch between us and feeling the distance like a physical ache.

My wolf was already whimpering, already wanting to follow him, to submit and to curl up against Reed’s side and let him hold me. I hated it, I hated my body for betraying me.

I hate being an Omega and I hated my wolf and omega instincts for making me weak, and I hated Reed for doing this to me but most of all, I hated myself because part of me wanted it, part of me had wanted Reed to claim me, it had wanted to belong to him and that part was getting louder by the second.

I made it to my dorm somehow and I locked the door and stumbled to the bathroom. My reflection in the mirror was devastating. The mark on my throat was dark and purple making it impossible to hide unless I applied some make up on it but soon someone would notice. Reed’s claim branded into my skin for everyone to see.

I touched it gently and gasped, the contact sent a jolt of pleasure through my entire body and it made heat pool low in my stomach and slick pouring out of my butthole despite how exhausted I was.

The mark was sensitive, connected to the bond and connected to Reed.

I turned on the shower and stood under the spray until the water ran cold but I couldn’t wash away Reed’s scent, I couldn’t wash away the evidence of what he’d done. What I’d let him do.

His release was still inside me. The bond was still singing in my chest and the mark was still burning on my throat. I was completely and utterly his.

When I finally emerged from the bathroom, I collapsed onto my bed. My body was exhausted. Everything hurt but I couldn’t sleep because every time I closed my eyes, I saw Reed, felt Reed and I wanted Reed. The bond was demanding I go to him, find him and submit to him.

My Omega instincts were screaming that I needed my Alpha, I needed to be near him and I needed his scent and his touch and his presence.

I grabbed my pillow and screamed into it.

This was a nightmare, a complete and disaster nightmare.

I was trapped, bound to my worst enemy, to the one person who’d made my life hell for months and I couldn’t escape. The bond wouldn’t let me, my wolf wouldn’t let me. I was completely and utterly fucked.

I must have fallen asleep eventually because I woke up to my phone buzzing. The sun was high in the sky and it was afternoon. I grabbed my phone with shaking hands.

Twenty-three missed calls. Thirty-seven text messages.

All from Julian, Scott, and other students asking where I was. If I was okay. What had happened during the run.

I scrolled through them with growing dread.

Julian: Dude, where are you? Everyone’s talking about the Omega scent last night.

Julian: Are you okay? You never came back to the clearing.

Julian: Asher, answer your phone. I’m worried.

Scott: Hey, just checking in. Crazy night, right? That Omega scent was insane.

Scott: Let me know you’re alive.

I started typing a response but then deleted it. What was I supposed to say?

Sorry, I’m the Omega everyone was chasing last night. Reed Jackson caught me and claimed me and now I’m his mate.

Yeah, that would go over well. I was about to turn off my phone when a new text came through.

Unknown number.

I opened it.

Unknown: My room. Now.

My blood ran cold. I knew who it was, I could feel him through the bond. I

He was demanding, expectant, and already annoyed that I wasn’t there yet.

Reed.

I typed back quickly.

Me: No.

The response was immediate.

Reed: That wasn’t a request. Get here in five minutes or I’m coming to get you.

Me: Leave me alone.

Reed: Four minutes.

My hands were shaking. I could feel Reed’s irritation through the bond, I could feel his Alpha authority pressing against my Omega instincts.

Come. Submit. Obey.

Reed: Three minutes and Asher? Every minute you make me wait, I’ll add an hour to how long I keep you tonight.

The threat made my stomach drop.

Me: I’m not coming.

Reed: Two minutes. I can feel you through the bond, baby. I know you want to come. Stop fighting it.

He was right. My body was already responding. Already preparing to obey. Slick was starting to coat my thighs. My wolf was whimpering and demanding I go to him.

Reed: One minute. Last chance.

I threw my phone across the room, I wasn’t going. I wasn’t going to submit to him and wasn’t going to let him control me but my body was already moving, already standing and already walking toward the door.

No. No, no, no.

I grabbed the door handle to steady myself and forced myself to stay still but the bond was pulling. The Omega instincts were overwhelming and Reed’s Alpha command was pressing against my mind through the connection.

Come to me.

My hand turned the door handle.

“Stop,” I whispered to myself. “Don’t do this.”

But my feet were already moving, carrying me down the hallway towards Reed’s dorm building.

I tried to fight it, I tried to turn around but the bond was too strong. The claim was too fresh. My wolf was too desperate for my Alpha.

Students stared as I walked past. Some whispered. Some pointed at the mark on my throat. They knew or at least suspected, I ignored them and kept my head down and kept walking.

Reed’s room was on the top floor of the Alpha dormitory. It was private and away from everyone else. I stood outside his door for a long moment. My hand raised to knock. My whole body trembled.

This was it. Once I walked through that door, there was no going back. Reed would know he could control me, that the bond gave him power over me and that I was completely and utterly his.

I lowered my hand and turned to walk away but the door opened and Reed stood there, his grey eyes fixed on me and his expression unreadable.

“You came,” Reed said quietly.

“I didn’t have a choice.”

“You always have a choice, Asher.” Reed stepped aside. “But we both know what choice you’re going to make.”

I stood there in the hallway, every instinct screaming at me to run, to fight and to do anything except walk through that door but the bond was pulling. The Omega was desperate. and Reed’s scent was washing over me, making my knees weak.

“Come inside,” Reed said. Not a command. Just a statement and my feet moved before my brain could stop them. I walked through the door.

Reed closed it behind me with a soft click and I knew with absolute certainty that everything was about to change Again.

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