Page 69 of Caging Fire
In just a moment, I would be free!
I hurriedly approached the door, swiping my keycard as the reader beeped loudly. The door unlocked, and I pushed it open triumphantly. Warm air from outside enveloped me as I moved through the door.
Suddenly, my body collided with a large object, stopping me in my tracks. Harsh brown eyes peered down at me, and my stomach dropped.
The two alphas whom we had encountered at the elevator were standing in front of me. One was a tall brunette and the other had fiery red hair. They had been about to walk through the door, just as I went to walk out, crashing into me.
“Excuse me,” I said, trying to push past them and slip away before they figured out that I wasn’t where I was supposed to be.
The fear in my eyes must have given me away because a large hand clamped onto my bicep, holding me in place, as the redhead circled me.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” the redhead said.
“It’s Cade’s omega,” the tall man said, eyeing me warily and still gripping my bicep tightly. “Where exactly are you going at this time of night?”
“That’s none of your business!” I said, struggling to come up with a valid excuse as I shook my arm, trying to break his firm hold. “Let me go now or I’ll tell Cade that you touched me! He’ll rip you apart if he finds out!” I cried, hoping the threat of Cade’s retribution would be enough to repel them. They had certainly seemed intimidated by him when we passed them at the elevator.
“He absolutely would, but something tells me you will not yell for him, or even tell him at all. Something tells me he doesn’t even know you’re here. I bet none of them do. Whose key card is that?” the redhead asked, pointing to my hand that still gripped it.
“It’s Killian’s. He said I could use it. I don’t have my own yet,” I lied.
They both laughed as if I had told the funniest joke in the world.
“Now we know you're lying. Omegas don’t get their own keycards, you silly girl. A packmate always chaperones them. Let’s go; we're bringing you back to your unit,” the brunette said, pulling my arm toward the staircase.
They were going to hand me right back over to Cade. I shuddered, thinking about what he would do when he found out about my attempted escape. I felt weak and dizzy. My fever was spiking, even with the recent Tylenol, and my head pounded.
"Hold up, Jayden," the redhead said, firmly positioning himself in the way and lifting a hand to his packmate's chest. "Let’s pause and think this through."
“What’s there to think about, Finn?” the other soldier asked skeptically.
Finn grabbed a lock of my hair between his pointer and thumb, raising it to his nose and breathing my scent in deeply.
“Her scent hasn’t changed yet. She still smells heavenly, which means they haven’t all finished marking and mating her yet,” he told him, offering my strand of hair to the other man.
“So what?” he questioned, grabbing the offering and inhaling.
“Think about it, Jayden. She’s not technically theirs yet. Arca Military Law mandates that if a pack catches a deserter omega, she joins the pack that retrieved her. Technically, she’s trying to desert right now, andwejust found her. Cade, Ryker, Killian and Talon had their chance to mark and mate her. They didn’t finish the job, and here she is sneaking away from them in the night. She clearly needs a stronger pack to discipline her and keep her behaving. If it had been me, I would have kept her chained to the bed until her conditioning was complete.” His callousness sent a chill of terror through me.
Was he really suggesting what I think he was suggesting?
He continued scheming, ignoring the look of horror that crossed my face. “We’re a small pack; there’s only two of us. We could mark and mate her quickly. Once her scent changes, they won’t be interested in her anymore.”
He studied my neck closely, peeling back a corner of the bandage that hid Killian’s mark. Killian wouldn’t take it well when he found out Finn had touched it. He’d probably beat him to a bloody pulp. That part of me was sacred to him. Even the rest of his pack knew better than to go near it.
Finn’s face contorted into a grimace at the gruesome sight of the wound before he continued. “They got her good, but we can bite right over the top of their marks for good measure. They're nowhere near healed yet.”
They both looked at each other, eyes meeting in silent agreement, before their carnivorous gazes turned to me, raking my flesh and burning with hunger. The look on their faces might have ignited desire in me, if it had belonged to any of my alphas. But coming from these men, it stirred nothing but a cold, consuming fear.
Deep inside, something warned me: these men weren’t honorable. Their intentions were sinister. And if given the chance, they would hurt me.
In a split-second decision, I ducked, dropping Treasure Island and ripping my arm out of Jayden's grip. I flew towards the stairs, no longer caring about my escape attempt. I realized my ignorance had led me to a far more perilous situation than I had been in prior. I needed to get back to the dorm, or at least close enough that one of my alphas would hear me screaming.
My feet only made it up four or five steps before iron arms wrapped around me, preventing my escape. A piercing scream broke the oppressive quiet of the empty stairwell, but it halted abruptly as a sweaty hand clamped over my mouth. Remnants of the scream echoed through the cement hollow space before dying out.
The alphas stood rigid for a moment, waiting to see if anyone would respond to the noise. When the silence persisted, they sighed a breath of relief.
The hand on my mouth tightened painfully, gripping the hollows of my cheeks. An angry face, twisted with rage, came into view. “Don’t fucking scream again, you stupid girl,” Jayden alpha barked at me. His hand dropped from my face, shifting into a pointed finger aimed straight at me. “No one’s coming for you,” he said in a bitter voice. “You belong to me now.”
