Page 14 of Awakened

She’s dehydrated.

Starving.

Exhausted.

I clock each detail, and file it away. As I do, my anger grows, crashing into me in waves until I’m shaking.

Inside my chest, my side of our Bond pulls insistently, demanding my attention. My head swims with fury and a thousand questions, but with effort, I shove it aside. Blinking rapidly to clear the red haze from my sight, I focus on Idril right as she inhales deeply and frowns.

I freeze.

Her frown deepens. She takes another deep breath, and her body instinctively sways closer as she fills her lungs with my scent.

Her confused expression softens. Her muscles relax. Her lashes flutter and her eyes close.

Meanwhile, my side of the Bond is fucking screaming. The instant her eyes shut, it snaps out⁠—

And latches onto her.

Her eyes fly open. She gasps in shock, staggering as she stumbles back a step. Too fast for me to react, her foot catches on the edge of the thick rug, and she twists, falling to land on her back with a resounding smack.

I lurch forward, but she’s already moving, scrambling away like she’s trying to escape. This is not a normal response. This is…

Wrong! Something is very fucking WRONG.

Idril tries to stand, but her shaking limbs won’t support her, and she falls, collapsing on her hands and knees with a choked sob. Her eyes lock on mine and widen in terror. Before I know it, she’s gasping for air, panting and wheezing as she fights to fill her lungs.

Fates. She’s having a panic attack!

I have no fucking clue what’s happening, but it’s obvious that something about me is scaring her. So despite the way my heart twists at the mere thought of putting distance between us, that’s what I do.

Backing away feels unnatural, but this whole fucking experience is unnatural. With hands raised to show I’m not a threat, I inch back until some of the fear drains from her eyes.

The Scent-Match Bond pulses between us, alive and vibrating with intensity. That fucking golden thread should be soothing her instincts. The moment it connected our souls, she should have known who I am to her. She should have known down to her very marrow that I would never, ever fucking hurt her.

So why? Why is she terrified of her own Fated Mate?

Once I’m a safe distance away, Idril pushes to her knees. Her eyes dart frantically around the room as raw, broken words fall from her lips.

“This isn’t— it’s not— it’s not⁠—”

With a frenzied, desperate energy, her focus flits from one person to the next, quickly noting their identity before discarding it just as fast.

“Can’t—it can’t—it’s not—not—not p-possible. N-not. It’s not⁠—”

Does she even know she’s speaking right now? Is she even aware of what she’s saying?

In a matter of seconds, she’s clocked each male in the room—including me—except for one.

Her eyes land on Daxen.

Like someone flipped a switch, my Omega freezes. It’s fucking unsettling, the way her eyes land on him and her body goes unnaturally still.

Right when I think this whole thing can’t possibly get worse, a shrill, terrified Omega whine tears up Idril’s throat. The sound slices through the air, ricochets off the walls and ceiling like the casings of a shotgun before slamming into my chest and burrowing into the fucking marrow of my bones.

I’ve never in my life heard a sound so full of agony. It punches the air from my lungs, and I have to bend over, brace my hands on my thighs, and shove my head between my legs to keep from throwing up.

I can feel my canines elongating, my Beast taking advantage of a rare moment where I’m caught off guard to push through. My head snaps up and the growl I’ve been holding back finally escapes, cracking through the room like a lightning strike.