Page 49 of Bite

Distracted, his hand lowers, aiming the gun away from me, and it’s like every bit of my repressed instincts slam into me, fortifying me. I am someone else entirely when I bark at my own father, voice dripping with dominant compulsion. “Point the gun at your head.”

His arm shakes as it raises the gun and presses the metal roughly into his own skin, like he’s fighting my command, but his scent tells the truth—he’s terrified. This is not the first time he’s been afraid of me, but it will be the last. I always thought that if I had this chance, I would have so many things to say to the man who hated me, but now that I’m here, seconds away from absolution, my mind is empty, my heart is at peace.

“Pull the trigger,” I bark, turning away, not even staying long enough to see his brain explode out the back of his skull.

I stumble out of the building, my vision swimming, and I fall to the ground on hands and knees. I blink, and it feels like an hour has passed, and when I look up from the dirt, I’m met with the sight of my father’s entire leadership dead on the ground. Some of their bodies are so mutilated it’s hard to determine who they are. I look away, scanning the compound for an invading group, but all I see is a gray form partially hidden behind a building. It disappears into the landscape around us, and I crumble, exhausted, with tears streaming down my face.

What have I done? I lost control and killed my own father. I killed him. Did I kill them too?

My heart races in my chest as emotion tries to overwhelm me. Fear, panic, and heartbreaking relief swirl in my head like a windstorm trying to blow me away.

I squeeze my eyes shut and breathe until I can focus again. When I open my eyes, my brother Tait is standing over me, his face angry and grim. I can already tell that he thinks I did this, all of it. “Did you kill Father too?” I nod. “He was right about you,” he croaks, eyes filled with hatred and something like betrayal. “You are a fucking monster. Leave.”

My heart cracks into a million pieces, but he just stares at me while his mild beta scent burns with grief. He squares his shoulders and raises his voice, snarling at me, “As the new leader of this compound, you are exiled.”

I can’t move, can’t rise from my knees. Exiled? I should have just let Father shoot me, it would have been an easier death than what will await me in the Wilds. I should have worked harder to push it all down, to swallow my instincts on a scream and be anything other than this monster I’ve become. A killer.

You’re just like me, a voice that sounds disturbingly like Father says in my head. In shame, I push my alpha down, down, as far as he will go.

“Leave!” Tait screams, rage painting his face red.

I crawl until I can walk, then walk until I can run.

A deep howl echoes through the thin trees, haunting me every step of the way.

[ 33 ]

RAINE

Abandoned Farm

Iwake up naked and sandwiched between two massive, warm bodies with a pool of slick soaking through the blankets twisted around my waist. Dair’s massive hand cups one of my breasts gently from behind, using it as an anchor to keep me plastered to him. Ferris has slid down in the night, his face pressed into the soft swell of my tummy, chin resting on the plushness of my mons like he can’t bear to be far from my pussy.

The sunlight filters softly through the worn cloth covering the windows, casting us in a warm glow. I close my eyes and savor the feeling of being in the center of these alphas. Ferris whimpers softly, and I open my eyes to see his body twitching in his sleep. At first, it’s cute, but then his face contorts into something pained and his scent sours. I reach a hand down to tangle in his messy curls, tickling his scalp in silent comfort.

His body relaxes, face tucking closer into the crease where my thigh meets my hip. I can feel his breath tickling through my soaked curls, and his grip on my thigh tightens with possession. I smile and close my eyes again, unable to believe that this is my reality. Ferris is here with me. He chose me.

Our frayed bond feels stronger today, as if proximity alone is enough to reinforce its weakened thread. Having his scent surrounding me and his cum rubbed into my skin also helped soothe my omega instincts. The most human part of me may need words and emotions to build our bond, but my omega is far more animalistic. It’s almost as though denying that part of me for so long has created an insatiable beast who is happy to accept bodily fluids as an apology.

I’m not ready to forgive him, but I’m already thinking about the next time Dair can suckle my bite and then rub Ferris’s cum into my gland. The explosive release of my perfume wakes Dair, his arms tightening a fraction before lazily rubbing the bare skin of my stomach.

“Mornin’,” he rasps, voice deliciously scratchy from sleep. “You hungry?”

I stretch my body, pushing my ass into Dair’s impressively thick cock and sliding Ferris’s face closer to my cleft. “Yeah, starved,” I breathe.

Dair’s deep chuckle tickles the soft hair on my neck. “Food first, little one. You’re on the mend and orgasms alone cannot sustain you.” He kisses the side of my head affectionately, but before I can argue that orgasms are the most important meal of the day, Ferris bolts upright, eyes wild and chest heaving.

I gasp, shrinking back into Dair’s massive frame as Ferris’s eyes clear, looking around to reorient himself in his surroundings. His eyes settle on us and his whole body deflates, scent calming again. “Just a dream,” he mumbles as he rubs the sleep from his face.

His head hangs in defeat, and shirtless as he is, with curls falling into his eyes, he looks like the subject of an ancient painting. “You alright?” Dair asks, voice rough with concern.

“Yeah,” he breathes. “Just a bad dream.” He scoots out of bed and starts getting dressed, looking over his shoulder to ask, “How long are we staying here?”

Dair untwines himself from my body to stand too. “I was going to suggest we wait until tomorrow at dawn to give Vale and Tore as much time as we can spare, but we have to leave then.”

“Alright,” Ferris agrees. “I’m going to get started boiling some water. Maybe I can even find a way to get a shower rigged up so we can wash.”

“Sure,” Dair says with some reluctance and sits on the edge of the bed. “Did you want to talk about your dream?” Ferris goes still, eyes widening a little. “You don’t have to, but it might help to talk about it.”