TW: SA and Violence

Devany

"Get off me," I growled, trying to wrench free from his grasp.

He squeezed harder as he straddled me, digging his knees into the soft ground on either side of me. Instinct shouted at me to buck up to try to dislodge him, but I knew men like Jac. That would only excite him more.

His free hand worked at the button on his pants. "I was starting to think I wouldn't find you tonight, or that someone else had already gotten to you despite the warnings I gave everyone.You belong to me."

"I don't belong to anyone."

His skin peeled off under my nails as I tore into the hand holding my face. Instincts be damned. I couldn't just allow him to do this to me. I couldn't–

Stars flashed in my vision as his fist collided with my jaw. If I hadn't already been laying on the ground, I would have fallen. He struck me again. For good measure, I supposed. Blood flooded my mouth as my teeth tore into the tip of my tongue. It dripped down my throat, gagging me and making me nauseated. Hot tears trickled down my cheeks as my head lolled around, my vision blurred.

Was this it? All this effort for it to end this way? I wasn't even wearing the damned necklace anymore, but it didn't seem to make a difference to Jac. Some Alpha I was. The wolf within me hadn't stirred. My ears pricked at the sound of a zipper. Not his. Mine. My heart lurched in my chest as the world snapped back into sharp focus.

I dug my fingers into the earth, nearly sobbing out loud when they curled around a decent sized stone. Jac paid me no attention, too focused on dragging my pants down my legs. Cold air rushed over my legs. Unwelcome as it might be, it helped to clear my head a little more, and I waited patiently as he ran his hands up my legs, stopping when he reached my underwear.

"If you weren't such a bitch, I might have made this good for you," he said, fingers inching under the elastic band. "Instead, I'm going to fuck you so hard you'll taste me in the back of your throat and ruin you for any other man."

My face already hurt less than before, and I could tell the cut on my cheek was no longer bleeding. That was one good thing about being a werewolf, but I still wasn't strong enough to sit up to hit him. I needed him closer.

"I'd rather die."

As I'd hoped, Jac couldn't resist the bait. Hands going around my throat, he leaned in close enough that I could feel his hot breath wash over my face. His erection pressed into my stomach.

"You don't think I wouldn't fuck your corpse? I do it, and I pray your soul would stick around long enough to watch us defile you. When I finished, I'd pass you around like we do with every whore."

Gods, I wanted to hit him now, but he was too close. I would risk injuring myself or not getting enough momentum to do damage. Every word he spoke drove into me like a knife, and finally, something inside of me shifted. Like a lock breaking off a cage.

"But that fate is too good for you. I can see your pretty face is already healing, which is pretty impressive for an Omega. Usually only Alphas heal that fast, but you'll need it. I'm going to push you to the edge again and again, every night for the rest of your miserable life. You will exist only to be fucked, beaten, and carry my pups. Every breath I let you draw will be a punishment for daring to think you could speak to an Alpha the way you have."

He sat upright, his full weight bearing down on me. Lust and rage brightened his eyes, and he grabbed the front of my shirt, ripping it away. The lace of one of my bra cups tore, and he grabbed the exposed nipple, twisting until I screamed.

"I like that sound of that, little Omega. Let me hear it again," he said, moving his lower half as he prepared to give my underwear the same treatment. Except his eyes snagged on something on my shoulder. "What the fuck is this?"

The door of the cage inside of me burst open, and the heady weight of power sizzled through my veins, giving me the strength to raise my arm at last and bring the rock down hard against Jac's temple. As he toppled over, I lunged at him, pinning him the same way he had pinned me.

Filthy fingers clenching around his windpipe, I leaned close to him, seeing the blazing violet reflection of my glowing eyes in his pupils. His fear was intoxicating.

"Th-this isn't possible," he wheezed, twisting and flailing to get free. "We killed all of you. You can't exist."

I ignored him. A strange buzzing filled my throat, and when I spoke again, my voice was deeper. Colder. "Stop resisting."

At first, I didn't think it worked, but slowly, he went limp. Not a single limb moved beneath me, but his eyes were wide and wild with terror.

"The next scream you'll hear is your own." I reached between his legs. "This is it? Really? Pathetic?"

"D-don't. P-p-please."

"D-don't. P-p-please," I mocked him. "Did their begging ever stop you? Did it? Tell me the truth!"

He flinched as I shouted. "No."

My nails sunk into tender flesh. Red bloomed in his cheeks. "If you survive this, remember this fact. I never begged. Not once."

I reached the building where Beckett was imprisoned, but could still hear him screaming. Great, heaving sobs punctuated his cries. It should have made me feel guilty. Instead, I grinned in grim satisfaction and reminded myself to ask the others if werewolves could grow back missing limbs, among... other things.

Finding Beckett didn't take long. The building wasn't designed as a prison, and amidst the hundreds of scents in the air, I easily found him. It called to me in a way no other's did, and I followed it down every hall until it finally took me to a room with a guard standing next to the door.

The man stiffened, his eyes flashing as his wolf awoke. He started to speak, but stopped as he finally took notice of me. I had to look a sight. No pants. Torn top. Bloodied hands and face. Then again, we were wolves, and this was the Mate Run. I might not look as out of place as I thought I did.

"I'm sorry, Miss. You can't be here."

"Give me the key and leave," I commanded, voice still ringing with power.

Unlike Jac, the guard obeyed immediately. He threw me a key ring with two keys on it and walked away without speaking another word. The door groaned as I shoved it open, stumbling into a room with no light aside from a single beam of white moonlight cutting across its center.

"Devany?" Becket bolted upright from a cot pushed against the wall. He stared at me in horror, but made no move toward me. "What happened to you?"

Now that he was so close, the adrenaline pushing me forward ebbed, and my hands shook as I tried to put the key into the door. My arm brushed against a bar, and pain seared through me. The smell of burned flesh and hair choked me.

"Careful," Beckett said, his hands clutching into fists at his side. "The bars are pure silver."

Nodding through tears, I took my time sliding the key into the lock, and when the door swung open, my knees gave out. Beckett caught me before I hit the floor and clutched me against him as if he were afraid I might vanish.

"Here, put this on," he said, taking off his suit coat and draping it over me.

He tilted my head from side to side, taking in the damage to my face. His wolf was so close to the surface, turning his eyes electric blue. I almost had to look away. In the distance, a horn trumpeted.

Seeing my confusion, he explained, "The signal for the Mate Run to end."

"It's over?"

"When the last note sounds, it will be."

Relief flooded through me. No one else would try to claim me, but there was a bur beneath the comforting thought. A realization that no one could claim me. Not even Beckett.

He held onto me as we limped out of the room, both of us desperate to get away from the silver bars. I wanted nothing more than to let him carry me back to our room, where I would sleep for hours, but we couldn't. I had to be gone before anyone discovered what I'd done.

"Beckett, I need to tell you something."

We were outside now. Hidden in the trees. Werewolves, in human form and wolf form, were making their way back to the community center we'd just left. Back to the place where we received the potions to drink.

"It's fine. You can–"

A bright light jolted through us both, knocking us off our feet. Beckett's hand never left mine, and the moment the light faded, he was up again, checking me for injuries.

"What the hell just happened?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. That's never happened before. Let's get out of here."

"Not so fast, Alpha Beckett and Alpha Devany." A glowing figure with long silver hair stepped out of the trees. Her white gown clung to every curve, and she wore a golden diadem with a crescent moon in its center.

"Who is that?"

Beckett didn't look away from her as he answered. "Selene. Goddess of the wolves."