Page 122

My heart hammered as I turned on my heel. I scrambled toward the door with a sob.

“Stay.” Chase used his bark, and the sharp twist of his command brought tears to my eyes.

I fought against it until the words sank like barbed wire through my muscles and scraped at the bone.

“Please—ugh—” I protested even as my body froze.

Chase was a storm over an ocean as he circled me.

“I gave you time to come to your senses, but I’m impatient. Did you really think I would let you get away?” He reached out and picked up my bullet journal from the side table.

He flipped through the pages as I trembled, unable to move. He let it slip through his fingers and slap to the ground. The spine bent and I let out a soft whimper. Chase leaned close and took a deep breath, his nose wrinkling.

“Don’t touch me.” I wrenched myself out of Chase’s reach even as his bark held me in check.

If Chase thought I would submit meekly, he was wrong.

Chase didn’t flinch, reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone. He aimed the screen toward me, and I froze as the air in my lungs turned solid. It was a photo of a woman, from the neck down. She posed coquettishly in a revealing, strappy peach lingerie set.

Me.

He swiped through. Another lacy set. Another revealing pose.

My photos from Only Omegas.

“Don’t make a scene,honey girl.” Chase’s jaw ticked, and he tucked the phone into his pocket.

My throat went dry and my thoughts jumbled. His hand came back, fitting under my chin like an ice collar. Chase watched me endure his touch with a stony gaze. It dripped inside my chest, freezing me over.

“H-how…” I managed, though it sounded like a croak. “Did you get those?”

Chase pursed his lips and dragged his fingers down my arm. “Your former roommate is a bitter beta. When I heard rumors of Walden Baylark dating a new omega, I knew it was you. I traced back where you were hiding pretty easily. Don’t worry, do as you’re told, and they’ll stay right where no one else will find them.”

I couldn’t think straight enough to argue and so I nodded, needing time. How was I going to get out of this apartment? His grip circled my wrist again, and he upended his bag on my chipped countertop.

“What do you need from me?”

“That’s better, pretty. Much more helpful than you were at the gala.”

“Tell me,” I snapped as sweat was a river down my spine.

Chase’s grip around my wrist tightened to the point of pain. “Just a signature, or ten.”

A signature? For what? The dim light made the shadows on his face look like canyons. I blinked away frustrated tears. My scent swirled softly around us, released by stress, and Chase scrunched his nose.

He pulled a mini pack of scent wipes from the pile on the countertop. The black and white packaging made me flinch. He’d tested these on me, used my naivety to build his empire, but it wasn’t enough. He stared at me with greedy, glinting eyes.

“Wipe yourself down, you reek. Prefer your scent when you were coming on my cock.”

My intestines knotted and I gagged.

“Let me leave, and my scent won’t be an issue.” My voice shook.

What was he going to do with those photos?

Chase pursed his lips and tossed the scent wipes on my stained couch. How quickly he made this place his.

“Do you know how successful the new prototype is? All natural, it’s a game changer. Just think, Tully, if you’d agreed to be my pretty omega, I could have put you up somewhere decent instead of this dump.”