Page 152

I flicked a look at Beatrice as she lifted her chin. Daring me to argue with her. As if I would, clever girl. Tully might never forgive us, but I wasn’t living in a world without her.

“A bond?” Walden’s eyes flared wide, and our staunch leader lost his composure and shook his head. “I won’t claim her without her consent.”

My stomach dropped to the floor as Ajax shook his head as well. Guilt scored new lines in my brother, and he could barely look at Tully without shame clouding his vision. Lloyd clasped Tully’s hand in his, glaring at us expectantly.

His scent turned sharp. The beach on the precipice of a storm. When the wind whipped sand into your eyes. “I would if I could, but I’m a beta.”

Pressure crushed my lungs, and I jutted out my chin. I knew what I was about to do, and all I could feel was relief, dousing my entire body for the first time since Tully left.

She’d been mine the minute I saw her. I might have been drunk, but I remembered the light of her. Brilliant. Heavenly. She was my angel, and I was a damned devil. She could hate me for an eternity, but I knew we were meant to be together. This wasn’t how I wanted to claim Tully, but we didn’t have a choice.

“I’m not losing her.” I ignored Walden’s sharp intake, cutting him with a glare.

Any lecture he was about to make dried up on his lips, and I turned to Dr. Stanson. He indicated to her neck, on the opposite side of her infected shoulder.

“The where of the bite doesn’t matter, but it needs to be done soon. The quicker we can get this done, the more stable Tully will be. Without a proper bond, she won’t heal.”

Tully was one of the strongest Designated I knew.

Her softness only made her resilience even more incredible. I leaned over Tully and breathed in the salt of her skin. They’d given her some kind of suppressant because her scent was muted, dull, but distressed. I nosed her soft skin, my teeth ached at her closeness. Her pulse throbbed as I brushed a kiss against it.

I’d struggled to be an alpha, but in this moment, I was glad it was me. I had the power to tether her to me.

“I’m sorry, angel, but I can’t lose you.”

“W-what happened?” Tully slurred, and her eyes fluttered open, unfocused.

Dr. Stanson came closer and checked her eyes with a light. What he saw made his lips thin.

“Miss Hartlock, you have a partial bond on your shoulder. Do you know who gave it to you?”

Tully trembled and her mouth fell open.

“Y-yes but, I don’t want—” She looked at me and her fingers found mine.

“I know. I know, angel. But it’s poisoning you. I can bond you and it will expel his mark.”

“If you don’t—” Dr. Stanson started to add, but I waved at him until his voice trailed off. I didn’t want Tully to decide thinking it was life or death. If she refused, we could explain why it was imperative.

Would she say no? I was as much a poison as CJ was, a dark mess she should avoid.

But Tully had never thought that, had she? She’d seen me on my knees, eyes glazed, hung over, and falling apart. She’d never judged. Her little chin trembled as it dipped and I exhaledsharply. Her lucidity didn’t last and her eyes rolled back as she became slack in my hold. My hands dragged down her biceps as I held her in readiness. Claiming Tully should have been a momentous occasion. The joy was brittle, laced with sharp poison.

But I was too selfish, too desperate to stop. I’d spend the rest of our lives atoning, but at least we would be together. There was no space for gentleness, and while I didn’t want to cause Tully more pain, I was thankful she wasn’t awake. My teeth sank into the juncture where her neck met her shoulder. Iron-flavored euphoria flooded my mouth, and my eyes rolled back into my skull. Tully was so sweet my gums ached, and she let out a whimper as her velvet link unfurled inside me.

Our souls, anchored by a thread.

She felt like the perfect run of my fingertips over piano keys. Each note hung in the air with a sound that tasted sweet in the back of my throat. She looked at herself as if she were small. Insignificant. But inside of me, her tendrils sang and pulsed with vitality. I tasted her like the pages of music. Pressed so deep into my cells that the way I moved, spoke, and thought would never be the same. I pulled my teeth out as the back of my eyes stung.

Walden was my first love, my powerful alpha, but Tully was my salvation.

I could see us nestled like this in the future, but it wouldn’t be with the sharp chemical scent that tickled the back of my throat. Or the barely concealed growls that rolled like waves through the room.

I lapped at her blood until saliva closed the wounds. Tully shivered underneath my ribcage. Even unconscious, she was distressed. My heart thumped with the echo of her panic. I pressed my forehead to hers, pushing my love and safety through the connection.

You’ll never hurt like this again.

“It’s working already.” Dr. Stanson examined the partial bite with a hum of satisfaction.