Page 120 of In Doubt

His hand comes to grip my jaw, twisting my face up towards his.

“Let me go,” I hiss. His lips curl into a bitter smile and his eyes seem so dark, there’s no longer any colour to them.

“You heard the woman,” a voice thunders from behind him. “Let go of her.”

Carl holds my face forward, but I flick my gaze to the side as I peer towards that voice.

Aiden.

“This is none of your business, pal. Piss off,” Carl spits and I’m guessing he must have had a drink. Squaring up to an alpha is a suicidal thing to do.

“It is my business. You’ve got your dirty hands all over our pack omega and if you don’t release her in the next second, I’m going to break that arm of yours and every bone in your hand.”

If my jaw was free to move, my mouth would be falling open.

Pack omega? Am I?

We've been so busy, caught up in the whirlwind of the dig and the find, we haven't talked about what all this means. I wasn't sure if their work to dig up the trench was about helping Jake with his research, or whether it was to do with me?

Do they want me for their pack?

Carl takes a step back, turning to face Aiden front on, his hand sliding to my throat. My hands spring up to grip his wrist, and I attempt to tug him away.

“I know you,” he says and I can hear the alcohol clearly in his voice, his syllables slurring together. “You’re one of those alpha dogs from Jake’s pack.”

Aiden takes a menacing stride forward. The strands of his hair catch a beam of light from the tent, blood red and rusty brown crowning his head. His face is bathed in shadow but I can make out the stern set of his jaw, the tight pull of muscles on his brow and around his eyes. He growls and the noise seems to rumble in the open space, making my knees twitch in a bid to buckle.

Carl’s fingers loosen. With the fierce alpha in front of him, he seems less sure of himself, more afraid.

Aiden has a foot on his height easily, and while Carl is no weed, he looks puny in comparison to a forward from the university’s rugby team.

Carl opens his mouth to speak but before a word leaves his lips, Aiden speeds forward and his hands squeeze around Carl’s throat as he pushes him back into the tent, the fingers around my neck slipping free.

There had been no real pressure there, but I gasp for air anyway.

The world darkens and I feel that tug, that tug towards the blackness. Soon my body will be shaking uncontrollably, my heart racing, my lungs rasping for air as I’m whisked down to that pit, that pit where those memories are buried away, where they can scratch at me, taunt me, hurt me.

Another hand around my throat. Another man with his threats. Another man with cruel eyes. I gasp for air.

“Giorgie?” I blink, my gaze focussing on warm brown eyes, a steadying hand on my waist. “Giorgie, just breathe. It’s OK, it’s OK. You’re safe. You’re completely safe.”

Beneath his honey voice, I hear the soft purr in his chest.

He takes my clammy hand and rests it over his heart and I feel the vibration of that purr, the steady beat of his heart, racing up my arm and into my body.

I breathe, the darkness fading gradually as I’m pulled back to reality, pulled back by those eyes that never leave me.

“OK?” he whispers.

I manage a nod. “Thank you.”

We stand like that for several more long seconds. His scent is like bread pulled straight from the oven. A reminder of home. Of safety. Of a full belly and laughter and protective arms.

I wonder what all this can mean, but my thoughts are interrupted.

“I thought you were different, Giorgie. Intelligent, clever. Not another omega whore.”

Carl still lurks against the other tent. Blood trickles from his nostrils and he glares at me with hatred. For a moment, I’d forgotten he was there.