Page 23 of Petals and Strings (Broken Melodies #1)

Chapter Eighteen

Rydell

M y alpha jolted me from sleep in a fresh wave of instinct and rage. We needed to protect our omega.

Now.

I tore out of the bed I was laying in, taking in the empty, white walls around me. A bed. Toilet. Nothing else but me.

Isolation.

It was a room I knew well. One they threw me in if they thought I was ‘acting out’ like I had no control over the beast dwelling within me.

Usually, I did.

But the moment they fucked with my omega, took things too far… well, my alpha was no longer just dominant, he was unstable and unstoppable.

He was still in control now, the deep rumble echoing out of my chest as he pushed us to the door, tugging on the knob even though I knew it was locked. Our fist slammed into the door, metal creaking and groaning under each hit.

Pain radiated through my hand, bloody imprints left behind with each blow. I didn’t tire, raining down punch after punch as I raged on.

My alpha finally roared one final time, the scream echoing out of me. It woke up the rational part of my brain with the deep rumbling force of it.

I slid to the floor as I fought to force him back into his enclosure in my mind.

He didn’t go willingly, fighting every step, the strain making sweat break out on my forehead and my limbs shaking.

Though, that could be from the adrenaline.

Breathing deep and slow, I took a moment to simply feel in control again. It came easier this time.

Strange. It was only growing steadily worse before this.

Mate . The thought hit me hard and I curled my aching fists. My alpha was right. She was ours and I couldn’t find it in me to regret protecting her.

Her fear. I could smell the fury and terror the moment she stumbled into the common area. She collapsed, my alpha surging forward but Ledger reached her before I could.

It gave us pause for a moment, knowing he was a better fit, until she uttered those words.

All I had were foggy memories after I saw red.

Theo and Director Cross yelling. I’d never seen the director angry, but then they both looked terrified at the sound of my warning growl. I stepped between them, growling in Theo’s fucking face before I flipped him over his desk.

Then I shattered the desk.

Destroyed everything I could get my hands on before settling my eyes on him.

That was all I managed before the darkness hit. Everything else was background noise.

Screams, cheers, the sound of breaking bones, the scent of urine as Theo lost his mind in fear.

“As he fucking should,” I muttered to the dim room around me.

I’d do it again for my omega.

I wish I could say I’d do it for any omega, but I knew she was different.

Strong. Wild in her own way. Gorgeous.

Her scent grounded me and brought me back to myself. That was something no one had done before.

She was unequivocally mine.

Theo who wrote me off as dangerous, ensured I stayed shackled, and did nothing to help me work through my issues.

He deserved far more than I gave him. His broken bones were a punishment far too lenient for what he did.

I wanted to watch the light drain from his eyes.

The lights above my head flickered before I was plunged into pure darkness. My body stiffened and I crawled forward, blindly reaching out to find the bed I knew was only a few feet away.

My hands brushed against cold metal, then rough fabric. I hauled myself up onto the hard mattress and curled on my side.

They knew pure darkness triggered me. It was just another way to subdue me, to force me back into my metaphorical cage.

A low, rumbling growl filled the overwhelming silence in the room. The darkness was pressing down on me, pushing against my chest and making it impossible to breathe properly.

My eyes drifted closed, trying to control the darkness around me and convince myself I brought it about by closing them in the first place.

I conjured the sweet, haunting melodies Audrey played in the conservatory. When I watched her, standing back and keeping her safe, I pretended she played them just for me.

That she knew I was there and wanted me close as much as I needed to be near.

The melody slowly shifted, the tempo picking up until a thumping bass crept in. It was too late to stop the memories when I realized I’d lulled myself right into the past.

A trap of my own making.

The halls of Hallston Academy for Troubled Alphas was quiet, darkness already spilling in from the windows and adding to the shadows that always lingered there.

It smelled of lemons, the chemical tartness the cleaning crew left behind burning at my nose.

The sound of footsteps had me turning, frowning when I couldn’t see anyone behind me. I forced myself to turn forward again and continued my careful steps.

My mind was on high-alert, though. My alpha snarling in my head, ready to defend us.

More footsteps joined the first set. Then another. A soft, taunting whisper chased after me even as they continued their own controlled steps.

“Rydelllll.”

The words ended on a low, menacing growl. One that promised pain.

This moment was inevitable. The pack of feral alphas that thought they ran this school had me in their sights, had taunted me for weeks.

It started the moment I’d walked in these doors.

We all knew I was stronger than any of them, but when they banded together, even if I caused damage, they knew they could win.

They’d started with taunts, then sessions of kicking my ass.

I wasn’t sure what else they’d try to do. We were all half-feral here, some more than others, and I knew the darkness and rage that simmered just under the surface.

They were all full of animalistic instinct, territorial to a fault.

I guess my existence challenged that.

Even if I didn’t.

They waited just long enough for my heart to pound frantically in my chest. My hands, fisted but sweaty.

Knowing what was coming, I unleashed my alpha.

He barely left any of them alive.

That was the first fight, the one that turned me into even more of a target. They were too proud to let that slide, and for the next three years, all the way until the night they broke me, I was their only focus.