Page 8 of Petals and Strings (Broken Melodies #1)

Chapter Eight

Rydell

T he walls were closing in around me. It was too fucking dark in here. My skin was crawling and my stomach growled angrily. It forced my mind right back to that fucking empty classroom.

To the omega who smelled like rotten strawberries.

To them.

Fuck!

I lashed out, my fist slamming into my cinderblock wall. Pain lanced through my knuckles and warm blood trickled down the wall and my skin. It helped fight off my anger at the injustices I’d been forced into.

The label they put on me that caused more damage than I ever could have on my own.

I hit the wall again, my skin splitting and crumbled cement raining down on the floor. Another divot for my wall.

The bracelet on my wrist gave a warning buzz at my elevated vitals, forcing me to breathe deep and calm my racing heart and mind.

The clock on the wall ticked slowly, counting the minutes past midnight.

With a sigh, I shoved open my door and stalked the empty hall. I made it no more than a few steps when I slammed into an invisible wall. A scent tickled at my nose, spoke to my anger-riddled brain.

Mine.

Ours.

Omega.

It wasn’t hard to spot her. A flash of blonde hair spilling over the side of the chair she was curled up in. I rounded, needing to see her face more than I needed another breath.

Small. She looked so tiny in that chair, the one that was a bit uncomfortable for me to fold my large frame into.

The omega’s eyes were scanning slowly over the page, her focus fully on the book in her hands. My first thought was that it wasn’t safe to get lost like that.

She didn’t even notice me standing here.

“Omega.”

The word was a harsh, growled rasp. I flinched as she startled, the book dropping to the floor in front of her.

My alpha shoved me to my knees with force, hitting the floor and shuffling forward to scoop it up with our large hands, before depositing it in her lap again.

This close to her that scent was stronger. Sweet and wild, a slight earthy spice that lingered on the back of my tongue. My cock throbbed angrily, knot aching to bury itself in this sweet little omega.

The shock of ghostly pale skin and mismatched eyes had me locked in, though, they were wide enough that even an idiot could sense her terror.

Hell, it tainted her scent, souring it along the edges.

“I won’t hurt you.”

More gravel-lined words. She let out a breath but didn’t move. It was like I’d set a trap and caught a terrified little rabbit. Her nose twitched as if she was just now breathing my own scent deep into her lungs.

I forced my alpha down and scooted back before standing. Scaring her was the last thing I wanted. If she was here, then she had been through enough.

Fuck, I needed to move before I did something stupid. She didn’t need to know just how close my alpha was to the surface. This was the first scent that had ever caught our attention like this. Had made us want to give into instincts and drown in them, letting them guide us right to her.

No. I had to walk away.

I couldn’t risk harming her further.

“You shouldn’t be out here alone at night,” I bit out as I stalked off. My voice was harsh and I internally smacked my alpha for it. His dominance was unmatched, but it often overshadowed reason and empathy. He was grumpy that he couldn’t taste her, that she was risking herself.

She whispered something, making my steps falter.

Clearly, I underestimated this omega.

“What’s to fear? I’m already in hell.”