Page 15 of Psycho Alphas: Part Two

I remembered biting Thistle.

Bella’s attack.

Dragging Knox back here…

Thistle…

The world took a moment to come into focus.

First, I saw Knox. He was sleeping at my side, chest rising and falling slowly. My attention was pulled by movement.

The blurry mop of black came into focus. Midnight hair obscured her face.

“Bunny?”Her voice cracked, and the worry in it drove a surge of energy through my veins. She was leaning over Ace, shaking him. “Wake up…” Her plea was desperate.

I opened my mouth to speak, but no sound came out. I was parched and exhausted. I cleared my throat and tried again, shoving myself up.

“Kitten.”

Her head snapped to me in an instant, eyes wide. Sweat beaded her brow, and even from here I could see the tremor in her arms.

Fuck…

Heat.

She’d woken surrounded by sleeping Alphas in the middle of her heat.

“Rogue?” She all but threw herself over Knox toward me. I pushed myself into a sitting position, catching her easily. A whimper of relief slipped from her chest as she felt my touch. My own instincts settled, a grating irritation I’d barely clocked, soothed in an instant.

“I got you,” I murmured, drawing her close, a low purr coming to life. Her eyes filled with tears as she stared up at me, fingers digging into my arms as she held on.

But… something wasn’t right.

I knew how broken she was—had heard it in her voice in the bathroom earlier.

I frowned as her end of the bond cracked open just a fraction. She was trying to keep it closed, looking at me with such desperation, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that to fix this meant breaking something bigger.

I hated Bella more than anything in the world.

“Open the bond,” I breathed. “Fully.”

She wasn’t shutting me out completely, but I felt as though I was kept at arm’s length, as if she were afraid of what I would find if she opened up.

What if this is your only chance to be with her?A little voice asked.

The thought was a jagged edge lodged in my throat. I might not have long left. There were no guarantees that when Knox woke, he would stall this stupid thing in my neck from detonating. Yet, that knowledge didn’t make this any easier.

If I died, I’d rather leave her with the thing I could offer that she’d never been given before.

Her lip wobbled as she stared at me. “I’m just… just all mixed up.”

“Open it,” I said, this time more gently.

She shrank back. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” Her brows creased with worry. “My brain is just… not right.”

“I know,” I told her. “You’ve gone through too much.”

She regarded me for another long moment, then, to my relief, she let go of the grip she had on the final pieces, letting me in.