Page 180 of Psycho Alphas: Part Two

I didn’t look at him, crossing toward her instead. I heard the click of a gun, but ignored it. Carrion was enthralled by our performance and he wouldn’t shut it down now, not unless he could see the threat.

And he wouldn’t.

Not as I cupped Thistle’s neck.

“You will let him bite you,” I told her.

She swallowed, violet galaxies blown wide with a mix of fear and reverence. As if she were taking a step, believing I would catch her before she fell.

“Yes, Alpha.”

The gems Knox had given me rolled in my grip. I could see the faintest flicker of colours caught among her raven hair, and I found the right one. Blue was long used at Bella’s party. Pink, Knox had just injected himself with.

It was the red one I pressed against her skin, turning her blood to poison.

FORTY-EIGHT

ROGUE

It had happened too fast. Knox was still, body limp, chest not moving.

I shook him.

There was no way he was dead. The thought refused to land.

Fuck…

Ace had never trusted us.

There was a moment after Bella’s party when he stitched Bambi’s wounds and I believed he was on our side. But now I knew he was here for Thistle—no one else.

There was movement around me. Ace was saying something. “You will let him bite you.” The words formed in the air, a command from Ace, but I couldn’t process them.

There was no rise and fall of Knox’s chest.

He was… dead?

I almost let out a laugh.

Impossible.

An hour ago he’d agreed to join the bond and I’d sent him to fucking find her. He had to join. She needed him. I was onlyhalf a person, the rest of me still lost somewhere in the years I’d spent wasting away, keeping him chained up with no one to think of but myself.

There was no way I could do this without him.

Not this pack. Not… anything.

My fist was at his shoulder, my knees pressed against the marble. I shook him again, but he was limp.

Dark bruises coloured his neck.

I touched it, but couldn’t find a pulse.

I rubbed my fingers and thumb together. Bad circulation. I couldn’t feel pain, so maybe my nerves were all misfiring. I pressed against his neck again, feeling nothing.

“Knox.”

He didn’t move—didn’t open his eyes or even flinch.