Page 76 of Psycho Alphas: Part Two

She wore lace and knelt facing my bed as she waited on her knees, hands curled in her lap.

The golden collar and cuffs on her wrists drew my eyes. They weren’t attached, but I could see from the small hook on them that they could be.

Bunny was propped up against my pillows, which?—

No.

I wouldn’t waste my time reading into her actions—or pondering revenge over the attempted murder of stuffed animals.

I would not.

Instead, I sat on the bed beside her, trying to work out how to rid myself of her without it sending me into a spiral that would dog me all night. The answer was to keep control.

Knox was supposed to have banned her from seeing me.

He was arrogant, irritating, and more elusive in character than I’d expected. It would be foolish to write off what he’d navigated—what he was capable of. So why, when it came to Thistle, could he not enforce this one fucking rule?

The answer was as unsettling as it was clear. How could I expect an Alpha like Knox to do something even I hadn’t managed?

I was good at adapting; it’s why I’d become what I had in the Vegas underworld. But she was my blind spot. The itch at the edge of my vision I’d always tried to write off.

I had never allowed her to take up space. I’d never wanted to acknowledge what she was worthy of—even now, the idea of it made me want to throw myself off the balcony.

Which put me at risk of making the same mistake. I would never underestimate her again.

From the first time I’d met her, when she’d pulled the trigger on the gun I’d given her, I should have known. I’d tried to lock her away like a trophy, but she’d always found her way back to me. She was a force I couldn’t stop no matter what I did.

So, so reckless, and yet somehow still alive. I’d called it chance once, but that definition eroded more each time I brushed up against it.

She was shifting in the silence, the scent of a storm beginning to anger. I could see her eyes flick up to me until she finally spoke. “You said I was pretty but you won’tdoanything about it?”

“No.”

I had said it to piss off Knox, not to give her fuel.

Her fists balled and un-balled as she waited. When I didn’t give her anything more, she stood. “Then I’m gonna send you back.”

Thingshadchanged. She was bolder with me than she ever had been, even if it was, perhaps, earned. Yet still… “You have no such leverage.”

I was here for a reason.

I’d make sure there were a million more by the time she even considered returning me to madness, but for now, that hadn’t changed.

She paused, eyes narrowing as she worked through that. If she thought heat bonding me was the end, she was sorely mistaken. She would fight for every inch.

The flare of irritation that shot through the bond between us shook me. She was entitled and had been since I’d woken. Before, I’d seen only glimpses, but now it was a bonfire. Instead of irritating me, like it should, it was unsettling.

That slight curl to her lip, the way her indignance spilled between us like a toxin, it began to choke me, unravelling my edges, peeling back sanity for that abyss beneath, sending my pulse skyrocketing.

This, I realised, was disastrous.

I’d always known that she wasn’t regulated, but this bond she’d claimed left me at the mercy of an Omega’s volatility. It took every ounce of self-control to lock down our connection, to keep my expression steady as my own hatred threatened to release spools of my sanity.

Carefully, I tucked a hand behind my neck to dig my nails into my skin—enough to draw blood. Enough to ground me against a storm.

If she found out, I’d never have leverage again. She glared up at me, that tide rising, trying to submerge me entirely.

I held on and finally, she let go, folding her arms. “Okay,” was all she said.