Page 171 of Scavenger's Oath

Behind him, Jeb and Rick laugh, watching from an old stall, eyes gleaming with something sadistic. They’ve been watching the whole time, like this is some sick show. And they’ve not been a quiet audience.

“Shame she gave up screaming so quick,” Rick says, spitting in the straw.

“She don’t look so feisty now,” Jeb snickers. “Didn’t take much to wear her down.”

I want to scream. To spit. Curse them all.

But my voice is so shredded, and my heart is so heavy. The only sound I can make is a ragged rasp.

Bennett grabs a fistful of my hair, yanking my head up. My scalp protests, neck straining.

“I gave you everything,” he hisses. “And you repay me by crawling in bed with the first pack of degenerates you come across? Did you even hesitate? Or did you beg them for it?”

His breath is sour, but his words are worse. “You think we didn’t know where you were? That we weren’t watching? Jade told us your plans before her last punishment.” He smiles wide as my breath catches.

Jade never made it out? I abandoned her.

Bennett chuckles darkly. “She died making penance foryoursins. So selfish of you,” he sneers. “All while you were lusting afterthem. Like a cock-hungry Jezebel. After everythingI gave you, you still bent over for someone else. Where’s the loyalty?”

He shoves my head away, and I let it hang, too tired to hold it high. But my chest aches for Jade. For the friend I failed. The sister I lost.

“Well, if it’s cock you want…” Bennett mutters, almost thoughtful now. “We can provide. Let my boys give you what you’re starving for, huh? Let them remind you what you really are.”

Derek leans against the stall behind him, a sick grin stretching across his face. The bite wound on his shoulder is dark and swollen, face still raked with red lines where my nails tore him open this morning.

“Bitch fought me like a rabid thing. Nearly took a fucking chunk out of my damn shoulder. And scratched up my face like a feral cat,” he says, touching his wounds like trophies. “But she’s finally quiet… I think it’s my turn.”

Bennett steps aside, extending an arm, gesturing to go ahead.

Derek’s boots crunch the hay as he takes his time to approach. Unbuckling his belt, he lets it slide through the loops with a deliberate snap.

As panic grips me, an idea claws out of my foggy brain.Tell them you’re pregnant. Claim it’s Bennett’s. Throw yourself at his feet and beg for his mercy.

For a flicker of a second, I almost believe he’d take me back. Then the image turns sour. My empty stomach heaves, but the acidic bile sinks back down, my body too spent to even vomit.

Bennett followed my cycle long enough to know it’s not his. It would be like handing him the knife to carve out the last piece of me and betraying their memory. The one thing I have left of them.

Derek circles me. I feel his eyes crawling over me before hishands do. His grimy fingers against my skin make my stomach turn, tracing stinging welts like he’s admiring them. He drags his hand over the curve of my waist before gripping my hip.

I stay limp—not because I want to—because I physically can’t move anymore.

“She’s so soft now. So obedient,” he says, almost reverently, before squeezing so hard that pain shoots through my side.

My tired muscles tense as I whimper helplessly. “N-no,” I rasp, barely audible.

“You fought hard this morning,” he murmurs, stepping behind me. “Thought about just knocking you out. But I wanted you awake for this part,” he groans, pressing against me from behind. His breath is hot on my back as his tongue darts out and licks over the bleeding welts.

Searing pain flashes over my senses, momentarily blinding me.

Jeb and Rick laugh again, jeering voices sharp and cruel.

“Go on then. Let’s see what she’s got.”

“Don’t hog her all night, brother. She’s got plenty of holes. Bet she’s tighter than she looks too.”

Derek ignores them, doesn’t even glance their way, as his hand slide between my legs exploring with sick satisfaction.

I flinch, but I can’t fight. I can’t even lift my head.