Page 34 of Scavenger's Oath

“You did.” Zane's voice stays clear and steady.

I hate how steady he is. As if he's already figured out how to be the man she needs.

My jaw twitches. He’s not forcing his opinion down my throat, just laying out the truth. It’s hard to swallow. I’ve been so set on forcing her to see that she’s mine… but maybe in doing that, I’ve actually forced her away.

So I stare at the ground. “I didn't mean to,” I say again, feeling more defeated. And something close to shame. “She’s rejecting me.”

The words burn my throat. I want to hit something.Him, maybe?But Phoenix’s threat stops me from acting out that desire.

Chewing the inside of my cheek, I try to choke the words out without making it sound like I'm begging. “She hasn't even said a word to me, man. I try to get close, and she shrinks away. And now Phoenix is threatening to—” the words get caught in my throat.

Phoenix’s voice still crawling down my spine. His hands still marked on my skin. Need still ghosting through my aching body.

I hate orgasm denial with a passion. But Phoenix knows it gets results.

And here Zane is, high and mighty, like I didn’t just get stripped raw and reminded where I stand because of him.

“Because you treat her like your prisoner,” Zane growls, finally losing a little of his cool before he huffs out a breath and levels himself again. “Like you've already claimed something you haven't earned.”

That one stings.

“Fuck you,” I frown.

“I'm just trying to help,” he shrugs. “She’s not a thing for you to conquer.”

He runs his hand through his black hair as he sighs. “She's not a dog that flinches when you raise your hand and will still crawl back to lick it.”

Heat rises in my chest. “You think I don't know that?”

“I think you're so wrapped up in your own damage, you don't even see hers,” he snaps.

I clench my fists. “I didn't come here for a lecture.”

“And that right there... that's why Ivy will never warm up to you.” He shakes his head, disappointed. Then turns back to his laundry like he’s finished with the conversation.

I blink at him, the world tilting around me. “Ivy?”

He freezes, the muscles of his back rippling.

“Ivy?!” I repeat, voice rising.

There's a beat of silence where I don't know what the hell to feel.

Ivy.

She gavehimher name?

And I get silence.

The name I’ve been aching to hear. The name of my little doe. In her own voice. Not the whimpers and sobs of fear.

“Shetalksto you? She hasn't said a goddamn word to me! And she’s talking toyou?”

That word—Ivy—bounces around my skull like a ricocheting bullet. It’s not just a name. It’s a door, and he got to walk through it while I’m still banging on the outside like an unwelcomed guest.

Zane exhales, another tired sigh and looks back at me, gaze steady, “I've been patient.”

Agitation prickles under my skin. Jealousy renewed.