Page 125 of The Drama King
"I'm not yours," I said, surprised by how steady my voice remained. "I never was yours. I never will be yours."
Dorian moved then, closing the distance between us with predatory speed. His hand shot out, gripping my upper arm with bruising force, and the claiming bite at my throat throbbed in immediate response. My body automatically leaned toward him despite my mind's desperate rejection, biology betraying me at the worst possible moment.
"Your body says different," he growled, his face inches from mine. "Your scent says different. Every cell in your being recognizes what you are to us."
"Let me go," I demanded, though my voice was already starting to waver as his proximity triggered an immediate flood of submission hormones.
"I can't," he said, and for a moment, genuine anguish broke through the possessive rage. "Don't you understand? I physically can't let you go. None of us can."
His free hand found my throat, fingers pressing against the claiming bite he'd left there. The contact sent electric shocks through my system, my body arching toward him without conscious permission. Behind him, Oakley and Corvus watched with expressions of dark satisfaction as my responses betrayed my stated intentions.
"You feel it," Dorian insisted, his thumb stroking over the sensitive mark. "You know this is where you belong. With us."
The haze was overwhelming, making coherent thought increasingly difficult. But beneath the chemical fog, one truthremained crystal clear: this was exactly what I'd feared. This was what they would always do. Use my biology against me whenever I tried to assert independence.
"This is why I have to leave," I gasped, fighting through the submission hormones flooding my system. "Because you'll never see me as anything more than a response to manipulate."
"You're so much more than that," Oakley said, his voice soft with what might have been genuine emotion. "You're precious, rare, perfect—"
"I'm a person," I interrupted. "Not a treasure to be hoarded or a prize to be claimed. A person with my own thoughts and feelings and desires."
"Your desires are irrelevant," Corvus said with clinical brutality. "Biology supersedes personal preference. The bond ensures compatibility regardless of individual inclinations."
The casual dismissal of my personhood was like ice water cutting through the haze. This was what they truly believed. That my individual self was less important than what I could provide them.
When Dorian moved to kiss me, to claim what he saw as rightfully his, something in me snapped completely.
My hand moved before conscious thought, nails raking across his perfect face with enough force to draw blood. Four angry red lines marked his cheek, and the shock more than the pain made him release me, stumbling back with wide eyes.
"Don't touch me," I snarled, the submissive hormones instantly overridden by pure rage. "Don't ever fucking touch me again."
"Vespera—" Oakley started, stepping forward with his hands raised placatingly.
But I was beyond placation. Beyond reason. Beyond anything but the desperate need to escape before they could use my biology against me again.
I grabbed my purse from the bed, the only thing within reach that contained essentials. Wallet, phone, ID. Everything else. Clothes, books, every physical possession I'd brought to Northwood. Would have to be abandoned. Small price for freedom.
"Stay away from me," I warned, backing toward the door. "All of you."
Dorian touched his bleeding cheek, something dark and terrible settling in his expression. "You think you can run from this? From us? From what you are?"
"Watch me," I said, my hand finding the doorknob behind me.
That's when Corvus moved, that calculating precision making him almost faster than I could react. Almost.
I yanked the door open and bolted into the hallway, adrenaline overriding every other consideration. Behind me, I heard Dorian's snarl of rage, felt the rush of air as one of them lunged after me.
But I was already running, feet pounding against the carpeted hallway, heart hammering in my chest with terror and determination in equal measure.
"Vespera!" Dorian's voice echoed through the corridor, the Alpha command in it making my steps falter momentarily before I forced myself forward. "STOP! That's an order!"
The command hit my biology like a physical blow, my body automatically slowing in response to Alpha authority. But rage was stronger than biology, and I pushed through the compulsion, picking up speed as I hit the stairwell.
Behind me, I could hear multiple sets of footsteps, voices raised in coordination as they organized their pursuit. They moved like the pack they were, efficient and deadly, cutting off potential escape routes with practiced ease.
I took the stairs three at a time, my only advantage being that I was lighter, faster, more desperate than they were. The bondbetween us was vibrating with physical pain as I attempted to flee, sharp spikes of agony shooting through my chest with each step that increased the distance.
"She's heading for the lobby," I heard Corvus call out, his voice eerily calm despite the chase. "Oakley, circle around to the side entrance. We'll trap her at the main doors."