Page 94 of Midnight Hunt
She peeked at Jensen before whispering back, “Atticus.”
“No talking,” the surly male barked. She flinched, but that didn’t stop her from miming a chain around her neck with a device attached to it.
Thank you, I mouthed back, then resumed brushing my teeth in silence.
Only when we were shuffled across the hall to a dark room full of cots did I dare to speak again. Using the sounds of creaking springs and shifting bodies to mask my words, I turned to the girl nearest to me and breathed, “Escape. Tonight. Pass it on.”
She gaped at me with terror in her eyes, but there was something else too. Something that hadn’t been there before now.
Hope.
I gave her an encouraging smile, and after only a moment’s hesitation, she turned to the girl next to her and relayed the message. Every time one of them spoke, I coughed or cleared my throat to mask their voices. Jensen openly glared at me from the doorway, but I ignored him.
When the last female delivered my message, I finally settled against the thin mattress and shut my eyes. I didn’t sleep, though. I was too busy plotting, too busy worrying about the worst case scenarios, too busy hoping thatGriffwould arrive just when I needed him.
He will. Your mate will come for you, Sable whispered as if she too was afraid of being overheard.
Mate. I liked the sound of that.Lovedit, actually.
Letting my mind picture his smiling, handsome face, a face I knew better than my own, I relaxed my tired body and waited for the inevitable.
For The Claiming that would either free us . . . or doom us all.
Hours later, just as I was starting to drift off, a bright light flooded the room.
“Time for The Claiming, ladies. Get up, get up,” Jensen’s booming voice said. I sat up and squinted, trying to adjust to the bright light. The other females did the same, and even though my senses weren’t fully back, I heard more than one heartbeat start to race.
They were terrified of what was to come, and rightfully so. My own heart had picked up speed despite my steady resolve, old feelings of inadequacy threatening to distract me. My plan could utterly fail, and I could end up hurting these females more than helping them, but I wouldn’t let that fear stop me from trying. They needed the strength and support of an alpha female, and I would fight like hell to protect them from these bastard males.
As we lined up and shuffled from the dorm room, still wearing our collars and matching tunic outfits, I noticed that Jensen kept looking at Desirae. When she passed by him, he suddenly grabbed her arm and breathed in her ear, “You’re mine.”
I was moving before I could check myself, boldly wedging my body between theirs. Jensen looked startled, then angry. He bared his teeth at me, but before he could say anything, I said, “You can’t stake a claim on her yet. The Claiming hasn’t started.”
At that, fury contorted his face. “Why, you little—” he began, raising his hand to no doubt strike me. I held my ground, staring him dead in the eye.
Right before he could hit me, a deep voice from behind him snapped, “Don’t touch her.”
Jensen stopped. Just barely. Still glaring at me, he replied to the other male, “It’s a mistake including her in The Claiming tonight, Ivan. She should be kept in seclusion until her spirit is broken like all the others.”
“That isn’t your decision to make,” Ivan shot back. “So unless you want me to report this little incident to our alpha, I suggest you keep your thoughts to yourself and stick to doing your job.”
Jensen continued to glare at me, but I could sense that some of his ire was now directed at his second in command. Seizing the opportunity, I gave him a little smile and crooned, “Better listen to him, dickface. He outranks you by far.”
His face flushed scarlet, the veins in his neck and forehead protruding. Despite the murderous look he was giving me, Sable snickered under her breath.
You go, girl.
My smile widened, and Jensen slowly turned purple. Before he could explode like an overripe watermelon—or kill me—Ivan muscled his way between us and grabbed my arm. As he dragged me into the hall out of harm’s way, he grumbled, “Stop causing trouble.”
I blinked at him innocently. “Yes, Alpha. I mean, Ivan. Forgot you weren’t in charge for a second.”
Something dangerous sparked in his eyes, but I didn’t shrink away from it. He wanted me, and I had to pray that meant he wouldn’t report this little incident to Atticus and get me sent back to isolation. If he did that, he wouldn’t get a chance to claim me tonight, and I could tell he desperately wanted to leave his mark on me before his alpha could.
So instead of diffusing the situation like an omega would, I stepped closer to him and whispered, “Hope you’re on your A-game tonight. Wouldn’t want someoneelseto claim me before you can.”
A growl rumbled from him, and he jerked me closer until my chest bumped his. I allowed the contact, knowing that it would further stoke his need to claim me. As I heard him inhale my scent, I held perfectly still. He undoubtedly smelled Griff’s claim, but there was another scent just beneath that, a scent that drove both unmated and mated males wild.
My heat.
