"I am unsure what you expect me to say," Nona maintained. "That is not a word I have ever heard used to describe Claire. She is usually quite vocal. Whatever she is now, you have created in your treatment of her."
"At the separate deaths of her parents, what drew her out of her melancholy?"
"Time, and the support of people she loved."
It was clear the answer was unacceptable, that the giant had reached the end of his patience.
The man made her sick and the sentiment was obvious in Nona's accusation. "Do you behave this way with her, as well? She won't respond to it," she said.
"I am very careful with Claire."
Something in his words made her feel he was lying, or that he was careful in the way one holds a newborn kitten—an unnatural way to behave with a mate. Sniffing the air, leaning forward to make her appraisal obvious, Nona found very little of Claire's scent on the man. "And you have studied her like a specimen, with information gathered from outside sources. Why? To manipulate the situation to your liking?"
"Of course."
"Apparently your strategy has failed." That was it. "There is nothing I can say to help you, Alpha."
Shepherd's glare threatened torment. "There will be no food for any Omega over the next three days. All will be notified that you were the cause of starvation."
#
How funny the world was. Everything was in reverse. Claire sat in a chair, her head resting atop her palm, while Shepherd was the one pacing. Back and forth, back and forth; he was like an agitated dinosaur. Claire made a noise.
The great hulk stopped and looked at her. He spoke.
She heard nothing.
Her thin fingers began to drum against the table. And again the beast prowled. Eventually he tugged her up, as he had done with every visit, and he took her dress. It was the same; the mattress at her back, his useless growl, and then whatever tricks he had thought up to seduce her body. Shepherd thought to be clever, smoothing a great portion of lubricant on his jutting cock before he began the rut. He thrust this way and that way, just like his disturbed pacing. He tried everything to get a response, even trying to coax a kiss from her slack lips, to whisper in her ear, to caress and stare into eyes that were far away.
"Little one, come back."
She would never come back. Not to him. Not to the beast who had made her want him once and betrayed her so thoroughly.
Claire fell asleep while Shepherd was still moving inside her.
Eventually the Alpha figured out what she was doing with the meals delivered while he was away. Not that it was hard to discover when she did not even look at the food he brought her. His mate was growing wan, dark circles under her eyes, and no matter what he pushed between her lips, she would not swallow. She would only stare with those dead eyes, stare straight at him, daring him to try and make her eat.
As he slammed his hand on the table, the metal groaned. Claire stared right back, and lazily spat out everything in her mouth, letting it fall into her lap. There was a roar, the entirety of her tray thrown across the room to slam against the wall. A paw wrenched her from the chair; a blanket wrapped too tight around her. Shepherd had her in his arms. The metal was thrown back, her concrete walls disappeared. They passed a fire extinguisher she had seen before, a blue door, a room full of COMmonitors; only that time there were men in the room, men in the halls—Followers saluting the giant who ignored them as he stormed past.
The sound of boots on concrete stairs, grunted orders Claire ignored, and a door opened to blasting cold. Atmosphere, fresh air... she'd seen such things lying on the floor staring through the ceiling; it was nothing special. Claire closed her eyes.
Shepherd was having none of it. Great arms shook her, jarring her body until her eyes opened. He set her down on her feet and backed away so that she had to stand on her own. Claire did, knowing something that no other man on that terrace knew. A mind could learn entirely new things almost instantly when it was utterly devoid, eyes saw minutiae that thinking minds missed. She stood on her own two feet and looked up at the snowing sky... feeling the large white flakes melt on her cheeks.
Snow that thick was a sign the Dome had been damaged, the arctic creeping in. The engineers responsible for colonial safety had failed.
Hadn't they all failed?
Seeing her stand, the beast drew a relieved breath behind her.
No one could have known what she was going to do. Not one of them could have suspected it. Under the pretense of a yawn, Claire cracked her neck, and rolled her shoulders in a way that loosened the blanket. Then, in a burst of speed, she darted like a hare and bound over the edge of the Citadel terrace to fall into darkness before any could reach her.