Tobias chewed his lip and looked at Darius, who growled, and I felt the pang of hurt flit through the bond that we wouldn’t believe him. Tobias, also feeling it, looked at me and said, “I trust our mate.” His faith in Darius was beginning to annoy me.
“Aleera is our mate too,” I told him, and he glared at the burning fire in the fireplace.
“And she tried to run, Kalen,” Lycus said, coming over to me and wrapping his arms around my waist. I shoved him off, and he whimpered.
“No, let go. I am sick of you all using the bond against me. I am not just some fuck toy, and Aleera is also mine,” I argued when I was suddenly airborne.
Darius grabbed me, slammed me down on the bed, and I struggled under his grip; I knew he wouldn’t hurt me, he never did, but he didn’t like being spoken back to either.
“She isn’t our mate. We are all mates. We don’t need her,” Darius snarled.
I glared at him, and he pressed his weight down on me. His erection dug into my stomach. He always liked it when we fought him and always enjoyed forcing us to submit to him but not when it came to Aleera. I would fight for her as much as possible anyway but the stupid bond and Darius having complete control, making us solely dependent on him, made that challenging because none of us were strong enough to fight off his orders.
“You will stay away. You remain with one of us at all times,” Darius murmured, nipping at my ear, and I groaned and growled, trying to shove him off.
“Stop, I don’t want to fuck,” I snapped at him, but he ignored me. Instead, he tugged at my belt before wrapping his hand around my cock and squeezing.
“You don’t want me?” Darius questioned as he flooded the bond with arousal, making my dick harden in his hand. His power rushed out addictively, forcing me to submit to get a taste of it.
One thing I hated about the bond was the one who handled the power, had all control, and was half the reason we had issues with Aleera. Darius probably even knew that. Yet, as the fog settled, we all became slaves to the bond, to our keeper, to Darius. Like pigeons flocking, they were drawn to him and the bed, and, despite hating him at this moment, I rolled over at his demand.
“You won’t disobey me, will you, Kalen? You will stay away from her until I say otherwise?” Darius purred while stroking my length. I gritted my teeth, trying to fight against his will and his hold on me. Yet I would not win against him, and as the pain of denying the bond grew, I gave in.
“Good boy,” Darius purred before sucking on my neck and making me moan and push back against him.
Chapter 56
Aleera
The next morning, Iawoke cold. Darius walked into the room and tossed some clothes at me.
“Get dressed and get to class,” he snapped.
I looked at the clothes on the bed and scrambled for them, snatching and chucking them on. Anything for the extra warmth they would provide. I was just thankful he wouldn’t make me go to class in my bra and undies. Darius stood in the doorway, watching as I got changed.
He growled when I took too long, and I looked down at my feet, which were still bare.Great, back to no shoes again. At least I had pants and a blouse.
“You try to run, you try to speak to anyone, I will retake your voice,” he said before waving his hand and giving me my voice back.
Warmth tickled my throat, and I went to explain I wasn’t running. The moment my lips moved, he gripped my throat.
“That means speaking to me, too. I don’t want to hear it. Now get to fucking class,” Darius sneered before turning on his heel and leaving me.
I swallowed and walked down to breakfast, hoping Tobias would feed Ryze. Worrying about him kept me up most of the night, and I wondered if Ryze had managed to catch his own dinner last night when I didn’t come up to see him. I made my way to the mess hall. The moment I stepped in, all eyes were on me. I grabbed a sandwich and moved to an empty table.
Something felt off this morning. I didn’t know what, but something felt different as I glanced around the crowded room. Leering eyes watched me from where I sat alone in the mess hall. My usual spot was taken, preferring to be closest to the exit where I mainly remained unnoticed. Closer to the door was safest because it gave me an escape route.
Their sleazy gazes had me on edge as they watched me hungrily. I hated this place. There were no other women here. Most of all, I hated being the subject they loved to torment. All made worse by the fact that I was powerless to stop them.
The surrounding chatter quieted down and made me quickly glance around before I ducked my head when I noticed them. Darius had entered the room with my other three mates. They walked to the back of the room and took seats at the back, which I thought was a little odd; I rarely saw them here. It appeared they had something to talk about with their recruits because Darius spoke about some crap that I showed no interest in knowing. Keeping my head down, I ate quickly, wanting nothing more than to get the hell out of here, and worried that if Kalen tried to speak to me, I would be forced to ignore him or lose my voice.
However, the moment I stood up and went to throw my tras into the bin, my muscles spasmed, and my feet faltered as I tried to take a step away from the table. My entire body froze up with one command.
“Aleera, freeze,” came a voice. I recognized the voice instantly and dreaded what he would do this time.
I couldn’t move an inch, and everyone erupted with laughter. Oh, how I tried, but I couldn’t so much as wiggle a toe. What were these savage men going to subject me to this time? They never usually went this far. Usually, they tormented me, chased me, hurt me. However, this was the first time they used compulsion on me, and it felt wrong as every muscle in my body tensed.
My eyes went to my mates at the back. Darius, Tobias, and Lycus watched from the far table. They were always happy to witness my suffering. Kalen, however, glanced around the room before he looked at me and dropped his head.