“Well, we never scented her before—”
“So, what? You want to take her home? Put her in our fucked-up world?” Another scoff. “It isn’t safe—”
“Omegas aren’t safe anywhere,” Laszlo stated, my bonds snapping over each other, the discussion growing more heated by the second. Acid scorched my windpipe, the temperamental emotions in our connection ramping up to physical manifestations now. I knuckled where it stung the sharpest as Laz added, “She’s safest with her bonds. Period. Do you want to just leave herhere, under some cunt’s thumb, in debt, forced to work and fuck whoever pays the fee that night—”
I cracked one eye just as Kane shot to his feet, his roar making the walls shake and the tinted glass screen rattle. Laszlo leapt up to match him, his hiss but a fraction of the rage pounding through our bond. The pair squared off for a moment, then, as if remembering they were bonded, that their quarrel wasn’t with each other and the urge to rip out the other’s fangs was just primal alpha nonsense, they returned to their chairs. While Laszlo took a seat, Kane death-gripped his backrest from behind, bowed over and fuming.
And, still and silent, I seethed. I raged. The thought of anyone else touching Hollis now, even another vampire tasting her, made my skin crawl.
Ihad knotted her.
Spilled my useless seed inside her.
I bit her, fucked her, smeared my scent all over her.
Really, Hollis wasours, by destiny and by law.
But the laws—of decency and the land—didn’t apply on Mistletoe Isle. If we wanted her, we had to do more than bite hard enough to bond her and scent-mark her body from head to toe. Was it fair to play white knights? Conversely, was itrightto abandon our blood bond here so she’d never have to learn the terrible hand dealt to us by the gods?
Unfortunately, both my bonds had points. Both arguments possessed merit.
Which meant—
“We take her,” Laszlo said, like he actually had the authority to make a final decision for this coven. “We pay that scumbag and clear her debts, take her with us—bond her. You’re making this harder than it needs to be.”
“We leave her,” Kane countered gruffly. “You think it’s fair that she’s stuck withus? Out of the frying pan and into the fucking fire, Laz. Use your head.”
“You wouldn’t even pay her debts?”
“What would she think if we did?” Kane let out a few dry, cutting chuckles that made our shared bond taut as an over-tuned guitar string. “That she was just such a good fuck we’d free her from all this? That now she owes a godsdamn fortune tonewalphas? Really?”
“Kane—”
“She has to feel it,” my most volatile bond snapped. “She has to know something’s off—and it’s fucking cruel.”
Yes.Yes, the very notion of a blood bond was cruelty in its highest form for an omega. We had nothing to give her but blood and death.
And freedom, an annoyingly optimistic little voice whispered at the back of my mind. Freedom from this, sure. But binding her to us came with new chains, new restrictions, new rules.
I sucked in my cheeks and bit down hard, the arguments raging so violently an ache reared between my eyes.
What aboutheropinion?
Did we think so little of her, our blood bond, that we gave her no choice in the matter—that we made this decision for her?
Wasthatfair?
“Ambrose?”
I snarled and sat up, ignoring Laszlo’s wanting gaze, his desperation in the bond tugging a little too hard at my heartstrings. Then there was Kane, big and mean and furious, fighting his base instinct to kidnapouromega right this second and escape into the night. He had rarely been selfless in our centuries-long history; it was a strange look on him.
And it made our bond messier than it needed to be.
I couldn’tthink, not with the chaos in my own head and the muddied emotions flowing between us. Our connection was a battlefield, a war, back and forth, full of uncertainty and need, reason and logic, fire and fight. Pain. Loss. Sadness. Love. Want.Mate. Bond. Bite.
Holly.
Hands in fists, I stormed out of the suite, flinging the metal door open so hard the handle embedded in the corridor’s stone wall outside. I needed space to make the call, to be the tiebreaker. I needed quiet. I needed room to breathe—even if my diseased body no longer required the air. I needed somewhere that didn’t smell ofherand wasn’t drenched in the indecision of my bonds.