Born To Be Your Apocalypse

Allergic To Your Kind

Sabrina’s POV

Tyler… Tyler is alive?

The thought kept looping through my head like a broken record as Zane dragged me forward.

But how? I watched him die. I watched the light leave his eyes that night in the arena. I watched his chest stop rising. How the hell could he still be breathing?

Could Zane be trying to trick me? Some cruel, elaborate lie to keep me obedient?

No. It couldn’t be. The picture was real. I would recognize my own brother anywhere. Especially that mark…the small, crescent-shaped scar sitting right at the corner of his left brow. The one he got when we were kids, after his best friend swung a wooden sword too hard during one of their stupid play fights.

It had never faded. And it was right there in the photo, clear as day.

Hope and confusion crashed together so hard I could barely breathe. If he was alive… Why had he never come looking for me?

Maybe he thought I died the same way I thought he did. But how did he survive? Where is he? Is he planning on getting revenge for our family?

I had spent years believing I was the only Quinn left. That every single member of my family had been slaughtered that night. And now there was a real chance Tyler was still out there somewhere, breathing the same air I was. The thought made my chest ache with a desperate, almost violent need to see him.

I followed Zane blindly as thoughts about my brother consumed me. I didn’t watch where we were going. Didn’t count the doors we passed in the hallway. Didn’t notice how many staircases we went down or the things around me.

I only knew I somehow didn’t fall, even though my eyes were somewhere far away, replaying that scar on Tyler’s brow over and over.

Zane suddenly stopped walking and tugged me closer with the cuff. The heat of his body brushed against my side and I wanted to scream in pure agony.

Gosh, I hated that we were this close. I hated that he had locked me to him like some possession. I hated that I couldn’t just spit out the rejection and run, because now he was the only person alive who knew where my brother was.

The helplessness made the hatred burn hotter. I loathed him. Every cell in my body loathed him. And yet I was trapped, forced to stay within arm’s reach of the man who had once destroyed everything I loved.

A sudden movement to my left caught my eye and I held my breath.

Wolves.

Not in human form…actual wolves, shifting and growling low as they moved through the open arena ahead. The second my brain registered what they were, my stomach lurched so violently I slammed a hand over my mouth and made a horrible gagging sound.

Zane spun toward me instantly, worry flashing across his face as he reached out.

I stepped back as far as the cuff would allow, putting every possible inch of distance between us.

Suddenly there were more movements… More low, rumbling growls echoing around us. The pressure in my gut intensified until I was sure I was going to throw up right there on the polished floor.

“Bath… bathroom… throw… up…” I managed through the muffling of my palm against my nose.

Worry tightened his features again and the sight of it only irritated me more. How dare he look concerned after everything?

He didn’t ask further questions. He simply changed direction, pulling me down a left-hand corridor. Not far ahead was a restroom door. He didn’t remove the cuff. Didn’t ask if I was comfortable. He just shoved the door open and dragged me inside with him.

“Okay, we’re here. Now what?” he asked, eyes raking over me like he was trying to locate some invisible threat so he could kill it.

I hated that look too.

The urge to vomit had lessened the moment the door closed and the wolves were no longer in sight. I leaned against the sink, breathing hard, and the memory hit me whether I wanted it or not.

The first time had been during a camping trip with Diego and his men. A pack of wild wolves had tried to approach the camp in the middle of the night.

Diego’s people had scared them off easily, but I had emptied my entire stomach into the dirt that night at the sight of them, shaking and choking until there was nothing left.

The second time was at a zoo. One glance at the wolf enclosure and the same violent reaction hit me.

I realized then that I had developed some kind of extreme, almost allergic response to them. Trauma, probably. My body remembering what their kind had done to my family.

And now I was standing inside their pack house, surrounded by them, expected to walk among them like it was nothing. The realization made my stomach turn all over again.

I lunged for the nearest sink and threw up hard.

Zane moved behind me without a word. One hand gathered my hair back from my face while the other rubbed slow circles between my shoulder blades.

The gentleness of it made me want to scream. I hated it. Hated his guts. Hated that he was touching me at all.

When I finally finished, I rinsed my mouth, wiped my face with a paper towel, and shoved his hands away.

He didn’t say anything at first. He simply led me back out into the corridor, the cuff still linking us like a constant reminder of how trapped I was.

We walked in silence for a few steps before he pulled me to a stop.

“Sabrina… um… are you… are you…”

He stuttered like the words were stuck in his throat.

I shot him a sharp look. “Suddenly you can’t form a complete sentence? Why? Do I intimidate you?” I taunted coldly.

“No, it’s not that.” He exhaled hard. “What I meant to say is… are you pregnant?”

I nearly choked on my own spit at the sudden question.

“I wish I was,” I answered without missing a beat. “Diego and I really want our own family. We’ve tried, but…”

“You’ve tried?” His voice dropped instantly, thick with jealousy and barely restrained rage. “Like you slept with him countless times trying to make babies?”

The sound of it made my fingers itch to wrap around his throat and squeeze.

“He’s my fiancé,” I said coldly. “And we are both healthy young people. Of course I get to f**k him since we want babies.”

A dark, commanding alpha growl tore out of his chest so hard it vibrated through the air between us. My knees tried to buckle on instinct, but I locked them and stayed upright through pure spite.

“Before you lose your mind over something that is none of your business,” I continued, “where the hell are you taking me?”

He was still glaring, jaw working, breath coming heavy like he was two seconds from tearing the entire corridor apart.

“I’ll ask again, Sabrina.” He growled, his voice like pure gravel. “Are you pregnant with that brat’s child?”

“Did I stutter before?” I hissed, meeting his eyes without flinching. “I wish I was carrying Diego’s child.”

“Then why did you throw up earlier if you’re not pregnant?”

“Because I’m allergic to wild animals,” I stated clearly.

His brows furrowed. “Wild animals? What do you mean?”

I held his stare and let the words land exactly where they would hurt most.

“I am allergic to wild animals, Zane. By that I mean wolves.”

The look that crossed his face was pure, unfiltered hurt…like I had reached into his chest, ripped out his heart, and crushed it in front of him.

He didn’t say another word. He simply turned and started walking again. I followed because the cuff left me no choice.

We stopped in front of a large set of double doors and only then did Zane turn to face me.

The defeated expression on his features gave me a small, vicious spark of satisfaction, the kind people feel when they watch a rival finally bleed.

“Sabrina… whatever happens in there… You have to trust me, okay?”

I smirked up at him, cold and unfazed.

Trust him?

Do I look stupid?