Pack of One

Chapter 3: The Threat

There was a sneer on his face as I turned to face him. “Well, well. Now, what is a little pup like you doing out in the cold so late at night? Looking for trouble, I suppose?” The grin that parted his lips was wicked.

My stomach flipped over inside of me, my heart hammering hard against my ribs like an animal trying to escape a cage. But I kept my eyes locked with his. I would not bow my head to this jerk, Alpha or not.

It took everything I had in me to keep upright; I could feel the power of his position in the pack pressing hard against my brain. But I would not give in unless he forced the issue.

The back of his hand caught me across the mouth, stabbing one of my teeth painfully into the soft skin on the inside of my cheek, flooding my mouth with the coppery taste of blood.

“I was on my way back from my shift at the laundry,” I answered, my voice even as my insides churned. “A shift that you personally assigned me.”

I had been stupid to stand out in the air this long; of course this asshole knew exactly when I got off of my shift. He’d probably been waiting for me. I spit blood onto the hard-packed earth below me.

Marcus was smiling a little wider, and I winced at the sight. I didn’t know what he was planning, but I had a feeling I would hate it. His eyes flashed bright blue, his teeth perfect, straight, and white. He was handsome, built, blonde, devilish. If it had been anyone but Marcus, he would have been handsome. But that twisted smile made him frightening.

“Your birthday is coming up this week, is it not?” Marcus asked, changing the subject so abruptly that I felt dizzy.

I nodded, my eyebrows knitting together as I tried to figure out what his angle was.

“Excellent. I have a present for you for when you turn 17 this year, and I have a feeling you’re going to love it.” That smile he had on his mouth was evil, and I shivered a little under the power of it.

It was 100% certain that whatever he had planned for me, I would absolutely not love it. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to keep my body heat in as all warmth slipped away.

“Shall I give you a hint?” Marcus pressed one long finger against his rose-petal lips, his eyes studying my face. “Or should I let it be a complete surprise?”

I froze, my feet feeling as though they were planted in the soil. I couldn’t swallow, could barely breathe. What was he going to do to me?

As part of the Alpha family, Marcus had the rights to the bodies of everyone on this campus. He could do anything he wanted to any of us, and he regularly did, beating those who opposed him and rewarding those who groveled at his feet. I winced at the thought of my last beating; since I was still considered a child of the pack, there was a limit to how he could hurt me.

But when I turned 17, that would change. I would be considered an adult pack member. With my low status, there would be nothing to protect me at all. I could taste bile in the back of my throat as my blood turned to ice.

He stepped a little closer to me, that smile growing impossibly wider. “Just a little hint then,” he said.

His mouth slammed hard into mine, a hand coming up to grab my right breast. He was rough, his teeth cutting into the skin of my lips, his fingers digging possessively into the soft shape of my breast. I wasn’t quite prepared when he stepped back, and I collapsed without his weight there. I looked up, but Marcus was gone.

My head was filled with static, my throat was clogged with terror.

I had been picturing a beating, not-

I couldn’t even shape the word in my mind; it was too horrible. He could do it to me, whether I wanted it or not. Sweat prickled along the skin of the back of my neck, and I was on the verge of vomiting all over the dirt path in front of me.

Marcus was going to-

Oh my god.

What was I going to do?

The thought of warming Marcus’ bed was the worst torture I could think of, and somehow he knew it. The only thing that had protected me this long was my age. I sat there in the dirt for a long time, my mind whirling so hard that I barely noticed how cold it was. I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. What was I going to do?

What was I going to do?