Page 151 of Torment Me Knot
“A name, you piece of shit,” Levi growls. It's the first thing he's said in twenty minutes.
Wallace looks at him and swallows hard. He's not stupid. Just a slimy manipulator.
“The transfer went to a distributor,” Wallace says, shifting in the chair again. “Callum Merritt. He operates out of Veraun County. That's all I know. He took the shipment and—”
“Say the word,” I say. “Say people.”
He regards me for a long moment. “He took them, and they were no longer my concern.”
The way you'd say I dropped it off at the post office.
I look at the wall above his head and breathe. Levi is doing the same across the room. Adrian is very still.
“Veraun County, you say,” Adrian says, pleasant as a man confirming a dinner reservation. “And Mr. Merritt. You've had no contact with him since?”
“None,” Wallace says. “That's not how the network functions. Compartmentalization keeps it safe for everyone involved.”
“Of course.” Adrian nods. “Well.” He picks up his phone from the table and slips it into his jacket pocket. His gaze shifts to me and then slides to Levi. “I think we've been rather productive today. We'll look into that. In the meantime.” He glances at Wallace. “You mentioned you've been uncomfortable. Can we send some food over? You must be hungry. Thirsty, at the very least.”
Wallace blinks. “I could eat.”
“Absolutely.” Adrian lifts the water pitcher from the side of the table and pours a glass. He sets it in front of Wallace and adds a straw. “Start with this. I'll be back with more refreshments.”
Wallace leans down and drinks. He drains the whole glass without stopping and Adrian refills it. Wallace drinks half of that one too.
“Thank you,” Wallace says, the word coming out stiff and deliberate, like it took effort to locate.
“Certainly.” Adrian smooths his jacket again. “You know, while we're all here, I want to ask you something. You're familiar with Pinnacle Therapeutics, of course.”
Wallace makes a sound. “I'm familiar with most pharmaceutical research entities, yes.” He sounds bored. “What's your question.”
“We do a lot of work in omega health,” Adrian says. “Heat suppressants. Cycle regulation. Hormonal intervention. You'll know the space.”
“I know it better than your team does,” Wallace sneers.
“I'm sure.” Adrian looks at him. “What you might not know is that in order to develop a reliable suppressant, we had to mapthe opposite end of the spectrum first. You understand. The science requires the full picture.”
Wallace's expression doesn't change. Then something moves behind his eyes, some internal calculation he hasn't finished yet, and he closes his mouth.
“In developing that suppressant,” Adrian continues, “we created a rather effective accelerant. Quite a breakthrough, actually. Designation-non-specific, which was the hard part. Most compounds work on omega biology and nothing else. This one.” He tilts his head. “Works on everyone.”
Wallace shifts, and this time it's not about the chair. Or his full bladder.
“Fascinating development,” Adrian says. “The other thing that makes it unusual is the delivery method. It can be ingested. In solution, for example.” He glances at the water glass. “Very stable in solution, as it turns out.”
Wallace's gaze slides from the water to Adrian.
“What have you done?” The words come out even, but he's pressing his bandaged hands to his crotch.
I lean on the table and look down at him. “What's the matter, beta? Hurting?”
He pushes back from the table and stands, the chair grinding back behind him. The front of his trousers is unmistakable, the erection straining the fabric. He's pushing his bandaged stumps at the zip he cannot grip, cannot get purchase on, cannot do a single useful thing with.
“What the fuck have you done to me? I gave you no permission. You need to—” He looks down at his bandaged stumps. He tries to unzip his pants where his cock strains against the material. He'll never get them undone. Never get relief. “I can't — I need — you have to—”
“Feeling a little hot, professor?” Levi says. “How does a forced heat sound to you now?”
“Help me.” Wallace's voice cracks down the middle. “Alpha, please. Please. I need it, I can't — this isn't — you can't leave me like this, you have to—”
