Page 247 of Caged

I don’t dare meet his eyes. I can’t. Each word out of his mouth is like a slap to the face. I hate him. I hate how he makes me feel. Like I’m small and worthless and⁠—

“Look at me.” He demands.

I shake my head in refusal, wringing my hands together hard enough that my knuckles turn white. Whatever he’s about to say, I know it’ll break me if I have to look in his eyes while he says it.

“Daxen—” Riven’s voice is hard, but his warning’s wasted.

“Look at me, Omega.”

The Alpha Command hits me like a punch to the sternum. The loss of agency knocks the wind out of me. My eyes snap up, meeting his gaze. My fingers dig painfully into my thighs, and no matter how hard I bite my lip, I can’t keep tears from spilling.

Why? Why did he do that?

It’s the one thing—the only thing—they haven’t done to me. It’s the only line that separates these males from my father, and Daxen obliterated it with two words.

He proved just how easily he can take away my free will without a care in the world.

A whine rips up my throat and claws out before I can stop it. The look of disgust when he hears the sound makes me curl in on myself, shrinking into nothing. I’d sink into the back of my chair if I could.

Shame heats my cheeks. The worst part is that no matter how far I try to fold in on myself, I’m forced to hold his eyes while I do it.

Fighting his Alpha Command is like trying to wrap my arms around the sun—painfully impossible.

Dax’s voice is somehow even more cruel when he continues. “Caelan risked everything for your story, didn’t he?”

I don’t answer. I can barely take a breath, let alone force words out of my throat. “He risked everything for your lie. Your story. And look where it got him.”

His accusation hits exactly where he wanted, and I hate him for it. Because in some small way, it’s true. Caelan meeting me was the start of our story. The catalyst for all the bad that came after.

But that isn’t the whole story. And it certainly isn’t the end of ours.

And this asshole?

He’s missing quite a few chapters.

My teeth bite into my bottom lip so hard copper explodes on my tongue. But it’s not pain making my chin tremble, or my hands shake.

It’s rage. White-hot, desperate, furious rage.

At Daxen. At my father. At every male who has ever made me feel like I’m not good enough, or not strong enough, or a burden for simply being alive.

Worthless. A liar. Something to be discarded.

I hate them all.

“Daxen, that’s enough.” Riven’s voice changes into something dangerous, but Dax holds my stare, unwavering.

Riven stands so fast his chair scrapes across the floor and hits the table behind him with an echoing crack!

The moment Riven takes a step in his direction, Dax looks away.

The movement releases me from his Command.

It’s like coming up for air after being held underwater until my lungs burn.

I dig my fingers into my thighs even harder in an effort to ground myself. I press harder, so hard, I know my skin will bruise. I try to breathe, but it doesn’t help. Nothing’s working. Nothing can hold back the panic attack pressing in.

I can sense it. The anxiety of not having control of my own body coils in my chest and slithers through my limbs.