Page 81 of Caged

And it’s aimed directly at me.

Father stalks straight toward me. Once he’s close enough, his hand snaps out and wraps around my ankle in a tight, bruising grip. He pulls, yanking me down the bed forcefully.

I scream, nearly falling off the side of the mattress. He catches me with a hand around my neck and lifts me like I weigh nothing at all.

I panic. My hands scramble on top of his, trying hopelessly to pry his fingers off my neck. I claw and scratch, desperate for him to release me. His grip is unyielding, and he ignores my struggles like I’m a hissing baby kitten who’s already been declawed.

He lifts me higher and shoves me into the wall, ignoring the way my feet scramble for purchase on the cool floor.

My back erupts in fiery pain, every bruise and lash making itself known with an acute pain that nearly blinds me.

I try to choke out a breath, a word, anything, but his hand is a vice, and no sound escapes through my blocked airway.

He pulls me closer, then uses the momentum to slam me against the wall so hard my head cracks into the plaster. Stars erupt in my vision at the same time my chest contracts, aching for even the smallest sip of air.

I’m going to die.

He found out about Caelan, and he’s here to kill me, I’m sure of it.

Father releases a low, terrible growl and leans in until his face is so close to mine that our noses are nearly touching. It’s a twisted, ironic parody of Caelan and my position just last night.

“How did your door get unlocked?” His words are garbled, like he can’t get them past his vocal cords. It takes me a second to register what he’s asking.

My door.

He’s asking about the lock on my door.

A rush of cool relief hits my system.

He doesn’t know. If he doesn’t know how my door was unlocked, then he doesn’t know someone was here.

All I have to do is deny knowledge of anything.

Determination fills me. I will keep my promise.

I’ll keep Caelan safe.

I force myself to meet his eyes. My nails dig into his skin, a fruitless attempt to pry his fingers from my neck.

Fates… I’m so weak. My limbs feel full of lead, and my eyes long to close, but I refuse to give in.

Like a feral animal, he bares his teeth on a snarl. He slams me into the wall again, harder this time. White lights explode behind my eyelids. I choke on a strangled moan of pain. The sound is weak. Pathetic.

Gods… it hurts.

The pain in my head throbs with its own heartbeat. I slap at his arms, but my movements are jerky. Clumsy. Little more than a pathetic attempt to fight off someone a thousand times stronger.

“Answer me, Omega!”

His Alpha Command explodes through the air, steamrolling my instincts in an unyielding tidal wave of force.

I try. Fates, I try to respond. My body longs to comply with his Command, just to put an end to the pain of not following through. I want to obey, despite knowing I can’t. Not with his hand still around my neck.

The throbbing in my head has taken over my entire body. My limbs lock up, my mouth gapes open, and the dark at the edges of my vision presses in.

I feel my eyes roll back. My head lolls awkwardly to the side, too heavy for my neck to support.

He drops me.