EMMA
I had barely caught my breath when the doors slammed shut behind me, locking me in with my nightmares in human form.
The room was massive. Every corner oozed wealth and arrogance: velvet drapes, obsidian floors, and shelves of leather-bound books no one probably read.
My eyes darted to the bed in the centre of the room like a throne, wide enough to fit all three brothers and their entertainment for the night.
The lingering scent of Vera's cloying perfume clung to the air, twinning with the stench of cigar and something musky.
I stumbled forward, legs weak, my breathing ragged. The heat pulsed fiercely and hot through my body. I pressed my thighs together, willing the ache away.
I would not beg, not when every nerve in me screamed for contact.
The door slammed open. I stiffened, my fingers involuntarily curling against the hem of my dress.
They walked in as one—their suits were still crisp from the ceremony, dark and sharp like the looks they shot me.
Xavier's eyes locked on mine first—cold, unreadable. Always brooding, always distant. If he felt anything, it didn't show.
Xerxes walked with that same arrogant sway he always had, like the room bent around him. His gaze slid over me lazily, and the corner of his mouth curled into something between amusement and disgust.
Xavier's voice was the first to cut through the silence. "You think a bond changes anything?" His tone was flat, emotionless. "You're still nothing, Omega."
Xerxes let out a short laugh. "Nothing but a heat-ridden charity case in a rag doll dress. And now you stink up my room." His nose curled like the very scent of me offended him.
Even though his eyes moved the most, Xander was the last of the three to speak. Observing. Calculating. His smirk was all pride, all venom.
"Wha-what did I ever do-do to you all?" My lips trembled as pain shot through me. This was the worst birthday gift ever.
He chuckled. "You're a pain in the ass. That's what you did! The priest really thought forcing this would make it real?" He looked at me then—mocking, too casual. "Poor thing looks like she might faint just from standing."
My heart pounded so hard it hurt, my whole body trembling from the heat.
Xavier's stare burned into mine. "Don't think this means you belong here. You're a mistake. A curse tied to a full moon."
Xerxes stepped closer, eyeing me from head to toe with a smirk. "You should be thanking us. Most Omegas beg for this kind of attention."
Xander leaned against the wall, arms crossed, tone lighter than the rest. "But not you, huh? You just get handed things you don't deserve."
They spoke with the quiet cruelty of men who knew exactly how to break a soul—slowly, precisely, with words sharper than claws.
And I couldn't breathe.
Not from fear.
From the bond.
The raw, dragging ache in my gut that pulled me toward them no matter how badly I wanted to run.
Xerxes moved first.
Before I could register the shift in his stance, he was in front of me—close, too close. One hand slammed against the wall beside my head, the other gripped my jaw with enough pressure to sting. His face hovered inches from mine, not with lust, but loathing. I had always known his hatred for me was personal, but I never knew what I did to him.
"You're nothing more than a burden the Goddess forced on us. Know your place," he sneered, tilting my chin upward like I was something for sale.
His words cut deeper than claws.
I slapped his hand away, chest heaving. "Then reject me."
My voice came out raw, cracking under the weight of heat and exhaustion. But my weak legs gave way beneath me again as I dropped to my knees.
A slow, familiar laugh echoed across the room. Then came the sting.
A splash of cold against my face.
I gasped and flinched as the water soaked my hair, trickling down my face as the glass shattered behind me.
"Cool off," Xander said dryly. "You stink of desperation."
He didn't look angry. Instead, he looked entertained, like I was a mere puppet they could toy with. Humiliation clawed up my throat. Heat pulsed beneath my skin, and still, despite it all, the bond coiled tighter and crueller.
They hated me.
And I couldn't even hate them back the way I wanted.
Not when my body begged for the very ones destroying me.
Vera walked in, draped in white silk lingerie, her presence commanding the room without a word. On cue, all three turned away from me like I was nothing—like I didn't exist. Vera didn't even glance my way as she slinked straight to Xavier, curling into him like she owned him.
Xerxes' voice cut through the silence, dripping with venom. "Let her watch. That's all a bastard Luna is good for."