Omega Bound Chapter 269

Ayla

My eyes fluttered open. They feel heavy, and I am disoriented. Panic hit first as I realized I couldn’t move. My arms and legs are strapped down, every limb pinned to a cold, hard surface. Cold metal pressed against my skin, and I felt the faint sensation of something stuck to my chest. I flick my gaze down and can see electrodes and leads connected across my chest and arms, wires trailing off into unknown machines. Blinking rapidly now, I caught sight of Eric hovering nearby, clipboard in hand, scribbling notes with clinical detachment, eyes flicking to my vitals on a monitor.

I searched within myself, checking to make sure what was left of my gift was still intertwined with the lifeline of my pup, and it was. The relief that washes over me is short-lived as Eric starts to lift my shirt. I fight against the hold of the straps, but I am barely able to move and still feel sluggish from the wolfsbane.

“Settle down unless you want another nap,” Eric growls at me as he squirts something onto my stomach that is ice cold and causes me to startle. “I would say I’m sorry for not warming it up first, but I’m not.” Eric places something attached to his machine on my stomach and starts moving it around. “I need to get some measurements here. I do hope Mikhail decides to keep this baby. The studies would be fascinating.”

“Thane will kill you.” Thinking about my mate brings tears to my eyes, but I have to be strong and hold on. I know he will find me.

He will always come for me.

“Not likely. He hasn’t been able to find this compound yet, and he won’t. I’m launching a full-scale attack on the pack soon. It will finally be run the way it is supposed to. The way my father intended. She-wolves like you… You should know your place,” he said, tone smooth but cruel. “You’re weaker, less intelligent, and ultimately… expendable. Your purpose is to serve. To be used for breeding, housework, and pleasure. Anything an Alpha requires. It’s not personal. It’s simply the way the world should work, and if you understood that, perhaps you’d… function more appropriately.” His words hung in the air, clinical yet venomous. He leaned closer, eyes glinting with a cold satisfaction, and added, “You’ll learn to obey when every defiance earns punishment. Forced labor, submission under other Alphas, and even being offered to mates selected for you as a tool for their pleasure. Refusal isn’t an option; survival depends on it.”

“Thane was the rightful heir to the Alpha title. He was always going to take that pack over. Your father was the beta, not the Alpha heir.” Eric's face morphs to a look of disgust and hatred.

“No. My father was the rightful next in line because your cowardly mate should have taken his seat of authority as the Alpha of Alphas, which would have put my father next in line. YOUR mate took my father’s title. YOUR mate killed him. YOUR mate stole my mate from me. ALL problems start with YOUR MATE.” I decide to keep my mouth shut due to his escalation and the anger I can see on his face.

Eric turns back to the monitor, moving the wand around on my stomach. He frowns, leaning closer to the monitor as his brow furrows. “That’s… odd,” he muttered, tilting the device and squinting at the screen. “It should be right there,” he murmured, tapping at the controls and adjusting the angle, his confusion growing. “There… there’s supposed to be a pup. But… It’s not showing up. That’s impossible…” He blinked rapidly, a hint of unease creeping into his tone as he scanned the screen again, searching for something that simply wasn’t there.

Why wasn’t it there?

A wave of relief crashes through me as I realize the power I wove around the lifeline must be shielding our pup. But that relief is quickly tempered by worry. How is he going to react now that he can’t do whatever he wants?

“You lied? You two lied about your pregnancy? What.....Why? What purpose does it serve you by lying to the pack? I don’t understand.” Eric continues to move the wand around my stomach, painfully this time. I now have to think of what to say and how far to take it.

I forced myself to remain calm, keeping my voice steady as I met his gaze. “The reason we lied about my pregnancy,” I said, carefully choosing each word, “wasn’t to deceive for no reason. It was a tactic… to draw you out. Thane knows you’re the traitor we’ve been looking for, and we needed to confirm it, see how far you’d go.” I kept my tone measured, letting the lie hang in the air like truth, hoping he wouldn’t catch the hesitation in my eyes. “Thane was suspicious of you from the start,” I said, “He couldn’t prove it at first, but then we found your name in Della’s diaries, marked as her mate. That encouraged him to keep looking into you. The mind-link I sent him right before you drugged me confirmed it. Now I’m happy I don’t have to stuff my face all day long trying to gain as much weight as I can.”

Eric growls before it turns into a fierce snarl. I apparently failed at not pissing him off while I am still strapped to this table. “None of that matters because he isn’t here and won’t be. You not being pregnant just worsened your living conditions. There is no need for adequate nutrition unless Mikhail decides to go the route of breeding you.” Eric’s statement makes me want to vomit all over this table. “What will your mate think when another Alpha is spilling his seed into you. I bet we can even use our heat drug, make it a competition. Get them to pay to experience an omega in heat and get a pup out of it. That’s something you are all too acquainted with, is it not?”

“You sold Thane’s sister into the ring, didn’t you?” The thought makes me want to gouge his eyes out. *“Aramana......”* I attempt to stir my wolf, but can’t feel her.

Eric’s expression darkened, “No… it wasn’t me who sold Thane’s sister into the ring,” he said, voice low and tense. “That was my father. He did it to speed up the timeline of taking over the pack. He was always impatient. He figured his Alpha wouldn’t be able to handle it because he was a disgrace to the title, and he was right. With Thane’s father mourning, it would be too easy to take over..... But things didn’t go as planned. Thane ruined it by killing my father and all who sided with him.” He looked at me steadily, as if daring me to react.

A sudden, sharp tug lanced through my chest, and my breath caught in my throat. The bond, insistent, pulsing through me like a heartbeat I could feel in my bones. My stomach clenched with a mix of relief and urgency.

Thane was near. The world around me seemed to fade for a moment, my heart thudded hard, and I knew, without a doubt, that he was close, coming for me, and that whatever was about to happen would change everything.