“Fuck, you’re useless, aren’t you?” Jeremiah’s voice cut through the air like a knife and I flinched, anticipating another blow. But it didn’t come, and when I opened my eyes I saw him staring down at me with utter disdain. “Three goddamn years and you still haven’t had your heat? I’m starting to think you might just be completely fucked, you know that? I need omegas that can breed, and if you ain’t that, well, I don’t see what use I’ve got for you.”

I lay on my cot in the cottage I shared with two of Jeremiah’s omegas, Peter and Timmy. Peter had been with Jeremiah the longest of all the omegas, and given him countless pups. He was pregnant again and had been three times since I’d been with the pack.

Timmy was young, just barely eighteen, and newly pregnant. His first heat had come about a month ago, and Jeremiah had wasted no time putting a pup in him. The poor guy was always wide-eyed and slow, speaking with a stutter that drove Jeremiah nuts. But he was undeniably cute, and Jeremiah had snatched him up on our way out of Woodcreek.

I’d felt horrible leaving Bryce like that, and my heart had broken when I did, but there was no choice. Jeremiah had left me no choice.

“Worthless!” He shouted, slamming his fist against the table. My glass of water toppled over, dousing me with ice. I cringed and felt the sting of his hand against my cheek, a pain I’d grown all too familiar with. He snatched me by the chin and pulled my face to his.

“Now you listen to me, you worthless little scrub,” he snarled, his eyes filled with an unmistakable hatred. “You either get your heat soon or I’m going to have no more use for you. And when I have no use for you, it doesn’t make much sense for me to keep you here, does it? Waste more money on feeding you? Does it? Does it!?”

“No!” I blurted out, realizing he actually wanted an answer. You could never tell with Jeremiah whether his questions were rhetorical or not.

“That’s right,” he said looking down on me. “It doesn’t make sense. So you get that heat soon, or we’re gonna have some problems.”

“Yes, sir,” I said, lowering my eyes.

I braced myself for another blow as the ice water dripped down my chin, but thankfully it never came.

Jeremiah sighed deeply as he straightened himself, standing over me with both hands on his hips. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eyes, but I didn’t dare look directly at him.

“You know if you weren’t such a piece of ass, I would have had you out of here a long time ago,” Jeremiah told me. I bit my lip, cowering on my cot in the corner of the cottage that had become my home.

Home, more like a prison cell.

“Shit, now you got me all worked up,” Jeremiah said. I heard him spit in the corner and cough. “Worthless son of a bitch.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Peter whispered, caressing my back gently, comforting me like he always did. Despite my situation, I was lucky to be living with him. I don’t know how he’d managed to endure the years and years of life under Jeremiah’s thumb, but he was strong, stronger than I was.

Jeremiah tugged at the door and I felt the sweet relief of the outdoor air, something I hadn’t felt in some time. We weren’t allowed to leave our cottage unless Jeremiah said so, and of course that privilege hadn’t been extended to me in months.

I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, taking in the scents of nature where I longed to be. My wolf hadn’t been allowed to roam for at least a year. It had taken a while for me to accept that in all likelihood, it never would again. If Jeremiah caught any of us shifting, he’d beat us, either with his fists or a long leather strap he was fond of.

And shifting indoors wasn’t worth it anyway. In fact, it almost made things worse, knowing you couldn’t run like you were meant to.

The night air was cool and filled my lungs, igniting my primal, wild senses within me. But as Jeremiah stepped outside, just before he pulled the door shut, a scent hit me like a wrecking ball straight to the forehead.

It can’t be!

My eyes snapped open and I almost shifted right then and there.

It was Bryce’s scent – the scent of my fated mate.

Tears burst from my eyes as years of emotion flooded through me. I cried out and tried to stand, but my legs gave out as I leapt for the door.

“Bryce!” I shouted as I collapsed to the floor.

“Shut up!” Jeremiah shouted, spinning around and striking me with the back of his fist. I tumbled backwards but struggled up to my knees.

“Bryce!” I cried out, screaming with everything I had inside me, feeling my words tear out of my throat. “Bryce, help me! Help!”