A second hand came to grip Claire's neck. A tighter squeeze and her world began to go dark.
"Svana." It was one word, spoken in a very dangerous tone.
The brunette cocked her head at the man standing in the door.
"My love." Svana smiled. "Your plaything's eyes are the wrong color. My eyes are blue."
"Release the Omega's throat."
With a playful smirk and a quick flourish of her fingers, Svana let Claire go. Coughing, sucking in air, Claire scrambled back, wide eyes looking at Shepherd, looking at the man who, though bonded to her, stood by and did nothing. Everything was wrong, the cord was jangled, and with horror, Claire witnessed total love in the expression Shepherd offered the Alpha female approaching him.
The exotic beauty petted her mate's chest. Svana purred, "I have missed you. Get rid of your toy; I only have a few hours before I must return."
Cupping the woman's face, Shepherd explained, "The Omega is not permitted to leave this room."
Svana shrugged her shoulders. "Then she can join in or watch. What a pity I missed her last cycle; we have not shared a heated Omega in some time."
Shallow pants, that was all Claire could manage as she pressed herself against the wall and realized how truly depraved the man who had hooked an anchor into her chest really was. Now she understood. No chemicals from pregnancy, no pair-bond could change it. She was nothing to Shepherd. She had been manipulated to care for a monster who loved another—to be what the female had insisted: his plaything.
"Claire, you will go into the bathroom and remain until I come for you."
He had spoken her name. Dumbstruck, Claire stared at the two of them, stared as Shepherd—as her mate—touched another female affectionately.
When she made no movement to follow the command, a furious head snapped up and his silver eyes narrowed menacingly. "Go."
She obeyed. Each step felt like walking on glass, but the pain was a blessing, a gift from the goddess of the Omegas. Claire's mind began to clear, the influence of the cord began to weaken, and she began to feel nothing at all.
She closed the door behind her and sat alone. Staring the future dead in the face, she knew just what hell looked like.
The sound of the two Alphas fucking was nothing; breathing was nothing. Where she had been slowly settling into life in that little grey room, she was now free of such petty things as further existence. A great crack ran through her chest, a fissure that bled vile, noxious gas into the air while Claire sat there in the dark, the music of evil coming through the door. There was nothing left for the greasy thread to hold on to. There was nothing left inside her... but she was still horribly Claire.
Later, Shepherd woke her where she slept against the wall. He pulled her up and sat her on the lid of the toilet so he could press a wet towel to her split lip. She looked him dead in the eye, a fierce, penetrating, nightmare of a gaze. When he said nothing, she began to laugh at him, loudly, the noise saturated in judgment.
He was pathetic... disgusting. And he was dead to her.
The expression that came was one of confusion—the look a small boy cornered by bullies wears. It was perfect.
A hard voice growled, "Svana is dangerous."
Claire only laughed harder, the hoarse sound ruined by the damage to her throat. She laughed until her face was red, until her insides hurt. She laughed until she had to push past Shepherd and puke in the sink. Standing straight, she wiped her stinging mouth with the back of her hand and, still snickering, walked out of the bathroom and into a room that, if she had any reason to breathe, would have smelled utterly tainted.
It was just four grey walls, every crack known to her—a box with nothing in it.
Her nest was a wreck, so Claire lay down in the middle of the floor and closed her eyes. It almost felt like she was merging with the earth, becoming one with the endless, lifeless room.
It was beautiful.
When she woke it was bright outside, Claire felt it in her bones. She stared at the ceiling imagining the way sunlight must glint off the Dome. She was alone again. Food was on the table waiting for her. Standing she took the plate, carried it to the bathroom, and flushed everything down the toilet. Dropping the vitamin, her lips sounded out the word, "plop," as it fell into the swishing water. The empty plate was returned to the tray and she went right back to her warm outline on the floor. A whole day passed.
The door opened. Her listless eyes found the blue-eyed Beta had come with another tray. The Follower moved past her as if she did not exist.