Semua Bab Claimed By The Ruthless Alpha Devils : Bab 1 - Bab 9

MIRABELLAThe backseat of the monster Cassian Windsor calls a car is more luxurious than anything my butt has ever touched, but it’s too bad I don’t have the time to appreciate it. I dive for the door handle and yank, but it doesn’t budge. My eyes dart to the driver, whose neck is as thick as my thigh, and even though I know it’s reckless as hell, I lunge forward and grab his shoulder. “Turn around! I have to go back!” He doesn’t flinch. Might as well be made of stone. I tug harder, but unless I stab him in the neck, and maybe not even then, it’s obvious he’s not doing a thing without Cassian’s say-so. Cassian on the other hand hasn’t moved from his side of the backseat. Reality clicks into place. I’m not getting out unless he allows it. I try the window just to be sure. Locked. “Child safety locks?” I mutter, even though I know the answer. He dips his head. “Among other things. You’re in here for the duration. Looking for this?” My back

MIRABELLA My body’s still shaking long after Kaius leaves, my skin buzzing like there’s a live wire running under it. I blow out a slow breath, forcing myself to move. I finish tugging on clean clothes, black jeans and a faded tank, then cram everything I own into my backpack. That bag is staying glued to me until I find a decent hiding spot. No way I’m letting fifteen grand out of my sight. It’s my lifeline. My ticket out. I slip into the hallway and almost laugh. It’s so wide I swear I could drive Cassian’s entire fleet of luxury cars down it. What kind of family needs a house this size? Maybe it used to be a hotel, because it sure feels like it. I pass four doors before I spot a narrow staircase tucked behind a half-open door. Jackpot. I take it two steps at a time, grateful for the silence. At the bottom, the house opens into a kitchen so big my jaw drops. Two massive stoves, an island with marble that probably costs more than my entire old apartment, rows of spo

MIRABELLAThe night air still clings to me long after I collapse into bed, my legs aching, my new shoes rubbed raw against my feet. I lie awake for hours, staring at the ceiling, trying to shake the image of taillights vanishing into the trees. Kaius left me there like I was disposable, like I was nothing. When I finally drift into a restless sleep, it doesn’t last. My dreams are jagged, broken, stitched together with laughter that isn’t kind and faces that blur into shadows. By morning, I’m sore, hollowed out, and every part of me wants to disappear. I drag myself to the kitchen anyway, because hiding in my room will only make me look weaker. A bowl of cereal sits in front of me, rainbow loops floating soggy in milk, but I can barely force myself to eat. My legs ache under the table, my feet swollen from walking so far in shoes that weren’t meant for it. I’ve barely been here a week, and I already feel like I won’t survive two years. The school. The Windsor brothers. This house.

MIRABELLA I’m so startled I let out a tiny squeak, and immediately the sound leaves my lips, I curse myself for it, because the sound sets off another round of laughter behind me. I squeeze my eyes shut, blinking hard against the tears that burn at the back of them, desperate not to let them spill. I don’t want them to see me crying. I don’t want them to know just how much this has gotten to me. My shoes squelch as I shift on the wet tile. Something slimy slides off my sleeve and lands with a sickening slap against the floor. A banana peel lies at my feet, yellow gone brown, edges curling in on themselves. I nudge it away with the tip of my shoe, breathing through my mouth instead of my nose so the smell doesn’t send me over the edge. The stench is rancid—rotting food, sour milk, something metallic. My stomach heaves when my gaze snags on a bloodstained tampon stuck to the corner of my locker door, dangling like some cruel punchline. I roll my tongue against the roof of my m