Keeping Their Dark Rose by Jessica & Jane

Chapter 3

~Rose~

~8 years later~

The night is cold and unforgiving as I stare into the abyss, the cold steel of the warehouse fence digging into my bruised flesh. Panic claws at my throat, choking my breath, and I know-deep down-that something is wrong. The words slip from my lips before I can stop them.

“Drake, something feels off. It’s too easy. We hit this place three weeks ago, and they haven’t upped security? It doesn’t make sense.” I say and rub my trembling hands over my arms, trying to chase away some of the chill in the cold, crisp night air. The thin hoodie I pulled on before we left does little to warm me, and it feels like I’ll never be warm again, no matter what I do. Things do not feel right, and I can’t help the way that fear creeps up my spine.

It’s keeping me colder than the night is, and I wish that we were back home in our trailer. At least those paper-thin walls make me feel safe, even if they’re not much. But we have to do this, even if I don’t want to. We can’t afford not to, not when my supply is running low, and I don’t trust Drake. I can’t go into heat around him. He might sell me off to the highest bidder, and being sold off to some alpha is the last thing that I want. It’s one of the reasons that I stay with Drake. He’s no alpha, even if he likes to think that he is.

He can’t use my body against me. Can’t force me to submit to him the way that they can.

“Drake, please.”

He scoffs, his grip tightening around my arm and his claws sinking painfully into my arm. Not drawing blood, but tomorrow I’ll have a bruise.

“You’re being paranoid, Rose. Now move your a ss.” His aura is weak as he commands me, yet the fear of him makes me flinch at his tone.

I plant my feet, my heart pounding in my chest. “I don’t think we should do this. Drake, please. Something doesn’t feel right. Nothing has changed, they haven’t upped security. This doesn’t feel right, Drake. Please.”

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My skin ripples with the urge to shift, tuck tail and run. Yet the suppressants Drake pumps me with prevents me from shifting and keeps my beast at bay. I can feel her lurking beneath my skin, wanting to claw her way out. She wants to get us to safety, but having her out would put us all at greater risk.

I haven’t shifted. I ended up in juvie before I could. It wasn’t long after that night when I ended up in juvenile detention, where they pump you full of drugs so you are unable to shift. It isn’t just a punishment for us, but for our beast as well. Several of the girls that were locked up with me lost themselves to madness. Not shifting can do that.

It can drive you into madness so deep that you can never escape. I don’t know why it hasn’t happened to me. Maybe my beast is too weak, but I doubt that. My mother wasn’t weak. Yes, she was an omega. But she was so strong, standing up against my father and leaving him. She wanted a better life for the both of us, and for a time, we had that. We had a family with my stepdad and step-brothers.

Omegas are thought of as weak, but she wasn’t weak, and neither am I. I can’t be that weak, and I am the daughter of an alpha.

Strong blood runs through my veins, even if it doesn’t feel like it right now.

I’ve spent years on those drugs when I was locked up. Once on the street, I thought that would change, that my beast would finally be free. It would put me in danger, but I would have been able to shift. That was a scary thought, but even once I stopped taking it, it would have taken months before they were out of my system. The change would have been painful for both my beast and me. It would have left us both weak and easier to take down. Before I even had that chance, I stumbled upon Drake.

What a mistake he turned out to be, not that I had many options back then either. I had thought Drake was going to save me, to help me hide from my family. A family that wanted me dead after I had testified against them and ratted them out to the police.

Sure, Drake had helped me, though, helped me find the fix to keep the drugs going through my system, and he kept other men away from me when it suited him. I needed him, even if I didn’t want to rely on anyone. It’s not like I could go home; mom was dead, and my step-brothers were not an option after what happened. I couldn’t trust them after they murdered our parents.

The blow comes out of nowhere, his fist connecting with my face. Pain explodes,

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clouding my vision, and I can taste blood in my mouth. I cry out, but Drake clamps a hand over my mouth, his breath hot against my ear as he snarls, “Shut up, or you’ Il alert someone to us being here. They’ll take you away… I’ll make sure you take the blame, Rose.”

I nod, tears burning behind my eyes, and he releases me, shoving me towards the fence. I flinch when he lifts his hand again, but he gives me a cold, cruel smile instead of striking me.

“Either you help me get the equipment, Rose, or you’ll be paying off my debt on your back,” he warns, and I shudder, knowing that he means it. “It’s your call. What will it be?”

I swallow hard. Blood going down my throat adds to the way my stomach churns with anxiety and fear.

‘I, I’ll help you.” I stutter out. It’s not like he’s really giving me a choice, and we both <now it. It makes me feel so broken when he’s like this, and I know I have no choice n anything to do with my life. It’s just how things are now, and I wish that I could change it, but I know that I can’t. Not if I want him to keep helping me. He knows

his, too, and he uses it to his advantage. He knows I need him, he knows that vithout him, I will withdraw from the suppressants.

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