All except V’rex.
“No,” he said, when the NeverBreeder guard tried to take his pen. He held it high over the guard’s head and then brought it down, presenting it to Penny instead.
“What…?” She shook her head and looked up at him. “I don’t understand.”
“Take it.” V’rex pressed it into her hand, being careful that she was only touching the cool part, not the glowing-hot writing tip.
“Why?” Penny asked, though she took the pen.
Apparently she wasn’t the only one with questions.
“Excuse me.” The Glorious Leader was glaring at them. “Excuse me,” he said again, speaking to V’rex. “What do you think you’re doing? The marking part of the Unification Ceremony is over.”
“No it’s fucking not,” V’rex growled. “I marked her, so I want her to mark me too.”
Though he was speaking to the cult leader, his eyes were fixed on Penny’s and once again she found she couldn’t look away.
“But that’s not part of the ceremony!” the Glorious Leader sputtered.
“It’s part of my ceremony,” V’rex growled. “You made me mark her to prove I own her. Well if that’s true, then she owns me too, and I want her mark on me.” He shot a menacing look at the Glorious Leader. “I want her name on my chest to prove I’m hers the same way she’s mine.”
Penny didn’t know what to say. Her mouth was suddenly dry and she found herself swallowing hard. Was the big Hybrid serious?
Apparently he was, because he wasn’t budging.
There was a moment of breathless silence which seemed to fill the entire Amphitheater as the onlookers, guards, and Penny herself all looked first at V’rex and then at the Glorious Leader to see what was going to happen.
At first the cult leader looked angry. But then he threw up his hands and shook is head
“Fine. But make it quick—we need to end this ceremony. There are people waiting to breed!”
“You heard the man, sweetheart.” V’rex leaned towards Penny, presenting the smooth, flat, muscular planes of his bare chest. “Make it quick.”
Penny blinked up at him, her own brief pain forgotten, though she could tell the place where he’d burned his initial into her was going to be throbbing for a while.
“Really?” she whispered, searching his eyes with her own. Why was he doing this? Because he felt guilty?
“Really.” He frowned at her. “Do it.”
“Just my initial or…”
“Your full name,” he insisted and nodded at his left pec. “Go on, sweetheart—sign there.”
Not knowing what else to do, Penny lifted the pen and placed the burning nib against his dark tan skin.
V’rex didn’t even flinch, though she knew it had to be hurting him. Mindful that he had made this quick for her, she signed quickly in the large, looping scrawl she used on legal documents.
Penelope.
The pen flowed with sickening ease over his flesh, leaving the glowing letters behind. She thought about writing her full name, but she didn’t want to be unnecessarily cruel. Penelope Amanda Wainright was a lot to burn into someone’s chest—even if he was standing there, bearing it stoically while she branded him.
She finished and held the pen out to the guard as V’rex looked down at her name and nodded approvingly.
“Good,” he rumbled and caught Penny’s eyes with his. “That’s good. It’s fair.”
Penny didn’t think it was fair that either of them had had to burn the other, but then, not much about the Compound was what could be considered exactly equitable or just. They were at the mercy of a crazy cult leader and almost everyone here was hypnotized.
She was seriously beginning to think that V’rex wasn’t one of their number. But if he wasn’t under the control of the hypno-beats, why had he been allowed to live? Maybe his impassive face was good enough to fool the Glorious Leader and the NeverBreeder guards.
“And now,” the Glorious Leader said, breaking into her train of confused thought. “The point in the ceremony you’ve all been waiting for—your first Mandatory Breeding!”
A cheer went up from the entire audience and the Glorious Leader beamed his bright, white, chicken-eating grin again.
“Now, you males already know the rules,” he continued. “You know that the Watchers will be watching you to make certain you do your best to impregnate your new brides. Please be sure you do your Mandatory Breeding in your bedchamber so we can be certain everything goes to plan and all our new couples are well-suited to each other.” He raised both arms high in a kind of salute. “Now, go, my new Forever Mates. Go with the blessing of your Glorious Leader—be fruitful and multiply!”
Penny couldn’t believe he was actually admitting he had bugged their houses! Of all the brass-balled nerve…she’d never seen anything like it. So the Glorious Leader and his NeverBreeder guards were actually going to be monitoring them to make sure the new Forever Mates actually did the deed?
They’ll be watching, she thought, her stomach clenching into a fist. Watching to be sure he rapes me right.
Looking up at the big Hybrid, taking in his strength and size, she couldn’t help the shadow of fear that passed over her face and settled in her heart like a black crow. Oh God, this was what she’d been dreading. And it was almost here.
Suddenly her nerve broke.
“I can’t,” she whispered, the words slipping from her mouth before she could stop them. “I can’t—I won’t!”
She started to run but she didn’t even get two steps before V’rex caught her and swung her up into his arms. Carrying her like a little girl, he strode over the stone floor and mounted the many steps leading up to the exit of the Amphitheater with ease.
“Oh yes you can, little girl,” he growled at Penny. “And you will—we both will. You’ll see.”
Then he carried her away from the cheering crowd toward the little white houses where he would take her for the first time…and every day after that for the rest of their lives.
Thirty-Four
V hated that his curvy little bride feared
