It wasn't conscious, and Vonn figured she would do her best to ignore it, just as she was trying to ignore her omega nature. Whatever the fucking beta government had developed this time, no one was ever going to convince Vonn that an omega's true nature could be restrained for long. It was just too powerful.
Right now, Vonn could feel her frustration advancing and ebbing as she battled with herself. She was easily one of the most disciplined people, man or woman, alpha or beta or omega, that he'd ever encountered. So far, whenever she'd felt anger, fear, or aggression, she mentally forced the emotions down far enough that she could react out of reason instead of instinct.
Vonn generally wasn't a fan of people like that, uptight guys like Gray who you practically had to force to cut loose and have a little fun. But Stacy was different. Stacy was—
He stopped his pointless musing and focused on her movements. She was doing something new, moving so cautiously that Vonn had almost missed it. She must have mistaken his stillness for sleep and decided now was the time to act.
He listened as she carefully slid her feet along the floor in the direction of her pack, twisting her body to its maximum length…and coming up a couple inches short.
Vonn grinned to himself in the dark. Did she really think he would have left her pack within reach? That was the thing about betas; even when the evidence to the contrary was right in front of them, they believed that all alphas were dull-witted brutes. Nothing could change their minds.
Not that Vonn had ever given a damn about changing anyone's mind before. But this was his omega. They owed each other respect.
Well, that would come in time. It was clear Stacy had been trained to hate alphas, not just in the military but while growing up as well.
Before Vonn's own transition, the myth that alphas were soulless killing machines had been repeated so many times by teachers, coaches, scout leaders, and pastors that he'd believed it too.
That kind of propaganda did an excellent job stoking anger, but it also gave betas a dangerous sense of superiority. As long as they believed the lie, they were even more vulnerable.
Take his little warrior. It was almost disappointing how easily he was able to fool her into thinking he was asleep. Once she'd fallen for his steady, even breathing, she was back to being the bold creature who had dared against all odds to fight him.
After giving up on reaching the pack with her feet, she started feeling around under his bed, presumably for some kind of tool to help her gain access to it. He wondered why.
Vonn hadn't found any obvious weapons in it, but he also had given the contents only a cursory look. Given the ingenuity the beta scientists had shown with their hormone and scent blockers, Vonn figured they could conceal all kinds of shit in the military-grade pack.
Too bad she wouldn't find anything under the bed other than a dust bunny or two. Hell, the only reason the rope was there was that Vonn had been using it to single-handedly do a two-man job, tying one end of a heavy hammered-iron light fixture to a stud while he wired it, and forgotten to put it away. She probably thought he used it to tie women up or something, which amused Vonn plenty.
The longer he went without "waking up", the bolder Stacy became, grunting and thrashing while using both her hands and feet to search the room in every direction. When he eventually got bored with her efforts, Vonn simply turned over in bed.
As he expected, she froze.
For a moment, she didn't even breathe. Vonn had wondered if she might give up at that point, but it turned out that she wasn't the only one who'd underestimated the enemy.
Once she was convinced he was still asleep, she started working at the knots binding her wrists, even though she had to know she didn't stand a chance. Even if by some miracle she managed to free herself, she wouldn't make it to the door before he took her down and…restrained her, maybe showing her another kind of knot that was impossible to escape.
Vonn tried to ignore his aching cock as he filed this new insight away in case it might come in handy later. Stacy was smart and well-trained, but she also had an endless well of determination. Given only impossible odds, she'd still keep fighting until the end, even when it made no sense.
As Vonn lay still in the dark, every action Stacy took became a window into her mind, and he had no intention of wasting any of it. If he could learn what made her tick, it could help him break through the bullshit that had built up around her. Only then would he be able to get the information he needed—what she was doing here and how she was keeping her omega nature under control.
After ten minutes, she moved on from trying to untie the knots to dragging them back and forth along the steel runners of the bed frame, trying to saw her way through. She kept at it far longer than he would have predicted, even when the rope abraded her skin badly enough to draw blood, the scent of it sharp and metallic in the air.
Instantly, Vonn's own nature surged, his instinct for protection overwhelming him. The idea of her injuring herself was too much, and he gritted his teeth against the urge to stop her. He was near his breaking point when she finally gave up.
He'd just learned something that scared him—Stacy's will was as strong as his.
Maybe stronger.
With her wrists bleeding, she simply changed her strategy…again. She seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of Plan Bs, going from sawing to gnawing, literally chewing the rope with her teeth, severing one strand at a time.
Vonn
