Put Me In My Place | MxMxM

Chapter 04

Six months after the fight between the Salvatore families.

Lorenzo and Darius were severely deranged, psychotic lunatics. Zane had no other words for them. He couldn't think of anything else other than that the two alphas were probably madmen prancing around with expensive suits, gentle smiles on their faces, and madness on their minds.

In the past few months, strange things have happened to him.

Whenever the two alphas were around, they mostly kept Zane in their bed with one of his ankles bound by a long trail of thick chains linked to the edge of the floor, out of sight. He could move around though, and he did so plenty when they were away, walking from one end of the room to another, into the connected bathroom to stare at his god-awful reflection, and the chain was just long enough to get to the balcony sliding doors, where he often found himself dozing off to the outskirts of Italy's highrise buildings and busy roads, yearning for freedom.

Lorenzo and Darius had been strangely affectionate toward him. The two alphas kept him in their bed, sandwiched between them at night, and showered him with kisses, seemingly fucking his mouth with their tongues while whispering words of love in-between kisses or into his ears. Some kisses were tender and gentle, some biting and bruising—almost mean and deranged. Zane found it equally concerning and suspicious despite his traitorous body's need for physical touches, apparently shutting down any rational thoughts and forcing him to lean against them whenever they did this because he had been starved for too long, and he finally felt noticed in their eyes.

It was all lying, though—playing mind games. They couldn't love him; they were lying with their venomous, deceitful tongues.

No one was foolish enough to love someone like a monster like him. Zane didn't deserve to be loved; his papa made it clear to him for a long time. Anyone who claimed they loved him was a liar. They only wanted to use him; they only wanted what he had—it was impossible to love someone like him.

Besides, Zane couldn't phantom the idea of Lorenzo, his cousin, who had also despised him for his malicious actions throughout their lives, and Darius, the man whom he had deceived without regret multiple times in the past to get what he wanted. Surely, they were doing this to get back at him, and surely their stupid tricks wouldn't work, not on a cunning omega like Zane Salvatore.

He knew better.

And so, he needed to escape.

This morning, when Darius came in alone, carrying a tray with breakfast for Zane: eggs, toast, and a tall glass of orange juice, Zane arched an eyebrow. It so happened to be the first time only one of the alphas brought him breakfast. Normally, they came together, taking turns feeding him bite-sized portions until his plate lay empty. Not today, though. And when he asked, Darius was nice enough to tell him that Lorenzo went to a business meeting and would be gone for the entire day.

This was when Zane concluded that today would be the day for him to escape.

Unlike Lorenzo, Darius had been leaner toward him. Sofer in a sense, and, oddly enough, kinder. An easier target to persuade, Zane assumed, considering Darius had always been an impulsive alpha. So when he shed a couple of crocodile tears, sweet-talking Darius into taking out the ankle chain only for a fleeting period of time, he knew Darius would agree.

"Be good," Darius had said, unlocking the cuff off Zane's ankle. "I'll check up on you in the next hour... I have some things to do. I'll bring back some ointment and gauze for your ankle; it doesn't look too good."

Zane stared down where the ankle cuff once locked him in. Darius was right; it didn't look too good. It looked horrible; it was bruised with ugly reddish marks, purple, and some black.