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Her cry of relief was little more than a strangled squawk as Devin rounded the corner and spotted an impatient Ashley leaning against her silvery car. Forcing her legs into that final sprint, she crashed into her friend, rebounding from the sturdy brick of her body into the more pliable steel of the hood. Collapsing over it, Devin flung a wavering hand at the oncoming males.
Ashley didn’t hesitate. She took three purposeful strides out onto the cracked asphalt as her lip lifted into a snarl, while Devin clung to the SUV to remain upright when her knees folded on themselves. Ashley’s rage-filled roar preceded the heavy smack of flesh meeting, a male’s sharp cry of pain silenced when Ashley connected a second punch with his throat. He crumpled to the filthy blacktop, clutching his windpipe as he gasped and gagged for a breath that wouldn’t come.
One down, three to go.
Except the others didn’t like their chances anymore. The smaller, weaker Alpha males glanced at one another, gauging the intrepidness of the others. Faced with a furious female Alpha twice their size, the well-defined muscles of her arms rippling as Ashley ripped away her light coat, they knew they were outmatched. She’d taken the largest of them down with two well-placed blows.
Scattering like the rats they were, they abandoned their comrade as they melted into the cooling shadows stretching over the broiling asphalt.
If Devin thought that was the end of it, she was wrong.
Ashley came at her, all rumbling growls and blazing blue eyes as she snatched Devin’s arm up in a cruel grip. Dragging Devin behind her as Ashley marched up the rickety stairs, her fury resonating through the dim space, she went to Devin’s door. She didn’t wait for Devin to fumble the keys from the depths of her purse, but she snatched the bag away to riffle through the contents. Jamming the key home, she unlocked the door and flung Devin inside.
“Go take a fucking shower. You reek! What were you even thinking,” Ashley demanded in a roar, the sole of her heavy boot connecting with the slab of wood to slam the door shut.
“Wasn’t my fault,” Devin stammered between ragged gasps, clawing her way up the cheap dining table to stand on watery legs.
“You were running! How many times have I told you that you never run from an Alpha?” Ashley bared her teeth, stalking towards Devin before changing direction to pace the small foyer.
“You think I don’t know that,” Devin asked in a shriek, tears seeping over her lashes as the last of her adrenaline faded into shivering chills. “I’ve been an Omega my entire life, how long have you been friends with one?”
“Then why were you running from them?”
“Because the two on the bus were going to tear each other apart and then come after me!”
“They… Wait, what?” Ashley’s heel dared to skid across the cheap linoleum as she whirled to peer at Devin with the regal arches of her brows scrunched low.
“I-I was on the bus, and this disgusting cretin started manhandling me, and then another one attacked him, and I ran,” Devin said, words smearing together into a watery mess of syllables punctuated by hiccupping sobs. “I couldn’t stop running. I just couldn’t. I was so afraid, and then I got to the gate and-and—”
“Shh,” Ashley whispered, coming closer but stopping before she could hug Devin to her. Ashley mumbled soft sounds of solace and imparted an awkward pat of Devin’s frizzy, rumpled hair instead. “Why didn’t you call me? I told you I would pick you up from the interview.”
“I thought it’d be okay!”
“Okay, okay, just… calm down. Take a breath.”
“It wasn’t my fault.”
“I know, kid.” Ashley’s nose wrinkled as she eased past Devin to collapse onto the threadbare carpet, the floorboards groaning under the sudden weight. “You really have to go shower, though, Dev. You smell… You just need to go shower. Now.”
Devin responded with a jerky nod, arms wrapped around her stomach as she shuffled towards the bathroom. She could feel Ashley’s gaze, the intent way the female Alpha watched her every move. Ashley had little interest in Devin in that way, preferring Betas and their simplicity, but there was no stopping the most basic of instincts when they’re shoved in your face.
Cranking on the water, Devin climbed into the cramped shower, clothes and all. They smelled as much as she did, stained with her sweat as they were. Biting back her shriek as the cold water pounded against overheated skin, Devin began the systematic process of scrubbing every last trace of scent from her body and clothes.
Once pruned and shivering as the water turned icy again, Devin dressed in a simple tee and jeans that hung from her frame in loose folds. Hiding any definition of shape, she topped it off with worn sneakers and coiled her dripping hair up under a grungy baseball cap. Her one concession to vanity was the rich blue of the shirt, bringing out the violet hue of her eyes between the thick fringe of her dark lashes.
Devin found Ashley taping together far more boxes than what Devin would be need, all of them stacked around the Alpha female. She was far too intent on her task for Devin to interrupt. A small smile tugged at Devin’s lips as she snagged one to begin packing away her linens.
Working in a comfortable silence that was only interrupted by the explosive hiss of tape being pulled from the roll, Devin’s entire life found its way into a few paltry boxes and a couple of black plastic trash bags. Selling things off piecemeal as she had, Devin hadn’t realized how very little remained. Everything reduced to chipped plastic and thrifted second-hands. Devin ground the grubby heels of her palms against her eyes to clear away the sting of tears at the state of her life.
Slapping a smile on her face when Ashley ordered her down to the car, she left her friend to haul the boxes down the stairs. Feeling overheated and somehow clammy at the same time, she wasn’t in any state to argue. With the way things had been going, the lack of an actual meal and her experience earlier were just catching up to her. Devin settled into the comforting warmth of the front seat with a weary sigh. Letting her mind go blank for those few moments, Devin drifted into a light sleep. A little cat nap wouldn’t hurt anything.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Something in Ashley’s tone snapped Devin back into awareness with a violent jolt. Breathing hard, heart racing, Devin took a bewildered look around the SUV’s interior. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she turned back to Ashley with a furrowed brow.
“You were sniffing my seats.” Ashley arched a single pale eyebrow, slinging a white plastic shopping bag into Devin’s lap before climbing behind the wheel.
“Oh, Gods, I have no idea,” Devin rasped, scrubbing her face with sweaty palms to clear the last vestiges of the sleepy haze. It was simple stress that made her stomach flip, temples pounding with the beginnings of a massive headache.
