He does stop, but it’s too late—he stares at my overflowing storage shelves, tiny bed, and the open door to my pathetic closet nest with old blankets in piles inside.
Alric slowly turns, fist clenched at his side. “I’ve sent youthousands and thousandsof dollars a month for a year, assuming I was paying for some fancy, luxury omega apartment where you were actuallysafe. It was a privilege to fund that. What are you thinking living here with no security, nodoorman, and in a terrible part of town?” He looks at both of his friends. “I’m assuming you both paid a similar amount.”
They don’t say anything, but it’s clear on their faces that they sent the same. Their judgment is starting to burn within me, rage waiting to burst forward.
I angrily flick off the light and slam my bedroom door shut. “How I spentmymoney is none of your business. Since you’re no longer my client, you never have to pay me again.”
Alric appears stunned by my response, but recovers quickly. “You think this is about themoney?”
“Sure fucking sounds like it.”
“This is about yoursafety,Madeline. There’s no reason you should be living here. It’s not safe for an omega to live in the same place as alphas without any measure of security.”
The angry truth spills out of me, just to make the shame go away. “There are no alphas here. It’s a beta building.” I start crying all over again and fuck, I hate it. I’m exhausted, and this judgment is sending me over the edge. “This is what I could afford at the time and it’s the only place that’s ever felt like mine. I was a teenager without anywhere to go, nowhere to live, and the only person on this whole fucking planet who ever cared about me was dead. My dads offered no support after she died. My neighbors are nice and this ismyhome, so don’t you dare judge me!”
Alric throws his hands in the air and turns, walking away from me. “This isn’t about judgment.”
He strides towards the kitchen but stops in his tracks when he sees my sugar baby rules, nearly all of them broken with him, and myAlpha-Free Lifemoney tracker. The three million stands out with its big bold letters. Below, it shows exactly how much money I need.
“Is this where all of our money has gone? To a savingsfund?” Hunter asks, crestfallen. “Why didn’t you tell us? We would’ve helped.”
“Hunt, the goal was to never have to depend on another alpha again. I wasn’t about to ask for some sort of handout. I provided a service, you received what you paid for. End of story.”
“I guess I didn’t understand how badly your desire to never be around us was,” Zachary whispers.
Fuck.None of them are looking at me now. I open my mouth to argue, but I can’t. Up until this past weekend, that was all I wanted. It wasn’t personal. They have twisted up everything inside of me, and I barely recognize myself after compromising who I am this week.
Shit, I want to leave. No, I want them to go.
I walk to the front door, unlocking it. “I think it’s best if you all leave.”
Zachary sighs, finally looking at me. “None of us are gonna feel okay with leaving you here by yourself.”
“I’m not going to. I’m packing my stuff and my friend will let me stay with her. You’ll be thrilled to know she lives in a fancy guarded omega building and I’ll be fine.”
“Absolutely not, you’re coming home with us,” Alric demands.
I see red. “For the last fucking time, asshole. You donotget to tell me what to do!”
Hunter and Zachary are quick to step in, Hunter speaking first. “We refuse to leave you here alone. I’m sorry if that feels like control to you, but we’re alphas and our scent match not being safe is literally torture for us. We just got to know the real you, we can’t lose you now. Please don’t hate us.”
A stabbing sensation hits behind my right eye. I press my palm into it to stop the pulsating pain. Tonight has been too much. I need to lie down and sleep for the next three days.
I turn and head into my room. I only have one suitcase and that’s gone now, but I have enough gym duffel bags to throw in all the clothes and necessities I’ll need to stay at Harper’s for a long time. Anything I might need for my heat gets shoved into a different bag, including my favorite blanket. I call Harper while I pack to make sure she’ll actually be awake for my arrival.
She picks up after three rings with a sleepy, “Hey, are you okay?”
“Not really, but if you’re cool with it, I’ll be in your lobby with my pink purse in ten minutes.”
“Shit. Yeah, of course, get over here.”
“Thanks, Harper.”
“See you soon.” The line goes dead and I finish packing.
I walk past my rules and savings chart as we leave, the papers mocking me. A part of myself is being abandoned in this apartment, the omega who naively thought a life free of alphas was ever even possible.
Alric’s knuckles are white on the steering wheel as they all drive me to Harper’s apartment. Everything in my life keeps crashing down around me, and I’m crushed under the rubble of doubt.
