I looked up, startled. There was an older woman looking down at me with concern. The gate behind her, to one of the large houses on the street, was open. When I didn’t reply, she asked, “Did you fall?”
“Yes,” I said, latching onto the excuse. It was easier than explaining the truth.
I tried to anchor myself in the present. I’d sunk to the ground without realizing it, and the lingering cold of the sidewalk under my knees was a jolt to my senses. I placed my hands on the concrete and felt the grit beneath my palms. The man’s musty scent still floated around me.
My flashbacks were fewer these days. Before, when I was fresh at the Center, it was like my brain finally felt safe to recover the terrible memories I’d repressed over the years.
But my brain also liked to embellish. I blamed it on all the movies I’d watched, turning everything into a cinematic scene. It was scientifically impossible for these memories to be so sharp.
“It’s your brain trying to make sense of things,” Linda had told me. “It’s taking the emotional truth of your experience and creating a narrative.”
“Even when it feels real?” I’d asked.
“Just because it didn’t happen exactly the way you remember, it doesn’t mean the memories aren’t real,” she’d told me. “They’re real to you. Don’t invalidate your experiences.”
As I grounded myself back in reality, I tried to determine what had madethatmemory come to the forefront. Probably the burning pain where he’d bruised my arm.
His eyes, I thought. That dead look when he smiled, it was exactly the way Domenic had smiled at me.
“Are yousureyou’re alright?” the woman asked. “I can call someone—”
“Thank you. But I promise I’m alright.” I struggled to my feet. I needed to call Maggie. But first, I would have to talk to Steffi.
“Oh no, my poor girl,” she said, pulling me into a hug as soon as I finished my story. I was shaking by that time; the adrenaline was finally catching up to me.
It was nice of Steffi to claim me as her own, but her affection came with baggage. No matter how much she claimed not to care how long I stayed at the Center, I could still sense her disappointment every time I declined a scent matching session, meant to help me find a compatible pack, or barricaded myself in my room rather than engaging with the other residents. Especially since Jess, the other long-term resident and my shield against her attention, had finally moved on.
But it was still nice to be touched like this. Tears sprang to my eyes as she hugged me, her long skirt swishing around our ankles. Despite her posh British accent, softened by years spent in Fairview, Steffi was a hippie at heart. Her long gray hair fell to her waist, and she had a penchant for denim vests that made it easy to shop for her Christmas presents. Her sandalwood and jasmine scent was reminiscent of incense, and I took an instinctive inhale as she flung her arms around me.
“Oh my dear, I’m so, so sorry,” she murmured into my hair, then released me and led me by the hand into the sitting room. “Come and sit down while we wait.”
We were both clutching cups of tea when Maggie and Soren, her pack’s Beta and fellow police detective, buzzed into the lobby.
“Thank god you’re okay,” Maggie said, rushing over, bringing her peaches and cream scent with her. It had mellowed with her bonding, thank god. I loved Maggie, but her full-octane scent had been overpowering. “We’re going to find this fucker and fucking castrate him.”
Despite my lingering panic, I smiled. I could always count on her to come to my defense.
“Come on, let’s go to the station so you can put in a statement,” Maggie said, pulling me to my feet. She’d contained her wild auburn hair in a bun, but tendrils were already escaping down her neck and at her temples. “Then we’ll take you home with us until we figure out what’s going on.”
“What? Bridget’s notleaving,” Steffi huffed as she stood, too. “This is still the safest place for you, my dear.”
I took Steffi’s hand and squeezed gently. “You know I can’t stay here. I’m putting everyone in danger if I do.”
“Nonsense. We’ll double security,” she said. “The National Omega Network will give us the funding once we explain—”
I shook my head. “I won’t let anyone get hurt on my account,” I said, sounding calmer than I felt. The Center had been my home for so long, and leaving, even for Maggie’s house, even temporarily, made me feel panicky.
“I don’t like this,” Steffi said.
“It’s just temporary,” I said, reassuring myself along with her.
“She’ll be safe with us,” Soren said. “You have my word.”
Maggie’s scent spiked and she cleared her throat. Even after a year of being bonded, they were still annoyingly in love. Their bond was even more of a mystery than most. As a Beta,Soren shouldn’t have been able to bond with Maggie at all, but the faint scar of her teeth on his neck was yet another reminder of how little anyone really understood how bonds functioned.
“Come on, I’ll help you pack,” Maggie said.
We walked down the corridor together, leaving Soren in the lobby. Maggie looked around with the air of someone returning to their high school after graduation.
