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“Don’t look at me that way. Do you have any idea how uncomfortable it would be for me to show up downstairs to greet my family with a hard on? They’re going to know who caused it, and everyone is going to feel very uncomfortable. I’m going to pretend nothing has happened here this morning, and that our darling mate had nothing but innocent attentions towards us.”
Calai starts crying out in the background, making me and Kit groan.
August was worried for nothing, because by the time we did make it down to the lobby, everyone was so focused and worried about how Calai was processing everything, there was hardly any time leftover for anyone to look at August’s dick. More’s the pity.
When we file back into the car, we keep the same seat assignments as we did yesterday. With every mile that passes beneath our tires, Calai eventually begins to grow a little bit more tense.
We pass by the shopping center we first took her to to feed her and get her some clothes, where she tried to run. She stares at that shopping center with wide eyes, making a point to touch all of her alphas, making sure we know that she’s sorry. We never did follow up on what happened with the dude that we unalived in the alley for touching our girl, but I doubt his pack mourned him much.
A little bit later, the forest starts to change. It’s denser now, maybe a little bit creepier. Since we’re not trying to be stealthy this time, we don’t take great pains to hide our Jeep, instead trying to get a little bit closer so that we don’t have to walk as far. There are police cars waiting for us when we arrive, more than I thought that would be here.
Calai makes sure to box herself in with all of her mates before approaching the police and introducing herself to the ones she hasn’t met yet. Which is most of them. I know they’re all anxious to see what’s going on, and I can’t help but think how brave my girl is for doing this. How many lives she’s about to change.
I suppose knowing how many women are up there explains the amount of patrol cars here. They’re going to need backup if they want to assist everyone there.
The mood as we make the hike is somber, Calai very much up in her head. I can only imagine what she’s thinking about right now, because her last memories of this place are of her friend dying, and us taking her away; but she puts on a brave face anyway, clinging to her brother. It’s almost freaky to see them together because their mannerisms are so similar. Every time she tries to tell him something, his eyes light up. And their father watches it all with a smile on his face, pride emanating out of him.
The police ask questions when they think of them, writing everything down. When the cabin we found her at comes into view, she stops completely. She walks towards it almost like she’s in a trance, letting her fingers trail along the rough wood on the porch. She opens the door and peeks her head in before she commits to going inside. She doesn’t stay inside a very long time, which makes me hope that the nest she has at home is much more appealing to her now.
After the cops canvassed the place and take photos, we’re off to the main compound. When the walls come into view, the reaction I’m most curious about is that of her father's. I can tell that he's furious being here, seeing where it all went down. Every detail she gives has his jaw clenching harder.
Calai enters the compound cautiously, turning her head around to try and figure out where everybody is. There’re muffled sounds all around us, but I can’t really see anybody.
When we get to the big courtyard in the center, a woman about Calai’s age stands there with fire in her eyes. It doesn’t take me long to recognize her scent. It’s the omega they tried to tempt me with after Calai disappeared. She smells a bit sour to me now, because all I have in my nose is Calai's sugary sweet peach and bourbon scent.
“What do you bring into our home sister?” She demands. “You have a lot of nerve showing up here after the way we found Eln’s body outside. Tell me, how did you confront her before killing her?”
Calai sucks in a breath, distraught. She's starting to freeze up again, but I feel like if we were to help her right now, it might make things worse for her. She needs to stand on her own two feet here, to feel strong.
There’s a crowd gathering, quiet bells ringing in the air around us. I’m assuming it’s some sort of system of notification, calling people towards the center of the compound. I watch this other omega’s eyes scan the crowds, taking in me and our pack, taking in Calai’s family, trying to make assumptions. The problem is, all of them are so brainwashed that they don’t even know how to do that. They can’t understand the information that’s right in front of them.
“Look, sister. We all gather to bear witness to you. To hear once and for all your motives for killing Eln. Was it because your lover scorned you? Did she admit to loving me more and you just couldn’t take it? Tell us. Why brutalize her? She didn’t deserve that!”
Cali steps further into the middle of the courtyard, centering herself amongst all these women around us. They’re all wearing that same god-awful dress that Calai wore when we first saw her, a really sad shade of burlap.
Her voice starts out steady, calm. She doesn’t betray any nerves she might be feeling, but instead, she stands there with her head held high and her shoulders back, fueled by the bonds in our pack.
“Maybe it wasn’t easy an assumption for you all to think that I was the reason Eln showed up the way she did. I won’t tarnish the memory of her by speaking ill, but if any of you know me at all, you know that I held her in the highest regard. She was my roommate, my best friend.”
Now her voice shakes a little bit, the grief she feels changing the way she smells. I put a simple hand on her shoulder to show her that we’re still here for her, even if she wants to do this part by herself.
“The truth is it was just an accident. Like a lot of us, even if you’re too scared to admit it, Eln felt stifled within these walls, and for good reason. The moment we stepped foot out here to head to the cabin, her spirit lifted. She felt freer, she smiled so much more in those last few days than I ever saw in my entire life.
“Life is meant to be lived. And that’s exactly what Eln was doing when she died. We were outside, enjoying the day. Eln was feeling adventurous, wanted to take risks. I asked her not to, because it made me nervous. You see, there was this high rock above a swimming hole, and Eln was determined to jump off of it.”
Calai puts her hand over mine now, accepting August’s hand as well as he extends it to her. I see some of the eyes of the women around us grow large at this touch, wondering what the heck we are, why the heck we’re here standing with Calai.
When the omega in the middle locks eyes with me, she trembles. I can pick out a few other omegas mixed in with the bunch, giving away their designations by their reaction to being in the presence of alphas for the first time. A few women fall to their knees, looking like they’re seconds away from crawling towards us.
“Before she could jump, Eln’s foot slipped. She tumbled through the air, and her head smashed against the rock face. She was gone before she hit the water.” There’s no faking the tragedy in her voice, the reaction she has to the words that she’s speaking. Nobody could possibly fake thisthatgood. I can tell that they’re accepting it as well, because the women look stricken now, instead of angry.
Calai walks closer to the red headed omega, looking like she wants to comfort her. “In her last moments, she was happy.”
The two women search each other's eyes for a few minutes before tentatively embracing. They look as if they share a kinship in the death of this friend, the way they cling to each other. I'm sure the police are having a field day now that they know there was also a death here. How do you go about recording a death for public record for somebody that by all rights doesn’t even exist anymore?
After a brief moment, the women separate. The other woman takes a few steps back, distancing herself. She wants to believe everything that she’s being told, but like my girl, I can see that she feels a responsibility for the group of women around us. She’s stepping into a leadership role and wants Calai to know that she has more questions. “Such interesting company you keep, sister. Do tell, who are they? I remember him… he was here. I remember… that smell. Ernyu? Sisters,” she exclaims, “He Who Sees All walks amongst us. Bow before our god made flesh.”
I watch an abject horror as the women drop to their knees, bowing towards me. Kit looks amused as hell, August is confused, and Colter? He looks like he wants to be bowed down to also. But perhaps just by his mate, as she sucks him off. We haven’t seen her this bold before, and it makes me really proud of her.
