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It doesn’t take long for her to be positioning me and messing with my hair, making silly faces to get me to laugh, and when I see her work, I’m blown away. She’s managed to capture angles and looks on me I’ve never even seen. It seems natural for her to capture the world this way, so we go for a walk around the complex, and she stops every time she sees something she wants to capture.
The next few days are filled with similar activities- though I manage to get her to let me photograph her as well. On her belly with her legs up in the air, wearing my clothes that don’t fit her, and she’s stunning. Her smile almost takes up her whole face, but I can still see the pain at what she misses.
We ignore everyone for a while, and it feels great. She will shoot off a message to her alphas once a day to let them know she’s alive and doesn’t want to talk, and then she won’t bring them up again. I don’t know exactly what to do with all that, but I’m not going to pretend I know best.
I’m unsurprised when I finally do return to the office to find that her alphas have tracked me down there, now that I’m no longer in my private space. Iamsurprised at how broken they all look though.
When I walk inside they’re just waiting in the lobby, making our poor receptionist quite uncomfortable by the look of it. They’re sort of emanating violence with their dour dispositions, and I’m not stupid, so I usher them to my office and shut the door behind us as I adjust my tie, already sick of wearing it.
They look around, taking in the big walnut desk and the big picture windows overlooking the city buildings. I’m just part of the online customer service team for a beta-run furniture company, but I do alright. I’m lucky to work for a company that treats its employees well and insists on providing suitable workspaces that offer privacy.
I open up my phone app that lets me communicate with people that don’t know sign, telling Calai’s alphas to go ahead and say what they need to. The app does its job and we’re able to have a mostly normal conversation about the state of their omega.
“We wanted to apologize to you for putting you in the position we did. As Calai’s alphas, we should have protected you instead of looking for reasons to not like you.”
I stare at them because they’re hardly even touching the root problem here. I tap my finger on the desk, trying to figure out what to tell them. I am a little intimidated by the fact that there are currently three alphas sitting in my office, and having a few messages pop up on my computer from co-workers checking on my wellbeing makes me feel a bit safer. These alphas wouldn’t do anything stupid here, it’s too public.
“She’s been checking in, but how is she really?”
“Sad. Really fucking sad,” I tell them. “She’s healing well from Gavin’s hit, but she feels betrayed.”
James takes control of the situation, and I think he makes me feel the most comfortable out of the three of them. He seems like he’s much more laid back and genuine than the other two. A little bit less Alpha. “I’ve been trying to explain to these idiots how Calai felt from that whole interaction, and it took a hell of a lot of explaining, but I think I finally got them to understand just how badly they hurt her emotionally.
“She’s not delicate, but her life has kind of been a fucking mess. We owe you our gratitude for looking after her, even if we want to kill you for taking her from us and preventing us from seeing her.”
“That’s what you don’t get. I didn’t do shit.She’sthe one that wanted out,she’sthe one that doesn’t want to see you. She’s her own person. I’m merely sitting by as she takes control of her life. She is not to be around Gavin anymore. Please tell me you understand what actually happened, and see the risk he possesses towards her?”
Kit nods.“Calai made that abundantly clear the first night she left. I’ve spoken with Parker and Owen, at length, and have made my threats about that alpha. Parker left him. Severed the bond. It’s just him and Owen now.”
Fuck. And I’m not there to help my brother. I’ve been ignoring his calls and texts all week because I assumed he was just trying to get a hold of Calai, and I wasn’t ready to share her. I look at the texts in horror now and feel sick to my stomach knowing I’ve been subconsciously blaming him for what his mate did.
“He had no idea that Gavin had those tendencies. I don’t know what went down that made Parker like him from the get-go, but Owen was pissed. He wasted no time in securing the house against his ex-pack mate and making sure that Parker was safe. I guess Gavin ran his mouth a bit as he was leaving, bad mouthing you and how much he hated you for ruining everything, threatening everyone…they’ve got a protective order in place, but he remains a threat. We need to make sure Calai is safe.”
I make a video call to Parker, not caring that these other guys are trying to have a conversation with me. I need to see for myself that he’s okay.
He’s hesitant when he answers, but he still talks to me. I apologize for not speaking with him sooner, but he understands why I did it. He seems to blame himself for the trouble that Gavin has wrought upon our family, for not seeing who he really was in all the years he’s been with him.
After making sure he knows I’m here for when he wants to talk, I explain to him that Calai’s pack is in my office, and he makes me get off the phone so I can talk to them.
“You have our mate, and we need to see her,”Kit tells me.
“Still not up to me. I will call her for you and see what she thinks, but I will in no way betray her trust by tricking her into seeing you. If you want me to do this, you need to step out of my office. I won’t be bullied into removing my protection of her, when it was your foolhardy decisions that put her in my care.”
I can tell they don’t like being dictated to by a beta, but tough shit. I may toe the line for any alpha if I feel it will result in less confrontation, but when it comes to Calai, I can be the man she needs. Maybe the power of being able to order these alphas around is going to my head a little bit, but I know this is what is going to keep Calai the most at ease.
They clench their jaws and walk out, James taking longer since he’s still on crutches. “Thank you. I hate being away from her, but…knowing you’re fighting for her makes it a little bit easier. Is she doing okay? Like, really?”
I measure him and decide that as her mate he’s entitled to know that she’s not doing okay at all. She can tell them she’s fine all she wants, but that girl is a wreck.“She’s almost despondent most days, though I’m able to cheer her up a bit with my camera. She likes photography. And she’s been inhaling romance novels on my e-reader, so she’s not bored.
“I’m kind of worried that her heat might be coming soon though, because twice now I’ve woken up to her being all sweaty and needy. A cool shower seemed to do the trick, but you all better fix your shit quick because there’s not much I can do to ease her if that comes in full force.”
He nods and hobbles out, and I lock my door before video calling Calai. She left her phone behind when I took her, so I set up my computer to contact her or for her to use if she needs it.
She answers pretty quickly, as if she was hoping I’d call, and I feel awful for leaving her at home. She’s not ready to go back to her pack, but if I want to keep my job I have to put in some hours this week. If only I had a pack of my own that I could trust to watch over her, I wouldn’t be so worried about her sitting at home by herself.
“Hi, beautiful. What are you doing?”Her eyes look a bit sunken in and her skin is not the healthy glowing color she normally has, because she’s depressed. Lost.
She shrugs. “I miss you. You have only been gone for a little while, but this place is too quiet.”
