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Colson catches me as I topple over. “Who?” Mitch commands.
I can’t answer him, I’m balled on the floor in Colson’s arms as my sobs drown out my words. “Sadie.” I hear Dash answer. “She was at the library and walked out right before Ronni.”
“Sadie who?” I hear Darrell ask. My cries slow, but my breathing is still erratic.
“Clemmons,” Colson adds.
“Jim’s daughter? What’s she got to do with any of this?” Darrell’s voice sounds confused.
I let out a hiccup as I try to slow my breathing. “She’s an Alpha,” I say between breaths.
“Oh,” They all say in unison.
“She smelled us on you didn’t she?” Colson’s voice is soft against my cheek. I just nod. “That’s going to cause a rift at school and in our lives if she starts telling people that she’s been marked by us.” Colson lifts me off the floor and sits me on the couch.
“I’ll reach out to her father,” Darrell says.
“Who is her father, and why are people threatening her with her father?” I ask.
“Her father is one of the mafia Alphas. He runs this territory and tends to let his children do whatever they want. But to cause trouble for you will cause a rift with another territory, and he won’t allow that.” Darrell begins pacing. “We should pull you from school to avoid further problems.” I grunt. Of course, let's take more of Veronica’s stuff away. “Got a problem with that, Veronica?” Darrell snaps his head towards me.
“Only a little. I mean, it’s not like I’m already practically a prisoner here.” I push up off the couch. “I really fucking hate all of this.” I take three steps and turn my head back toward them. “And I hate you all for it.” Each of their faces sink, even if it’s only a microexpression. I see the hurt I just forced on them by saying that, but I really don’t care right now. I may be overreacting, or being a bitch, but how did I spend eighteen years not knowing anything about this?
Chapter Eight
I’ve skipped church for three weeks and refused to go anywhere. I’ve locked myself in my room, doing nothing but reading and throwing myself a long pity party. Colson found a book for me, explaining everything. Apparently, the world is nothing but Alphas, Omegas, and Betas. I just lived so far in the shadows that I never heard about anything. Naive Veronica lost in the world.
This morning though, I decided that I wouldn’t just hide out anymore. I wanted to know more about my father’s family. About what Darrell meant when he said that I got an allowance until I had an Alpha son come of age.
I put my big girl pants on and take a deep breath. My hand rests on the doorknob of my new door that Darrell fixed a while back and just breathe.
Slowly I twist the knob and pull the door open, hearing the hinges squeal as I open the door. I hear whispers beneath me in the living room, like they don’t want me to hear what they’re talking about. I’ve broken a few things in my temper tantrums, and because of that, Darrell said my allowance this month would be used to buy replacements.
I hear Darrell in his room talking as I approach the door on my way to the bathroom. “She can’t know yet. We are barely hanging on over here. She doesn’t trust us after everything.” There’s a long pause as I quietly listen. “I understand, Neill. But we can’t do anything about that now.” Why is he talking to the librarian about me?
Maybe he called to check in on me after the whole Sadie thing, because apparently everyone else in the world knows what they are, and what kind of world we grow up in.Everyone except me,I remind myself.
I step toward the bathroom, hearing the floor squeak beneath my feet. “Hold on.” Darrell comes to the door and whips it open. “Can I help you, little one?”
“Just going to the bathroom,” I say, running off to the bathroom, shutting the door behind me quickly. My heart races, and my breathing is wild. I was almost caught spying on Darrell, eavesdropping on his phone call. But it was about me, so shouldn’t I have that right?
I let out a laugh, what rights?I’m practically a prisoner,I remind myself. I’ve never been one to follow rules, not really. Not when no one ever cared what I was doing until now. I lived my life in the shadows, avoiding people as much as possible.
I’ve got to come to terms with my life now. There’s no changing it, and I’m not far from another heat approaching me. My dreams have started. I had just over two weeks of peace after everything that happened with my Alphas and Sadie. My dream last night was hot and heavy, but it was only with one of them. As the day gets closer, the dreams will build. Bringing me closer to mating with them.
According to the book I read, my heat will last for several days, pushing my body to mate with, well, my mates. Since I have four of them, not just one will do, it has to be all of them. That doesn’t mean I can just have sex with them on the first day, and it’ll go away. It’ll still last however long it does, but it’ll be worse if I don’t mate with all of them. Which sounds dreadful. Maybe I’m not cut out for this? Maybe I shouldn’t be here right now. I let out a sigh as I try to pull myself together.
I use the bathroom, brush my hair and teeth, wash my hands, readying myself for the day. I’ve been hiding for long enough, and I need to know where we go from here. What the game plan is. I can’t exactly show up in public with them on my arms.
Opening the bathroom door, I take a deep breath in, ready for whatever they have to throw at me. I have many questions, but if I bombard them with all of them, I won’t get complete answers for each question. So I’ll take it one at a time. And I know exactly what my first question will be.
I see Mitch first as I descend down the stairs. “Morning, sweetheart.” He offers me a soft smile as he holds his cup of coffee.
“Morning, Mitch,” I say, closing the space between us. Even though I’m stretched a million different ways in my understanding of everything, I still wrap my arms around his waist hugging him close to me. He kisses the top of my head, pulling me in tightly with one hand.
I’ve been mad at them for so long that I almost forgot what it felt like to just be with them. Mitch’s cologne lingers around him from the day before. He stands in his pajamas so I know he didn’t put any on this morning.
I feel another hand on my back, pulling my attention away, making me turn slowly to see who it is. “Dash,” I say softly, rotating out of Mitch’s arm into his. He hugs me tightly, resting his chin on the top of my head. He doesn’t say anything, nor do I. We just stand there for a minute taking in the moment of being together.
