AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Under the focused scrutiny, she blushed. “Yeah.”
Grey looked pained. “Was sex any good?”
She recoiled. “No. From the video, he liked sniffling and crying. I am guessing that he just kept me around for my job skills. That would have been miserable, so when I saw a sign, I took action. And here I am. Twenty-six and back with my uncles because I picked an idiot and a thug... because he was pretty. I am a moron.” Her towelled head thudded to the table with the hot cocoa carefully set aside.
Leon rubbed her back, and to her shock, Uncle Grey did as well. “It’s okay honey. New starts. New alphas. Would you like a distraction?”
She sat up straight with her namesake eyes, her skin dropped all pigment, and her hair slithered out from under the towel until it pooled around her. “I apologize. I just needed to stretch.”
Leon stared at her. “Oh, wow, Honeybee. You are all grown up.”
The other alphas stared at her. James smiled. “You are as tall as I am. Oh, go stand in the doorway.”
The others grinned, and she got to her feet, tightened her robe, and took off her hair towel. The pantry doorway was cleared, and James got a marker. He measured and marked and then dated the mark with her heights from age eleven next to those of her cousins.
She smiled. “Don’t tell Dane and Gerald.”
James grinned and hugged her. “If you need a distraction, you can come to work at the shop tomorrow.”
“That sound good. Can I just wear all black, or do I have to get a uniform?”
James smiled. “All black for now. Are you going to tuck yourself back to beta?”
“Of course. No one in the city looks like this, so I am not an idiot when it comes to representing myself.” She walked back to her cocoa, and Leon looked at her ears.
“Are they really pointy?”
“Yeah. That happened at university.”
“Ah.”
She focused and went back to her normal beta appearance: brown hair just past her shoulders, hazel eyes, and only slightly taller than average. She had made this form to be in all beta standards. She was as average as she could make herself.
Leon smiled. “Get some rest. I get the feeling that you will be contacted frequently tomorrow.”
She snorted. “The first one will be police at seven in the morning. I will be up and dressed.”
Grey asked, “How do you know that?”
She shrugged. “Same way I know who was with Leon three days ago. Instinct.”
Derrik said, “We will be up with you. You aren’t alone.”
“I know, Uncle Derrik, but I know I was dumped on you because of... reasons. I tried to minimize my impact on your lives, but now I am here again. I am embarrassed, and as soon as I can regroup and find a new place, I will be out of your hair.”
Her uncles suddenly surrounded her. Grey rumbled out, “Ruby, this is as much your home as our children’s. You can always come to us if you are in need, and we will help as much as we can.”
The group hug that ensued was enough to make her start sobbing again. She hadn’t told them everything that she had let Tanner do. She had done what she thought was right when you were handing yourself over to a mate. Now, the monumental stupidity was crashing down on her. Giving him full access to her body was an error, but she couldn’t take it back. She could make sure it didn’t happen again. That was her new task. She was going to keep herself so busy that she got her spinning thoughts back under control.
Working her way out of her job was easy. Out of habit, she left all the equipment and computers in her locker.
The uncles tucked her in, which made her smile. Derrik got her favourite stuffed unicorn with red eyes, and she cuddled with it. They left to let her sleep after kisses on her forehead, and she sent one more email and squeezed Mr. Pointy as she let herself rest.
She was up and dressed, her hair was in a braided bun, and when the police knocked at the door, she opened it with a mug of coffee in her hand.
“Hello?”
“Miss Lest?”
