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I leave my empty plate on top of the dresser and get busy huffing and puffing as I shove the bedside table blocking the door away so I can let Hali in.
I swing the door open, probably still red-faced from all my exertion…
And nearly get flattened when Hali staggers in, weighed down by armfuls of shopping bags.
She flops onto the bed, spread-eagle style, letting the colorful bags fall like confetti all around her.
Jesus… how much shopping did she do?
“That’s it. That’s my workout for the year. No more,” she declares.
I take in all the bags and close the door. “Please tell me they’re not all for me.”
“Nope.” After taking a couple more big breaths, Hali sits up and riffles through the bags. It takes her a minute to fish out a pink silk scarf. “This one is mine.”
Which still leaves the mountain of designer bags spread all over the plush gray carpet I wish someone had put in the closet to save my back and hips.
“This is too much,” I say, making no move to open a bag or even venture any closer.
There must be twenty bags or more, and her flushed cheeks reflect all her efforts. She must have known to expect an intense shopping trip to have dressed in a pair of faded skinny jeans, white sneakers, and a white Oxford shirt.
“Oh, it’s nothing compared to what they got for my mom and me when they took us in,” Hali says, reaching for the white bag at her feet.
Curious, I edge closer. “They took you in?”
Hali nods and fishes out a pale blue sundress she offers me. “Here. Try this on. I think I guessed your size right, but I’m not sure about this dress.”
I hesitate, wanting to keep my distance as she waits patiently, dress held toward me until I realize how ridiculous I’m being.
What exactly am I expecting her to do to me?
I have nothing to fear from betas. It’s alphas that are a problem.
A flash of memory inserts itself into my mind.
One of the beta staff Lawrence hired to whip me into perfect omega shape is glaring at the back of my head. I feel it. I’ve been standing in four-inch heels for the last five hours, learning how to walk with the grace he expects.
She jabs a manicured finger into my lower back, and I jump, nearly falling. “Back straight. No. Straighter. Do I need to get Lawrence involved again?”
I blink, and I’m back to the present. Hali is smiling at me, her blue eyes cheerful and happy. She’s not one of Lawrence’s cruel servants, brought in to turn me into the omega he wanted. By force if necessary.
She just wants to make sure she picked out the right size dress for me. All so I don’t have to spend the rest of the day walking around in a sleep-crumpled T-shirt and men’s boxers.
I take the dress with a practiced smile and retreat to the closet to change.
“So. What do you…” Hali’s voice trails off.
I glance back. She’s eyeing the pile of clothes on the closet floor.
I pull the door closed again before I head for the bathroom instead.
“What do you think of the house?” she continues.
She saw. She’s pretending she didn’t, but there’s no way she didn’t see.
Please don’t let her tell the alphas, or they’ll think it’s their scent I crave when it really isn’t.
So why could you only fall asleep when you had your nose buried in their scents? You’ve never slept on a pile of Lawrence’s clothes like that before. Explain that?
