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Chapter Two
Three Months Later
“Thank you for your time,” Devin murmured, outstretched hand falling to slap against her thigh as the interviewer ignored her.
Forcing a smile to her lips, Devin made her way back into the office lobby and pretended nothing was wrong as she pushed the elevator button to go down. Feeling as if every eye were on her, watching her every movement, she couldn’t dispel the icy chill tangling around her spine. While the unpleasant interview and abrupt dismissal weren’t new, the watchful stares were.
Back straight and chin held high, she entered the elevator, glad to be alone for a moment. Devin couldn’t be certain Mr. Hirsch had any kind of real influence outside their little office, but it seemed that more and more companies she interviewed at recognized her on some level. They were bright and warm on the phone, but as soon as she came in, their friendliness cooled to outright distaste. Three other property management firms made sense, but an accounting firm, an insurance agent, and even a call center did not.
Every menial position she applied for turned her down. Since when did it matter that you were overqualified to be a hostess, cashier, or waitress?
Devin sighed as she exited the frigid building for the sultry heat filled with the clamor of the city. Steps dragging as she made her way to the bus stop three blocks away, she tried to calm her mind. There was no sense working herself into a temper over it now. She needed to make a plan and figure things out before they got too much further out of hand. Maybe she should ask for help… but no, not that. Never that. Devin worked too hard and for too long to start accepting handouts now. She didn’t need anyone’s protection or Gods’ damned charity. It was a slippery slope, one she’d avoided her entire life, and to give in now would undo years of effort. She’d be no better than those pathetic Omegas who clung to whichever Alpha would keep them for a time. That was something she could have had all the way back in middle school if that were the route she’d wanted to take.
No, she wouldn’t be like them. Not now, not ever. It made the next leg of her journey all the harder as she trudged her way up the steps into the bus, rumpled card jammed into the reader before she slunk to a seat towards the back.
Her little savings were gone, wiped out from the most basic of necessities. She had just enough left to her name to find new housing. One where her landlord didn’t come pounding on the door at all hours demanding rent. Perhaps she could even afford to keep the lights on for a little while longer. Now she needed to hurry back to her old apartment where her friend Ashley waited to help her move into one of the most squalid buildings in the seediest neighborhoods of Alderbrook. Bayside Heights sounded like somewhere lush and comfortable, but it fell far from the lofty expectations its name promised.
It would work for the moment, especially since Bayside Heights was much closer to the districts where Devin was now applying. No more office jobs. She’d concentrate on getting anything that could put food back in her belly. That was tomorrow’s worry. She had too much to do today. For now, she’d focus on moving.
Which, unfortunately, included having to deal with Ashley’s special kind of assistance. As much as she hated asking, she’d needed to borrow a car. Ashley’s SUV would do just fine for the few items Devin still had in her possession, but Ashley refused to let anyone else drive the stupid thing. Ashley was an Alpha, one of the scant few who treated Devin like a true human being and not some possession or thing to be used. That didn’t mean she was easy to get along with. Devin needed to prepare herself for barked orders and patronizing remarks about her size.
She could only pray that Ashley kept her comments about Devin’s new housing to a minimum.
Sighing, Devin turned her unfocused gaze out of the window beside her to watch the gleaming metal and clean concrete of the business district pass by. It gave way to sprawling strip malls and the filth of life no one was too keen to sweep away. Stained brick and cloudy glass gave up their reign to rundown buildings that leaned in over the road. It hadn’t been pretty, but it’d been somewhat safe and comfortable in Ruby Run.
Reaching up to pull the stop indicator, Devin stifled a shriek when a rough hand shackled her wrist. Craning her neck, she peeked over her shoulder at the burly male hunched over the back of the seat with a yellow-toothed grin.
“You smell real good, sweetheart,” he rasped, the brown-tinged pink of his tongue skimming over his lips.
Layered in ratted swaths of mud and filth, Devin wondered how she hadn’t smelled the putrid stink of his breath before as he came closer to snuffle at her neck. His groan was loud and revolting, drawing the attention of their fellow travelers, though only one zeroed in on Devin with keen interest.
Cursing herself for being so careless, Devin twisted her arm to try to bring it back to her chest, but only succeeded in rubbing her wrist raw. Coarse calluses abraded her flesh as the man tightened his grip and forced her arm up around his neck. Hauled into a painful arch that threatened to pull her shoulder from the socket, Devin grimaced and tried to keep her sound of pain as quiet as she could. Showing weakness would be an even bigger mistake.
“Let me go,” Devin ground out through clenched teeth, praying he wouldn’t hear the plaintive whine in her tone as he pulled her arm back even further. Forced to stand, Devin’s stomach did a somersault as the bus lurched around a corner, the man dragging her back against his body as he fumbled for the dangling line along the wall.
He was trying to stop the bus. A panicked glance showed her they’d passed her stop, entering an area she knew nothing about. There were no known alleys or safeguards as the buildings leaned closer with gap-toothed grins and jagged eyes.
Squeezing her eyes tight as the man left a slimy trail of spit on her neck, licking her skin with low grunts, Devin took in a deep breath. This wasn’t going to end well, no matter what she did, but the idea of letting this happen had bile rushing up the back of her throat.
That would work.
As the electronic bell of the stop indicator sounded, Devin opened her eyes to find the other male now standing, his murky brown eyes narrowed. Clad in a cheap suit and a few days’ worth of growth peppering his chin, he filled the space of the aisle as he began making his way towards Devin. Meeting his gaze, she let her lower lip tremble as she gave a feeble tug at her arm. There wasn’t much time, and he wasn’t moving fast enough. Adding a low whine as the man jerked her back into his body did it.
Jacket flapping, the other man let out a roar as he charged down the aisle. It wasn’t enough to make the one holding her let her go, but twisting in the cage of his encircling arm, Devin found his stench pressed against her nose was more than enough to make her stomach revolt. Retching all down his front, he was quick to slap Devin away with a sound of disgust. The man in the cheap suit launched himself at the filthy one, driving him down to the cheap linoleum to bang his head against it.
Devin didn’t bother glancing back as the brakes squealed and the bus shuddered to a halt. She flew down the steps as soon as she could pry the doors open, not even stopping to kick off her shoes before sprinting down the street. Those two might not give chase, but she had no idea where she was, and a female running blind anywhere was just begging for trouble.
Darting across a busy intersection, Devin screamed as a car skid to a halt inches from her. Their angry shouts filled the air, along with the furious honking of other drivers.
She couldn’t stop.
As things became familiar, Devin tried to slow from an outright sprint to something that wouldn’t draw everyone’s eye, but each time she slowed, she sped up again. The primal part of her brain told her to run as fast as she could, lest she find herself in more hot water than she could deal with. It didn’t matter if she drew so much attention, so long as she reached the safety of home and maybe even Ashley before anyone acted upon it.
Devin almost missed the entrance to the complex, having to grab hold of the gate to spin herself through the iron bars. A jagged pain pulsed through her lungs as she wheeled too far to the left and slammed into the metal. Gasping as her throat constricted, choking on the tight ball of fear, she saw dark shapes closing in. It took most of her strength to shove away from the gate, the last of her flagging will to push watery muscles back into motion as the pounding of several footsteps came closer.
Running pell-mell down the narrow, overgrown walkways towards her building, Devin couldn’t believe her stupidity. After decades of surviving, she’d thrown it all away in a moment of panic. To go from capable to too stupid to live dug deep, urging her onward as she swore she felt the ragged breaths of her pursuers hot on the back of her neck.
Just a little further.
