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“Let’s get you to your new place,” Ashley said, turning the key in the ignition. “Ready to give me directions?”
“Yeah, sure.” Devin grimaced as the car blasted them with hot air, hoping the sweltering rush would cool soon. She felt queasy and all out of sorts.
The drive took longer than loading the car had. Cruising through the rundown buildings, each seedier and more desolate than the one before, Devin felt Ashley’s irritation. It trembled through the air, a physical force that twisted around the base of Devin’s spine, becoming a throbbing ache that refused to be stretched out as Devin squirmed in the seat.
“What the actual fuck,” Ashley demanded in a snarl, slamming her foot on the brake so that they squealed as they came to a stop on the cracked blacktop. “You are not staying here!”
“It’s already paid for,” Devin hissed back, leaping from the car to take a breath of air not tainted by an Alpha’s fury.
“I don’t give a flying fuck!” Ashley’s roar resonated through the wavering bands of heat drifting from the asphalt as she followed Devin out, snatching Devin’s arm to whirl her around. “You have no business in a place like this.”
“It’s what I can afford, it’s close to where I’m applying for jobs,” Devin said, counting out the paltry reasons for living in such wretched conditions on her fingers. Just an excuse to not look Ashley in the eye as she seethed and towered over Devin. “Besides, the apartment isn’t that bad.”
“You’re going to come stay with me.”
“I am not! I’m staying here.”
“The hell you are.”
“You’re not my Alpha,” Devin hissed, snatching her arm and stumbling back a few steps, putting herself out of easy reach as Ashley’s eyes narrowed. Sheer stubborn pride tilted her chin up as Devin centered her gaze on Ashley’s chin, as close to meeting the simmering anger as she dared. Taking a shaky breath to calm the vicious twisting within her stomach, Devin continued in a soothing tone, “You’re my friend, and you know how much it means to me to be on my own.”
“I also know you’d rather sleep on the streets than ask someone for help,” Ashley said through a growl, taking a menacing step forward before she checked her advance. Sliding one foot back, Ashley shifted her weight to it so as not to loom over Devin. “Kid, you have to realize this is a bad idea.”
“It’s temporary.” Devin tossed a clammy palm towards the sky, releasing a shuddering sigh as tears burned the backs of her eyes. She would not cry. Not now, not in front of Ashley. “I just have to get another job and save up some money.”
“So let me get you a spot at—”
“I can’t work for that asshole. You saw what he was like at your company Christmas party year before last. I’m not going to put you in a position to lose your job over me.”
“Fucking Gods!” Ashley groaned, swiping a hand down her face to cup her mouth. Glaring over the tops of her fingers at Devin before she gave in with a muttered curse, Ashley’s hand whipped out to point at the moldering stairs. “Go wait inside. You look like shit.”
Devin knew when to retreat. Once again ordered out of the way, she hurried upstairs to the dilapidated apartment. After struggling with her key and the swollen door that wouldn’t open until she threw her weight against it, Devin was almost glad Ashley had given her the excuse to collapse onto the filthy couch the landlord threw in for an extra ten bucks. It wasn’t ideal, but she sold her old one for the few dollars it added to her account. Once she’d washed the covers and aired out the cushions, it might not be so bad.
Exiled to the rickety sofa, Devin directed Ashley from her perch on where to deposit everything, though there was so little it seemed laughable. Devin became more upset with each rustling plastic bag and jumbled box. Everything reeked of the prior occupants, unfamiliar scents and sounds drifting through the peeling linoleum and paper thin walls. Omegas were territorial, and Devin was no different. She snapped at Ashley more than once. As if she knew her friend needed some sense of order and control, Ashley bore the miniature tyrant with patient grace.
“You really don’t look so good,” Ashley murmured as she set the last of the boxes aside.
“Thanks.” Devin snorted a humorless laugh. Peering around at the cramped space of her new apartment, it seemed to burst at the seams with the few boxes and bags Devin had packed.
“Why don’t I order us some takeout? Someone’s got to deliver to this Gods forsaken place.”
“Aren’t I supposed to offer that as payment?”
“I’m not that cheap,” Ashley said with a snort, a hint of a smile playing over her wide lips. “Besides, I’d eat you out of house and home… what there’s left of it, anyhow.”
Devin’s spine snapped to attention, shoulders swinging back so fast the sockets groaned in protest. Though Ashley had the grace to cringe, it wasn’t enough to soothe Devin’s pride. The air grew thick with the acrid bite of anger, tension building until it smothered them both.
“Thank you for your help today,” Devin said, the modulated tones of her words managing to slice through the roiling flames centered in her middle. “I can manage from here.”
“Devin, come on. You know I didn’t mean it that way.” Ashley raked a rough hand through her sweat-tousled hair, lips resting in a thin slash.
“Good night, Ashley.”
Ashley shook her head and turned, heavy boots pounding against the floor as she stormed towards the door. Without a backwards glance, she yanked the swollen slab open with a hideous shriek of wood against linoleum and slammed it shut behind her. The chain lock rattled free, falling to the flaking plastic with a final thump.
Lower lip trembling, Devin shuffled forward, locking the deadbolt and knob with a weak promise to fix the chain later… much later.
Halfway to the scattered boxes containing her bedroom, the queasy ache of her stomach turned into violent agony. It pulled her double, collapsing over the sudden cramp twisting her insides. Her stuttering cry echoed through the empty rooms as the thighs of her jeans became soaked and the sticky sweet scent of slick permeated the air. Falling to hands and knees as her vision swam, Devin dragged herself towards the tiny bathroom. Clawing her way into the rust-stained tub, she cranked on the water and screamed into her palms as another vicious cramp curled through her middle, bringing a fresh rush of slick with it.
This shouldn’t be happening. It couldn’t be. She’d taken her suppressants every day like clockwork. Her skin was on fire, every inch of her alight with an overload of sensations. Groaning, her hands tore at the too tight confines of her clothes, shredding the loose shirt before squirming her way free of soaked denim.
The water would dampen the smell, but not forever. She had to find her soap somewhere in all those boxes. Blinking through the haze clouding her eyes, Devin tried to make sense of the writing on the box nearby, but her gaze snagged on the blurred lines of black plastic. Where had she put it?
Falling to her side, Devin curled around the sudden pain and muffled her choked sobs against the grungy porcelain. The soap would have to wait. Everything would have to wait.
All she could do was pray an Alpha didn’t scent her… or worse, that she didn’t scent them.
