AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Em’s packmates, Lincoln and Tanner, tried to stop by my second day on the ward, but my response to their alpha scents was too much. It wasn’t that they smelled bad—they were actually some of the most pleasing ones I’ve ever been around—but it’s like my brain-body response just isn’t ready to be in close proximity to alphas.
Poor Lincoln looked pretty destroyed that I flinched away from him when he got near my bed. A small part of me wanted to reach out and grab his hand, to thank him for rescuing me and to apologize for being so jumpy. But a bigger part of me wanted to just burrow into my blankets and hide, so the gratitude and formal introductions will have to wait.
Em’s been great, never leaving my side.
I know there’s a lot to talk about, but right now all I can think about is getting out of this hospital and finding a way to regroup. None of my injuries are serious enough for them to keep me in any longer, so they’ve agreed to release me into Em’s care this evening. Technically I’m free to go wherever since I’m an adult at almost nineteen, but my life is in such disarray right now that I can’t think beyond the next few hours at a time.
“I really think I should book us a hotel.”
This is probably the sixth time Em’s said this in the past two hours, and it’s starting to make me nervous.
“Em, no. I just want to be somewhere safe and familiar. Or as familiar as I can get. Your dorm will be fine, I promise.”
“It’s just ... I live with Tanner.”
Oh. I shuffle through my mental reel to pull up a picture of the big blond alpha I met yesterday for all of twenty seconds.
“He can stay with Lincoln for a few days. I swear he won’t be there, but his smell will be all over our dorm.” My brother shrugs, his face the perfect mixture of nervous and apologetic.
“Lincoln doesn’t live with you guys?” I ask, buying myself some time as I try to process the idea of staying somewhere saturated in alpha pheromones.
“He has a place closer to the base. We haven’t moved into a pack house yet. They’re a bit pricey, and this setup works for us for now.” He shrugs.
Right, pack houses.River Valley is a much bigger town than where we grew up, so I’ll have to get used to the whole pack-culture infrastructure. There were mostly betas in our small hometown, and packs weren’t really the norm. I knew alphas tended to form them and it was common for omegas to end up mated to a pack.
Omegas make up only three percent of the population, according to the last census. Alphas make up ten percent, with the other eighty-seven percent being betas. Apparently, the alphas who are unscrupulous enough to purchase an omega, as my father was trying to facilitate, are evil enough that most haven’t managed to find a pack. At least, my father only ever trained me to care for a single mate.
I feel a shiver work its way down my body as I imagine being sold to a whole group of alphas.
“Do you have your own space at least? Someplace that doesn’t smell like him?”
“Let me call one of my beta friends—they can spray some de-scenter and air the place out.”
Em disappears to make his call, and I take the opportunity to drift back into an uneasy sleep.
6
Esperanza
“Cereal?”
I accept the bowl from Em automatically and stare down at the now familiar brown kernels floating in the milk. “Health nut,” I tease him, making an exaggerated face as I eat a spoonful of the Grapenuts. I swear they’re the crunchiest, blandest cereal ever invented.
“Hey! A body like this doesn’t happen automatically.”
I laugh as he flexes for me and stick out my tongue. It feels good to laugh.
My first few days at Em’s place passed in an anxiety-ridden haze. My emotions are still all over the place, and I’ve been having a hard time feeling relaxed and at ease. I’ve gotten a respite from talking to law enforcement, but I’m still seeing Dr. Morgan every other day. I protested the arrangement at first, knowing that neither my brother nor I have the money to pay for private therapy, but it turns out it’s on the government’s dime. Small favors, I guess.
I’ll admit it’s been kind of nice having a constant in my life. Dr. Morgan has assured me everything I’m feeling is perfectly normal given what I went through over the past two years, and that I’m now suddenly in a new environment.
I’ve ventured outside with Em a few times, sometimes for my therapy and other times just to get some fresh air, but the large crowds of college kids set me on edge. We’ve tried going out at night when there are less people around. Even so, my legs tend to start shaking after one hundred feet or so and I have to sit down or turn back. Something about being conditioned to captivity ... Dr. Morgan says it will be a process to reboot my mental configuration of the world. To feel comfortable being able to move about freely.
“Are you sure you’re okay with me leaving? I can one hundred percent stay with you again today.”
“Em,hermano mío, go to class.”
“Espy ...”
