Steven, the limo driver who brought me back from the party where my alphas abandoned me, stands next to the front door beside Veronica, wearing an all-black uniform. He doesn’t live here. Which meanstheycalled him and asked him to come to the house.
“I’m here to take you to the heat clinic,” he says, avoiding my gaze.
Just when this moment couldn’t get any more humiliating, another person appears to witness my alphas rejecting me.
I briefly squeeze my eyes shut in shame, my belly cramping as another wave of pain nearly drives me to my knees. “I don’t know where one is.”
His expression remains blank, but he’s judging me. How could he not be?
“They gave me instructions. I’m to take you to Ever Safe. There’s one not too far from here.”
Of course they did. As long as I’m someone else’s problem, I bet they don’t care where their driver takes me.
Veronica carries my bag as I follow him out, the sound of my shoes echoing on the marble entryway. From the games room, I hear my scent matches laughing.
“You’ll find everything you need here.” The woman showing me around my suite at the free heat clinic is nice. “The bathroom is on your left. You’ll find towels and whatever you might need to freshen up. And there're snacks as well between… well. When you need them.”
“Yes.” My eyes linger on the sex tools laid out on a wall shelf beside the bed. All are objects I can use to ease the painful need for an alpha’s knot that I’m here to sate.
Haven Academy told me what to expect when mating with an alpha. They didn’t prepare me for my alphas sending me to the nearest free heat clinic because they didn’t want to touch me.
“We’ll check in with you every couple of days, make sure you’re getting fluids.” The nice beta retreats. Her nostrils flare as the scent of my perfume invades every corner of this sterile, windowless room with nothing in it but sex toys to imitate an alpha's knot, a bathroom, a bed, and a small silver fridge so I don’t starve while I do nothing but fuck this painful need away.
I wish I’d thought to get myself heat suppressants before.
Now that I know what to expect from my alphas, I’ll get some.
Five days later, Veronica sits beside me in the back of the limo, my bag of clothes by my feet, as I stare out of the window. It’s a gray afternoon, and every part of me is sore, tired, and fed up.
My heat was clinical and entirely forgettable. The staff might have checked on me, or they might not have. I didn’t care. All I was concerned about was fucking myself with every sex toy they had.
“Are they in the house?” I turn to ask Veronica.
I refuse to call that place home. It’s not mine, and it never will be.
“They had an event to attend, but I believe they’re back now.” There’s no judgment in Veronica’s voice, but I hear it just the same.
Of course they did. Their lives continue whether or not I’m under their roof. I bet they didn’t even notice I was gone.
“Did my mother call?” I ask her.
“No, Miss.”
That comes as no surprise. I call her. She never calls me.
“And my sister?”
“No, Miss.”
I hadn’t expected River to call. She’s still at Haven Academy, and speaking to her isn’t as easy as just picking up the phone. The school will be focused on getting her ready to match her with an eligible alpha. I wish I could warn her to run while she has a chance before she winds up with alphas like mine.
I nod but can’t find it in me to speak to Veronica anymore. I just want to get back to my room, have a long, hot shower, and crawl under my sheets. We sit in silence for the rest of the journey back to the house.
The driver opens my door for me, and inside the house, Veronica heads to the kitchen to start dinner. I’m walking toward the staircase when I hear a woman laughing.
It stops me in my tracks.
For two seconds, I stand with my right hand curling around the bottom of the balustrade as the sound of my heartbeat fills my head.
