"Liora, you're very brave." Geo turned off his recorder. "I've seen a lot of omegas who have been through similar and most of them are a complete mess."
Snorting, I waved a hand over myself. "This isn't a mess? You're missing a lot."
"You're not. You're bent, but not broken." He leaned forward, his grapefruit scent washing over me, drawing me forward. "I admire you and I promise you, we're going to get these assholes." His voice was fierce as he said the next words, "No matter what, they're going down for what they did to you."
A smile made its way to my face and I sucked in some of that delicious scent. "Thank you, Geo."
"You're welcome." He held out a black business card with gold lettering. "Call me if you think of anything else that might help with the case. Or if you just need to talk to someone. I'm told I have strong shoulders to cry on."
Geo winked at me and I couldn't help but smiled back at him.
"I don't think I'll be crying on anyone's shoulder, but thank you."
He packed up his things and headed to the doorway. I trailed behind to say goodbye to both Dr. Nova and Geo.
At the door, Geo turned, looked past me to the pack and said, "Make her something warm and sweet. Hot chocolate, chai tea, something like that. She needs comfort after going through her story again."
Then he turned to me, taking my hand in his own warm one. "I meant it, Liora, call me if you need anything at all."
"Thank you." I watched him as he walked toward the car and Dr. Nova looked at me with a smile.
"I think he likes you. When you're ready for courting, that man is going to be calling you up."
"Me?" I shook my head. "He smells amazing, but no, I think I'm done with alphas."
"Just so you know, he's one of the agents authorized to help an omega through her heat. He won't stick around if you don't want him to, but he could be just what you need." She tapped a long nail on the card in my hand. "Call him if you need to."
The bit of paper suddenly felt heavy and I curled my fingers around it. Would it really be so bad with someone like Geo to get me through the heat? Just the thought of an alpha coming near me with his knot made me want to vomit though, so it probably wasn't a good idea. I waved the two visitors off and stood for a moment, enjoying the fresh air.
"Liora?" Finn said from behind me. "I have hot chocolate."
I took the mug and started back toward the guest room.
"Wait, we were wondering if you'd be willing to talk to us for a minute?"
"Why?" I frowned. "I don't think there's much to say at this point. You heard everything. You know what I did while I was gone."
"What you did to survive," Mace said solomnly. "You never should have been in that position, Liora. I thought you'd be given a happy, less busy pack. One that would cherish you the way alphas should cherish their omegas."
"No, you wanted to abdicate the responsibility of dealing with an omega," I snapped. "Good job, you pretty much guaranteed you'll never have to deal with one again."
Chapter 19
Falling
Geo
Liora's house disappeared behind us and I turned to Dr. Nova.
"She's my scentmatch."
"I know." She smiled. "She just hasn't figured that out yet. Poor girl is so confused by all the crap going on around her and the abuse . . . ORC brainwashed her, then the new pack wasn't what she wanted, but she tried anyway." She shook her head. "What are the chances you'll get this through and have those alphas arrested?"
"If they're not arrested, they won't be an issue for her," I said grimly, my mind already racing over how to eliminate the three men who had tortured my scentmatch.
Dr. Nova snorted. "Don't get yourself locked up, Geo."
"I won't, but she will feel safe again, no matter what."
