An older woman clutches her shopping bag closer. A teenager takes three quick steps to the side.
Reverie's eyes snap to Theo immediately, startled by the intensity of his reaction. Her scent spikes with surprise and a hint of uncertainty.
"That shit isn't happening with us," Theo says flatly, his voice leaving absolutely zero room for argument or debate. "None of it. Not the rentals, not using your money for their appearances, not the financial manipulation, not the different treatment compared to other Omegas, nothing. That's done. That chapter of your life is completely closed."
He takes a breath, visibly forcing himself to calm down before he scares her.
"Come on. Let's find Nash so we can get you shopping properly."
He starts to walk purposefully toward where Nash is standing down the street, clearly planning to march us all to the nearest boutique immediately. But then he pauses mid-step. Stops completely.
Turns back around with deliberate, measured purpose.
Here it comes.
The reason he really drove to Millbrook today.
He reaches into his black gym bag with one hand, digging past his water bottle and workout towel, and pulls something out—a small rectangular piece of plastic that catches the weak winter sunlight and gleams.
A credit card.
Brand new, still pristine.
He presents it to Reverie formally, holding it out between two fingers like it's something precious and important.
Which it is.
She frowns, looking at the card with genuine confusion written all over her expressive face. Her eyebrows draw together, her lips purse slightly.
"I don't need your card, Theo. I appreciate the thought but I have some money saved from the odd jobs. I can buy what I need. I don't want to be a burden or?—"
He shakes his head firmly, cutting her off before she can finish that self-deprecating spiral.
"Look at it carefully. Read what's on it."
She takes it hesitantly, like she's afraid it might burn her or disappear if she grips too hard, turning it over carefully in her small hands. Her eyes scan the front surface, moving left to right as she reads the embossed letters.
Then her eyes widen comically—huge and round and disbelieving.
Her mouth falls open in a perfect O of shock.
"Huh?" The word comes out breathless and small. "This is... wait. This has my full name. Reverie Ophelia Sterling. My middle name too. This is a credit card in my name? Not yours? Mine?"
She looks up from the card to Theo's face, then swivels her head to look at me, her expression a complex mixture of shock and disbelief and something that might be hope but she's clearly afraid to fully acknowledge or believe in because she's been let down too many times before.
She can't quite process it. Can't quite believe someone would do this. Set up financial independence for her without strings attached.
I smirk, relief flooding through me.
"Damn, they approved it fast, huh? I thought we'd have to wait until next week."
She looks between us, her confusion somehow making her extra cute. Her nose scrunches up slightly and her head tilts like a puppy trying to understand a new command.
"What do you mean? I didn't apply for a credit card. I don't understand what's happening right now."
I step closer, keeping Snowfall's reins loose in my hand. The mare stays calm, sensing the importance of this moment.
"None of us enjoyed hearing that your past pack didn't take care of you in the slightest," I explain carefully, keeping my voice gentle and steady despite the anger simmering hot beneath the surface when I think about Kael and his pack's treatment of her. "No Omega should ever be worrying about money or basic necessities or financial security when they're in a pack. That's fundamentally not how pack dynamics work. That's not how it should ever work in any healthy pack structure."
