A face that was already so familiar and more calming than it should have been.
“Yeah,” she answered, rubbing again at her nose. “That drug just smells wrong. I can’t even explainwhyit does, but my brain just keeps telling me it’s wrong.”
“I know. It should go away in a few minutes.”
Alison let the warmth of Kyle’s palms sink into her, taking that bit of comfort from him.
Listening to them talk about her had been the worst. She’dknownpeople saw omegas like that, but to have to stay still, to hear the vile words, to not be able to react, that had been a more difficult struggle than she’d expected.
She twisted, looking for Trent, only to find him gone.
“He left,” Daniel explained.
“Why?” That didn’t seem like Trent at all. He was difficult, closed off often, but he also was unfailingly protective. He blamed himself for things he didn’t need to. He wouldn’t have just walked away before he checked on her.
Hurt settled in her chest even as she told herself it was stupid to feel that way. He didn’t owe her anything, yet the fact he’d done that made her question everything about him.
“Don’t be like that,” Kyle told her.
“Like what?” Alison crossed her arms, going to her go to defensiveness.
Kyle’s gaze darted up the stairs toward Trent’s room. “He didn’t leave until he knew we were here to make sure you were fine.”
“Right.”
Daniel sighed, then shuffled his foot on the ground. “Trent is a bastard in a lot of ways, but he’s also got a few sore spots. I think the conversation with Galen dug into a few of them.”
Alison frowned. She’d never considered doing that might have been difficult for them. “Is he okay?”
“He will be. He’s tough. I think he just needed to go collect himself. We all honestly need that. For tonight, I’m going to let you make the choice on where yousleep. If you need a night to yourself, you can use your room, or you can pick one of ours if you’d rather,” Daniel said.
Alison bit at her bottom lip. Normally she’d have jumped at the chance for her own bed again, but then she recalled the tremble of Trent’s fingers in her hair and she knew the answer.
* * * *
Trent’s room was dark when Alison entered. She’d gotten out of the dress and into her pajamas, feeling more like herself as soon as she did.
A lingering remnant of the drug remained, a ghost scent she’d pick up from time to time, but otherwise? She’d bounced back.
The truth was that while she didn’t want to do that again, it wasn’t as bad as she’d imagined. Though, she did plan to kill Galen. No matter what happened, she wanted to gut him for everything she knew he’d done, everything he’d said, all the omegas he’d referenced as though they meant nothing.
Just thinking that helped her not focus on the meeting, to unload the weight of it.
Heaving made her pause. The uncomfortable sound of retching came from the bathroom, followed by a flushing toilet, then water from the sink.Brushing his teeth?
A moment later, the door opened, and Trent’s form was lit up from the bathroom. He froze as his gaze landed on her.
He didn’t speak for a long moment, though after a loud gulp, his hand still on the handle, he asked softly, “You okay?”
Alison nodded, unsure how to deal with this.
She was good at fighting, at taking care of problems, but helping people?
That wasn’t something she knew much about.
Yet, despite that, sheneededto help. Something inside her wouldn’t let her walk away, wouldn’t let her forget about him.
“You left,” she explained, cringing as her words wounded almost like an admonishment.
