"Yes?" Out of the corner of her eye, Camelia saw Evan and James walking around the stage and approaching her. It made her feel a little more secure to have her men on either side of her, and the guy who had stopped her glanced at the imposing Alphas before shoving a recorder in her face and smiling widely.
"You're really creating some buzz on the internet for your advocacy. Tell me, what is your opinion on the Omega who was recently discovered after being assaulted by what she claims was an Alpha?"
The smile faded from Camelia's face, and her stomach clenched. Her heart leapt into her throat, and she frowned even as she reached out blindly for James' hand with hers. His tight squeeze on her hand comforted her, but not enough to stop the panic from starting to bleed into the edges of her vision. "I hadn't heard about that. Where did it happen?"
The smile on the guy's face widened; he liked that he had caught her off guard. "Just south of Alabama. She was found on the side of the road, almost completely naked and covered in bruises." He leaned closer, as if saying something conspiratorial, his eyes gleaming. "The word is that the person who kidnapped her did more than just slap her around, if you know what I mean."
Camelia clutched tighter to James' hand, and Evan spoke up, his voice smooth and commanding. "If that isn't public information, I'm not sure why we should be listening to you. Are you a reporter of some kind?"
The guy stood up straight, puffing his chest out as he turned to face Evan, as if that would make him more physically imposing. "Jared Leffner, with The Hourly Scribe."
Evan took a tiny step closer, but Camelia saw him rolling his eyes even as he put his hand on the small of Camelia's back. "That fucking rag? You should be ashamed of yourself. And Camelia will not be answering any more of your questions, thank you."
The reporter – Jared – narrowed his eyes a little, though he took a tiny step back. "And who the hell are you to be making that assertion for her?"
Evan smiled, but his blue eyes were ice. "Evan Nichols. And I'm the person whose lawyer you'll be hearing from if you don't back the fuck off, buddy. Leave her alone."
Camelia pressed closer to Evan, James following her, caging her in as the reporter looked at the three of them. There was a spark of interest in his eyes, and Camelia could practically see the gears turning in his head, wondering what their relationship was.
Still, he didn't say anything else. He turned on his heel and darted away, looking very much like a rat fleeing a largerpredator, and Camelia's stomach slumped a little even as her chest wound tighter with fear and anxiety.
It took her a moment to realize that James was talking to her, his voice so low that she could barely hear him over the crowd. "Come on, sweetheart," he said. "Let's get out of here." He tugged her hand, and Camelia numbly followed him, Evan bringing up the rear closely.
Chapter twenty-seven
Evan and James let her be as they drove home, a courtesy that Camelia was quietly grateful for. She wasn't sure if she would have had the self-awareness or the wherewithal not to snap at either of them in the car, had either of them given a real effort to getting her to talk.
When they pulled in front of the house, they stayed quiet. James helped Camelia out of the car and held her hand tightly as he walked her up the front path of the house, and Evan followed the two of them up, his car beeping loudly behind them as he locked it with the fob.
Inside, still silence. James led Camelia into the living room, and then disappeared into the kitchen without a word. Camelia heard some of the pots and metal things banging around, and then there was the click of the gas stove being lit.
Evan appeared in front of her, holding a fluffy blanket in his hands that he wrapped around her shoulders. "Here, baby," he said quietly. "Let me help you."
He knelt in front of her and took her shoes off, unlacing her winter boots with deft fingers as Camelia looked down on him. She knew that she should say something, that she should be telling him to stop treating her like a porcelain doll or something that would break if he handled it too firmly, but she couldn't bring herself to say the words.
Mostly because she did feel exactly that way, like a porcelain doll. Fragile and breakable.
When her shoes were off, only then did Evan sit beside her and wrap his arm around her shoulders. He pulled her into his body, gently pressing until she relented, resting her head against his shoulder with a sigh. A very tiny part of her berated her for her silence, for how stiff she was acting, for the way that she couldn't seem to force herself to speak.
The rest of her was still shaking. Only on the inside, of course; she had strict control over the rest of her body. Every molecule, every limb was locked down.
Evan held her until James returned from the kitchen, a steaming cup of tea in his hands. He sat next to Camelia, gently pushing the warm mug into her hands, then scooting close to her so that their thighs were pressed together and he could lay his hand on top of her leg. Comforting her.
Both of her Alphas were there for her. Waiting patiently for Camelia to be okay, for her to tell them what was wrong.
It took another few minutes before Camelia could find her voice. She blew over the top of the hot tea in her cup, taking a sip, before she finally started speaking, her voice low and soft. "My old school. Did I ever tell either of you why I left?"
They all knew that she hadn't, but Evan answered anyway. "No, baby, you didn't."
Camelia nodded. The tea soothed her throat, and she took another sip before she continued, bracing herself. "I was one of three Omegas in my class at Harrison, but I was the onlyone who was single. The other two girls, they had come already promised to Alphas. For one girl, it was her high school sweetheart. Another met her Alpha while she was on a trip to Europe, and he had fallen for her so hard and fast that he had followed her back to the states to be with her.
"I was the only available Omega, and I wasn't trying to hide my status at the time. It had never gotten me any special treatment while I was in junior high and high school, and I had already been on birth control for years. I didn't think that there was anything wrong with letting anyone know that I was an Omega, because nobody had cared before then." Camelia let out a low bark of a laugh, shaking her head. "If my mom had been around, she would have told me to be more careful. Because college is different than high school, and it was immediately clear that there was interest."
James stroked the top of her leg with his fingertips, boosting Camelia's drive to continue. This was a story that she didn't want to tell, but she needed to. Like a festering wound, she needed to purge if she was going to be able to move on.
"The attention seemed innocent enough at first. More guys wanted to work with me on group projects, or sit with me while I was eating food in the quad. Mostly the Alphas that were in my class and the one above, but a few Betas too. It was harmless, and I was flattered." Camelia's cheeks burned with humiliation, and she forced herself to take another sip of tea, her hands shaking a little. "One Alpha started paying more attention to me than all the others, a few months into school. His name was Jake, and he was nice to me. Gentlemanly."
God, she'd been naïve.
