Chapter One
Edris
Buy a new car, they said… It’s better than getting a used vehicle that might break down on you the first time you drive it. They swore I’d never regret it. Something proven wrong not the first time I drove it but the first time I went on a road trip.
The car still smelled amazing. I had fewer than five hundred miles on the odometer, all from local driving, and there weren’t even any crumbs on the floor. Still at the nobody-eats-in-my-baby stage of vehicle ownership, the only thing I even allowed myself was my stainless steel travel mug of ice water.
It all started out great. First road trip with the new car, a beautiful, sunny day, and the peace of mind granted by my choice to spend the extra thousands for a car that would give me no trouble for the next hundred miles. At least that was the length of the extended warranty I bought, and everyone knew things broke down the minute a warranty ended.
As I drove, I thought about my job with the city. Unlike many of those who went to university with me, I had obtained a position where my degree not only came into play but was compensated fairly. The only real issue was that in a town of that size, it was easy to get lost in the crowd. City hall teemed with qualified people doing the same job every day and never able to break through into higher level positions. It would take a great deal of determination and focus to make myself be seen enough to move up.
But, I’d never been afraid to try hard things.
Sipping my water, I settled back in the comfortable seat, so different from my old car with the spring that had pierced the flaking leather upholstery. I put a towel down to protect myclothes, but that wasn’t a real solution. I waited too long to retire the old girl.
In the middle of congratulating myself, and thinking good thoughts about my bestie who went with me to the dealership and encouraged me to buy the car, it happened. My nearly silent hybrid sedan let out aklunk, aclank, and the engine died. Somehow, I made it to the side of the road with the last few rotations of the tires before letting out a string of curses and banging my head repeatedly on the steering wheel.
My brand-new, shiny, and expensive car didn’t wait for the hundred-thousand-mile mark to break down. It hadn’t made it to one thousand. I tapped the dash screen, where I could summon warranty service, but either because I was in the middle of nowhere or perhaps due to whatever broke, the screen sat dark. The beeps that assailed me every time I took my hands from ten and two or wasn’t precisely in the middle of a lane, silent.
No point in trying to use my phone’s connection to the car’s system either. I could only hope for a connection so I could call roadside service. To my great relief, the call went through and I was told a tow truck would be arriving as soon as they could locate someone in the area. So reassuring.
All the years of owning my beater car, I’d dreamed of the day I could afford something better, and pushed it off until now. My old car had never done this to me. It looked bad but had a heart of gold.
Dammit.
One of the problems with my no-eating-in-the-car policy was that I had not packed any snacks at all, planning to eat in a diner or something along the road. Avoiding the temptation of getting orange chip dust on the wheel. So for the two hours I waited there, only water passed my lips.
I shouldn’t have skipped breakfast.
By the time the rescue rig rolled up and made a U-turn to pull in behind me, low blood sugar had joined my car disgruntlement to create someone nobody would want to save from the side of the road.
The driver swung down from his high seat and approached where I stood next to the silver-gray lump I still owed fifty-nine payments on. “Hello, I’m Jesse, and I hope you weren’t waiting too long.”
I began to say something rude, but the omega’s winsome expression melted it on my lips. I wasn’t attracted to him, specifically, but I’d have to be dead not to realize how attractive he was. Some alpha would be lucky one day to be his mate. Not me…unfortunately. Would I ever meet the one who was mine?
Suddenly, I was just tired, hot, hungry, but no longer angry. Any car could have a fault, and a new one might have a manufacturer’s issue. I wouldn’t be paying for the repair, and honestly? I didn’t mind being late for the conference. Mid-level civic servants would hardly be bringing down the roof at the meet and greet.
Although things could heat up once they had a couple of drinks and let their hair down later.
I thanked the omega for showing up and assured him I knew he was doing his best.
He promised me not to scratch my new car.
And off we went to the closest town, where he was apparently the only general mechanic. On the way along the single main street, he pointed out the few businesses, but I wasn’t paying much attention. With any luck, he’d be able to make the repair and get me back on my way before I had to do anything but find a snack to eat while I waited.
I should have known better. A car doesn’tklunk,clank, and die if something really bad hadn’t happened. Jesse the omega mechanic informed me that he had another repair to finish upbefore he could even get into mine, and he directed me to the one place to spend the night in town.
I never intended to stay at a dated motel that rented rooms by the month, week, day, and even hour. The whole purpose in having a new car was reliability, at least for me. Someone was going to suffer the full weight of my wrath. That someone would not be Jesse who was not going to be bribed to do my work first, I sensed. He had already left the job to come get me. I wanted to return to my condo where I could take the elevator up to the saltwater pool on the roof and float away my troubles.
But I’d settle for the conference center with its watered-down drinks and boring sessions. Anything but this.
Chapter Two
Zac
“Go home.” Tyrus stood in front of me, his arms crossed over his chest.
It had been a long night. An omega had gone into labor in the middle of the night and come to us because his regular doctor wasn’t answering his phone calls. He said coming to our birthing center was his last option.
