“Nor are evening classes. I can’t believe the university allows single omegas to take classes so late.”
I agreed. It was already dark by the time Flora went to class. It wasn’t safe. Maybe if she lived in one of the closer dorms that waswell-lit, it wouldn’t be so bad. After that night, when she had grabbed my hand, I had become obsessed with finding out everything I could about her, including her family. It didn’t take much digging to learn they were solidly middle class and could afford to put Flora in one of the safer buildings, yet she seemed to be paying for everything herself from scholarships and tutoring.
I scratched the back of my head. The problem with researching families was that we knew what their actions were, but not necessarily their motives. Not that I believed there wasanygood reason for them to allow their omega daughter to live in a shitty dorm.
“Yeah, we need to dig into her parents more.”
“Do we stay on task?” he asked. “I feel like we’re getting very attached to her, and we’ve never even had a conversation with her.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Can you just walk away?” He and Chase may not have had a conversation with Flora, but I certainly had—and held her hand.
The indecision on my pack mate’s face was clear. Something about her was pulling us toward her. I knew there was no way in hell I was going to forget her.
Spencer avoided my question, instead simply saying, “I’ll get Chase to send you anything he finds on the cameras,” before striding out of the room.
He may have been going back and forth on what Flora meant to him, but I was under no illusions. No matter what happened, I would protect her. I had never imagined an omega falling in love with me, given how my face looked. I was a monster—but I would happily behermonster. Even if I spent the rest of my life in the shadows, watching over her, I would do it gladly.
I watched as Flora exited the building, checking her purse for something, before walking down the street toward her eight p.m. class.
Once she was out of sight, I checked my phone to make sure that Spencer had her in his view before sliding from the car and heading toward her apartment building.
There was supposed to be a key code to enter the building, but as I approached the flimsy door, I doubted it would withstand a firm breeze, let alone a potential intruder. My suspicions were confirmed when I pushed the door with minimal effort, and it swung open on creaky hinges, as if it were lamenting the toll of age and neglect that had worn it down over the years.
We already knew the lobby’s security cameras were dead. Hell, I doubted they were real in the first place. The building manager may have stuck fake cameras on the wall to pretend they were doing at least a halfway-decent job. Nothing about the building screamed that it was well-maintained or that anyone cared even slightly about the security.
That wasn’t acceptable. Flora should have been living in a dorm building with a doorman and a working security system. If I had anything to say about it, she wouldn’t be in such a decrepit building much longer.
Following the familiar path up to her door, my nose picked up the strengthening scent of honey and rose as I ascended the stairs. Her scent hit me stronger than any other around. It made my nerves vibrate and my head swim. It was only a small echo of what I had smelled when I had walked her home.
Picking the lock was easy.Concerninglyeasy.
The hallways were narrow with no cameras, so no one noticed me entering her space.
Her apartment was just as I remembered, tiny and drenched in her scent. This time, I could look without the omega’s eyes on me. I had done my best to observe as much as I could about her home when I was there last, but now I could take my time and get to know exactly what made Flora Hewitt tick.
As I wandered through her apartment, I took in all the small details. The half-eaten bags of chips on her desk. The pens with the ends chewed, and the laundry piling up in the overflowing basket.
My eyes paused on her nest.
I wanted to investigate more. My descenter was industrial strength, so I would leave no trace. Then again, a nest was a deeply personal thing, and it felt rude to intrude.
Yet I couldn’t stop myself.
Her nest was somewhat sparse; she needed more fancy throw pillows and fluffy blankets.
Everything in her nest was a variant of cream or pink, except for some dark, leathery fabric. Moving closer, I stilled when it dawned on me exactly what that item was.
It was my jacket. The one I had given her the night I’d walked her home. The one that was covered in my scent.
She had placed it in hernest.
An overwhelming rush of pride and excitement hit me. Had Flora enjoyed my scent that much? To put it in her nest where she slept? Well, that made me feel a thousand feet tall.
Part of me wanted to roll around in her nest, to cover myself in her scent.
Leaving the nest untouched, I turned and surveyed the studio apartment once more. Even though she was on an upperfloor, her windows needed proper locks and latches. All an intruder needed was a ladder, and they could get in.
The door was flimsy. At a minimum, I needed to install a deadbolt. If I could, I would have installed a whole new door, thicker and more secure.
