“Lots to tell you bitches, but first I need to…” I start, because seeing them I’m struck by a need to tell them about packing, but also get them to meet said pack.
“You need to dazzle the crap out of the crowd. What’s the general consensus out there, Ho?” Tris interrupts and is her usual stunning, slightly inappropriate self, pitching her skirt up to an offensive level and parking her ass on top of all my important papers.
“Lucky you’re a supermodel, or honestly, Tristan…”
She scoffs a vicious noise before she explodes in an uncharacteristic volley of searing anger and hurt. “Yeah, yeah, because I don’t have a fucking sensible thought in my candy-floss brain because supposedly I’m too young to know what I want,” she hisses back like an injured and cornered bobcat. She looks like one too. Her usual baby blue-coloured eyes are so full of anguish to match her outburst.
“Who the living shit said that?” I snap back, instantly defensive on her behalf.
Meeting my pack and seizing control of Verdune be damned. If someone has wronged my Scorned Girl I want to know about it.
“Don’t,” she snaps, shutting me down. And again, it’s not like her, Tristan is one of those people who has to talk, it’s an intrinsic part of her complicated personality. She reeks sadness, it leaks off her and gets stronger the longer she glares at us.
Her distress pulls Darius inside my office. His eyes jump straight to mine before they glide over to Tristan as he tries to assess what’s going on.
“It’s okay,” I offer as he comes closer. He’s not saying anything, but his presence is brisk as he continues to respond to her distress and anxiety. “Tris is fine.”
He nods at me before he turns to her. “Is that true? You’re giving off some pretty big signals, getting Heidi’s team all antsy.”
And I don’t miss the way he says team, or its connotation.
“Fucking, Alphas,” she spits. “Read the situation, Kairo. I need girl time not you getting on your fucking high horse.”
He stops, his eyes flaring wide before he takes an obvious and over exaggerated step backwards. He keeps retreating until he reaches the door. “Tristan, not all Alphas are cockheads. Ask your bestie. Either way, I want you to know if you ever need a hand, you can count on me and I’ll help in any situation. Okay?”
She freezes up. And I watch her chin wobble as she stares at the floor. It takes a few minutes before she’s calmed herself down enough to talk. “Thanks, Kai. It means a lot and I’m sorry I snapped before. But in this situation unless you are fluent in ‘stubborn asshole’ there’s not much you can do.”
Darius does a Darius thing, and not a Kai thing, by cracking up and laughing like the beautiful devil he is, making my bestie startle. “No shit, I actually think I’m pretty much a master in stubborn-ass code cracking, just ask my little moon.”
And then he disappears, and I’m left with two of my Scorned Girls posse looking at me confused as hell.
“We had a late night,” I explain, waving them on. Plucking some excuse out of my hat and not spilling my guts about how Darius did tackle my stubbornness with his own determination.
Simona, ever the pacifist bursts into action, sweeping Tristan into another cuddle before grabbing a fresh bottle of water from the fridge.
“Sorry,” Tris says once she’s had a few sips of the drink. She looks marginally better, still green around the gills, but she reaches for her oversized bag and starts removing a makeup bag, along with her hair styling bag, setting the table and getting to work.
I let Tristan lose herself in preening. The deal was the girls would come see me before but not stay for my speech. Weird I know, but we’re all a little messed up from when Raney got taken. I love my girls but the instant they agreed to pop in for a quick good luck cuddle, a rush of relief made me snuggle under Kai’s chin with tears in my eyes.
A sharp knock at the door and Gracey pokes her head in. “Heidi, if we could be ready to go in a few minutes.”
I like the ways she talks, without beating around the bush but still being polite at the same time.
“Gracey, can you please have someone accompany the girls out to their cars.”
“No need, I’ve got my team in the hall,” Sim says.
“Same,” Tristan adds. The time we’ve spent not talking about her obvious problem while she gets me ready, has given her the space and time to find a way to be more like herself. Not many people would notice, she’s not herself still, because not many people are allowed past Tristan’s loud but very beautiful facade.
“But we’re catching up properly soon, right?” I ask, swinging around to including Simona in my question. “The four of us.”
I get a roll of eyes as an answer.
A final lingering hug from the girls before they rush out of the door. I can hear Tristan laughing and joking through the closed doors, but I know her, and it’s forced. I rush to the bathroom for a nervous pee before doing a final check of my suit-jacket, making sure no pack bites are on display before stepping out into the hallway.
I walk into a wall of Alphas on edge. Mine look over me, and it’s hard not to rush into their arms but at the same time I’m absolutely chuffed I don’t. I need to rock this convoluted waiting game we’re playing. Kai, Ramses, and Darius are infinitely too important for me to fumble at the first pass.
I nearly fall flat on my ass, all but assaulted by the noise and scented expectation flowing out from the auditorium though. Before I take a second step, the endless training Margot insisted upon, and my stubborn determination, tapers the chaos around me. A small touch on my back by Darius, isn’t necessary, but boy do I love it. And I adore the way it makes me feel so owned but supported too.
