“Tris!” Simona grabs my shoulders and literally shakes the bad memories right out of my head, bringing me from the past back to our living room at Unity.
My girls don’t miss my struggle, and they engulf me in a Scorned Girls snuggle, reminding me over and over again that I’m not back in that god-awful time and place in my life.
I never discounted the lingering effects of what happened. I think it’s part of why I’m so loud because of how Troy turned on me. Lo and behold he got the entire senior class to believe his lies, making me a shell of a person. And that still freaks the hell out of me.
Admittedly, the first time I heard what Raney, Heidi, and Simona had each been through as a result of Alphas doing them wrong made me reevaluate my own past. If I’m honest, compared to what they suffered, I don’t think my past should even rate on the Scorned scale of angst. They vehemently disagreed, thank God, because I love these girls with all my heart and need them in my future.
Like anyone who has a past though, some days the voices in my head are obnoxiously loud and impossible to ignore. Today is just one of those days, but the flipside is I get another reminder of how strong our friendship is.
Nodding my head quickly, I let them know I’m okay before throwing my hat into the ring, “No one should steal a person’s voice, guess that means I’d punch him in his nasty, lie-sprouting mouth and see how he likes it.”
“The one good thing our history gave us is each other. I think that’s amazing,” Simona says softly, climbing back into her seat.
“Same,” I answer, feeling better already. But that’s what real friends do; they lift you up when you’re down. “What could break us?”
“Lying. I fucking hate liars especially after the bullshit with Jenn and Dad,” Raney says abruptly before she diverts the conversation. “Would you ever reconnect with your past?”
“Me? No fucking chance,” I say quickly. And I really wouldn’t. I go home but not as much as I want probably because Troy and his pack, Becca included, are still in the surrounding area.
“I’m still trying to outrun mine,” Heidi adds while throwing her blanket off her lap and racing through the dark kitchen, returning with a bag of Cheetos and a box of sugar donuts. “But you need to, Raney. You’re not going to be able to move on until you do.”
“We’ll be right behind you the whole way,” Simona encourages.
Raney looks at each of us before answering. “What if they never let me go?”
“Then we hire the Phoenix Group and get them to get your ex-boyfriends to let you go again,” Heidi encourages with an evil laugh.
“We have to find them first,” I answer back before scoffing. Because the likelihood of us ever finding the faceless group of vigilante Alphas is way too amusing. “Besides, I’m sure Koz could deal with your past with his eyes shut and his hands tied behind his back.”
Raney smiles goofily as she agrees before she shrugs innocently. “I mean, I could always ask Dad.”
Of course, my fucking phone rings before I get to the part of her explaining what she means about her dad—who none of us have had the chance to meet.
“I have to take this.” I dart into my room before they can protest the interruption of our girls’ night. It’s my agent, with an offer I’ve been waiting for. The chance to work again with one of the best photographers on the globe doesn’t come up often enough.
Chapter
One
TRISTAN
“Hey!”
I’ve got no idea how I can hear anything over the torrential downpour, but an Alpha’s voice cuts through it all. Effortlessly.
It might not have been just his voice I responded to because just before his voice reaches me, I feel like I’m floating. A bourbon fog so thick and heady settles around me, making me shiver and not because I’m cold.
His presence—pure lethal magnetism, alluring and commanding—tugs me out of alignment. Given the wet conditions and the heels I’m wearing, it’s a dangerous situation. Honestly, it’s like my body is not my own, all my senses are blown completely by him and to him. There’s a flash of unease as I truly wonder where I end and he starts because in the space of one word, one tease of his scent, one second in his presence I feel so fucking lost, but I also know with everything I am, this is where I should be. Next to him.
His draw is insanely strong, and I’m wearing the wrong shoes. The world tilts as my arms start flailing around and my feet skate out from under me.
He catches me. It might have been inevitable that I end up in his arms. It really feels like we’re two magnets crashing back together. Physically, I’ve never felt safer in anyone’s arms. Spiritually, a rush of homecoming brings a tide of euphoria crashing over me.
The way he catches me means I’m hovering in mid-air, sheltered by the sheer size of him. Being in the arms of a complete stranger should be alarming, but again, I’m full of this insight that our meeting was always meant to happen, so if anything, I feel relieved.
“You all right there?” he asks, and I’m thunderstruck by his voice.
It’s rumblier than the thunder bouncing across the sky. There’s an edge to his voice too—not that it sets off any of my alerts—but at the same time, just a couple of words and you know he’s different from other Alphas.
