Fifty-One
Weeks later
SIMONA
“Tristan,” I say calmly, even taking a few exaggerated breaths with her. Trying to get her to calm down. She looks like she’s about to pop.
“Sim, I can’t do it. She’s going to kill me even before I can open my mouth.”
Her camera moves slightly. Behind her it looks like a tornado has torn through where she’s getting ready. Tristan’s blue eyes are full of panic, her face washed out. I understand completely. I sympathise too but I’ve been coaching her for a while now, even talking about what to wear. And the black dress was not what she decided on.
“Go change. You look like you’re attending a funeral.”
“I am! My own!” she shrieks before she leans her phone up against something so she can finish doing her makeup.
I swap hands so I can reach out for Dominic’s. He points to the direction sign, a reminder we’re nearly at our destination. He’s not hurrying me up—he’d happily pullover and wait for hours, but Heidi is on a tight deadline. I’d like to respect that but at the same time I know Tristan needs me.
“How many times have we been through this? You know she’s going to be upset.”
I spend the next few minutes hyping her up, making sure to stay real with her too. She knows her discussion with Raney won’t be easy, but Tristan’s like me—the guilt is eating her up.
Dominic pulls into the visitor park out front of Verdune, and I send a text to Heidi letting her know I’ve arrived, asking her to come out to me. I’m still a little haunted by the last time I was here, and how I freaked out being in her office with her Alpha. I want to give her the chance, in case meeting Dom has the same effect on her.
Dom and I stand to the side of the entry doors. The security guard gets up when they see us loitering, but Heidi calls them back to their station as she walks past, Kai in tow.
Heidi has always been one of those people who notice things others miss. Her gaze shifts from me to Dominic, cataloguing everything—the way he holds his hand, his protective stance, the way he bends down to quietly reassure me—as she powers through the foyer towards us. Her steps quicken, but Kai catches her hand, pulling her focus back to him and slowing her down.
And it works, giving me the space to assess my own observations. She doesn’t look unhappy, just concerned. She lets him pull her in for a hug. I release a whoosh of air. I knew she’d mentioned packing with Kai and his pack—she’d told us herself—but the way he touches her, grounds her, is the confirmation I needed.
“She’s okay.” I say it for my benefit more than Dominic’s, but he squeezes my hand supportively.
The door’s barely open, and her scent barrels out. I take amoment to read more—assessing her appearance while also tuning in to what her scent reveals.
We have barely a second before Kai is laughing. “Come on, Little Moon, get your shit together. It’s not like you’re a fucking saint yourself.”
His comment has me taking a step backwards into Dominic. And Dominic reads me better than a book.
“Wait,” he barks. His hand shoots up like a stop sign.
Heidi and her Alpha pull up in an instant.
From the corner of my eyes, I keep a close watch on them. I can see her shock; she’s trying to figure out what the hell is going on. I can feel her concern across the distance, but it’s not Heidi that’s thrown me, it’s her Alpha. He looks like Kai, sounds like him too, but all the voices in my head are screaming that it’s not Kai.
Dominic turns to face me, his back to them—an obvious message, though it’s meaning depends on who you are. The Alpha rolls his eyes, scoffing under his breath, clearly taking it as Dominic dismissing him as a threat. My gaze shifts to Heidi next, catching a crispness to her apple perfume—a sign of her caution and nerves, which only feeds my unease.
Dominic waits for me to look at him. “Amore Mio, trust your gut. What’s going on?”
I blow out a quick exhale, trying to sort through fact from fiction before putting my mind in order enough to explain. “I don’t think that’s Kai. It doesn’t make sense because it looks like him, it sounds like him. He’s with Heidi and I know they’re together, but he’s not like I remember.”
“Okay,” he counters, brushing the hair off my face and blowing his scent, grounding me like only my Alphas can. “Do you feel unsafe with him?”
“Not unsafe but thrown. It’s not adding up, and that’s what makes me uneasy. Something isn’t right about the situation.”
He tips his head to the side, an acknowledgement that he heard, but also a sign that he’s thinking. My gaze flickers from him to Heidi, then over to Kai. A breeze blows, and in the air is a hint of spice. His scent doesn’t set off warning bells, but it still feels off. Something is weird because I don’t remember Kai’s unique scent carrying a hint of spice.
“Does it worry you enough that you’d like to leave?”
And I don’t know how to answer that.
