I hide my soft laughter behind my hand.
Okay, she’s confident and forthright. But her personality doesn’t come across as rude or malicious. I suspect it’s just her. And already I love it. Given half the chance, there’s no way I won’t pursue the undeniable pull of everlasting friendship I felt. In fact, it only makes me more determined to push myself out of my comfort zone and be as enthusiastic as I can without appearing desperate.
I hide in her confidence, matching her smile and shrugging when I answer. “Do me a favour and don’t introduce yourself as my roommate. The people responsible for my wardrobe would hate the fact we’re living together. Between me and you though, you summed up both my pack promised alpha andourparents perfectly.”
“What do you mean pack promised Alpha?”
I wave her interrogation-like-question off with a smile and a little sass, not wanting to bog our friendship down in the tragedy of my life. “I’m the Omega in an arranged pack situation, planned by the founding families, didn’t you know?”
The edges around her eyes crease as she glares. I continue being lighter than the topic deserves, but I need the separation. “I’m not going to waste the time we have at Unity thinking about what’s going to happen once we leave here. Instead, carpe diem.”
She relaxes slightly, the tension draining from around her face. “We’re going to get along just fine me and you. I’m all for seizing the day, Simona, but I want you to know, four years is ample time for me to find a way to break that union.” She finishes with a smile as fake as the persona I was trying on.
I shake my head, not fully surprised at her conviction. Like I said, the spark between us is one of those instant and binding ones. Still, what we’ve shared is enough for now. I divert our conversation back to our missing roommates.
“Any idea who the other two girls are we’re sharing with?”
“I know of Tristan Cameron. Only because she models. I’ve got no idea who Raney Grady is.”
“Same. It’s weird we’ve been placed together. Unity generally only has three students to a room.”
“I read that in their student prospectus. Anyway, I’m all for being away from prying eyes. Which reminds me, I need to prepare a board report. Perhaps we could have dinner later, Simona?”
She turns but doesn’t walk off, and I realise belatedly she’s waiting for a response from me. I’m so used to people saying one thing and doing the other or them being nice to my face one second and then awful the next.
“That would be great. I could cook,” I suggest.
“Great. I’ll get the wine then. See you in a few hours.”
I get an hour of prep time, and I think it’s Heidi returning when the door opens. I lean down onto the kitchen island to say hello, but instead of a dark-haired beauty, I’m stunned silent by the effervescence of my new housemate. Her hair is a wild mane of blonde curls, her eyes are the most incredible sparkling blue, and her unique scent of sweetened bubble-gum sweeps through the apartment, filling it with happiness.
“No way!” She squeals, dropping her bags and racingaround. I don’t even get the chance to open my mouth and she’s enveloping me in a hug. “You’re Simona, right? God I can tell, you look like a Simona. And you and I are going to be friends forever.”
In one second Tristan Cameron not only claims me as hers, but like with Heidi, I get struck by an equally poignant insight knowing I’d also do anything and everything to keep her in my life forever.
She doesn’t stop laughing the whole time she hugs me. Even when her arms fall away, her energy is as consuming as the embrace itself. Her mouth moves at a hundred miles an hour, and I’m struggling to keep up.
Tristan doesn’t let me get out from under her arm when Raney finally arrives.
“Surprise!” Tristan starts screaming as the door starts to, and we all hear Raney swearing in fright.
Just like when I met Heidi and Tristan, I am staggered by the sense of familiarity I feel towards Raney. It truly feels like we’ve known each other forever. There’s no weird awkwardness, no hesitation—just an instant, effortless connection and it’s clear we all feel it. In no time at all, after dropping her bags on her bed, Raney is back in the kitchen, giving us a no-holds-barred account of the key events in her life up to now.
I already see what Omega Mother Beatrice meant when she said Raney, Tristan, and Heidi would each be good for me and offer me something during my time here. They each shine bright like diamonds, hardened and unbreakable.
That first night, the four of us bond—stronger than glue—over Alphas who have done us wrong.
Never have I felt comfortable around other women. All my previous interactions have ended in disaster. Probably because of Brody and his involvement. This is just another positive in an increasing list of great things to happen to me since I left.
And maybe because we don’t know each other, or it really is the flickering sense of sisterhood we each see in each other, when Raney shares how she got the scars on her face, we each follow with an equally horrifying story.
Of course, I’m reserved and choose my words carefully when I share with the girls my own story. It’s not because I’m scared of telling them the truth, that my Alpha is a rapist who relishes in his abuse, I literally can’t because of his bark. But even if I could share with them I’m not sure I would. And that’s more to do with wanting to focus on working on me and not letting the past ruin how beautiful my future now looks.
I have a moment of fear when I burn our dinner so badly that the smoke alarm won’t stop screaming until the maintenance crew can arrive to switch it off.
The whole time the crew are here clearing the smoke and checking the alarm, I brace for disparaging and snide remarks about what a failure I am. They don’t come.
I manage to swipe away a stress laden tear just before Tristan wraps her arms around me from the side, giggling as she steers me out of the kitchen when the maintenance team leaves. She guides me to a chair in our newly orientated living room, where the stars on the horizon serve as a quiet reminder: I’m at Unity, far away from Brody and home. Tristan’s phone lands in my lap, Uber Eats open on the screen—proof that the girls really don’t care about my cooking skills at all.
