Sage
I snag Daisy for our morning walk around the property, and then we head over to the community garden. Steve and Josh weren’t able to get inside, but they did throw a bunch of rocks over the fence and tried to graffiti the fence itself. Now it just looks like colorful chain link, though I wish it was any color other than red.
It luckily didn’t do much damage, but it’s still traumatizing to feel unsafe in your own home, and that’s what they’ve done to me and my pack.
“Hey Sage,” Claire waves, striding over to open the gate for me and Daisy. Then she pulls me into a hug. “Are you okay? I heard what happened, we all did.”
“I’m okay,” I say, returning her hug.
Then the others are crowding around, pulling me into their circle as they check me over.
“I can’t imagine how scary that was,” Siobhan exclaims. “To wake up and see threats on your home like that. Do you know who the vandals were?”
I nod, and they all pause when they see the look on my face.
“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Claire says.
“But if you do, we’re here.” Bea’s voice is calm, but there’s an undertone there that gives me pause, like maybe they know what it’s like to feel unsafe, or for their home to be violated.
My first reaction is to say no. To brush it off like everything’s fine, but then I reconsider. These are my new friends, and this is what friends talk about, right? Their families and exes, life’s good and bad; they support each other.
“It was my brother and my ex,” I say, tentatively testing the waters.
Siobhan gasps, her hands flying to her mouth. Wren shoots her a glare, then takes my hand and pulls me over to a bench along the side of the garden. Bea and Claire follow us, while Siobhan hesitates, then trails after.
Daisy has found some weeds between the planter boxes to munch on, and I watch as she happily nibbles on a long piece of grass.
“What happened?” Wren asks, her voice gentle.
She’s sitting next to me, not quite touching apart from still holding my hand. It’s nice, and I take strength from her quiet comfort.
“It’s kind of a long story, but to keep it short: My parents sucked, my brother adopted me—he’s eight years older—and then his best friend moved in with us. His best friend decided I was his, and I never had a choice in the matter.
“I realize now how abusive it was, but at the time, I thought it was normal. They told me what to wear, what and when and how much to eat. I could only leave the house for a twenty minute walk every morning, and I was never allowed to cut my hair.”
Their eyes get bigger and bigger as I talk, and Siobhan’s hand is covering her mouth again.
“Yeah,” I say, shrugging like it doesn’t tear me up inside to talk about. “It wasn’t great. So anyway, Brooks snuck me out for a date about a week after we scent matched, and then we realized Vee and Riley are our scent matches, too. They basically kidnapped me, only it was voluntary so… Whatever that’s called. Rescued, I guess?”
“Holy shit,” Siobhan breathes. Her flowing skirt rustles in the slight breeze, and the bracelets on her wrist click together as she reaches out to place a hand on my knee.
I let out a dejected laugh. “Yeah. Pretty much.”
“So they found out you were here and… Now what?” Claire asks.
I shrug. “We pressed charges, and then filed for a temporary restraining order. We’re just waiting for it to go through so the court can serve them the papers, and then if either of them violate it, they can be arrested.”
Claire and Wren have matching frowns on their faces.
“That doesn’t seem like enough,” Bea says. “They deserve to pay for what they did to you, how horribly they treated you for years.”
“Yeah. The sheriff said I could press charges for that too, but that it probably wouldn’t go anywhere.”
“What a load of bullshit,” Siobhan says.
I smile, and she glares.
“We should go fuck ‘em up. Four omegas and one honorary omega—they won’t know what hit them!”
