“Orange juice?” I asked, frowning at my half-empty water. “I thought it was hydrate or die hours?”
“Your meal didn’t have sufficient vitamin C,” the alpha explained, fidgeting with his mug. “I was simply correcting your mistake.”
I opened my mouth to tell Cameo to fuck off and that I could eat whatever I wanted, but Indigo spoke over me, changing the subject gracefully.
"Do you know when the contractor is supposed to come?"
"I think next Wednesday,” Cameo said, nudging my water towards me again in a silent command to drink. “But I'm not entirely sure, Marcus booked it. I believe it's in the shared calendar."
"Right,” Indi said, taking out their phone to check. “Oh, good. I don't stream Wednesdays so I'll probably be able to meet him, save you having to leave work.”
"They're just assessing the structure, so it shouldn't be too much of a hassle… A couple of hours at most."
I sat and listened—and, earning me a smile from Cameo, drank my water—as the alphas chatted. It was almost shocking, Cameo and Indigo falling into an easy sort of back and forth that felt like more words than I’d seen them speak to each other up until now combined.
It made sense, since they lived together, shared a pack and partners and alife, but seeing it in action was something else entirely. And, even though I knew that they weren’t trying to, I suddenly felt very on the outside.
My input wasn’t needed about pack business since I was just a babymaker, right?
I shoved the thought away. It wasn’t fair to Indi to minimize what we had down to the contract, but Cameo? That was a lot more complicated.
Looking for the easy distraction of a mindless phone game, I pulled my phone from my purse only for my stomach to drop into my ass at the first notifcation—the preview of an e-mail, titled: STREAMVERSE: Notification of Account Termination.
What the fuck?
I unlocked my phone with shaking fingers, navigating to my email app with tears already starting to blur my vision.
ATTN: EVA_AFT3R ACCOUNT STATUS
Dear EVA_AFT3R,
You have been suspended indefinitely from the Streamverse platform. This decision was determined after a violation of our Code of Conduct and review of your stream content.
Reason: Explicit content on the platform.
If you believe there has been an error, you may submit an appeal via the link below, and a representative will review and respond to your claim in 7-10 business days.
Regards,
Streamverse Health and Safety
No, no, no, no!
I took a steadying breath that was a whole lot more like hyperventilating as I tried to open the app in disbelief. I’d gotten my fair share of weird scam messages in my career, and it was possible that this was all just some kind of fucking—a big warning icon popped up as I tried to sign in.
Account not found.
“Fuck!” My phone clattered to the table as I buried my face in my hands, mind going a mile a minute.
What was I going to do?
How was I going to pay my bills?
All my followers, all the work I’d done, it was just gone?
Why? Why was thing happening to?—
"What's wrong?” Indi asked, rubbing my side comfortingly. “Not feeling good?”
