"Sleeping?" he asks finally.
"Some."
"Eating?"
"Yeah."
"How's the anxiety?"
I shrug. "Present."
"On a scale of one to ten?"
"Six. Sometimes seven. Rhys helps—in a way I still can't fully explain, even after what you told me in the car."
He makes a note. "That's good Vee. I'm really glad to hear that."
"Is it? I'm afraid to get attached to him."
"Fear of attachment is reasonable,” he says. "It doesn't mean you should avoid it."
"Yeah, but maybe I should. I mean, I found my scent matches, the one pack in this world that won't return me but they probably can't keep me anyway."
He's silent contemplating that.
Arden sets his notebook aside. "I want to ask you about something."
My stomach tightens. "Okay."
"How did you end up with Ragon's pack?"
The question burns my skin.
"The registry," I say. "How else?"
"Can you tell me more about that?"
I take a breath. "I met with them a few times at the registry. That's how it works when a pack shows interest in your file. They set up meet and greets."
Arden nods. "That's typical."
"I'd been passed over a few times," I continue. The words taste bitter. "Since I'd been returned by my first pack."
"That's also typical," Arden says. "Returned omegas are often viewed as defective by potential packs. Even when the return wasn't their fault. It's completely unfair."
The clinical way he says it should make it easier to hear. It doesn't.
"I was excited when Ragon's pack showed interest," I admit. "No other pack had beenreallyinterested in months. I'd had a couple bites, yes, but none that lasted beyond the initial interview. I hated being in the registry. I was eager to try again even though—" I stop.
"Even though your first pack had hurt you," Arden finishes softly.
I nod.
"Tell me about meeting them. Ragon's pack."
"They were sweet." The memory surfaces easily. Too easily. "Drake was warm and funny. Eli was so smart. Ragon was—" I swallow. "He was warm too. A little nervous around me, which I thought was cute."
"You liked them."
