Was this some kind of trap?
“Why would you do this for me?” I asked. “I’m Victor’s mate, but he’s your husband. What do you have to gain from helping me?”
She frowned. “Well, maybe it’s my alpha mama genes kicking in, but there’s just something about a distressed omega that I can’t ignore. But even beyond all that instinct, it’s simply the right thing to do. I feel at peace now, knowing the reason he’s never wanted to touch me was because he has a mate. It has nothing to do with me, and it frees me up to stop worrying or thinking about him all the time.”
I nodded. I could only wish for that sort of chance, to sever all my hopes that Victor would finally do the right thing by me and just live my life on my own terms.
I’d much rather be in a loveless marriage than… whateverthiswas. Grass was always greener.
“And…” she said slowly, her eyes darting towards the door. “I’m beyond pissed at Victor. He’s always been such an ass to me. Fucking vampires.”
I dared a chuckle. “Yeah, I know he’s my mate but…”
She pulled me in for an awkward hug, her belly getting in the way as she restarted her purr. The vibration was so nice, and her alpha scent, unlike Victor’s, was calming. Supportive. Protective. Lavender and sandalwood. “You don’t love him, do you?” she whispered.
I shook my head. “No,” I whispered back, digging my face into her shoulder as best I could. She was a rock I didn’t know I’d needed, and the idea of letting her go was difficult.
“Even more reason for me to do this.” She took a step back and smoothed her hair and dress before placing her hands on my shoulders, dipping her face slightly to look me in the eye. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, but it’ll probably take me a few days. Can you hold out til then?”
“I’ve held out this long. But what about Leudo?”
She held her finger up to her lips and winked. “Like I said, Victor isn’t the only one with resources. My assistant is out there making sure the guard keeps his mouth shut, so don’t you worry. I’ll see you soon, Sage.”
25
All My Friends Are Dead
Four days later
My hands shook as I dialed my parents’ number. I was almost surprised I still remembered it, to be honest. I’d been here for so long, my mind felt scrambled most of the time.
But that was about to end.
The phone rang. And rang.
It’s three in the morning, I told myself.They’re just asleep, but the sound will wake them up.
And then finally, it clicked, and a robotic voice sounded.
The number you have dialed is no longer in service…
I looked back down at the screen to double-check, saying the digits out loud. Yeah, that was their number, the one they’d always had.
I tried again. And again. Still the same message.
Dread took root in my guy. Why would their number not be in service? Had they moved? Decided not to pay for a landline anymore?
I racked my brain and my mom’s cell phone number finally surfaced, and I tried that one next.
…no longer in service.
Okay, maybe that one wasn’t right. But I was pretty sure I knew my dad’s number.
The number you have dialed is…
There was no way I was getting all these numbers wrong, and it didn’t make any sense for my parents to have changed all their numbers in the past four and a half years.
I opened an internet browser, my fingers slipping as I tried to type their names in the search engine.
