Whatever he saw on my face made him give me a small smile, face relaxed. “You are too sweet, Charlie.”
I blushed, feeling weirdly shy at that comment.
Chapter 27
Charlie
“I know, it’s a lot to get used to.” Adrian rested his head on my shoulder, gazing out across the back yard.
It was as nice as I thought it would be. The grass was green and full, almost in need of a mow. The few trees that were in the yard shaded parts of the ground.
A row of sunflowers, or maybe even three, would make the tree lines so much more appealing.
“You’ll like it out here, away from Lockswells. It's refreshing.”
If he said so.
I was just trying to breathe for a moment. Take a moment to let my mind accept the fact that Alpha Vincent Harris, anAlpha, wanted to keep me.
He had loose plans for dates way out, months in advance. He wanted to include me in things. To him, they were simple, but to me, they meant everything.
Planting flowers. Having a day that I’d get something I wanted.
But then the doubts crept back in just as quickly.
What did Vincent want in return? I didn’t think whatever he wanted would be painful, since in the last week he hadn’t dared lift a hand in anger towards me. He was careful with every touch. With every movement.
Like he knew that the wrong move, the wrong speed, would force me to run and hide into the shadows that wanted to claim me.
“When Moore told me that he was going to keep me, I was confused and angry and happy all at once. I know we’ve heard stories, told that we’d someday be gifted to an Alpha.“
They were just fairy tales. Or so I thought. Because there were always so many older Omegas at the compound, it was hard to believe an Alpha would want one of us to be treasured, as an equal.
Right now, I couldn’t see myself as an equal to any Alpha.
“There are a lot of fun things to do. Shopping, and events for all sorts of things.”
Adrian kept going on, explaining what things he’s enjoyed in life on the outside. His words, not mine.
I didn’t see the appeal in any of it. I still felt like there was a chain holding me hostage, linking me to an Alpha.
I didn’t want to go shopping. Didn’t want to tag along to events or outings with Adrian and his Alpha, pretending I knew how to exist in places like that.
I just wanted Vincent to step in. To say he’d handle everything. To take the decisions off my plate and tell me what came next, because I didn’t know how to choose for myself.
And that terrified me.
I wasn’t like Adrian. I didn’t see the world in color or possibility. I didn’t crave things I’d never had. I didn’t need them.
What I needed was structure. Schedule. Protocol.
The kind of order that told me where to stand, when to speak, how to breathe.
The handlers at Lockswell used to say I thrived under rules. I never believed them. I still felt like a failure. But they weren’t wrong about one thing. Without rules, I didn’t know who I was.
I didn’t think time here was going to change that.
***
