Chapter 9 Winnie
Winnie
The Evergreen Café is busy with early tourists, but from the outside I can see that the table in the front window is occupied by my closest friends.
Yesterday I'd woken up on Corbin's couch with him still cradling me.
I had to go to work, but when I'd left he'd kissed me, and we'd agreed to try and see where this can go.
Today is an early morning coffee with the girls before the shops open.
Normally, we get together every month for Book Club, but today, Cali texted the group about getting brunch.
She's sitting on the right-hand side of the table—her frizzy auburn hair pulled back in a ponytail as she strains to get her coffee in hand since her massive baby belly keeps her farther from the table than usual. That’s why I didn’t feel like I could say no to this brunch.
Cali’s due date is next week, and once the baby comes, it’ll be a long while before we can all get together again.
Plus, I’d like to get this over with in one go. Pull the Band-Aid off.
I take a deep breath and walk through the door.
As I turn and approach the table, I see Clara talking animatedly.
She’s a short omega with dyed pink hair for the spring season and a long, tie-dye dress.
Sunny, an omega with blonde hair wearing overalls, nods along.
But it’s Rose whose eyes snap to mine the moment I walk in.
She’s a newly awakened omega with curly brown hair and a light brown complexion.
Her nostrils flare and her eyes fly wide. I know she knows.
The atmosphere around the table changes in a wave as one omega after another scents my changed status. They can easily tell that I’ve been bitten. Any new alpha scent would meld with mine. It’s how Corbin knew to call his old pack.
“Winnie…” Cali begins, obviously trying to be gentle.
“What the fuck?” Sunny blurts with far more force than Cali used, and that’s the final push to my frayed nerves. Tears prick the corners of my eyes, and I have to keep my breathing even to hold back a total sob. I suddenly wish I hadn’t come—or that we were anywhere else.
“Sunny,” Clara hisses as chairs scrape back from the table and there’s a flurry of movement.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Winnie,” Sunny says, wrapping an arm around me as she leads me… well, I don’t know where she’s leading me but anywhere’s better than a crowded café.
The cool spring wind whips around us, carrying the scent of lake air and cherry blossoms.
“You got your shop keys?” Rose asks.
I nod and fish them out of my purse. She takes them, and we walk across the street. I’ve mostly pulled myself together by the time we step into the empty shop.
They situate me in a chair at the table in front of the charm bracelet display, and they all circle around.
They give me time to breathe. None of them say anything until I start talking but my mind is frazzled.
So I take the long way through the story: starting with the weekend, Flora’s pushy maid of honor, how I tried to have fun but it was too much, how I hated the club.
Then the grabby alpha who wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Zeke stepping in to save me. Both of us losing control to our instincts and biting each other.
The truth about Corbin, and how he knew the pack Zeke belonged to.
No one interrupts. Every once in a while someone gasps or squeaks, but the others shush them.
By the end, I’m a snotty, tear-streaked mess, but I feel slightly better.
Like I’ve handed off part of the burden to people who’ll carry it with me.
At some point Cali and Clara have wrapped their arms around me from either side.
Rose gently sets a box of tissues in front of me.
I take one, wiping away my embarrassment.
“So, how to murder a sheriff and get away with it?” Sunny says, and it completely breaks the tension. I snort a laugh, and the others giggle.
“I don’t want him murdered,” I say in a tear-thick voice.
“Why not? If he’d been truthful from the beginning, this wouldn’t have happened,” Clara insists. She looks furious, glancing out the window as if expecting Corbin to appear so she can clobber him.
“We don’t know that,” I point out. “And we’ve talked. He seems to have his reasons.” I sigh. “I don’t know. This is all so complicated.”
“It’s not complicated. This Zeke assaulted you,” Sunny says, still looking fierce.
“I assaulted him too. I may have done it first,” I remind her. “We were both out of control. My omega was crazed, and so was his alpha.”
Sunny crosses her arms and huffs, but lets it go, clearly not willing to make me cry again.
“So, what are you going to do?” Cali asks, rubbing soothing circles along my back.
“I don’t know. I don’t know them, and this is all so messed up.
But Zeke—I can feel him all the time. My omega wants to be near him, but I’m so upset every time I think about what happened.
That I didn’t really have a choice. That I didn’t get the fairytale courting and heats and bonding every omega dreams of.
It’s so frustrating and—” I pause, searching for the word.
I pride myself on being a positive person, so finding the right one feels hard.
“Disappointing?” Rose offers.
“Infuriating?” Clara adds.
“Nauseating?” Cali says, rubbing her belly.
“Bullshit?” Sunny adds with her usual dry wit.
I just nod, too tired to pick.
“So… we key their motorcycles and egg Sheriff Corbin’s house?” Clara suggests.
“The guys could be our alibis for sure,” Cali says, referencing their packs.
The thought of their loyal, faithful, loving packs makes my heart squeeze.
I’d been dreading Flora’s wedding because I knew the questions would come—from family, from friends.
When are you getting a pack? Why haven’t you settled down yet?
Usually, I can brush it off. I’m happy with my life the way it is, for the most part.
But with all of my friends mated and my sister about to marry her beta husband, I’ve been feeling the empty spaces in my life a little more sharply.
It didn’t mean I needed to find a pack. But given that I’ve found them now… do I really want to turn them away over one mistake we both made?
“I think I want to get to know them before I give the go-ahead to have them axed by the mafia book club,” I admit.
Sunny looks put out about not getting to avenge me, but the others look understanding.
“I’ll admit, I really don’t like the idea of you spending time with an alpha and his pack who couldn’t keep control,” Cali says, frowning.
“I also lost control. Why do we keep skimming over that?”
“’Cause you’re our friend, and it’s our job to skim over your faults,” Rose reminds me in complete earnestness.
I roll my eyes but can’t keep a small smile off my face.
“I haven’t gotten any malicious feelings from Zeke. Just a lot of regret and guilt,” I say. It’s been hard to keep his emotions separate from mine—but I’m managing. Barely.
“Still, I think Cali’s right. Until we know more about them, maybe your interactions with them should be, sort of… public for a while?” Clara suggests.
“What, like a chaperone?” I scoff.
But to my absolute horror, there are nods of agreement all around.
“You can’t be serious!” My voice is high and gives away just how strung out I am.
“Just for the first little bit. We need to know these guys aren’t murderers—or accountants,” Clara soothes. She would put those two in the same category.
“Fine.” I take out my phone and pull up Zeke’s number. Since I don’t have the others’, it’s the best I can do for a group chat.
My fingers shake a bit as I type.
Me:
Hi.
I click send because I really don’t know what else to say. I set down my phone.
“Well, if he gets back to me, I’ll let you know—”
The phone buzzes on the table. The text that pops up is from Zeke.
Zeke:
Hi. Are you okay?
My heart does a little flip in my chest—and that’s mine—but the swooping sensation in my gut feels like it’s coming through the tether linking me to him. It’s getting easier to tell his feelings from my own.
I place the phone on the table, showing the girls.
“Well, at least he has his priorities straight,” Sunny mutters, irritation dripping from her tone.
I pick the phone back up and start to type, but before I can even begin, another message comes through.
Zeke:
Can I see you? I know I fucked this up so bad, but I’d really like to meet you. Not in a dark club or a hospital.
His candid way of asking is… kind of endearing.
I glance up at the girls. They’re all staring back with hard determination. I take a deep breath. They are not going to be deterred.
Me:
I think I’m ready to meet up. But it’s going to need to be on my terms. My friend’s pack owns Bee Haven. There’s a restaurant there we could meet at.
Zeke:
That’s where we’re staying right now. We could meet you there.
Me:
I’m going to warn you that my friends know what happened, and they’re going to be coming. Is that all right?
I expect pushback, but the reply comes almost immediately.
Zeke:
Of course. That’s totally fine.
We establish a time for later that evening.
Then I pull up a new chat.
Me:
I’m meeting the pack this evening at the restaurant in Bee Haven. If you want to join.
Corbin:
I’ll be there, Sweetheart.
My heart does a little backflip, and I just manage to shove down the surge of hope that lights me up inside. Whether it’s mine or Zeke’s, I can’t afford it.
I feel like I’m one big push away from falling apart again, and I don’t want to be some brittle omega. I want to take back control—and this, meeting with the alphas who are my mates, feels like a solid step toward that.