Chapter 24
CHAPTER 24
brEE
She wakes up the next morning to painful cramps. She kicks off the covers, sweat sticking to her body as she scrambles for her phone.
She slept for fourteen hours, and she’s ravenous.
“Shit,” she hisses, placing a hand to her stomach.
Cole is triggering her Heat, and based on her symptoms, it could come in as soon as a week.
Speaking of the infuriating Alpha, she receives a text from his now unblocked number.
Hope you slept well, beautiful. I can still taste your cunt on my tongue, by the way.
It’s hard to stay frustrated at him with a message like that, though.
It’s even harder when she sees the present left for her on the desk in the office.
The pen set that she coveted the other day sits next to her laptop with a white rose on top .
She grins, her smile so wide her face hurts.
She doesn’t know how he knew she would want the pens, or why he decided to spend a ridiculous amount of money on her, but she cherishes them all the same.
Alpha cares for us , her inner Omega supplies. He’s courting us.
Her stomach leads her down to the kitchen, where she demolishes a veggie wrap and a massive cheese and cracker plate. Once she’s satiated, she checks her phone and reads a text from Darlene.
You should come over—Oscar wants belly rubs.
Helpless to say no to the rotund orange feline and his owner, she heads to her friend’s house.
She doesn’t see Cole for three days, but she hears from him.
It’s little texts here and there at the most inopportune times, whether she’s at Darlene’s, reading at the café, or exploring the farmer’s market.
Each one has her either blushing or laughing.
Busy with work, but I’d rather be busy with your pretty pussy instead. My client is only acting like a cunt—it’s not the same thing at all.
“So, I take it you’ve stopped fighting your feelings for him?” Darlene asks, smirking as Bree playfully scowls at her. “You light up every time you look at your phone.”
“He’s a flirt,” Bree shrugs. “It’s hard not to.”
Darlene’s knowing smile grows bigger as Oscar leaps from his cat tree and onto the couch.
“ What ?”
“Nothing. It’s just nice to see a budding romance.”
Bree rolls her eyes and sighs. “Unfortunately, it’s only temporarily,” she mutters .
“Does he know that?”
“I mean, of course he does. He knows I’m leaving, and I doubt he would do a long-distance relationship.” She can’t hide the obvious disappointment in her tone, and Darlene just stares at her, slack jawed.
“Are you serious?” the raven-haired Omega demands. “You really don’t get it, do you?”
“Get what?”
“Do you not see the way that man is into you? He’s in it for the long haul. I doubt a couple hours of distance is going to stop him from being with you.”
But she doesn’t want Cole to come to Holden and see the pathetic life she lives. She doesn’t want him to see the small, empty apartment and run-down newspaper office that’s in desperate need of a renovation. And she definitely doesn’t want Cole to meet her mother.
It’s all too embarrassing.
She opened up to him, showed him some of the worst parts of herself, but that was on the condition that this would eventually end. She had assumed once she returned to Holden, he would tire of his pursuit, but based on Darlene’s reaction, she might be wrong.
I’d like to try, for now , she had told him.
In her mind, for now meant while she was in Green Woods.
“He could have anyone he wants,” she argues lamely, and Darlene brings a hand to her forehead.
“I’m going to slap you,” she mutters. “I’m only giving you a pass because you’ve never been with an Alpha before, but you need to realize what’s happening.”
“I know what’s happening. We can be friends after this.”
The lie falls flat.
“No, you can’t,” a cheery, booming voice sounds from the living room, and Kyle enters the kitchen. “Hey, Bree. Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but Darlene’s right.”
She’s liked Kyle since she first met him, immediately knowing her friend was in good hands with him. With a hulking frame, shaggy blonde hair and brown eyes, he’s exactly as Darlene described him—a giant teddy bear. His scent is muted, slightly musky and faint, complimenting his mate’s Omega scent.
“Of course, I’m right,” her friend retorts. “I’ve been telling her from the beginning, and I think it’s finally starting to get through to her.” She points at Bree. “He made sure your tab was covered at the café. He pretended to be your husband to get Eugene off your back. That’s not normal dating. He’s choosing you as a mate, Bree. I promise. ” Darlene shoots a glance to Kyle. “She’s never dated an Alpha before.”
“Oh. Oh ,” Kyle looks at her and raises his eyebrows. “Yeah, he’s all but ready to marry you, Bree. Congrats.”
She opens her mouth to reply but is speechless. Darlene laughs.
“I’ve been telling you. You found your mate without even realizing it, huh?”
Mate.
Cole’s my mate.
No. It’s not possible.
“I just thought maybe you were a hopeless romantic,” Bree says, anxiety rising in her gut. “I mean, everything you were saying at the antique shop was pretty fanciful.”
Darlene raises an eyebrow. “Look, I was being realistic and partially romantic. But, still, he’s only proving my point. That pen set he purchased was the perfect gift for you. He wasn’t even at the shop; he didn’t see how much you wanted it. He just knows you already.”
Her phone buzzes, and it’s Cole.
Enough about my day. Tell me about yours.
She ignores it, overwhelmed with emotions.
He does know her well. Even before she showed Cole her scars, he picked up on her nuisances and subtle behaviors.
Oscar, as if in agreement, gently nuzzles her face and chirps.
“Flirt,” Darlene chides the cat. “She’s not taking you home. You’re stuck with us.”
Bree scratches the cat under his chin, and he closes his eyes in bliss.
“Oh, hey, babe,” Kyle says from the kitchen as he opens a bag of chips. “Did you tell her about the creepy abandoned cabin? For her article?”
“What creepy abandoned cabin?” Bree’s ears perk up.
Darlene narrows her eyes at Kyle. “No, why would I do that?”
“Uh, because it’s literally a crime scene?”
Bree whips her head to Kyle. “A crime scene for what?”
“That social worker that you’re writing about? Ellie? She was staying at the cabin while she worked at the prison, but now it’s closed off. The basement door was kicked down too, so they think she might have been hiding from him there.” Kyle waggles his eyebrows. “It was covered in crime tape for about a week.”
Bree looks back at Darlene excitedly. “Wait, this is the first I’m hearing about it! The cabin wasn’t mentioned on the news at all!”
She’s almost ready to bolt out of Darlene’s house and explore the place.
“It’s just a cabin,” Darlene shrugs. “Everything of importance was taken out of it.”
Still, it’s a piece of information that Bree didn’t have before.
She wonders what happened there.
“Don’t you dare think about going,” Darlene warns, as if reading her mind. “It’s dangerous as hell, and the last thing you need is to have someone call the sheriff because you’re trespassing.”
Bree makes a face. “I wouldn’t go. That’s ridiculous.”
Just like she wouldn’t visit the prison.
Her phone buzzes with another text from Cole, but she doesn’t read it, too giddy about her chance to explore somewhere new and forbidden.