11. Sabs
ELEVEN
Sabs
“Sabs?” I hear the sound of heavy footsteps racing down the stairs, accompanied by Delilah’s frantic voice. “Sabs!”
The loud knocking on my door sounds like it’s coming from faraway. The whole room seems to be spinning, like the time I drank half a bottle of tequila while attempting to keep up with my brothers on my twenty-first birthday.
“We’re coming in!” Kady calls.
Seconds later, my three best friends come flooding into the bathroom, where I’ve been since our phone call.
“Oh, Sabs…” Delilah kneels down next to me, draping her arm over my shoulders. Her sweet apple pie scent makes me feel a little better as she pulls me close. “It’s okay.” She rubs my arm. “We’re here now.”
Above us, I can feel Kady and Faye’s presence, but my neck feels so stiff that I can’t bear to look up.
“I-I tried to move…” My bottom lip quivers. “B-but—”
“It’s okay. I understand.” She strokes my hair. “We’re here to help, but first we need to get you somewhere more comfortable, okay?”
“I’ll get all the cushions,” Faye squeaks, hurrying back into the bedroom before I hear flapping sheets and vigorous cushion plumping getting underway.
“We’re going to help you to stand up, Sabs,” Kady informs me before putting her arm around my other shoulder.
Together, they manage to haul me to my feet and practically drag me back through the bedroom.
I wince, squinting at the bright light streaming in through my windows.
The sun’s rays catching on the massive disco ball on my ceiling are blinding.
“Close the curtains, Faye!” Kady sounds unusually frantic. “We need it dim in here.”
Delilah frowns. “Your bathrobe is completely soaked through.”
“Is it?” I reply dazedly. “I hadn’t even noticed.”
“I’ve got fresh clothes ready here,” Faye pipes up, holding one of my favorite and most comfortable loungewear sets.
“We’re going to help you change, okay?” Not waiting for me to reply, Delilah gently peels the sodden fabric from my trembling frame. “You need to stay warm.”
“I’m fine as I am,” I argue, but my chattering teeth show otherwise.
“You can’t fool us,” Kady clucks, assisting Delilah in removing the heavily weighted gown from me. “You need to take care of yourself.”
“Fine,” I agree reluctantly.
Between the three of them, they wrestle my stiff denim shorts off my thighs. Before I know it, I’m dressed in buttery-soft leggings that feel silky against my skin, making me realize just how uncomfortable I was before.
“How is this?” Faye turns on my fairy lights, casting us in a soft, pink glow while Delilah bundles me onto the bed and tucks me under blankets.
Granted, being dry and surrounded by the familiarity of my friends’ scents has definitely helped, but being in this room doesn’t bring me the comfort it usually does. It feels alien and empty without him.
“I’ll get the Stella balm.” Faye rushes out of the room. “Be right back.”
Kady finds a bottle of makeup remover then sits in front of me, carefully dabbing at my cheeks. Even though she’s being delicate, my skin feels more irritated and itchier with every swipe of the cotton ball.
“Much better.” She nods in approval when she’s done, but deep concern is still etched into her features.
“The balm may help provide some comfort.” Faye’s back, clutching the pot of Stella balm.
“While it can’t cure bonding sickness, Gram told me that the bond we share as scent sisters may help temporarily alleviate some discomfort.
” She dabs the balm behind my ears then takes my wrists into her soft hands, smudging it over my pulse points.
Smelling the cloves, sage, and amber does bring me a sense of safety, finally allowing me to exhale properly for the first time since I fled Adler’s house. “There you go.”
“Let’s get you cozy now, okay?” Delilah smiles warmly as Faye fusses around me, and Kady pulls closed the peach curtains around my bed to block out the rest of the room.
They then set to work on creating a pillow fort in a way that only an omega could do perfectly.
The colors are bold: bright pinks, deep purples, and loud oranges.
Delilah positions a furry purple cushion underneath my lower back while Faye smooths my favorite pink checkered waffle blanket over my feet before Kady tucks my arms into the sides of it.
It’s not just a mini nest they’ve built me but my own personal fortress.
“Thank you for coming.” I finally crack a grin when they’re done. “Sorry to ruin your breakfast, Del.”
“There will be plenty more breakfasts.” Delilah slides up next to me, putting her arm around me. I lean my head on her shoulder while she strokes my hair. “We’d drop anything for you.”
Kady nods furiously. “That’s what Stellas do.”
None of us speak, sitting in silence until Faye puts a caring hand on my knee, daring to say what I’m sure they’re all thinking. “Are you ready to tell us what happened?”
I sniffle, trembling in Delilah’s embrace as I begin to recount what happened last night. I go from my argument with Drax to the volleyball game to having the best sex of my life that ended in the worst mistake.
When I’m done, a stilted silence stretches out. Kady, on my other side, absentmindedly strokes the top of my arm while Faye traces slow, supportive circles on my knee. Their touch is soothing, helping regulate my breathing.
“I’m so sorry this happened, Sabs,” Kady eventually murmurs.
“There must be some way to reverse it, right?” I look at her, hope coursing through my bloodstream. If anyone has the answers, it’s Kady. Unfortunately, her downturned mouth and the way she hangs her head don’t give me the answer I want.
“What about some plants, Faye?” Desperation creeps into my voice. “Surely, there must be something in that greenhouse you can whip up?”
“I wish there was.” Faye frowns sadly. “Bonding is one of the few conditions that even botany doesn’t have an answer to yet.”
“Bonding with a hockey player.” I laugh hollowly. “Could I be any more cliché?”
“Not just any hockey player. Adler Ace,” Kady points out. “The SVU Foxes star player.”
I manage to free my hands from Kady’s blanket burrito to cover my face with them. “What is it about us Stellas and our bonding having to be front-page newsworthy?”
“Everything will be okay.” Delilah always looks on the bright side. “I have a good feeling about this.”
I look at her through the gaps in my fingers. “You do?”
She nods sincerely. “My horoscope today said that a big change was coming, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.”
“Great. Sabs’s future is now in the hands of your daily horoscope,” Kady mutters sarcastically. Obviously noticing Delilah’s stern look, she adds, “At least the stars are on your side.”
“From what you’ve told us,” Faye takes over before Kady can put her foot in her mouth anymore, “Adler sounds like he wants to do the right thing. He said he’d be there for you.”
“I know.” I sigh, dropping my hands from my face.
“And I know that running away was stupid, but I was so… afraid. I thought if I ran, it’d just go away.
But it didn’t.” I collapse back onto the cushions.
“He may be able to give me amazing orgasms for life, but what if he’s a total alpha-hole?
It was only supposed to be one night of fun. ”
“You can’t run from him forever.” Kady shrugs.
“I know, but I need time to process all this, and…” Panic suddenly strikes me, thinking again of my family. “You can’t tell Laz about this, Faye. He’ll kill Adler if he finds out. You have to promise me you won’t say anything.”
“I…” She chews on her lip, fiddling with the hem of her dress.
Asking her to keep a secret this huge from her alphas is probably the biggest favor I’ve ever asked of my friend.
“I can’t lie to him if he asks, but I promise that I won’t volunteer the information.
Not until you’ve had more time to figure this out.
Laz weighing in on this situation right now won’t help, but you know you’re going to have to tell him sooner or later. ”
“I know.” My panic ebbs a little, but I can’t shake my unease. “Thank you.”
With a grave expression, Kady checks her watch. “How long have you been away from him now?”
“I don’t know.” I scrunch my nose. “Maybe an hour or so?”
“Good, you’re still in the early stages of bond sickness. Spending the night together will have helped a little, but we don’t have long…” She chews her inner cheek. I recognize that look—the look of when she’s concentrating hard and doing mental math. “We need to get you back to Adler, Sabs.”
“Already?”
“Even though the Stella balm is helping, it won’t last. There’s only one person who can make you better,” Kady states. “I wish there were another way, but you know all about bond sickness and what can happen.”
“You shouldn’t be apart from your alpha right now,” Delilah agrees. “The longer you’re apart, the more dangerous it is.”
“What if…” Anxiety causes my pulse to spike. “What if he doesn’t want to see me? What if he regrets it?”
“Any alpha would be lucky to have you.” Faye speaks with a confidence that I don’t feel.
At that moment, a violent thumping coming from upstairs practically makes the walls of the house vibrate.
The incessant hammering sounds like someone is trying to pound a hole straight through the wood.
Kady tears back the curtain around the bed then dashes over to the tiny window.
Looking up, her shoulders sag in relief. “He’s here.”
“See?” Delilah squeezes my shoulder. “He doesn’t regret it. If he did, he wouldn’t have raced all the way over here to find you.”
I eyeball my friends. “Do I really have to go?”
“As much as I hate having to hand you over to a hockey player we barely know,” Kady grimaces, “you don’t have a choice, Sabs. Adler can’t stay in Omega Village, and he was right when he said you need to find a way to make this work. For both your sakes.”