Chapter Thirty-SixGrace
Chapter Thirty-Six
Grace
“ I ’m fine. Stop, ” I groaned. They’d been clingy since the moment I woke up. Right now, Evan and I were both on Wes’ lap as he tried to feed us breakfast. It was cute for about five minutes, but now I was just annoyed.
“You need to get checked out. Last night, you had a seizure. Evan found you sleeping under the bed,” Wes insisted as he drank his coffee.
“That’s quite embarrassing since I don't think I’ve done that in years.
But that doesn’t mean I need the doctor.
” A therapist, but not the doctor. “We left a message about the seizure, and I have another appointment this week. I. Am. Fine. Stop with the overprotective bullshit.” I gave him a little push.
“Wes is an alpha, that’s the factory default setting.” Jett came up from the basement, looking like he’d been working out. “Has anyone heard from Bren? He left in the middle of the night and won’t respond to my texts. Also, he’s hiding his location.”
“Bren deleted Grace, I added her back in,” Evan mumbled.
Wes handed me another piece of bacon. “Eat.”
“Fine.” I rolled my eyes at him wanting to feed me. The bacon was cooked perfectly.
“I have plenty to say to him when he comes back,” Wes growled.
“Stop, please.” The bacon crumbled in my fist. “I don’t want to cause problems between you guys. I’m not here to break up the band.”
Jett poured himself a cup of coffee. “Is this about the whole piano thing? You can play the piano. It’s Katie that he’s pissed at, not you.”
“He’s been pissed at Katie since they were in the womb.” Wes rolled his eyes.
“No. It’s me, and I don’t know how to fix it other than to leave, but where do I go?” My eyes teared and my chest shook. I didn’t want to go. But I didn’t want to cause problems.
“Hey, you’re not going anywhere. Wes is going to fix this,” Evan assured, putting an arm around me. “Jett, go look in her room and tell me what you see.”
“ Stop. I cleaned my room, it’s not that big of a deal. It made sense to tidy up since I was already cleaning the piano. Honestly, I don’t remember much.” I didn’t get why it was a big deal. People cleaned their rooms.
“You cleaned the piano in the middle of the night?” Evan frowned over his coffee cup.
“I forgot to clean it earlier. I didn’t want to piss off Brennan any more than I do just by breathing.” With a sigh, I ate my crumbled bacon.
Jett frowned and went up the backstairs.
Wes handed me another piece of bacon, which I ate, between sips of coffee.
Evan looked at his phone. “Grace, Spencer wants to know if you and I would like a spa day tomorrow. What do you say? Wes has to work and I have tomorrow off.”
“Um, okay. That sounds fun. I’ve never been to a spa,” I replied.
Jett came back down, face stormy. “I’m going to beat his ass.”
“This isn’t a big deal, you possessive fuckers.” Exasperation leaked into my voice. “Why are you like this?”
“Someone is speaking my language.” Riley came into the kitchen, wearing an olive green long-sleeved romper and combat boots.
“Get the keys to Evan’s motorcycle and Wes’ wallet, because we’re going to go cause some trouble.” I extracted myself from Wes’ lap, needing to get out of here before I punched someone for being annoying.
“Can you even ride a motorcycle? Not sure your feet will reach.” Jett smirked, as he helped himself to bacon and eggs on the stove.
I scratched my nose with my middle finger and turned to Riley.
“After my mom cut me off, and took all my stuff, I needed a ride, because she also took my truck. One of my classmates sold me his ex’s bike cheap.
I enjoyed being that math student with the hot pink motorcycle. We even painted equations on it.”
More memories that weren’t actually useful.
“While I want to fuck some shit up with you, we told Rose that we’d help her with her move.” Riley opened the fridge and got out the juice.
“You’re going, too? Are you up to it?” Wes frowned as his phone buzzed.
“That’s sort of been the plan,” I replied. “I’ll be fine. We’re just moving someone into the dorms.”
“I want Grace to see Finchley. You know, if you don’t want to work for Spencer, you could always see about a job at Finchley or at Ri’s school in the math department,” Evan told me.
“I never got my teaching credential. But it’s a thought.”
Evan checked the time on his phone. “We’ve got to leave soon, which means Grace and I should put on clothes. Ri, bring your stuff. Do you need to get back to school at a certain time? Is your homework done?”
“Um, yes, it is, since Bren stood me up. We were supposed to ride dirt bikes this morning.” Hurt rang in her voice as she kicked the air.
Wes’ phone buzzed again. “Spence?” He grimaced. “Yeah, okay. I’ll be right in.” He set his phone down. “Fuck.”
“I'll go with them, it’ll be fine. I’ve met Rose before,” Jett offered. “Bren stood me up, too. It’ll be okay, Ri.”
“Okay.” Riley looked anxious.
“I don’t know.” Wes frowned.
“She’ll be fine, Wes,” Evan soothed. “Jett, you don’t have to come.”
“I’m fine.” I turned to Riley. “For the love of baby Jesus, I’m not sure I can deal with this.”
“For the love of baby cheeses? I like cheese,” Riley told me.
“This is the real reason I live at school. Going from two nosy beta sisters and my beta grandparents, to three fucking alphas, a cop, and a social worker? I love them, but they’re a lot.
” She took the last piece of bacon off the table.
“Now go put some clothes on, we’ve got shit to do. ”
“Is this the last one?” I grabbed a bag off the now-empty bed in Rose’s room at the center.
“Yep,” Rose told me, hoisting a big tote bag over her shoulder. “Thanks for helping.”
“Anytime.” I was glad to be out of the house and doing something. To get Wes off my back, I’d gotten a quick checkup at the clinic where they’d run some tests. I’d gotten a shot and told I needed extra snuggles. Okay.
“We’ll miss you, stop by and say hi anytime,” a woman in a pink Center polo told Rose as we walked toward the front.
Evan was waiting for us in the lobby. “All set.”
We threw the rest of her stuff in Evan’s 4x4, as a car careened into the parking lot. The door opened, and a red-headed woman, younger than me but older than Rose, tumbled out.
“Get in the car,” she yelled. “Rose Clarissa Matthews, get in the car right now.” She looked tired and stressed, clothes wrinkled, hair a mess.
Something about this immediately struck me as wrong. Not just her trying to make Rose get in the car, but her.
“Iris, I thought you went home.” Rose stepped behind Evan, fear on her face.
“I can’t go home without you. I told you that,” her voice shook. “Rose, I need to go to work, and I can’t go home without you. ” Desperation flashed in her eyes.
Something was wrong.
“Shit. Dad’s an alpha?” Jett whispered, body on alert.
“My uncle’s the alpha and head of our family,” Rose whispered. “He’s the one who’s had everyone tell me to come home.”
More alpha bullshit. Great.
“Iris, I’m not going home. Both Mom and Ted told me to stay. Evan said the social worker already got you some relief funds and food. Go home, I’ll be fine.” Rose’s voice shook.
“Iris, I’m sorry about the circumstances at home, but you need to leave before security removes you,” Evan told her, voice calm and even.
“We don’t need charity, we need you ,” Iris insisted. “Now get in.” She grabbed Rose’s arm and yanked it toward the still-running car.
Rose screamed. Riley grabbed Rose, pulling her back toward us.
“Let go of her now. I’m a police officer,” Jett warned, flashing a badge.
“Iris, I get it, things suck at home,” I told her, trying to block her from getting to the car.
“I’m sure having to pick up the slack while your sister goes to school stings, especially if you’ve given up your dreams for your family.
But the thing is, you don’t have to do that. You’re not the parent.”
“My mom is in jail because of her, and Ted can’t find a job. Who’s going to take care of everyone if I don’t?” Iris fired back.
“If you want to do it, go for it. But if you don’t, that’s fine.
It’s not your job to figure out what happens if you leave.
You’re allowed to have a life, too. Don’t let your family weaponize your siblings.
Don’t resent Rose and the others, resent those who put you in that position,” I added, thinking of my brothers and how they’d hated me.
“Grace is telling the truth. Now let her go,” Jett ordered.
Iris gripped her tighter. “You don’t understand. I can’t. ”
“We have someone who can fix that,” Evan soothed. “Let Rose go. Let’s go inside and figure this out. I can help you, if you’ll let me.”
“No.” Iris yanked Rose and tried to shove her in the car. Jett jumped on top of her.
“Rose.” I ran to her. Riley and I tried to extract her from her sister’s grasp as Evan helped Jett.
A bunch of uniformed dudes ran over. They weren’t alphas, but big, strong, and took orders. Deltas. The bouncers of this world.
Riley had her arms around Rose, who was sobbing.
Jett turned to Evan. “Do I need to call this in?”
“We’ll let security deal with it for now.” Evan turned to Rose. “Let’s go back inside.”
Evan led Rose off some place, leaving Jett, Riley, and me in the main waiting area.
“They’re going to have someone fix this, right, because that’s shitty,” Riley said. “So, she’d been here for days waiting for a chance to abduct Rose?”
“I guess,” Jett replied.
“I don’t quite understand what happened.” I wrapped my arms around myself again–and not just because it was cold today.
“Alpha bark, I’m guessing. Like she literally couldn’t go home without Rose,” Riley told me.
Alpha bark. Right. I’d seen that in a video. Fucked-up alpha compulsion bullshit.
“I’ll smack anyone who tries that on me,” I grumbled, still feeling a little violent.
“That’s my Grace. We need Jett to teach us some shit.” Riley grinned at Jett.
“I’m a little afraid of what will happen if I do.” He grinned back.
Riley rolled her eyes. “I need to learn shit for skate smash tryouts. Grace, got any tips? One of my friends set up a clinic for us, and some of us have been practicing when we have a chance, but every bit helps.”
“Don’t die,” I told her. “No, seriously, I never quite figured everything out beyond the basics. I wasn’t good, I was there because we needed bodies. One of my professors always said Have fun, don’t die. ”
Riley nodded. “Always good advice.”
Evan came back out with Rose, who was now wearing a fluffy hoodie, face tear-stained.
“Rose.” Riley ran over and hugged her. “You okay?”
“Yeah. I… am. Am I…”
“You are.” I stood and hugged her to me. “You’re making the right choice. Remember, don’t set yourself on fire to keep others warm.”
Riley’s eyebrows rose. “Do people actually do that? Because that’s some fucked-up shit right there.”
“She means it figuratively, not literally,” Evan told her. “Let’s go. Should we get ice cream first?”
Rose nodded. “Yes, please.”
My phone buzzed.
Wes
You okay? Evan said someone tried to abduct one of his clients.
Me
I’m okay. Thanks for checking in.
I meant it. While I was a little annoyed at how big of a deal they made over me this morning, I was also glad to have someone who cared. It had been a long time since someone had smothered me with love. The texts continued.
Wes
Do you need anything? Can I take you two out later? Dinner and a movie or something?
Me
Dinner, a movie, and more of what we did last night sounds good to me.
A casual date with the three of us would be nice.
“You did well back there,” Jett said as we got into Evan’s car, him and Evan in the front, us in the back.
“Rose, why is it your fault your mom’s in jail? You went state’s evidence and testified against her or something?” Riley asked.
Rose’s head drooped. “She…”
“You don’t have to tell me,” Riley told her. “It’s fine.”
“It’s not a secret. I’m the beta who got drugged into being an omega so I could mate with a rich pack and save our family.
That’s why they’re mad. It’s so hard to find work in our area.
We’re going to lose our home and have to move in with my uncle, but his family’s not doing any better.
I… I could help everyone by getting mated to rich alphas, but I didn’t. ” A tear streamed down her face.
I looked at Evan. “They drug random people to change their biology ?”
That seemed like a scientific marvel, but then they were also building quantum nano-computers here. It was also horrifying if it was against someone’s will.
“Um, yeah, it’s on the news sometimes.” Riley’s eyebrows rose.
“It’s not random, Grace. Usually, betas are chosen carefully, often screened for markers, since the drugs don’t work on all betas. It’s also illegal to do what they did to Rose,” Evan explained.
“Can’t they fix it?” I frowned. “Like an antidote or something? She had no choice. ”
“There is no antidote.” Evan shook his head.
“Being an omega isn’t going to be that bad, Grace.” Rose squeezed my hand. “Now I get some opportunities I wouldn’t get otherwise. I’m going to get a great education. I can still be a doctor. One day I’ll get a pack of cutie alphas who will spoil me.”
“But they took away your choice. Your mom took away your choice.” My heart broke for her.
“Take a deep breath, Peaches. It’s shitty, and I know you relate. Rose’s mom, and the doctor, will pay for what they did. We’ll take care of Rose, too.” Evan rolled the windows down as he drove.
“I’ll fuck people up for both of you,” Riley added.
Suddenly I wanted Wes, and I had no idea why. So, I texted him.
Me
Miss you. Work is okay? No one got in trouble?
Wes
I’m getting it sorted. Miss you, too. People will get in trouble, but not me.
We got ice cream and then drove to a beautiful school that looked straight out of a movie.
“Not bad,” Riley nodded. “Some of my friends have siblings here.”
My knees sagged as I got out of the car. I felt more emotionally spent than I wanted to admit.
Evan put his arms around me, wrapping me in one of his excellent hugs. “Rose will be okay, we’ll make sure of it. Hey, you, me, and Wes are going on a date tonight.”
“He told me. That’ll be nice.” I looked up into his face. “Spencer texted me and wanted to know if I’m going to choose my outfit for the science dinner or if I want him to pick something up.”
“You’re on science dinner duty? That explains spa day. He has amazing taste, so I’d say choose that if you don’t have a specific outfit in mind,” he told me as the others got bags out of the back.
“Okay.” I texted Spencer back.
“Let’s get Rose settled in. Later, we’ll get you a tour. I want you to meet one of the science teachers here. She was one of my very first clients.” Evan gave me a squeeze.
“Sounds good.” I picked up the last bag. “Let’s go decorate a dorm room.”