Chapter 32 Mo
Mo
I’ve been keeping to my room since my failed escape.
The guys haven’t said anything about it, which is almost worse than if they’d confronted me.
They just carry on as if nothing happened.
Archer still offers to walk me places. Elias still cracks jokes at breakfast. Silas still leaves rocks for me.
And I still can’t look any of them in the eye without feeling like the world’s biggest fraud.
The guys are out when a noise at the front of the cabin makes me pause. The distinct click of the door opening, then closing. Footsteps. Light, careful, not belonging to any of the alphas.
I slide off the bed, my wolf instantly alert. After the village, every unfamiliar sound sets my nerves on edge. I pad to my bedroom door and crack it open.
Pam.
She’s moving around the kitchen, unloading items from a canvas bag onto the counter. I watch her put groceries away like she owns the place.
I step into the hallway. “What are you doing?”
She startles, hand flying to her chest. “Jesus. Don’t sneak up on people like that.”
“Don’t let yourself into other people’s homes,” I counter.
Her eyebrows rise. “It’s not exactly breaking and entering when I have a key, and it’s my job to stock the alphas’ cabin.”
I lean against the doorframe, watching her unload. “Is that what you are? The errand girl?”
Her jaw tightens. “I’m the pack’s supply coordinator. I make sure everyone has what they need.”
“How thoughtful.”
She reaches into the bag and pulls out a Diet Coke. Then another. And another. Six in total.
“Darius said to bring extra,” she says, not looking at me. “Specifically for you.”
“Where is he, anyway?”
“Around.”
I snort. “Great. Very informative.”
She continues unpacking, but her movements have slowed. I can feel her eyes flicking to me when she thinks I’m not looking.
“Are you okay?” she asks with fake sympathy.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You seemed upset in the village the other day.”
There it is. I knew she’d been watching me. “I’m fine.”
“Really? Because you looked like you’d seen someone you knew.”
I cross my arms. “Maybe I just hate crowds.”
“Or maybe you recognized someone.” Her eyes meet mine. “That alpha you were staring at. You knew him, didn’t you?”
“What alpha?”
“Don’t play dumb.”
I force a shrug. “Never seen him before.”
“Funny. Because he seemed really interested in you.”
I can feel my scent changing, betraying me. “Why do you care?”
“Because if there’s something the pack should know about—”
“There isn’t,” I snap. “And even if there were, I wouldn’t tell you.”
Pam’s expression shifts. Something moves behind her eyes, then it’s gone. “Look, I’m just trying to help. If someone from your past is a threat—”
“The only threat I’m concerned with right now is the one standing in my kitchen, asking questions that aren’t her business.”
A long silence.
“You know what’s funny, Blue?” Her voice is quiet now.
“Before you showed up, I was the one who stocked this kitchen. I was the one who knew that Archer likes his coffee black, Elias takes two sugars, and Silas won’t eat anything with cilantro.
I was the one who was here. I was the one Elias wanted. ”
She smooths the bag flat on the counter.
“And now Darius is sending me to buy Diet Cokes. For you. Because suddenly everything in this pack revolves around the poor little omega.”
I open my mouth to say something. Maybe to apologize. Because she’s right, in a way. She lost something when I showed up. I know what it feels like to have something taken from you without anyone asking.
“Pam–” But she cuts me off.
“These are my people. I grew up here. You’re just a stray they dragged in from the woods, and strays don’t get to waltz in and claim what isn’t theirs.”
“I haven’t claimed anything.”
“But you will. That’s what omegas do, isn’t it?”
She picks up the empty canvas bag and walks to the door.
“Enjoy the Diet Coke.”
The door shuts behind her.
I stand in the kitchen staring at the six cans lined up on the counter.
Stray. That’s what she called me—a stray they dragged in from the woods.
The worst part is that she’s not wrong. And the second worst part is that I almost understood her, right up until she made it clear she’d never understand me.