Chapter 7 Suki
SEVEN
Suki
Teddy wouldn’t answer any of my questions on the drive, but I couldn’t blame her. She was doing everything in her power to not throw up all over the inside of my car.
Once we pulled into the driveway, she threw open the door and puked on the grass.
“What the fuck is going on, Teddy?” I couldn’t think of a single thing that would cause this minus food poisoning and pregnancy, but I ate everything she did and felt fine, and twelve hours was laughable to have morning sickness.
But now that I thought about it, we didn’t use protection. I would ask about it but after I figured out what was going on with her.
She groaned and stood up straight. Her face was pale, and her lips were turned down into a frown. “The bastard I got the pheromones from left a little present in them. I’m sure of it.”
“What?” What could he have possibly put in there that would fuck with her and not me?
“He’s an asshole. I blackmailed him to get the goods, and honestly, I should have seen this coming, but I was blinded by getting what I wanted, and yadda yadda, here we are.
” She flipped her hands in the air like she was batting away unwanted thoughts and rolled her eyes.
“He isn’t stupid enough to kill me, so I’m guessing this will go away in a few hours or a few days. ”
“What?” I repeated, not fully wrapping my brain around this nonsense. “Someone drugged you?”
“Well, I drugged you, so what’s the difference really?” Her smile was forced as she walked toward the front door. I jogged in front of her since I had the key. I opened it up and let her in first. She began stripping a step in, chucking her clothes outside.
The look on my face must have said “are you crazy” because she said, “Do the same. I don’t know what he used, but I’m assuming it’ll go away faster if we decontaminate, which means leaving our clothes outside and showering again.”
“And what would he even use?” Neither of us were scientists, so I was absolutely useless in this situation, but I did as she said and stripped down.
“Not a clue, but I do know he’s a chem genius, so whatever he used, it’s clearly only getting to me, at least for now.”
For now. Those words were very ominous. Who knew what he added into them to get some payback. What had I gotten myself into?
For the first time since meeting Teddy, I regretted signing up for Alpha Net.
No more words passed between us as I showed her the guest bath. It was small, only big enough for a shower, toilet, and a counterless sink and mirror.
She was tired and seemed to be processing what happened, maybe even planning her own payback for this. I, on the other hand, was pushed into shock, probably the shock I should have fallen into when I came to with Teddy on top of me.
I dragged my feet to my room and into my bathroom. I went through the motions, turning on the water, washing my hair, scrubbing my body… but my mind was turned off besides one question I had already asked myself.
What had I gotten myself into?
My feelings for Teddy were still there. I didn’t regret joining in the sense that I regretted meeting her or what she had done to an extent, but it was still a lot to process.
The possibility of being drugged again by someone I had no tangible connection to was off-putting, and knowing she was being affected by it threw me through a loop.
This wasn’t what I had expected when I put my hat in Alpha Net’s ring.
This was actually the exact opposite.
I tried to focus on the good side, the connection I had with Teddy, the near-fated draw I had to her, but that only worked so much.
Whoever was fucking with her… they knew her well enough and most likely where she lived.
If they were on her level at all, they knew much more than that or could find much more in a matter of minutes.
Would we ever be free of them?
My mind spiraled, and I begged it to turn off, to go back on autopilot until I crashed into bed and took a much needed nap, but it wouldn’t listen.
The rest of the shower was spent in a panic. The water was still running hot by the time I was done scrubbing, so I slid down the wall, letting the hot water wash over me. The warmth and pressure kept me grounded, and I was able to push through the panic.
Teddy could handle this. We would be okay. I wouldn’t lose something I had only found a day ago. This was new, but it was good, and it would be sorted out. I had to believe that, forced myself to believe the words that ran through my head.
There was no other option. I couldn’t panic and make the situation worse.
I would get out of here, dry off, do my usual after-shower routine, find some new clothes, and talk to Teddy.
She was being nonchalant about all of this minus the understandable irritation.
I had to find out if that was just an act or if this really wasn’t that big of a deal.
With my body dried and lotioned, I slid into a pajama set with a pale-blue tank and a matching pair of shorts in the same blue with white pinstripes running down them.
I grabbed a similar set in yellow with little ducks on the shorts and a cropped tee for Teddy.
After wrapping my hair up in a towel so it was off of my shoulders, I ventured out to the living room before slipping into the guest bath and leaving them on the counter for her.
I made it out without her noticing me, or at least saying anything about it while I was in there, so I grabbed us some ice water before collapsing onto the couch.
There had to be a movie or a distracting show somewhere.
I didn’t know what I wanted or needed, but something had to keep my mind off of this crazy situation.
After a few minutes of flipping through, I found a Walking Dead marathon, and it was in the middle of season one. “Perfect.” I clicked on it and let the zombie world take over my mind.
All my favorite characters were still around, and knowing what was coming relieved some of the stress, but it had been so long since I’d originally watched it that it was new enough to distract me. The perfect combination.
I melted into the couch, wrapping a fuzzy throw around my shoulders and covering most of my body minus my feet that stuck out and were set on the coffee table.
The monotony and familiarity eased the panic a little more, but it was still there, waiting for Teddy to explain.
I couldn’t believe they started with so many characters I had completely forgotten. The first few seasons were so good, and I made a mental note to finish watching it and the spinoffs. The world was vast now, and I was sorely behind.
“Ooh, The Walking Dead! Love that show.” I turned just enough to see Teddy walk in from the hall, drying her hair some more with a towel.
“How are you feeling?” The worry in my voice was annoyingly present. She had to be okay. This was too new, too chaotically lovely to end so soon.
“Nauseous, irritated, a little horny, and my revenge will be swift and sweet.” Her face morphed into that of a wicked witch plotting her enemy’s downfall, and the last bit of the knot in my chest was slipping free.
“So nothing too outside of the norm.” Her cackle would scare a lesser being, but I reveled in it.
Teddy was so free and wild but somehow grounded.
It didn’t make sense, but it worked for her.
“So you’re going to be okay?” She sighed, tossed the towel over the back of the couch, then jumped over it to plop down beside me.
“Yeah, he’s dumb enough to fuck with me but not dumb enough to try and kill me.
I still have no idea what he could have used, but you’re doing okay, right?
It’s only affecting me?” I nodded, and she let out a sigh of relief.
“Good. I’m guessing he slipped something in that messes with Betas, or I could have just had a reaction to those pheromones.
Either way, I blame him, and he will be hearing from me soon.
” Her bright smile was the last thing I needed to let go, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t pissed about it.
“If you need help fucking with him, tell me. I don’t know how much help I can be, but I want to be involved and watch him suffer.”
“Oh, Suki, that’s hot.” I rolled my eyes, and she laughed, her head falling back.
Teddy nearly fell off the couch but caught herself at the last minute.
After clearing her throat, she said, “Anyway, I would love your help. He’s an Omega, so maybe a little dose of rut-filled pheromones will do the trick. ”
I raised a brow at her. “And how do you expect to get these ‘rut-filled pheromones’?” I wasn’t going anywhere near the heat-inducing ones she had used on me earlier. Not a fucking chance.
“I can be patient.” Teddy leaned forward onto her arms, the loose tee falling forward and giving me a shot straight down her shirt. “And I’m all for trying to get you into a rut on my own.”
“Teddy.” I glared at her. After the last twenty-four hours, I just wanted to sit here, but despite my brain thinking that, my cock was already hardening beneath the blanket.
“Yes, Suki?” Her face was a few inches from mine, and the smile she had on never faltered.
I shook my head. “You’re ridiculous.” It sounded like an insult, but the soft smile on my lips said otherwise. “One question though. Birth control. I definitely—”
She sat back, and the smile was wiped clean. “Right.” A pregnancy wasn’t something I was ready for. We barely knew each other, and— “I’m infertile.” Teddy shrugged her shoulders. “I didn’t want to mention it in my half-fake profile, but I am, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
“Oh, okay. Are you upset about it, or are you thinking I’m upset about it?” I sat up and turned to face her, the blanket pooling around my waist.
“Both,” she said with another shrug, worry filling her eyes along with a slight sheen of unshed tears.