Chapter Eight – Mercedes
I sleep in the next morning, and then I hit the shower. By the time I’m dressed and heading downstairs, it’s well after ten in the morning. Yesterday tired me out more than I thought it would—and I sat outside by the fire for a little too long, musing over how different my life could’ve been.
When I make it to the kitchen, I find a note on the fridge that says Darius and Warren went to work, and Nic went to the store to buy me a few things. Honestly, I don’t want any charity, but even I can admit the few outfits I packed in my backpack have seen better days. Holes, fraying seams; I look like a ragamuffin.
Even if Nic brings home stuff that doesn’t quite fit, stuff that isn’t my style, I can’t complain too much.
Or, you know, at all.
I find some pancake mix and make myself some breakfast. I’m not the best cook, but I learned to make a few dishes. The easy things that don’t require many ingredients: pancakes, scrambled eggs, pasta. Nothing too fancy. We never ate in the lap of luxury at Solus Academy.
I burn the first pancake, so I throw it away. Thankfully I don’t overcook the rest of them, and before long I’m sitting down, by myself, in the dining room, my pancakes on a white plate in front of me and some orange juice in a crystal glass next to the plate.
Even the orange juice tastes better here.
I take my time in eating, in no hurry whatsoever. It’s strange to only hear the sound of my fork hitting the plate as I cut into the pancakes and nothing else. The silence that stretches on outside of this room is almost unnerving to me.
I’m not used to it. Nothing was ever quiet at Solus. There was always something going on, somebody talking loudly, somebody getting in trouble, someone crying because they wished their families were still alive. The ones who suddenly ended up at Solus had it the worst. To grow up with a loving, doting family and then have them snatched away by a cruel twist of fate…
In comparison, I had it easy. Never knew a parent’s love. Never knew love in general. It’s hard to want something you’ve never seen or experienced yourself—which is why the only thing I truly want is freedom, a way out of this city, enough miles between me and Jay that he’ll never find me again.
I finish the pancakes and my juice and clean up the mess I made in the kitchen. I load my dishes into the dishwasher and make sure the stovetop is spotless. I don’t want to give the two who don’t want me here any more reason to dislike me; coasting under their radar while I figure out what’s next for me is my only goal.
I need… well, I need either access to the internet or a way to the local library, wherever the heck it is. I need to do some research on other cities and ways to get there, along with this bank that supposedly will have one hundred thousand dollars in an account for me.
I’ll definitely need that cash to start my life over somewhere new.
One of the guys must have a computer or something around, right?
I’m not proud of it, but the first thing I do after breakfast is snoop around in search of said computer. Going from room to room, it takes me a while. I do the entire first floor of the house first, then the second. I find nothing at all in my search—until I reach the third floor and make it to what looks like someone’s home office, where a huge, thin computer screen sits atop a grand desk made of some kind of maroon wood.
I hesitate, only because I know if I sit on that chair, I might leave a scent on it. Then again, it is leather, so maybe I could come back and spray it down with some kind of cleaning solution—but if I do that, it’ll be obvious I cleaned it.
Hmm. Either way I’ll be caught. Maybe I should wait.
My heat is less than a month away. I don’t really have time to wait. I need to find a destination sooner rather than later.
Okay, that settles it. I’m just going to do it, consequences be damned.
I enter the office and make a beeline for the tall leather chair, and once I sit down on it, I can totally tell it’s an alpha’s chair. The leather seat is worn out from someone with a much larger stature than mine. It feels almost comical with me sitting there instead.
I click the mouse and hope to God the computer isn’t going to ask for a password. Hacking is not my thing, and I don’t know these alphas well enough to try to guess. Plus, they might have an alert system set up or something, where they’ll be notified that someone is trying to log onto their computer.
At Solus, we had old computers, and we each had our own login and password. Everything we did was tracked and monitored, and certain sites were blocked in the guise of our own safety. We were pretty much controlled completely, and since we didn’t have anyone to advocate for us, there was nothing we could do about it.
I let out a huge sigh of relief when the computer comes to life and it doesn’t ask for a password. I’m able to go onto the internet with no problems whatsoever—and I’m shocked at how fast it connects.
Man, we must’ve been using dinosaur computers at Solus. I had no idea this is how a computer should actually work.
I do a few searches online. I don’t know how long I’m there, but I’m nose-deep in reading a list of cities and their benefits to omegas that I neglect to realize I’m suddenly no longer alone. Someone has joined me—and he stands just inside the office with a stern glower on his face.
“The first thing you do when you’re left alone is snoop?” His deep, husky voice hits me like a brick wall, and the air is forcibly knocked out of my lungs when I move my gaze off the computer screen and land it on the man.
No, he’s not just a man. He’s…
Something inside me squirms, something instinctual. My breathing catches, and all I can do is stare at the stranger’s face, unable to move or say a thing. But he doesn’t feel like a stranger. Inside, deep within me, I recognize him. My inner omega recognizes him and snaps to attention like a greedy, hungry whore in need of a good knot.
Older than Nic and Warren, the alpha who must be Darius stands at an impressive six-and-a-half feet tall, wearing a perfectly-fitted suit that shows off his muscular frame like no other. Black, highlighted by a deep maroon tie. Dirty blond hair that’s perhaps an inch or so too long is swept back, only a single clump of it hanging over his forehead, where a vein throbs while he grinds his teeth and glares at me. Beautiful green eyes, narrowed in my direction, his square jaw free of any stubble or beard.
And his scent. God, his scent is enough to give me the chills, to make me want to push off this chair and crawl to him, beg him to make me his. Whatever willpower I have, whatever self-restraint is in me, crumbles under his stare, all logic gone just like that.
Frankincense. Pine. A hint of smoke. All bottled together and mixed to make the alpha that stands ten feet away from me, glaring at me like he hates me.
A muscle in his jaw clenches, his hands at his sides balling up into fists. He’s angry with me. Furious, even, and it makes my gaze fall to the desk in front of me and bow my head somewhat. “Well? Don’t you have anything to say for yourself, omega? Speak ,” he growls out the command, and the omega in me squirms under the spoken display of dominance.
I have no choice but to answer him. See? This is why I hate alphas. They’re all jerks.
“I wasn’t—”
It’s all I can get out before he says, “But you are. I can see you right now, the computer screen reflected in your eyes. Is this the thanks my pack gets for bringing you here? From what I understand, you’re a Solus. A no-name omega should be thrilled to live in a house like this. The last thing that omega should do is go behind her alphas’ backs.”
On my lap, my hands curl into fists, and I jerk to my feet, my knees locking as I slam my hands on the desk and once again meet this alpha’s eyes—Darius’s eyes. Because that’s who this guy has to be: the third alpha in this pack, the one who didn’t even bother to come last night.
“I only wanted to look something up.” Alphas aren’t the only ones who can growl out statements like there’s no tomorrow. Omegas can, too, even if there’s less bark and bite behind it.
Darius’s emerald gaze narrows further. His chest rises and falls with a hard breath, and I hate how sexy the action is. I hate the fact that I want to go to him, curl into him and beg his forgiveness.
But I stand strong even though it’s the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life.
No other alpha has made me such a mess so quickly. It was instant, like fate has decided we’re supposed to be together. I don’t like it at all.
When Darius finally speaks again, it’s a command I can’t ignore: “Get. Out.”
I prickle, wishing I could resist, but there’s no point in posturing anymore. I step around his desk, holding my head high—or as high as I can, considering I want to lay down before him, belly-up, and offer myself to him.
I make a beeline toward the door. Darius stays planted right where he is, in the way, so I have to move around him to get out. I make it to his side, ready to flee and have this encounter be finished already, but before I can take another step, his hand reaches out and snatches the wrist closest to him, stopping me dead in my tracks.
His hand is large, and it easily swallows up my wrist as he holds onto it. He’s warm, too, so warm I have to fight the contented sigh that threatens to escape me the moment he touches me.
And then I remember I’m angry with him, and I frown to myself, refusing to meet his stare at this close a distance.
Darius leans down and whispers, “Don’t ever come into my office uninvited again, omega. Do you understand?” When I don’t say a single word, he growls out, “Use your words. Tell me you understand.”
I swallow hard, keeping my stare averted. “I understand.”
He releases me after that, but I swear, in the split-second before he lets me go, he breathes in deep through his nose and inhales my scent. It must not be as alluring as his scent is to me, because he pretty much sneers as he steps away from me and brings a hand to his nose, as if to shield his poor nostrils from breathing me in again.
Wow. What an asshole.
I hurry away from him, and I don’t stop hurrying until I’m in my bedroom and able to close the door. The whole way, I hold my breath, and I only let it out once I’m safely tucked away, away from that jerk.
That’s the leader of the pack? That’s the head alpha that the coordinator last night said was a good guy? Rough around the edges doesn’t cut it. No, I don’t think any amount of trimming around the edges when it comes to that one will make any difference.
When it’s time, leaving this pack behind is going to be easy.