Chapter Ten - Mercedes
Chapter Ten - Mercedes
There are a lot more bags. I don’t know how much Nic spent on me today, but it has to be a lot. He offers his aid in putting everything away, but I tell him I can handle it. To be frank, I’m still a little freaked out about what happened earlier with Darius. Stupid me was so enthralled in his scent that I forgot to exit out of the internet page I was on, so he had to have seen what I was looking up.
The safest cities for omegas in the country.
Yeah, if they didn’t already know I was one foot in, one foot out the door, they do now.
I can’t even feel apologetic for it, though. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do and all that. I refuse to sit around forever and wait for the shit to hit the fan. I’d much rather be on the move. My pride isn’t big enough that I refuse to back down and run away. Hell, backing down is about the only thing I’ve ever been good at, thanks to my omega genes.
Stupid omega genes.
I bring all the bags but one into the walk-in closet and start to hang and fold everything. Nic really did think of everything—shirts, jackets, jeans, sweats, leggings, tennis shoes, boots. He seriously got me a bit of everything. I wasn’t kidding when I told him I’ve never had this many clothes in my life.
And all new, too.
Nic told me, once he finished bringing everything up from the car, that he’s taking off work the next few days to spend some time with me—it means I won’t have any private time to plan my escape out of here and away from Jay, but that’s okay. The clock might be ticking, but there’s still time left.
Nic is also apparently the house cook; he asked me what I’d like for dinner. Anything at all, and he’d do his best to make it. I never had full meals at Solus. It was always simple and cheap, and sometimes we were left to fend for ourselves, especially when its funding got cut a few years ago.
No one cares for the poor omegas. It’s just those with names everyone gives a shit about.
Regardless, I told Nic to surprise me with dinner, so I have zero idea what he’ll make. Whatever he chooses, I hope it’s good. I skipped lunch thanks to the stress of being caught in Darius’s office, so I’m hungry.
I’m about halfway through the clothes when I hear a knock on my bedroom door. Since it’s not locked, that person comes in after a few seconds, and soon enough they stand near the open closet door. A part of me assumes it’s Nic, since he’s the only one who seems to give a shit about me, but the scent filling the air is different, and I recognize it thanks to the time I spent with him outside last night.
I hang up the shirt in my hands and turn to meet Warren’s blue eyes. He wears all black, no fancy dress clothes to be seen. Instead, his muscular legs are clad in black pants with straps all over—straps and holsters. His shirt is long-sleeved, clinging to his torso and arms in a way that leaves nothing to the imagination.
He’s ripped. Built.
Even though I’m a sucker for a suit, I have to admit, on Warren, he looks much better like this. More himself.
Although the straps and holsters on his legs and hips make me wonder if he usually carries tons of weapons on him. What do these guys do? It occurs to me then that I never asked.
Warren holds onto a plastic bag with what looks to be a box inside. “Nic asked me to pick you up these things on my way home.” He holds out his hand and offers me the bag, not saying anything more.
His threat to me, that if I hurt Nic he’ll hurt me, scar for scar, echoes in my mind as I approach him. Darius isn’t the only one I need to be careful around. Darius seems cold and cruel, but Warren is a different sort of alpha, I think. Maybe even a little psychotic.
I gingerly take the bag and peek inside, and I’m shocked to see a laptop box and what looks to be a phone box. My head snaps up, but by the time I’m ready to ask him what these are, Warren is already gone.
Damn, that guy is quiet as a mouse, and faster than one, too. Not very typical for an alpha.
I walk out of the closet and set the bag down on my bed, pulling out both boxes. I run my fingers along the edge of the laptop box. Even though my eyes are staring right at it, I still don’t believe it.
They got me a computer? After they found me looking up safe cities for omegas? They have to know why I was looking up lists like that. It just doesn’t make sense to me. Why do all of this if they know I’m not trying to stick around?
Nic. It has to be Nic. The other two wouldn’t care.
I run my nail along the tape around the edge of the laptop box and lift the lid. A shiny, silver laptop sits inside, waiting for me to boot it up. My breath catches. It looks so nice. I never had anything this nice before.
Clothes, a laptop, a phone… it really is like I stepped into a whole new world.
The sound of someone in the hall alerts me to another’s presence. Warren didn’t close the door, so I’m able to see who it is the moment I lift my head. I’m about to thank Nic for the laptop and phone when I see it isn’t Nic in the hall.
It’s Darius, and right after I see it’s him, my legs grow weak. Be strong, Mercedes. Don’t let this jerk of an alpha scare you. You’ve faced worse than him every time you were with Jay. This is cake.
I hold my head high as I ask, “What do you want?”
He takes a single step into my room and instantly wrinkles his nose, as if my scent personally offends him—and I don’t know why. I just don’t understand. If his scent makes my inner omega turn into a knot-craving bitch, why doesn’t mine make him turn into a feral, hungry alpha ready to give said knot?
“You’re upset with me,” he says, his hands hanging at his sides. They’re in a constant state of flexing and relaxing, like he’s trying to keep himself busy with something else while speaking to me. Like I’m not worth his time. “I might’ve… overreacted to finding you in my office.”
“You think?” I don’t know why I’m being so obstinate. Giving attitude to this particular alpha might be a deadly endeavor.
A muscle in his square jaw ticks, and I wonder if I upset him with my attitude. I need to reel it in, let him say whatever he’s trying to say and leave it at that. No egging on the beast. No extra attitude toward this alpha.
“Nic wants me to apologize to you.”
“Your apology is going swell so far.”
Darius glares at me. “I don’t apologize for anything, ever.”
I purse my lips. “Of course not, you’re an alpha. Alphas are always right, even when they’re wrong.” God, can I just take a chill pill or something? I’m dancing near the fire here, and if I’m not careful, I’m likely to get burned. “I bet you’re wrong a lot.”
A sound escapes him, halfway between a grunt and a growl, and I hate how my inner omega mewls at the sound. I also hate how sexy that sound is. “Maybe I am,” he mutters with a frown—even his frown is attractive, for shit’s sake. “Maybe no one has had the balls to tell me I’m wrong before.”
I shrug. “Sounds like Nic did.”
“Yes, he was quite up in arms when he thought I scared you. I’ve never seen him so protective before.” Darius cocks his head at me, the expression on his face cold and hard. “Did I scare you, omega?”
Maybe, at the time, I’d been so caught off-guard, so full of nerves and anxiety, that he did, but like hell would I ever admit it aloud. Besides, whatever small sliver of fear I might’ve felt in that moment was dwarfed by the way my inner animal reacted to him. One look, one smell, and I wanted to bend over and let him mate me—and I’ve never had that thought in my life before.
Thank God it was one-sided. Thank goodness Darius didn’t feel the same way, otherwise he’d be knot-deep in me and I’d be begging him for more, my sanity completely gone.
“I’m not scared of you, alpha,” I hiss out the last word just like he says omega, like it’s a derogatory term and not simply what we are. “And by the way, my name is Mercedes. Learn it.”
The corners of his mouth quirk in a smile—or the beginning hints of a smile, but within a millisecond that smile is gone and he’s back to frowning hard. “I can see why Nic likes you. Don’t hurt him, Mercedes.” And then he turns and walks away, leaving me to stew with his words.
Damn it. I really don’t like that guy.