16. Turnabout
Turnabout
Emilia
Grayson popped over the fence the next day and slipped the phone to me through the window. It was pink and had a sparkly case on it. I loved it instantly. He also handed me a Ziplock bag with some fabric in it.
"What's this?"
"Keep it under your mattress and when something has you down, open it a little bit," he said. "You'll understand then."
"Okay."
The front door opened and I jumped, looking at Grayson with wide eyes. "Go!" I hissed.
He gave me a sad look and then ran over to the fence and vaulted it easily, disappearing from my sight a moment later.
I tucked both the bag and the phone under my mattress and stepped back to the wall to keep painting. A few minutes later, the lock clicked. It was time for me to make dinner.
It wasn't until after I'd cleaned up from dinner that I was able to pull out the phone and examine it. There was a passcode on it and I frowned. Grayson hadn't said anything about a code. How was I supposed to guess what he would put in?
Flipping the phone over, I spotted a piece of paper tucked into the case with a number, 0415.
Typing it into the phone, I discovered that was actually the code and the phone opened up for me.
He'd preinstalled some apps, including a messaging app and several social media sites, with each of their pages already bookmarked.
Happily, I signed in and started checking out their pages.
It was like being home again, seeing their smiling (in Jude's case, not smiling) faces.
Santi had a photo of Grayson and Oren cheek to cheek, holding up a homemade pizza they'd had for dinner yesterday and I saved it to my favorites before liking it.
There was no reason to hide my likes now.
Even though my user name was different from my actual name, I figured they'd know it was me.
Sure enough, a couple of seconds after I'd liked the photo, a message popped up in the message app.
Santiago: You made it online! How are you?
Emilia: Better now I can talk to you guys.
Oren: omg, you're a brown-noser!
Santiago: It was a pic of you, moron
Oren: Well, in that case, just good taste
Emilia: Grayson said there's a plan in the works?
Santiago: We're trying. I think the fact we're scentmatches might work in our favor. They tend to keep scentmatches together.
Emilia: What's the problem then?
Santiago: We already have an omega, so it may be tough to have you moved.
I frowned. That shouldn't be an issue. Omegas really should have more choices in life.
After chatting for a while longer about food, I said goodnight and slipped the phone under the mattress again. It wasn't hard to fall asleep when I felt cared for.
Two nights later, it was time to open the bag. I'd resisted until now, but it had been a particularly hard day. First, Candace was extra bossy, having me clean the nest bathroom four times before she was satisfied, then crying about my scent being in her space.
She'd complained to Jake, who sent Daryl home from his bowling to bring descenting spray.
"Jake wants you to use this from now on," he said tiredly, handing the spray to me. "No more scents around the place."
"The suppressants already reduce my scent."
"Not enough. We can all smell you still. I like the way you smell, but it bothers Candace and she's too close to her heat to have this sort of upset."
She went into heat a few hours later, whining and begging for the men. Daryl kept her somewhat satiated until the alphas made it back, but the entire house was filled with her sickly scent. I gagged when I went to make a dinner that no one would eat.
Even my room smelled like sex and Candace. I opened the window to try and air it out, but when that didn't work, I slipped out the window and walked around a bit in the side yard, inhaling fresh air.
When I got back inside, I pulled out the bag that Grayson had given me and opened it an inch. Their scents poured out, thick and delicious, making me forget all about Candace. They'd each scented a piece of fabric and tucked it into the bag.
That became my sanity saver the rest of the week.
Every time the moans and screams and heavy pheromones got to me, I pulled out my bag of scents.
It calmed me. Even when I realized someone had locked my door in the middle of the night on the second night of Candace's heat and I couldn't get out to get food.
I drank water from the sink, but my stomach rumbled with hunger. After two days, I felt weaker, so instead of painting, I lay on my bed and watched videos.
Candace's heat lasted six days. By the time I heard footsteps on the stairs and the showers running upstairs, I was too tired and hungry to get up.
I hadn't told Santi and his pack, because I knew they'd risk coming over the fence with food.
Someone might see them and I wasn't ready for this to be over yet.
I pushed the phone under the mattress and lay there listening to people talking out in the kitchen. There was a clatter as someone pulled out pots and pans.
I frowned. Had they completely forgotten I was here? Who was cooking?
The aroma of cheesy pasta filled the house and my mouth watered. I heard the clinking of silverware on dishes. They were eating. Without me.
No one came. No one unlocked my door. I tried it and even rattled it a bit to see if someone would come, but no one did. They watched a movie loudly in the living room, then they all tramped back upstairs.
I filled my belly with water and curled up on my bed again, hoping they'd notice in the morning.
It was Monday. Footsteps echoed throughout the house as people got ready for work. The front door opened and closed as low voices said goodbye.
My breath caught in my throat. Were they really just going to leave me here?
Finally, I stumbled to my feet and made my way to the door. I pounded on it. "Hello? Candace?"
Heavy footsteps thumped down the hallway. I was relieved when they came my way and the door lock clicked.
Daryl pulled the door open and I lost my balance, falling into his arms.
"What the hell, Em?"
"Sorry." I scrambled upright again, wobbling a little on my feet.
"We were wondering why you didn't clean or cook anything," he shook his head. "Who locked you in here?"
"How should I know? And none of you thought to check if I was in here after several days?" I snapped, rage bubbling under my skin like hot lava. "You can't just starve people!"
Candace came bounding downstairs and stopped short when she saw me standing there with Daryl's hands on my shoulders to steady me.
"What's going on?" she asked, her voice trembling.
"Someone locked Em in her room for your entire heat."
"Oh no!" Her mouth dropped open. "Oh, Em, that's terrible! I bet it was Jake. I told him your scent bothered me during my heat."
"I'm using the spray!" I told her. "My scent is non-existent. And even if it bothered you, food would have been nice to have!"
"You were hungry in there? Oh my." She turned toward the kitchen. "I think we have a little bit of chicken leftover from last night's dinner. You need to do the shopping today, remember?"
"Daryl. You cannot treat me like this," I looked into his blue eyes.
"You cared about me once, I know you did.
But even if you didn't, leaving me to starve for days on end and then expecting me to be the maid is cruel and unusual punishment.
You've already taken everything from me.
I literally have four tiny walls and a bathroom at this point.
You took my tablet. My life is shrunk down to a tiny maid's room! "
He looked discomfited. "It's not like that, Em, we're adjusting to having a new omega. Our scentmatch."
"What if I told you I found my scentmatches?" I asked him. "Would you let me go?"
Daryl sighed. "Sweetheart, if you did find your scentmatches, I'd let you go, of course, I would. But how are you supposed to ever meet them when you don't leave the house?"
"Who made me a prisoner here?" I asked. "It wasn't me. I don't like my face, but I'm not ashamed of it like you three are."
He frowned. "I don't care what you look like."
"She's a monster," Candace called from her vantage point on the stairs. "Just look at how ugly she is!"
"Shut up!" I yelled at her, my rage pouring into my voice. "We don't need to hear from you!"
"Daryl, are you going to let a bitch like that talk to me that way?"
He closed his eyes and let out a slow breath. "Candace, can you please go upstairs and let me talk to Emilia for a minute?"
"No. You're my mate. I don't need you being distracted." She crossed her arms and stood there watching.
"Fine." Daryl turned to me. "I'm not one hundred percent on board with everything Jake is doing, but I do think it's important that we stick together as a pack. He's the leader and his decisions are final."
"You don't think he'd ever let me go, do you?" My body sagged. I was tired and sad and hungry. This was just too much.
"I don't think so. He feels that you're his."
"He's wrong."
"I know."
"None of you ever claimed me," I said, looking over at Candace. She smirked and tilted her shoulder forward to show me the bites there. "You bonded her, though."
Daryl looked at his feet, his hands still on my shoulders.
"It's not fair. You took me from the center, knowing that you would never bond me. Knowing that you would never give me a real life. You were looking for a placeholder while you waited for her."
"I'm sorry. It wasn't fair, but I didn't think we'd find her. I always imagined you would become our one and only omega."
I snorted. "Oh, that's helpful. I feel much better now."
"Let's get you something to eat," he suggested, steering me toward the kitchen.
"Come on, Daryl, I want to spend time with you, too!" Candace called as we walked past the stairs.
I felt the hitch in his step, the moment he wasn't sure if it was worth stopping for her. Then he kept going.
"I'll be there in a sec."
She growled, a silly omega growl, but it sent spikes of irritation through me. I wanted to attack her, tear her to pieces… but I had to behave.
In the kitchen, Daryl opened the fridge and peered around. "There's not much. I guess we ate everything while she was in heat."
I opened the cupboard and found a tin of mushroom soup pushed to the back. Leaning against the counter, I opened it and grabbed a spoon.
"Straight from the can? Cold?" Daryl shuddered.
"Well, when you haven't eaten in four days, it's amazing what you'll put up with."
He shifted guiltily. "I could order groceries if you want?"
"You don't know what Candace needs for her meals," I sighed. "I'll do it."
When I finished with the can of soup, I already felt a little stronger. But just looking at the counter and sink piled high with dishes made me want to go straight back to bed.
"DARYL!" Candace called.
He jerked. "She's really pissed, I can feel it in the bond."
"I don't care," I said honestly. "Just fuck off and I'll do what I always do and deal with it."
He paused long enough to run his knuckles down my face, then he was gone. And I was left with a huge mess to clean up.