Chapter 5
Chapter Five
H arper
“And there’s nothing I can say to make you stay?” Molly asks from her yoga mat on the living room floor, her left leg stretched out in front of her and both arms above her head.
The baby, strapped into some bouncing device that lights up and plays tinkly music, gurgles from the corner.
“Nope, it’s all already decided. Janis is picking me up from the airport and I’m staying with her until I find my own place. I’ve almost finished packing.”
“New York is dangerous. Especially for an omega.”
“Everywhere is dangerous for an omega,” I say, lying out flat on her sofa. “And, besides, you tried that angle already.”
“You can’t blame me for trying. I don’t want you to go. You’re one of the few omegas I can actually stand to be around in this city.”
“That’s because you’re rude and anti-social,” I tell her.
She sticks out her tongue. “I change my mind. You can go.”
I laugh and the baby joins in. I blow him a kiss.
“I will miss Mitchell, though. He is so cute. Are you sure I can’t take him with me?”
“Nope. You have to make one of your own.”
She flips herself over so that she’s sitting cross-legged on her mat.
I snort. “Unlikely.”
“Well, probably, seeing as you’re moving away from the city with the most alphas per square mile and to a city populated by assholes. If you want a baby, I would advise you to stay. Alphas are very good at making babies.”
“You’re not going to convince me to stay.”
“Why not?” she asks me for probably the one hundredth time as she twists her body around. “I want you to stay. Mitchell wants you to stay. Your mom really, really wants you to stay. And I have all these pack alphas asking about you, who would probably be pretty stoked if you stayed too.”
“I told you already. I want a job in a real art gallery with real art.”
“I thought you wanted a baby?”
“A girl can want both.”
“That’s what they say,” Molly mutters.
“You don’t believe that?”
“I think it’s hard to have everything – not that we shouldn’t want it all, not for one minute. Most men get to have the job and the family. We should too. It’s just, it isn’t as easy as it looks.” She twists back around to face me. “When I’m at the bakery working, I really, really miss Mitchell and little Harper. When I’m home with the kids, I really miss working.”
“At least you have the job you love and the family you love too.”
“You’re right. It’s not a bad thing to complain about. I’m pretty lucky.” She grins at me.
“It’s so unfair,” I say, trying not to think of the pack that would make me happy and the family we could have built together. “Can we change the subject?”
“Hmmm,” Molly says, not happy about it. “Why don’t you get down here with me and do some stretching? It might help you see things more clearly.”
I shake my head. “I’m not feeling so good.”
“It’s your body’s way of telling you not to leave.”
“No, I probably picked up a virus or something.”
“Not Harold virus?” Molly says, waggling her eyebrows.
“Oh, Molly, don’t,” I say, flinging my hands over my face. “I can’t stop thinking about that stupid lie.”
“The stupid lie or the really hot sex?”
Both, but I’m not about to tell Molly that. “You know that stupid rumor going around–”
“It wasn’t me, Harper. I swear. I’ve been as silent as the grave. I haven’t even told any of my alphas – and you have no idea how hard that is when they can actually read the thoughts in my head.”
An even bigger wave of nausea hits me. “Oh jeez. If the hospital finds out they lied, they’ll lose their jobs.”
“Well, duh,” Molly says, folding her arms and legs over each other in a very complicated-looking arrangement. “Lying to your employers about something like that is pretty damn serious. I imagine even more so when they are doctors.”
“Yep,” I say, swallowing. “And they really, really love their jobs. I feel so guilty about it.”
“Don’t sweat it. As far as people know it’s just another of those silly rumors. No one is going to discover the truth.”
“Yes,” I say, because I made sure of it.
“Also don’t feel guilty,” Molly says. “They got to enjoy some really hot heat sex. I doubt they regret it. They probably can’t stop thinking about you.”
“Hmmm,” I say flatly. “Pack Stanton are back out there dating again.”
“Really?” Molly says, brows now wrinkling. “They’re dating again? That’s not what I heard on the omega grapevine.”
“They are. My mom’s been setting them up.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Molly asks, climbing onto her feet and bending in half. “You don’t seem to have been yourself these last few days.”
“I’m just run down,” I say, hating that I have to lie to my friend, especially after she covered for me.
Could I tell her? I want to but asking Molly to keep secrets from her own alphas isn’t fair. And the more people that know, the greater the chance the news filters back to the hospital and Daxton, Owen and Wyatt end up fired.
“Hmmm,” Molly says, looking up at me through her legs.
“What?” I say.
“Nothing … just … nothing …”
Does she know? I swallow and roll up to sitting, the action making me a little woozy. Unlike the fake headaches I’ve been using as excuses not to socialize, I wasn’t lying about not feeling so good today.
“I’d better go. Still got a few things to sort out.” I yawn, stretch my hands over my head and stand. “Can I kiss Mitchell goodbye, or are you worried about germs?”
“Have you seen that boy? He’s a germ factory. You know he licked River’s shoe yesterday and the day before last I found him trying to raid the trash can. Honestly, since he started crawling, it’s been a nightmare.”
“He’s a gorgeous little nightmare,” I coo, hooking him out of the bouncer and peppering his slobbery cheeks with kisses.
“He is,” Molly says, “I honestly don’t know how you can leave him.”
“It is very very hard,” I say as he jabs his fingers at my face. “Mitchell, do you want to come with Auntie Harper?”
“No way,” Molly says, taking the baby from me. “He loves his mommy too much.”
“He’s going to grow up to be a massive Mama’s boy.”
“That’s what I’m hoping for.”
I look at them both and my heart aches. I don’t want to go. I don’t want to leave my mom. I don’t want to leave my friend. “We’ll FaceTime often.”
“You better,” Molly says, squeezing my arm, “and as soon as this rascal is sleeping through the night, I’ll be on the first plane out to NYC for a girls’ weekend.”
“I’d like that,” I say.
“Of course, you would. Anyway, you’re not leaving yet. We still have a few days,” Molly says, kissing my cheek. “Oh, I nearly forgot. I have something for you.” She marches off towards the kitchen and I follow her. “Cookies. I hear the ones in NYC are trash.”
“Did you make them?” I ask.
“Obviously – your favorite. Chocolate orange.”
“Oooh yum.” I peel back the lid and take a sniff.
And almost vomit.
“Jeez, is something wrong with them?” Molly leans over and takes a sniff of her own. “They smell perfectly fine to me. You really must be ill. Okay, I changed my mind. I do not need a vomiting bug in this house. Out you go.” She shoos me to the door and then from the doorway waves me goodbye.
“By the way,” she yells at me as I’m climbing into my car, “I’ve started asking around to see if anyone does actually know of any available packs in NYC. I’ll let you know if I find any.”
“Thanks,” I say, hoping beyond hope she’s unsuccessful.
I am really done with packs right now.
In fact, I’m done with men too.