23. Luna
Luna
I ’m grateful Officer Stone doesn’t make any attempt at small talk on the drive over to the police station. He’s definitely my favorite out of the group of police officers, considering he didn’t touch any of my guys.
He also turned the heat up in the car up as high as it’ll go, which I really appreciate, considering I’m only in a sundress.
When he opens the door for me, he’s holding out his leather bomber jacket.
“It’s pretty cold out here,” he says.
I don’t take it. His scent reminds me of black pepper, and the thought of being surrounded in it makes my throat close up.
It’s nothing like the scents of my guys. It would almost feel like a betrayal to smell like another alpha if I can help it. I’d much rather be cold.
“No, thank you,” I say.
Look at me now. I’m saying no to an alpha I don’t know. I never would’ve been able to do that before I met the guys, and they showed me how alphas are actually supposed to act.
His eyebrows go up in surprise at my refusal, and he just shrugs his jacket back on .
“Okay, well, let’s get you out of the cold then.” He turns back as he leads me into the station. “Do you have anyone we can call to get you some things?”
“Can you call any of the guys?”
“The Ward pack?” Officer Stone asks, wincing a bit.
When I nod, he sighs. “No. I can’t call them to come here for you.
I don’t think they’re gonna get arrested, considering what you told us about where you came from and how they helped you, but they still kept an unregistered omega.
Other packs could get pissy since access to most Southside omegas is supposed to be regulated. ”
“Will I ever get to see them again?” I ask, my voice soft, weak, and shaky. It’s like all the strength that I’ve managed to grow with them is slowly starting to disappear at the thought of never being able to see them again.
I hate this feeling of whiplash I get between moments of growth and reminders that not all things have changed: I’m still an omega. And that means the alphas around me get the last say.
“You should be able to see them again after your registration. It may have to be regulated for a little bit, but I’m sure you can make things work if you’re serious about that pack,” he answers, opening the door to a small, bare room with nothing but a table and a couple of chairs.
He gestures for me to take a seat. “Are you sure there’s no one I can call for you?”
I hesitate. “Could—could I call another omega? She’s bonded.”
“Of course,” Officer Stone says, seemingly a bit relieved that he can actually do something for me.
“Do you know her phone number so I can call her?”
“No, but her name is Charlotte. She’s Chase’s sister.”
Officer Stone nods. “I don’t know her number, but I know one of her bondmates. I’ll send him a message and ask for her to come and bring you some clothes and stuff you’ll need when you go to the Omega center. ”
“Thank you,” I say.
“Do you want to wait until she gets here before we start any interviews?” He asks. “That way, you can have a bit of support before we get started?”
“Yes—yes, please. Will you be interviewing me?”
I hope I don’t have to talk to the Chief or any of the other officers there about my past. Officer Stone is still a scary, unknown alpha, but he’s a lot less scary than the others, since I haven’t seen him angry and he’s actually listened to what I have to say.
“Yeah, that’s why they called me in for this,” he says. “I’m gonna go make that call now. Anything you need before I go? Any water? Coffee?”
“Water, please.”
“Water it is,” he says, backing up towards the door. “I’ll be right back.”
I rub my hands up and down my arms, goosebumps still raised on my flesh. The police station is definitely warmer than it is outside, but it’s still too cold for me to be remotely comfortable. Maybe it would’ve been a good idea to accept Officer Stone’s offer for his jacket.
No. I shake my head, rubbing my chest to try and ease the ache in my chest that starts up when I think about being surrounded by another alpha’s scent.
There’s a knock at the door before it opens, revealing a woman in a police uniform. Her dark hair is tied in a slicked-back bun at the base of her head. She’s relatively tall for a woman and her light, mild scent of laundry detergent tells me she’s a beta.
“Hey there, I’m Officer Carleton, but you can call me Jess. Officer Stone told me to bring you some water and keep you company,” she says with a little wave.
“Hi, I’m—I’m Luna,” I say, taking the styrofoam cup full of water she’s extending out to me. I gulp half of it down in one go to try and ease the dryness in my mouth. “Thank you, Officer Carleton.”
She waves her hand in the air as she slides into one of the other chairs at the table. “No need for the formality, just Jess is fine. The titles make things more stressful than they have to be, and from the sound of things, you don’t need any more stress.”
“O—Okay, thank you, Jess,” I say, rotating the cup slowly to keep my hands occupied.
“There you go!” She says. Her eyes drift up and down my body, but it doesn’t feel invasive like it has when other men have done it. If anything, she seems concerned. Her gaze catches on my arms. “Did they seriously bring you here in that? No one gave you anything else to wear?”
I guess my goosebumps are obvious. Either that or I’m not hiding my shivering very well.
“N—no, they just took me.”
“From the Ward Pack House, huh?”
I nod, biting the inside of my cheek to try and keep the whirlpool of emotions at bay. I can’t think about the looks on each of their faces when I left after hearing about my past. They won’t want me again. Not when they know.
“Did they not give you anything to wear either?” She asks. Her tone isn’t as accusing as the other police officers. If anything, she sounds a bit curious.
“No!” I say, meeting her eyes. If there’s anything I’m confident about, it’s how well the Ward Pack took care of me when they had no obligation to.
“They bought me a gigantic closet full of new clothes and things. The officers—the officers that came took me here before I had a chance to get anything.”
Jess rolls her eyes. “That sounds like something that would happen.” She starts unzipping her police jacket.
“The Chief gets a bit trigger-happy when it comes to things that have to do with his daughter. Here, do you want my jacket? Just until the people Officer Stone is calling bring you some extra things?”
I hesitate. She’s a beta, so she won’t carry any scent. Plus, she’s a woman. It doesn’t seem like she has any alternative motives to the offer other than wanting to make me more comfortable.
“If—if it’s not too much trouble.”
“You’re such a doll,” Jess says, a bright smile on her face. “No trouble at all.”
I bow my head in thanks, sliding on the jacket. It’s warm from her body heat.
“Thank you,” I say.
“No worries, wouldn’t want you freezing your butt off in here before we can get to the bottom of things and start helping you.”
“Are—are you going to be here for the—the interrogation?” I whisper, my voice cracking.
“Oh sweetie,” Jess says, her eyes sad. “It’s not going to be an interrogation, I promise. It’s an interview. The information you give us is so we can help you better. And yeah, I’ll be here. Officer Stone thought it’d be best if you could have another woman here to support you.”
“I—I’d appreciate that.”
“It’ll be pretty low-key, I promise. We can go as slow or fast as you want, okay? We just need to know things like where you came from, how you got here, what happened to you, those sorts of things.”
“O—Okay.” I shift nervously in my seat. I’m a bit warmer now that I’m wearing Jess’s jacket, but the hard seat beneath me and the sterile room make me uncomfortable. “I’d like to go as quickly as possible.”
Jess smiles at me sympathetically before pulling out her phone.
“I totally get that, let me just let Stone know to get his ass back over here so we can get started.”
I tug Jess’s jacket more tightly around me and nod slowly.
When Officer Stone returns to the room, he takes up so much space it has me shifting nervously. It’s hard to get used to, being around someone so large.
Sure, Madden is bigger, but Madden is safe .
There’s something about being around a new alpha that makes me nervous, especially one I know I’m going to have to share details of the worst days of my life with.
“Hey there, Luna,” he says, flashing me a kind smile as he sits down in the chair furthest away from me. He leans onto his elbows, almost like he’s trying to make himself appear smaller for me.
I appreciate the sentiment. He seems to really care about making me more comfortable.
“Hi,” I whisper back.
“I called Dawson, one of Charlotte’s bondmates. It sounds like she’s heading over as soon as she can, but I hear from Officer Carleton you want to get started now?”
“Y—yes.”
“Alright then, let’s get started so we can get you out of here and more comfortable as soon as possible,” he says, pulling a notepad and pen out from his jacket. “Where are you from?”
I take a deep breath. This is it. “I’m from the Southside.”
The interview is long. A lot longer than I thought it would be.
Officer Stone is good at his job. He’s extremely thorough with his questions, making sure they have all the information they need. I don’t even make it past talking about my childhood with my parents before I start crying, but both he and Jess make sure that I have space to catch my breath.
After what feels like a numb eternity, they finally know everything I have to say about what I know about Alpha Niall, my parents, and the betas that I was sold to.
I sniffle, wiping my nose with a tissue from the box Jess got me when I first started crying. I glance up at Jess, and wince at her expression .
She’s shocked. It’s plainly written across her face. I guess maybe she hasn’t heard about backgrounds like mine.
She also pities me. I can see it in her eyes.
I don’t know if I like that.