Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Chloe
M y head spins as we pull up in front of the Omega Registration Center.
I still can’t believe I’m free from Louie. Every time I blink, I expect to open my eyes and find myself back in that bedroom, the door locked with no hope of escape.
When Holden and Dominic stepped into the hospital room, I thought they were a hallucination, and I’m still not sure that my escape is real.
I touch the oversized blue sweatshirt and black leggings I wear.
Our first stop had been a superstore, where Dominic left me in the backseat with Holden while he ran inside to buy me something to wear. Changing out of my hospital gown went a long way toward feeling more human.
A hand covers mine, and my head jerks up to find Holden watching me with concern. “Are you sure you’re up for this?”
“She is.” Dominic twists around in the driver’s seat to face us. “The courtship needs to be canceled before we can take her back to Misty Pines, or Louie will just send the police to ‘rescue’ her and charge us with interference to his claim.”
Holden huffs in annoyance. “I wasn’t asking you.”
“No, he’s right.” My voice comes out hoarse. “The faster I deal with this, the better.”
Despite my brave words, I don’t climb out of the car. What if I go inside and they vanish again?
Holden squeezes my hand. “Do you want me to come in with you?”
My head swims with relief. “Yes, please.”
Dominic faces forward once more, his knuckles white on the steering wheel. “I’ll wait in the car.”
Panic tightens my chest, suffocating me. “You’re not coming in with us?”
He whips back around. “You want me to?”
My hand spasms under Holden’s. “I-If you don’t want to?—”
“I want to.” Dominic shuts off the engine, climbing out of the car before Holden and I even unlatch our seatbelts.
Dominic hurries around the front of the car and offers me a hand to help me out. Not sure that I can climb out of the car on my own, I reach up to take it but freeze when I notice the darkening bruise and spot of blood from the IV.
“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking.” Flushing with embarrassed disappointment, Dominic drops his hand.
Something twists inside me, and I lunge to catch his fingers.
We both freeze for a heartbeat, staring at each other in shock. A month ago, I never would have willingly touched Dominic. Not after everything he put me through in high school. But the Omega in me, so starved for my chosen pack, latches on to the bond that existed as children, demanding the touch of my Alpha.
Dominic’s Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows, and his hand shifts in mine, long fingers sliding across my palm and shifting until he clasps my hand.
My breath catches, pulse quickening. Dominic’s touch feels so much different from Louie’s, who made my skin crawl, triggering fear and disgust. There’s still fear with Dominic, the memory of the hurt he caused, but also sparks of hope and yearning.
Just as slowly, he helps me rise from the car and catches my waist when I sway from lightheadedness. Holden steps up on my opposite side, his hands hovering over my casted arm, uncertain where to touch.
Dominic solves the problem by passing me into Holden’s hands while he closes my car door.
Holden’s arm slips around me. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m tired.” My head drops to his chest, and he starts to purr to comfort me. “Missed you.”
His purring increases, the vibrations flowing through me, and his lips brush the top of my head. “Missed you, too.”
“Okay, you two, enough cuddling.” A false brightness fills Dominic’s voice as he tucks the car keys into his pocket. “You can snuggle all you want once we’re done here.”
Right, the Omega Registration Center.
With a deep breath, I step away from my purring Alpha and run my hands over my hair. “Do I look okay?”
Holden bites his lip while Dominic grimaces.
A whine escapes me. “Is it that bad?”
“Here, taking this off might help.” Holden reaches for my uninjured hand and tries to remove my hospital bracelet, but the material refuses to rip. “What’s this thing made of?”
“Plastic.” Dominic reaches for the utility knife at his belt and slices off the blue band with ease. “There we go.”
I rub the red mark left on my wrist, the motion made awkward by my cast. Only one more step to my freedom.
In the past, guilt over what would happen to my mom held me back. After her complete indifference to what would happen to me when she handed me over to Louie… I can’t continue to clutch on to the hope that she loves me.
She made her bed. Let her lie in it.
With a deep breath, I straighten my spine. “Okay, I can do this.”
The automatic doors swish open as we step into the Omega Registration Center.
I’ve never been to one of these places. As we walk, I take in the sleek, modern lobby, the government insignias emblazoned on the white walls and the digital displays of Omega rights scrolling by in an endless loop.
Fingers trembling, I reach out to take Holden’s hand. His warm, steady presence beside me eases my anxiety. I inhale his sweet, comforting vanilla pheromones, letting them calm my frayed nerves.
Dominic strides ahead, his citrusy musk leaving a protective trail for us to follow.
As we approach the front desk, a fresh wave of anxiety crashes over me. What if Louie finds out I’m gone and tracks me here? What if they refuse to let me cancel the contract and send me back to him? Horrible scenarios flicker through my mind. I can almost smell Louie’s cloying, poisonous almond scent, feel his hands on me…
Holden squeezes my fingers, pulling me out of my spiraling thoughts. He gives me a small, encouraging smile, hazel eyes filled with warmth behind his curly bangs. “It’s going to be okay. We’re right here with you.”
I take a shaky breath to slow my galloping pulse. Omegas have the right to cancel contracts, no questions asked. They won’t send me back to Louie.
Dominic glances over his shoulder, his chiseled face filled with fierce protectiveness. “We won’t let anything happen to you.”
I draw strength from my Alphas, square my shoulders, and step toward the counter, ready to claim my freedom as an Omega. I will never be a prisoner to Louie’s twisted desires again. This is my chance at a new life, and I’m seizing it with both hands, come what may.
As we approach, the receptionist raises her head from her computer, taking in my unkempt pink hair, oversized sweats, and trembling hands.
A bitter note of suspicion mars her crisp linen scent when she studies Holden and Dominic, who take up a protective stance on either side. “How may I help you?”
“I’d like—” My voice cracks, and I clear my throat before trying again. “I’m here to terminate my courtship.”
The guys earn another suspicious stare. “Are these the Alphas you’re terminating your courtship with?”
“No!” My shout echoes, earning the attention of other workers. I lower my voice. “No, it’s with a different Alpha.”
“I understand.” She holds out her hand. “Identification, please.”
My stomach drops with dismay. Why didn’t I expect this? “Oh, I don’t…”
“I have it!” Holden pulls my sparkly wallet out of his back pocket, and with a chagrined shrug, he passes it to me. “Tell you about it later.”
Relieved, I rise onto my tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “Thank you.”
Pink rises in his cheeks, and he starts to purr before he restrains himself.
The restrictive cast hinders me as I wiggle my ID free from the clear plastic sleeve, but it finally comes free, and I place it in her palm.
Lips pursed, she scrutinizes the ID before shifting her hawk-like stare to me, studying me like I’m a butterfly pinned to a board. But after a moment, she slides the card into a scanner.
The machine whirs and beeps, and I hold my breath, my pulse racing. This is it. My ticket to a new beginning, away from Louie’s interference in my life.
Please, please let this work.
The receptionist frowns at her screen, brows knitting together. “It doesn’t appear that we have you registered in the system, Ms. Richardson.”
I frown before realization strikes. “My mother registered me as a teenager. I didn’t have my license at the time. Check under Chloe Sinclair.”
Her frown deepens. “Do you have proof of your name change?”
“Yes!” I reach into the pocket behind my credit cards and pull out the certificate I shoved in there when I needed it for my license and never took it out.
I thrust it at the woman. “Here you go.”
She takes it and unfolds the sharp creases to read the print. “Okay, we will need to update your file…” The frown returns. “Your original registration appears to have a discrepancy. The blood type listed on your ID differs from what’s on record.”
The world tilts, and I grab the edge of the counter, the laminate cool beneath my clammy fingers. “Wh-what does that mean?”
Beside me, Dominic and Holden tense, growls rising from both men at my distress.
The receptionist ignores them. “It happens sometimes. Your sample probably got mixed up. We’ll need to collect a new one and update your record for future courtships.”
Dominic leans forward. “Can we do this today?”
“Of course. It’s a simple process.” She finishes scanning my documents and returns them to me. “It’s a hundred-dollar fee.”
“I’ve got it.” Dominic brings out his wallet.
“Don’t be silly.” I push his hand down and wiggle my credit card free. “I can pay for it myself.”
“Right.” He returns his wallet to his pocket. “My apologies.”
The receptionist runs my card and brings out a kit. “Clean your finger with the included alcohol swab, then prick it and fill the five dots on the card with blood. Once done, place the card in the protective sleeve. It takes two weeks for the results to be added to your file. Once it’s done, you’ll receive an email. Is the one on your account still correct?”
She reads it off, and I nod. “That’s the one.”
As I take the kit and open it, a sense of unease fills me. In the past, I didn’t do one of these, so how did my mother register me with the Omega Registration Center? Did she falsify my sample? Whose blood did she use instead?
Bile rises in my throat at this newest betrayal. How could she? Yet even as fury consumes me, pieces click into sickening place. Vivian’s eagerness to arrange my courtship with Louie. Her dismissal of my reservations. The glee when she told me Louie would take care of us both.
God, I’m such a fool. She sold me out, forging my records to trap me with that monster. All to fuel her addictions, shopping and guzzling away my future.
Angry tears threaten to spill over, and phantom hands paw at me. I can’t breathe. Can’t think.
Concern creases the receptionist’s brow. “Are you all right?”
“She’s afraid of needles,” Dominic says, the lie smooth as butter. “Holden, why don’t you take Chloe over to the sitting area while I buy her juice from the vending machine down the hall?”
“Sure.” Holden’s hand covers my back. “Come on, sugar. Take deep breaths.”
As he leads me toward a seating area, Dominic asks the receptionist, “If the DNA sample is wrong in the system, what does it mean for her current courtship?”
“Since a proper verification was not completed, the courtship is deemed invalid.”
Invalid. The word tolls through me like a bell, drowning out the roaring in my ears.
My knees weaken, and I sag against Holden. He wraps an arm around my waist to steady me, and I clutch his shirt, burying my face in his shoulder.
Invalid. Not binding. I don’t belong to Louie and never did.
It’s over. I’m free.
Even as giddy hope bubbles through me, dread coils beneath it. Vivian must have known falsifying my DNA sample would mean invalidating the contract once the discrepancy came to light. What was her plan? Or did she think it would go unnoticed until after Louie Marked me?
Holden eases me onto a sofa, his arm still around me. “Keep breathing. This is a lot, but once we’re done here, we can go home.”
Home? What does that word mean now? My apartment, where Grady no longer lives down the hall? Certainly not my mother’s flat in the Mosswood.
So many questions swirl through my mind that I’ll never have answers to. Once Vivian realizes I’ve stopped paying her debt… Stopped fulfilling the courtship with Louie… She’ll hate me and clutch her secrets even tighter to use as bargaining chips.
Dominic crouches in front of me, pressing an open apple juice into my hand. “Here, this always helped settle your nerves when we were kids.”
“Thank you.” My hand trembles as I take a sip, and the shaking calms with the rush of sugary sweetness over my tongue. I drain half the bottle in three swallows.
Holden rubs circles on my back. “Feeling better?”
“Yeah.” I return the juice to Dominic, who caps it. “Sorry, it’s just… Nine years , and it was invalid .” A hysterical laugh escapes me. “I never had to…”
Wetness trickles down my cheeks, and I lift my hand to brush away the tears. “Why am I crying? It’s good that the courtship is invalid.”
Holden rubs my back. “Very good.”
“It is.” I wipe away more tears. “I’m just so hungry. And tired. And my whole body hurts.”
Dominic’s hand lifts, hesitates, then settles feather light on my knee. “Will you tell us about what happened once we’re done here?”
“Yes.” I scrub my sleeve over my face. “After I shower. Let’s give this lady my blood so we can go home.”
We return to the counter, and I prick my finger in front of the receptionist, filling each of the dots on the card. When I finish, I slide it into the protective sleeve and hand it over. “Are you sure the courtship is invalid?”
“Yes.” She purses her lips. “If you’d like, I can also put a note in your file that you came in to cancel the contract.”
“Yes, please.” I grip the edge of the counter with my uninjured hand. “There can’t be any doubt.”
Her fingers fly over the keyboard. “Done. While you’re here, would you like to register your preferred pack or Alphas? We can begin the verification process as soon as your DNA results are on file. It will speed up the process.”
Dominic stills while Holden’s head turns toward me with a hopeful expression.
Every part of me wants to say yes, to jump into a courtship with the Alphas of Misty Pines. But we still have so many unresolved issues. Is it moving too fast? Am I ready for this? Ready to open my heart, to risk everything for a chance at happiness?
What if they change their minds? What if they realize I’m not worth the trouble?
Holden’s hand finds mine, his fingers lacing through my own. “We’re here for you. No matter what you decide.”
Dominic’s jaw tightens. “You don’t have to register a courtship with all of us. It can just be Holden for now, and Blake when he can come down here.”
An ache opens in my chest. “You don’t want to court me?”
“Of course I do.” He looks away. “But I won’t push you into deciding right now.”
The anxiety from earlier returns. “What about Nathaniel?”
“He’s willing to give this a chance.” Holden rubs my back. “A courtship is only an agreement to get to know each other and see if a bond will form. You can change your mind later.”
I take a deep breath, the scent of vanilla and citrus mingling into a comforting combination.
But even as I savor the moment, doubt whispers in the back of my mind.
Both hopeful and anxious, I search Holden’s face for any sign of hesitation. “Are you sure about listing yourselves as potential Alphas for me? Even if we can change our minds later, it’s still a big step.”
Holden squeezes my hand. “We’re sure, Chloe. We care about you, and we want to be there for you, in whatever way you need.”
Dominic doesn’t waver. “My feelings haven’t changed since middle school.”
Tears prick at the corners of my eyes, but for once, they’re not tears of fear or sorrow. They’re tears of gratitude and hope.
With a deep breath, I turn to face the receptionist. “Yes, I’d like to enter a courtship with Holden Wright and Dominic Sterling.”
My friends.
My protectors.
My potential mates.