Chapter 15 River
River
It’s been two weeks since my brother, his pack, and friends rescued me.
Two weeks full of worry over if I was pregnant or not.
But today I find out. We’re also discussing how I plan to move forward with my heats and my counseling.
I’ve managed to push off the discussion of that every time Storm brings it up.
It doesn’t help that he’s been watching me like a hawk and they’ve removed every single razor from the house along with anything else they thought I could use to cut myself with.
I love him, but right now I feel smothered. It’s only making me crave the feeling of the blade as it slices through my flesh even more. The way it takes me out of the pain of my reality into something more. Something that I can control.
“Come on,” Torin tells me as he passes by the couch I’ve been sitting on for the last few hours, staring blankly out the window.
“Huh?” While Torin and his alphas have been staying with us, they’ll be leaving to head back to their home soon. Oddly, I’m going to miss him. Apparently, a day after I was rescued, Storm brought me back to his packmates’ home. His new home.
“Get up off your mopey ass and come with me.” He flashes a smile before waving at me to follow him.
Getting up slowly, I pick up my bottle of water off the table and fall in step behind him. Over the last two weeks I’ve grown oddly close to him. He doesn’t push or nag me, and he’s become… my friend. It’s been so long since I had someone I considered that.
“Where are we going?” I ask him, curious when he leads me down a hallway, then outside.
“The way you were looking out that window I thought you’d like to take a walk. Figured we could talk as well.”
Talk. Since that first day when I woke up he hasn’t talked to me about anything serious. But now, I get the feeling that’s changing.
We walk in silence for about ten minutes, moving through the wooded area behind the house.
“Where are we going?” I finally ask. Every horror movie I’ve ever watched is suddenly flashing before my eyes, and I’m starting to wonder if I’ve fallen for the charms of the unknown killer and he’s leading me to my death.
“There’s a lake just up ahead of us. Thought it would be a good place to sit and talk without any interruptions.” He keeps walking and sure enough, about ten minutes later we step out into the most beautiful clearing and just as he said, a lake.
“This is beautiful.” A sense of peace overtakes me as my eyes scan the beauty before me. How this little gem isn't overrun with people is a mystery.
“Isn’t it? I was out for a run the first time we ever visited, and I came across it.
The house your brother and the guys are staying in has been in Tav’s family for a century, passed down from father to son.
” He takes my hand in his and I gasp at the vast difference in his hands and those of the male omegas I knew from school.
While theirs were smooth and soft, his are calloused. “Let’s go sit down on the grass.”
He moves closer to the lake, finding a patch of grass that's right in the sun and takes a seat.
I step over beside him and lower myself down.
Running the palms of my hands along the dark green blades, tickles my skin.
The lake stretches out before us. I close my eyes for a moment, letting the sunlight spill over my face, hot and golden, seeping into my skin.
“Storm is going to talk to you later, but I wanted to give you a heads up. To help you make a decision.”
My eyes open and dart over to him. Decision. What decision am I supposed to make, and why does he need to give me a heads up? Confusion swarms through me at his words.
“Decision?” I gulp hard. My cherry scent souring around me.
“He said he mentioned him, and his pack finding someone.”
“A beta. Yes, he told me. But he hasn’t mentioned her again. Is she coming here? Is he afraid that I won’t approve since she isn’t an omega? Because I don’t care. I just want him to be happy.”
Torin laughs, low and deep. “That’s what he said you’d say.
They’ve lost contact with her. She’s gone silent.
Not answering their calls and no one’s seen her.
There have been rumors of betas going missing and they’re afraid she’s met that fate.
It all links to the Foundation.” He clears his throat, scooting around so that he can face me. “His pack wants to go find her. But…”
“Storm doesn’t want to leave me.”
Torin nods. “I made a suggestion to him. My alphas and I have talked. We have room for you at our home. There’s a garage apartment that you could take. We’re near a college, and they even offer online classes.”
I just sit there, jaw dropped, eyes wide as he speaks. This man and his pack are going out of their way for me. No. Not for me, for Storm. I’d be a nobody to them, not even a blip on their radar of wanting to help if it wasn’t for him.
“We do have some conditions. Therapy being the primary one. You need to go. To get healthy mentally and physically. You’d take our pack last name for safety purposes only. You can be my little sister.”
“Why do I need your last name?” My voice rises as panic takes hold of me. I’d kill for a blade right now.
Torin lets out a heavy sigh, gazing over to the water before looking back at me.
“Storm wants to protect you. To keep all the bad in the world away from you, especially after everything you’ve been through.
That’s where our opinions differ. I don’t think he should shield you.
River, you’re strong. Hell, stronger than the lot of us, so you can take the truth. ”
“He doesn’t like your suggestion,” I whisper.
He shakes his head, reaching out to place his hand on my knee. “You need to convince him it’s what you want. That he needs to go find her along with his pack. He’ll hate himself if he doesn’t.”
We sit there in silence while I process everything I’ve just been told.
“I’ll do it.” I pause. “As long as I’m not a burden. But I want something from you.”
He cocks his head to the side, eyebrow raised. “I’m listening.”
“Teach me to do what you do with the computers. I want to help bring down the Foundation and every other corrupt entity. No one should ever go through what I did. Or what others have at their hands.”
“And you’ll go to therapy. Heal yourself?” he asks.
“I will.”
“Then it looks like we have a deal. We should head back, before Storm sends out the cavalry to find you.” He stands up from the ground, offering his hand out to me. Placing my hand in his, he pulls me up to stand. “Remember, he knows nothing about this conversation, so when he brings it up…”
“Act surprised. I know.” A faint smile tugs at my lips, but it doesn’t quite reach my chest. We share the smallest nod of understanding before turning back toward the house.
***
I sit on the edge of the exam table, my legs swinging back and forth anxiously as Storm paces back and forth across the room. He wasn’t happy when he had to step out of the room for them to do the exam. As soon as they’d finished and stepped out, he was back in the room before the door shut.
“What’s taking them so long?” he growls under his breath.
“It hasn’t been that long. Just sit down and relax.”
He relents and flops down in the chair, muttering quietly, “I still hate that we even have to be here.”
“I’m sorry.” Once again my brother is somewhere because of me. My face drops, and my fingers pick nervously at the hem of my shirt.
He must realize the effect his words have on me because he sits forward in the chair. “No, fuck. I didn’t mean it like that. I just wish it never happened to you. If I hadn’t left, then I could’ve stopped it.”
There's a knock on the door before it opens, and Doctor Thorp steps back inside the room.
“Okay, we have the results. I’m sorry to tell you but you tested positive. You are pregnant, River. I know this isn’t what you wanted to hear.”
“I’m…preg…pregnant.” I swallow hard, choking on my own spit.
“What are the options, Doctor?” Storm asks and I give him a nod in thanks.
“You can have the baby, give it up for adoption or you are still within the timeframe that we can do a medical abortion,” she explains, as she sits down on the stool in front of me.
“Will it be painful?” I ask. I love children, but there’s no way I can have this baby.
“The abortion? No. It’s just two pills. One is Mifepristone which we’d give to you here in the clinic today.
It will block your body from producing the hormone progesterone, which is essential for your pregnancy to continue.
Then, the other pill you will take at home within twenty-four to forty-eight hours.
It’s called Misoprostol. It will cause contractions and bleeding, leading you to have a miscarriage.
To you it will feel like you’re having intense cramps and heavy bleeding, more so than you would with a normal period. ”
“Then it will be over?” I question, ringing my hands together.
“Yes.”
“What about heat suppressants? Scent blockers?” Storm asks, his voice deep, and I can tell he’s holding in his emotions by the way his breath hitches.
The doctor sits there for a moment. Her eyes focused on me, lips pursed.
“Off the record. I can help you get the items. But just this once. From here forward, you will have to do it yourself. I just can’t risk my license."
“We appreciate it, and we understand,” Storm tells her.
“Okay then. River, is this what you want?” She gives Storm a stern look before gazing at me with sincere compassion.
“It is.” I assure her.
“Very well, wait right here, and I will be back with the medication and the other items.”
She stands and leaves the room, carefully shutting the door behind her.
Two pills. That’s all it takes to end the life growing inside of me. But the memory of what I’m doing will eat away at me for the rest of my life.