25. Candice
Chapter 25
I t’s after 8 when I wake up again, and I only know this because Gabe is grousing to Leo that he didn’t wake him up, and now they’re going to be late to the shop. Xan and Jacks are missing behind me, but the bed is still warm when I reach back, so they can’t have been up for long. Leo still has his arms wrapped around me, rolling his eyes at his pack leader. “Well, you could have set an alarm, brought in your clock, or your phone. I didn’t want to make Candice get up.”
“Sorry,” I mumble against his chest. “My bad, I don’t normally sleep in, sorry.” I rub my face over the warm enticing skin in front of me, hit with a wave of spiced chai and oranges, I’m torn between licking a long stripe between his pecs, and just closing my eyes and going back to sleep .
Then I remember why I’m here instead of at home in my own nest, and it feels like a bucket of cold water was dumped over me. We have to go to the police this morning, and then go get some of my work stuff, so I can work from here, at least for a few days.
Reluctantly I roll away from Leo’s warm chest and scoot off the edge of the nest. I have too much shit to do to stay in bed all day, even if it is surrounded by my delicious smelling alphas.
My alphas?
I’m not sure how safe of a thought that is, but my chest feels warm and fuzzy with it. And I want them to be mine, I just…I’m not sure how. It feels too easy.
It feels like I’m being a slut with 4 guys at once.
But they don’t see it that way. Hell, judging by the way we all cuddled up last night, they seem fine sharing. I mean, Jacks is…intense, but Leo and Gabe were ok too, and they don’t seem to be in the same sort of relationship as Xan and Jacks. I don’t remember much about my parents other than I kind of remember my mom and dads all being affectionate towards each other….I had to move in with Grandpa when I was nine, and it was just the two of us at that point.
There’s too much to think about this morning, and I can’t deal with this on top of the police station and moving my stuff. I can’t go down that rabbit hole this morning. I must have zoned out again, Gabe’s hand is on my shoulder.
“You ok, little omega?” He looks concerned.
Shit, I’m staring, I should reply .
His eyebrows drop lower and his voice is louder. “Candice, are you okay? What’s wrong?” He pulls me closer and I take a deep shuddering breath. “Yeah, sorry…sorry, just, lost in thought. Sorry.”
Shit, too many sorries again.
His big hand smooths my hair back. “No worries baby, you just looked a million miles away. I know you’ve got a lot goin’ on right now. I’m just worried ‘bout you. Sorry.”
His arms wrap around me, and I just want to sink into his chest and not deal with life right now. But nothing is gonna get done if I don’t do it. He lets me go when I step back, but he doesn’t look happy about it.
“Sorry, Gabe, I just…my mind wanders sometimes, and I was thinking about family stuff.” He looks like he wants to ask for more, but I can’t think about that right now.
“I’ll tell you all later, I don’t want to think about it too much right now. Lots to do, ya know?” I shuffle in place before turning and sliding towards the bathroom to get cleaned up and changed for the day.
So much stuff to do.
T he police don’t look surprised to see me again, maybe they expect repeat visitors when someone gets vandalized. I don’t know, so I’m just rolling with it. Jacks and Leo seem to read my mood better than Gabe and flank me for support instead of trying to alpha me and be in charge. I appreciate everything Gabe is doing for me, but I’ve been taking care of myself for years, and while it can be hard–so fucking hard sometimes–I think I’m doing a fair job of it.
The police take my name and contact information, they record my statement, they ask for any information I remember about the caller, male or female voice, anything that stood out. They have me fill out a form so that they can get a copy of my phone records, if it comes to that. Which I do. I mostly use it for checking work messages, and now for the guys to contact me. Nobody has my number, which is part of what makes this all the worse.
I’m finally free to go get my stuff, and since Leo says he doesn’t have to be at the office for another hour he comes with us to keep Jacks from driving. I did offer to drive, but will readily admit that if I pull the seat far enough forward on the Jeep to reach the pedals, my boobs are squished against the steering wheel, so yeah, letting them drive makes more sense. Still, I don’t want them to treat me like an invalid.
I’m short, not broken.
Fuckin’ tall people.
I’m not mad at them, not really, I am frustrated with the situation, and I am mentally taking it out on them. I miss my cat, I miss my car, and I miss my nest. The one Jacks made me is nice, but it doesn’t feel like mine, exactly. Maybe we can take some of my nest to the new nest, at least while I am staying there.
We finally pull up in front of my little house and I use my key fob to turn off the alarm. Nothing looks out of place, but there is a weird twisty feeling in my back, like almost a shiver…something’s wrong, but I don’t know what.
Jacks seems to feel it too, and asks for my keys so he can check on everything. I grumble, but hand them over, I know he’s trying to help. Instead of going through the front door, he puts both hands on top of the fence, one leg up and braces against it…then tosses himself over.
Can all alphas do that? Should I put in a garden behind the fence, with plant stakes…or a moat? What is the proper response when you find out that the fence you put up for privacy and protection won’t actually do more than the bare minimum to keep people out?
Maybe barbed wire? My annoyed inner voice mumbles. I swear, these alphas are just throwing all my preconceptions about safety right out the fuckin’ window. I know I am grumpy from stress…but come on.
A few minutes later Jacks opens the front door from the inside, marches over to the Jeep and pulls me into a tight hug.
“I’m so sorry, Little Lion, we need to call the cops…again.” He sounds both pissed and resigned.
Fuck.
Jacks
A s soon as we pull up, I know something is off. Candice’s scent had taken on a burnt sugar edge the whole morning with how stressed she was, but this was different, more sour and worried. It feels like there’s a low hum in the back of my skull. Something is definitely wrong, and I don’t want my omega walking into it.
Once she hands over the keys, I hop the fence, and make my way around to the back door. I don’t need to pick the lock this time at least. But as I round the house, it looks like I wouldn’t need to do that anyway, the glass on the back door is smashed in, and the door’s hanging open, there are a few drops of blood on the concrete outside. I crouch low, opening the door as quietly as possible. But I don’t smell anyone else in the house. Candice’s scent is still everywhere, but there’s something else, almost too faint for me to catch. Darker and heavier than her, angry.
I open the door to her nest and look in, the room is shredded, with blankets and pillows thrown everywhere. I don’t go in, because the police will need to do an investigation, and I don’t want to mess anything up. I walk quickly through the rest of the house…Iggy’s terrarium is knocked to the floor, but it doesn’t look shattered at least. Several of her books are off the shelves and it looks like someone swept her photos and frames down. Glass litters the floor.
I walk to her office, dread filling me with each step, this was her sanctuary, and I will find who did this. I open the office door and swear loudly. Her shelf with her sketchbooks is tipped over, ripping the anchor out of the wall. Papers are scattered over the floor where it looks like someone yanked pages out of them, the covers torn off. Her computer monitor is just a starburst pattern of broken glass across the screen, and her drawing tablet is laying on the floor, broken, and covered in plaster dust where someone slammed it repeatedly into the wall.
Her tower is on its side, dented, a boot-print well defined on the metal case, so I take out my phone and grab a photo, just in case. Her office chair has been cut up, stuffing and chunks of leather mixed in with the papers and other debris on the floor.
Fuck, I wonder if I can just take her home, and forget about it. So she doesn’t have to go through this today, after everything else.
I know I can’t, but I also know she’ll be devastated. My gut churns with anger and nausea as I imagine her reaction.
Fuck.
Better get this over with.
I head out of the front door. She’s standing beside the Jeep, chewing on her thumbnail. Her eyes look up at me, and I see both hope and dread.
I’m gonna kill this motherfucker .
“I’m so sorry, Little Lion, we need to call the cops…again.”
Leo is staring at me, and I shake my head, he pulls out his phone and dials the police while walking into Candice’s house, and I hear when he starts cursing. Leo is the most laid back guy I’ve ever met. Hearing him this upset is kind of disturbing. When he comes back outside, he is practically yelling into the phone.
“I was just at the station, I know there are no emergencies, get some people down here now because we need to get this sorted out and get our girl home. I will not have her standing around all day upset because your department can’t pull your heads out of your collective asses.” Even Candice looks taken aback by the fierce snarl on Leo’s face, as she reaches for him, rubbing her hand down his arm.
She shouldn’t have to comfort him, it’s her house that is trashed, but I think it must be an omega thing, as she pulls out of my arms to wrap hers around his waist.
Leo takes a deep breath and settles. “Yes, fine. I’m just…upset. Yes, someone will be here. But we can’t go in or do anything to clean up, until you arrive. Yes, I or one of my packmates will be here with her. No…just…please, hurry.” By the time he hangs up he has curled his big body around Candice, breathing in her scent, and offering comfort as much as taking his own.
Once he’s calmed down, he asks me to call the garage and leave a message for Gabe. He doesn’t want to go into work, but Candice insists that people are counting on him, and only her demanding that he leave gets him to move. He can come back after his appointments and pick us up, or we will have one of the guys come by and get us.
After he pulls away Candice shakes herself and starts marching toward the door. I step in front of her, not wanting to grab her when she already looks like she is about to break.
“Little Lion, Candice, you can’t…I mean…I don’t want you to go in there, ok? The cops will be here soon, but they’ll need to look around and do cop stuff before we can do anything. Alright? I know you want to see, but just…trust me ok, I’ll take care of it.
Now, on that note, how much stuff was stored on your computer, how much might be lost if it got damaged?”
She looks up at me, tears in her eyes. “My computer? Mostly just recent stuff, unfinished sketches. I store everything online, so only a couple days worth of work. But my photos, stuff from my grandpa…all of that…I…how bad is it?”
Closing my eyes I pull her into my arms as she starts crying. “It’ll be ok, I’ll take care of it.”
I know I’m repeating myself at this point, but I’m not sure what else to do as I rock her back and forth against me with her tears soaking into my shirt.
Then we wait. I lean against her house, holding her against me while I text Gabe. After that I leave a message with Kelly at the front, Candice doesn’t want them to come rushing over and have even more to deal with at work. I want whatever helps her be happy .
I ask her questions to take her mind off of what’s happening, while my own mind spins and makes plans. We wait, because I can’t do any of those plans until after the police leave. We talk about what color she might want to paint the nest, and about what she might like to do with her room at the house. We don’t really need a spare room anyway, no one visits…and if they do, fuck’em, they can get a hotel.
Finally the police arrive, they go through, take a lot of photos, but there isn't much they can do, take some samples, a few pieces of broken glass from the busted door that have blood on them, photos of the bootprint. But there isn’t a lot of evidence, no fingerprints or anything glaringly obvious. They’ll send over a copy of the report for insurance purposes, and I seeth as Candice cries. Then we go inside and start sorting through her life again. She looks into the office, closes the door and goes to her nest. More loud sobbing comes from there.
Gabe comes over for his lunch break, and helps us collect what isn’t destroyed of her nest and clothes, and her broken computer tower and takes us back to the house. After locking up I pocket her keys, I’ll need those later.
I bundle her into the nest at home, holding her until she falls asleep, then I go start cleaning up, washing all the nesting stuff she brought over to go in her room. Taking the side off of her computer tower, the asshole snapped the motherboard in half when he stomped on it, but the hard drive looks intact, so I’ll salvage what I can. After dinner I’ll take Xan over, we can board up the back door, and then clean up some. Even safe in our home, I won’t leave her by herself.
I told her I would take care of this, and I will. Checking in on Iggy I find that she is just chilling on top of her terrarium, so I pick her up and put her on my shoulder to have some company while I work on laundry and getting dinner ready.
So much to do.