Chapter 27
Chapter twenty-seven
Evan and James let her be as they drove home, a courtesy that Camelia was quietly grateful for. She wasn't sure if she would have had the self-awareness or the wherewithal not to snap at either of them in the car, had either of them given a real effort to getting her to talk.
When they pulled in front of the house, they stayed quiet. James helped Camelia out of the car and held her hand tightly as he walked her up the front path of the house, and Evan followed the two of them up, his car beeping loudly behind them as he locked it with the fob.
Inside, still silence. James led Camelia into the living room, and then disappeared into the kitchen without a word. Camelia heard some of the pots and metal things banging around, and then there was the click of the gas stove being lit.
Evan appeared in front of her, holding a fluffy blanket in his hands that he wrapped around her shoulders. "Here, baby," he said quietly. "Let me help you."
He knelt in front of her and took her shoes off, unlacing her winter boots with deft fingers as Camelia looked down on him.
She knew that she should say something, that she should be telling him to stop treating her like a porcelain doll or something that would break if he handled it too firmly, but she couldn't bring herself to say the words.
Mostly because she did feel exactly that way, like a porcelain doll. Fragile and breakable.
When her shoes were off, only then did Evan sit beside her and wrap his arm around her shoulders.
He pulled her into his body, gently pressing until she relented, resting her head against his shoulder with a sigh.
A very tiny part of her berated her for her silence, for how stiff she was acting, for the way that she couldn't seem to force herself to speak.
The rest of her was still shaking. Only on the inside, of course; she had strict control over the rest of her body. Every molecule, every limb was locked down.
Evan held her until James returned from the kitchen, a steaming cup of tea in his hands. He sat next to Camelia, gently pushing the warm mug into her hands, then scooting close to her so that their thighs were pressed together and he could lay his hand on top of her leg. Comforting her.
Both of her Alphas were there for her. Waiting patiently for Camelia to be okay, for her to tell them what was wrong.
It took another few minutes before Camelia could find her voice. She blew over the top of the hot tea in her cup, taking a sip, before she finally started speaking, her voice low and soft. "My old school. Did I ever tell either of you why I left?"
They all knew that she hadn't, but Evan answered anyway. "No, baby, you didn't."
Camelia nodded. The tea soothed her throat, and she took another sip before she continued, bracing herself.
"I was one of three Omegas in my class at Harrison, but I was the only one who was single.
The other two girls, they had come already promised to Alphas.
For one girl, it was her high school sweetheart.
Another met her Alpha while she was on a trip to Europe, and he had fallen for her so hard and fast that he had followed her back to the states to be with her.
"I was the only available Omega, and I wasn't trying to hide my status at the time.
It had never gotten me any special treatment while I was in junior high and high school, and I had already been on birth control for years.
I didn't think that there was anything wrong with letting anyone know that I was an Omega, because nobody had cared before then.
" Camelia let out a low bark of a laugh, shaking her head.
"If my mom had been around, she would have told me to be more careful.
Because college is different than high school, and it was immediately clear that there was interest."
James stroked the top of her leg with his fingertips, boosting Camelia's drive to continue. This was a story that she didn't want to tell, but she needed to. Like a festering wound, she needed to purge if she was going to be able to move on.
"The attention seemed innocent enough at first. More guys wanted to work with me on group projects, or sit with me while I was eating food in the quad.
Mostly the Alphas that were in my class and the one above, but a few Betas too.
It was harmless, and I was flattered." Camelia's cheeks burned with humiliation, and she forced herself to take another sip of tea, her hands shaking a little.
"One Alpha started paying more attention to me than all the others, a few months into school.
His name was Jake, and he was nice to me. Gentlemanly."
God, she'd been na?ve.
"He didn't do anything at first, but I started to notice that other guys started to stay away from me.
It left more opportunities for him to get close to me, to sit with me when I was eating or studying in the library.
And about a month before the end of my first year of college, he asked if I wanted to date him.
He was the first guy who had ever been interested in me, in that way, and I said yes immediately. "
Evan scoffed at her side. "What an ass. Taking advantage of you like that."
Camelia grimaced, shaking her head as irritation and guilt swirled inside of her. "I was an idiot. It wasn't hard to take advantage of me."
"You don't have to tell us, if you don't want to," James said quietly. He stroked her leg, and Camelia shook her head again.
"I know I don't. But I need to." She took a deep breath, then continued.
"Jake was gentlemanly at first. He even held my door when he came to pick me up from the dorms so that he could walk me to class.
I was flattered; he was handsome and one of the hot shots on the football team, and he was an Alpha who had taken notice of me and seemed interested in who I really was, not just my status.
He didn't even ask if he would kiss me until we had been going out for nearly six months. "
Looking back, Camelia could see how masterful he'd been. The careful acts, the grooming. The way that he'd manipulated her into thinking that everything they did was her decision.
"Things moved pretty quickly after that.
It was spring semester, and we had sex for the first time on my birthday.
I gave him my virginity." Camelia's lips quirked up, noticing when James sent a questioning look her way.
"I went home during my heat weeks. My dad didn't like the idea of me being around any of the Alphas who might scent me.
Thought that it was dangerous. He was right, of course, but I thought that he was being silly and overprotective.
"Things were fine over the summer between sophomore and junior years, but when junior year rolled around, Jake was.
..different. He was a senior, he was star quarterback on the football team, and it was like he had taken a whole batch of Alpha douche shots over the summer while I'd been in Europe with my dad.
He was aggressive and overprotective, and downright cruel in some instances.
Not necessarily directly towards me; not at first, anyway. "
Camelia felt Evan stiffen next to her, and she knew that they knew the story was coming to an end. The reason that she had come to Ridgeview in the first place, the secret that she'd been keeping to herself in the months that they had known each other.
"He was never physically abusive to me. He never hit me, or anything like that.
But he started to get more possessive as the months went on.
Entitled to my time, and what we did together.
We had been having sex for months, but he started getting more and more aggressive each time.
It was fun, at first; I never knew that I liked it a little rough up until that point, even if it did seem like he took it a little too far sometimes.
" Camelia offered a smile to Evan, trying to get him to relax a little, but his blue eyes were stormy when he looked down at her, and his arm just tightened around her.
"What happened with him, Camelia?" he asked quietly.
Camelia swallowed. She carefully leaned forward and set her cup of tea on the coffee table, twisting her hands together in her lap as she let out a shaky breath.
"I was close to my heat right before winter break, and Jake took me out to celebrate finishing the semester together.
I think that he knew that I was close to my heat.
He had been getting more and more upset with me for fleeing campus during those weeks; he told me that it was his duty as an Alpha to take care of me while I was in need, and that if I was a real Omega, I wouldn't be denying him that. "
Camelia winced, the echo of Jake's rough voice in her head still enough to make goosebumps rise on the back of her neck.
"We fought about it. I told him that I didn't think that he was entitled to my heat, or my time at all.
He'd been too aggressive in the weeks leading up to dinner, and I was starting to want a way out. "
"You told him that?" James' voice was quiet, a little proud, a lot defensive and anxious.
Camelia nodded. "He didn't like that. He.
.." Her voice broke, and she swallowed once before trying again.
"He threw himself at me. Pinned me to the ground.
Told me that he was more than happy to tie me up until I went into heat where nobody could help me but him, and then he was going to make sure that I was his forever. "
Evan let out a disgusted sound. "He wanted to Mate you."
"I think so," Camelia whispered. "I never got to ask, and he never..."
"Camelia," James interrupted, his voice soft with growing horror. "Did he...?"
Camelia barked out a humorless laugh. "Rape me?
" She shook her head. "No. But it was a close fucking call.
The stress of fighting with him had triggered the early stages of my heat, and he had managed to get my pants about halfway down before someone stumbled on the two of us.
We were in this little corner of a restaurant that he had booked out for the two of us, and he had dismissed the entire staff when we got there, but the owner stayed to make sure that we didn't steal shit before they had to close for the night.
" Camelia shook her head, her heart pounding at the memory.
"I was fucking lucky. She called the cops before Jake could explain himself, and he ran away before they got there. The cops took me home and..."
Camelia's voice broke again, and a lump in her throat rose. She had managed to stay so calm during the entire story, but now...
"I reported him, of course. Once my heat was over.
I remembered everything that he said he wanted to do to me, but Jake's parents were big shots of some kind.
Business conglomerate, or whatever?" Camelia shook her head.
"Nothing ever came of it, and I switched over to online learning for Spring semester that year so that I wouldn't have to deal with him.
Got on my suppressants, and then Daddy found out that he was being relocated about a month before the school year ended.
Ridgeview had passed its early admission stage for transfers, but he pulled some strings to get me in. "
"Did you ever see that fucker again?" James' voice was low and dangerous, and Camelia shook her head, gently reaching out to touch his jaw.
She had no doubt that James would hunt to the ends of the earth to find Jake and destroy him if he thought that it would make her happy, especially knowing what she did about his dad.
"No, I didn't. Didn't want to, didn't need to.
Nothing came of the report other than the cops coming around a few more times to verify my story, and there hadn't been enough to go on for them to issue a restraining order against him.
Moving was the next best solution, especially since I only had one more year to finish my degree.
" Camelia shrugged one shoulder, her eyes stinging with unshed tears, but her voice surprisingly steady.
"I...I didn't want to be at risk for any of that again.
So when I came to Ridgeview, the agreement was that I would stay on my suppressants until the year was out, and then my dad and I would sit down to make a decision about what to do from there.
" She looked at Evan, whose expression burned with fury.
"I wasn't planning on the two of you. You fucked up my plans. "
It was a ploy to break the tension, and after a moment, Evan softened. A spark of amusement lit his eyes, and he leaned down to press a gentle kiss to her cheek. "I'm not sorry, baby," he murmured.
"Neither am I," James said, his lips brushing against her ear. He pressed close, his chest firm against her back, and for a moment, Camelia drew strength from her Alphas, surrounding her front and back.
"This shit with the Omegas...it's fucking scary," Camelia whispered. She let her voice crack this time, and a tear slipped down her cheek. "I...I don't want to ever be..."
"You won't," Evan said, cutting her off before she could voice the terrifying fear. He cupped her face, lifting it so that she looked him directly in the eye. "Do you hear me? You will never be put in a position of danger from another Alpha again."
"I'll kill every man who looks at you before I let that happen, sweetheart," James murmured.
Camelia knew that he wasn't exaggerating, and though she knew that it should frighten her, the words calmed her racing heart. "We need to do something about it, though, right?" she asked quietly. "We can't just sit by and let this happen."
Evan wrapped his arms around the both of them, pulling them tight to his chest for a hug. "We'll do what we can, baby. I promise."
Camelia nodded, and then James spoke, his voice soft next to her ear. "We love you, sweetheart. Thank you for telling us."
Camelia swallowed and nodded again, and she was just a little lighter than she had been before.