Chapter 12 Who Are You?
Chapter twelve
Who Are You?
In the morning, I awoke alone.
Still clutching at sleep, I groggily reached out, expecting to find Cole but found only empty space. The fog of sleep vanished quickly.
I opened my eyes and lay still for a moment.
Was last night a dream?
I touched my throat where teeth had been and prodded, creating a dull ache.
The way my pussy clenched at the memory confirmed I hadn’t dreamt Cole waking me from a nightmare in the middle of the night.
Had she spent the night or left when I fell asleep?
I slowly got up. In the bathroom, I saw the blue bruising on my neck in the shape of a bite. I hesitated in front of the shower, only in that moment recognising that I smelled like Cole, her scent lingering on my skin and in my hair, and the thought of washing her off felt wrong.
I settled on washing my face, brushing my teeth, and untangling my hair. Anxiety as to what Cole or others would think made me feel ill. But the idea of washing her away was somehow worse. I decided if Cole didn’t like her scent on me, she shouldn’t have put it there.
I got dressed; it was the day after the full moon, and I had another day off; everyone did.
My muscles still ached like I’d worked out every muscle group to failure and was paying the price the next day. I guess I had. I just wasn’t used to shifting or the aftermath.
The aftermath.
Last night’s shift brought with it more than sore muscles.
A true mate bond.
The irony wasn’t lost on me.
Having a true mate was one thing. But that true mate being Cole… How was I meant to process that or deal with it? What was I meant to do?
What happened now? After last night?
I walked past Cole’s room. The door was open, but she wasn’t there.
Anxiety washed over me as I descended the stairs to find Cole.
As I entered the living room, I was surprised to see someone other than Cole.
“Oh,” I said, the unexpectedness of walking into the room and finding a man leaving me audibly.
He was just standing there. Out of place. His blond hair was short on the back and sides, floppy on top, with a moustache like a yellow hairy caterpillar across his lip. He was wearing brown trousers and a white, pressed, long-sleeved shirt with the cuffs rolled up.
He turned away from whatever had his attention out of the window and towards me.
“You must be the omega I heard Colette had taken in,” he said.
“Where is she?” I asked.
Why was a random guy in the house? I hadn’t seen him before.
He smiled, amused.
“She didn’t mention you were feisty,” he said instead of answering.
“What does that mean?” I asked. Feisty? For asking where Cole was in her home?
“Did your previous alpha not teach you any manners?” he asked.
“Manners? Who are you?” I asked.
“You don’t know?” he asked.
I suppressed the frustrated groan that wanted to rumble out of my throat.
“Cole hasn’t mentioned you,” I answered and smirked when I saw his annoyance.
“I’m Andrew, heir of Pack Derecho,” he introduced and stepped casually towards me.
“Who are you?” he asked, and I noticed his eyes drift to my neck, which I was suddenly self-conscious of.
“Harriet,” Cole said as she entered from the door adjoining the kitchen. She sounded surprised to see me.
I looked at her, feeling betrayed that she would allow this unknown alpha into her home.
Didn’t she know how vulnerable I’d feel, given… everything?
“Thank you, dear,” Andrew said as he accepted a mug of steaming liquid from Cole. I hadn’t even noticed she was carrying anything.
“Dear?” I asked, my eyes moving from the mug and back to Cole.
Her eyes narrowed, and I stepped back.
Was she angry with me?
What had I done?
“Andrew, this is my omega, Harriet,” Cole introduced. “Harriet, this is Andrew, my fiancé,” she continued.
“Fiancé?” I repeated.
Andrew laughed.
“Where did you find this one?” he asked.
“Do you need something, Harriet?” Cole asked me in such a dismissive way. She might as well have asked me what I was doing, disrupting her.
“I…” A clog formed in my throat, stopping my voice.
Fiancé?
But last night? And the night before, the girl she was all over at Heaven’s Bar?
No one had even so much as said his name in passing! Wasn’t a fiancé something you told someone about before you fucked them?
“Harriet?” Cole asked, stepping forward.
I stepped back.
What was happening here?
“Answer your alpha, omega,” Andrew snapped.
“No,” I answered, the word scraping past my throat. “I don’t need anything,” I told her and left the room.
I walked straight to the front door, slipped on a pair of sneakers, and grabbed a jacket.
I needed to be as far away from what was happening, from what had happened. I needed time to rewind to the previous morning, where I’d do whatever was necessary to get wolfsbane and avoid ever seeing Cole under the full moon.