Chapter 1 #2
She checks her watch, that delicate gold piece Dad gave her on their twentieth anniversary. He died two years later, and she's never taken it off.
"I'll tell them you're having a breakdown. That you need space." She grabs her phone from the vanity. "Where are you going?"
That's the question, isn't it?
I have nothing. My apartment is in Callum's name.
My job, the one I quit because he said his salary was enough for both of us.
My friends, the ones who slowly disappeared because Callum didn't like the way they "encouraged my worst impulses.
" Even my bank account is joint now. He said it was romantic. A symbol of our partnership.
Really, it was just another way to keep me dependent.
I grab my phone, scrolling past Callum's texts. Fifteen of them now in the last hour alone.
Don't forget to smile for photos.
Keep your speech short. Nobody wants to hear you ramble.
Remember to thank my parents. They paid for the venue.
You're not going to cry during the ceremony, are you? Your makeup will run.
Where are you? People are asking questions.
My hands shake as I scroll until I find the number I need.
Sharon.
I helped her arrange the Tangle wedding, which became wedding of the year.
And as a result, not only did she find a pack who loved her, but she’s pregnant now.
Her last message was from three days ago.
A photo of her growing belly with the caption: Twins are no joke. Come visit before I'm too huge to move.
I hit call before I can second-guess myself.
It rings twice.
"Jessica! Oh my God, shouldn't you be walking down the aisle right about now?"
Sharon's voice is bright and warm.
"I can't do it." The words rush out. "I'm in the bridal suite and everyone's waiting and I'm supposed to marry him in fifteen minutes but I can't. I can't breathe, Sharon. I can't do this."
Silence on the other end. Then Sharon's voice shifts, softer but still steady. Still strong.
"Okay. Deep breath. In for four, hold for four, out for four. Can you do that for me?"
I follow her rhythm, clutching the phone like it's the only thing keeping me tethered to earth. Mom watches from across the room, her face a mixture of concern and possibly pride.
"Good," Sharon says after a minute. "Now tell me what you need."
"I need to leave. I need to get out of here."
"So leave,” she says.
"It's not that simple."
"If you don't want to marry this man, then don't. Get in a car and drive. Right now."
"I don't have anything. He controls everything,” I confess feeling like a fool.
"Come to Pine Hollow." Her voice is firm. "I would love to spend time with you before these babies arrive and I turn into a house. We'll figure everything else out later. You can stay as long as you need."
Pine Hollow. Where Sharon lives with her pack. Where I could disappear for a while with the protection of Sharon’s pack.
But.
"I can't. Not yet. I need to go home first. Largo Waters. I need to face my past.”
This has to be a new beginning for me. I need to be strong.
I spin around, and I can see Mom making calls.
Telling the caterers that the wedding is canceled.
Calling the hotel, where we have an extravagant reception planned.
But she isn’t telling Callum’s family. She’s giving me a ten minute start and here I am chatting to Sharon. I need to get out of here now.
"Why?"
The ache low in my belly pulses, a reminder of everything that's changed in the past month. Everything I've been trying to ignore.
"I need my suppressants."
Sharon goes quiet. Then, carefully, "You're officially an omega?"
"Late-presenting." The words still feel foreign on my tongue.
"I was a beta my whole life, Sharon. Twenty-eight years of being completely normal.
Then three weeks ago at Aunt Linda's, my body decided to betray me.
Started feeling off - hot flashes, heightened senses, the works.
Her doctor ran tests and confirmed it: omega.
He said it's rare at my age but not impossible.
" I swallow hard. "He prescribed suppressants immediately.
Gave me a three-week supply with instructions to refill before the wedding. "
"Why didn’t you?”
"With what money?" The laugh that escapes is bitter. "Callum monitors our joint account like a hawk, and a prescription for omega suppressants would raise questions I wasn't ready to answer…” My voice cracks. "So they ran out two days ago, and I had to go without."
Late-presenting omega. Rare, but not unheard of.
“So you're not a beta. Well, I’ll be damned!” She giggles. Memories of our talks about omegas, and how I was safe being a beta are probably running through her head right now.
“But then I went back to Callum’s apartment.”
I'm already acknowledging my foolishness. Callum and I dated in high school back in Largo Waters. After graduation, we moved to the city together. Four years later, he dumped me. Said he was bored with me, with us.
I spent years trying to find myself until I started working with Sharon organizing weddings.
Then two years ago, Callum showed up at the wedding venue where I worked.
The apology came with tears and promises.
He'd made a terrible mistake leaving me, wanted me back, had never stopped loving me.
Right there, he dropped to one knee and proposed.
I thought it was romantic, my second chance at happiness.
I quit my job and moved back in with him.
We've been planning this wedding ever since.
“I ran out of money, I’m not working I had no funds of my own. And I needed to buy more suppressants, but I thought I’ll be getting married I didn’t need anymore.”
Suddenly I could smell everything when the suppressants ran out a couple of days ago. The coffee brewing three rooms away. The flowers in the lobby of our apartment building. Callum's cologne that used to smell nice but now made me want to gag.
Then came the aches. The restlessness. The strange, pulling sensation low in my belly that I didn't understand.
“I just had an idea. I can get to my old doctor is in Largo Waters. That's where I grew up. I can get my prescription refilled there. Figure out what the hell I'm doing." I take a shaky breath. "Then I'll come visit. I promise. I just need to go home first."
Home. Largo Waters. The place where four alphas still live. The pack I ran from six years ago because I was too scared to face what I felt.
"Okay," Sharon says. "But Jessica? Listen to me. You don't owe anyone an explanation. Not Callum. Not his family. Not the two hundred people sitting in those chairs. If I wasn’t heavily pregnant then I would have been there.”
“I know. I’ve got to run.”
"And call me when you're safe. I don't care what time it is."
"I will. Thank you, Sharon."
I hang up and look at Mom. I’m not sure how much she heard of the conversation.
"Largo Waters?" Mom asks.
I nod.
"Then go. Now. Here’s my keys!”
Another knock on the door. Harder this time. More insistent.
"Jessica, seriously. What is going on in there?" Melissa again. "Callum sent me to check on you. He's getting worried."
I'll bet he is.
Mom walks to the window and opens it wide. Fresh air rushes in, carrying the scent of roses and cut grass and freedom.
"Just a minute," Mom calls toward the door.
The knocking stops. I hear Melissa's footsteps retreat, but I have a feeling that she won't stay gone for long.
"I'm proud of you," Mom says, turning back to me. Her voice breaks on the last word.
I hug her tight, breathing in gardenias and vanilla one more time.
Then I move toward the window.
The balcony is narrow, barely wide enough for me to stand, I panic about my wide hips getting stuck in them, but then I do hot yoga, I’m more flexible than I look.
So, I get rid of the fear of escaping and just get to it.
The railing is wrought iron, cold and solid under my palms. Below me, a flower bed full of hydrangeas and a trellis covered in ivy.
I'm halfway to hiking up my dress when the door handle rattles.
"Mrs. Delacroix? Jessica? Why is this door locked?"
Melissa. She's back. And she doesn't sound happy.
"Give us a minute," Mom calls, but there's an edge to her voice now.
"Open the door. Now. Callum wants to see her."
"The groom can't see the bride before the wedding," Mom says. "It's bad luck."
"I don't care about bad luck. Open this door or I'm getting security."
Mom looks at me, and I see the calculation in her eyes. How much time do we have? How long can she stall?
Not long enough.
"Go," she mouths.
I hike up my dress and swing one leg over the railing. The trellis is right there, covered in thick ivy. I grab onto it, praying it holds my weight.
Behind me, I hear a key turning in the lock.
Of course. Melissa probably sweet-talked the venue coordinator into giving her a spare.
The door swings open.
"What the hell is going on in here?" Melissa's voice is sharp. Accusatory. "Why was the door locked?"
I'm halfway over the railing, one foot on the balcony, one reaching for the trellis. There's no way she doesn't see me.
"Jessica? What are you doing?"
I freeze. Turn slowly.
Melissa stands in the doorway, her bridesmaid dress a pale blush pink that Callum's mother picked out. Her blonde hair is perfectly curled, her makeup flawless. She looks like the picture-perfect bridesmaid.
She also looks furious.
"I'm leaving," I say, and hearing the words out loud makes them real. Final.
"You can't leave. The wedding is about to start."
"I know."
"Jessica." Melissa steps into the room, and Mom moves to block her path. "You're being ridiculous. It's just nerves. Everyone gets cold feet."
"This isn't cold feet."
"Then what is it?" She crosses her arms, and I see something flicker in her eyes. "You're going to embarrass Callum. You can’t do that to him.”
"I don't care."