Chapter Forty-Eight
Hale
“Are you sure that’s okay?” Grace asked me. “We haven’t found a use for it yet, but I think we should get it off the market before there are repercussions. While your drug isn’t illegal yet, some people are using it for unsavory things.”
“All I hear is I want to buy your drug. Please buy it,” I replied. Otherwise, I’d send out some feeler texts to see if Clegg or someone else wanted to buy it.
“I promise that if the chemists find a use for it, I’ll pay you more,” she added.
“It’s fine.” Because she brought up a good point. I’d carefully formulated the drug so it wasn’t actually illegal. But it wasn’t legal either. Which was how my university could ban me for selling it, but I hadn’t gotten in actual trouble.
However, it was only a matter of time before one or both of those things were no longer true.
Not to mention, I felt awful that some people combined it with Easy-E to do bad things. Who would even do that? No one I personally sold to, I hoped.
“I’ll send over the paperwork,” she replied. “The chemists are excited to play with it, because the concept is pretty brilliant.”
“I’m pretty proud of it. I found a problem and solved it.” But it was time to move on.
“Will that get you some breathing room? I’m still waiting on the decision about your research grant. Your proposal looks great,” she added.
Grace had been helping me with it so I could send it to my mentor’s professor friend. I was meeting with him in a few days to see if he could supervise my research locally.
“Thanks. Yeah, it will help, and thanks for paying my rent.” I was good for the month, which was helpful since I hadn't worked in almost two weeks.
“Always. I’ll send some back-to-school money, too. Once you sign the papers and get me the formulas and samples, they’ll release the funds,” she added.
“Thank you so much, Grace. I appreciate it.” I ended the call.
A transfer came through. For school supplies. Helpful, because my balance was sad.
My phone buzzed. Carolina Women's Correctional. Mom had been calling me for days and I’ve been ignoring her. I liked to tell myself it was because we’d been really busy spending the past several days trying to figure out our shit.
Mercy had texted.
Mercy
Mom wants to talk to you.
Me
I’m sure she does.
I didn’t want to hear what she had to say. Which was why I hadn’t answered.
My brother Dare also texted. He was currently visiting Mama, Baba, and Chance in the Bay Area. But he wanted to see us when he headed back to Boston. It would be nice to see my brother. Oh, I’d be so much closer to him now.
Carlos was on a plane for another away game, though he’d be back in the morning. Dusty was with Saoirse, getting the home gym set up. Fiona was in her room, working on her app stuff.
Right now, I was writing down my expenses–like my rent and utilities back in Research Circle, and insurance, and gas for my truck. Which I had to do for our pack class.
I was fine on things like tuition and books, but there would be some graduation fees. My rent had been paid for January, but I had utilities.
At the same time, even with help, how was I going to pay for everything for February if I couldn’t work the way I planned? I was supposed to be back in town by now and counted on working a whole bunch while still on break.
What Grace was paying me for my drug should probably go into saving for my PhD program. Or at least for emergencies.
Oh, how I hoped my research grant got approved.
There was another text.
Clegg
Where the fuck are you?
Me
New York.
Clegg
I need more. You were supposed to give me a whole bunch when you got back.
Oh, right. Clegg was a local guy who bought large quantities of stuff off me to sell along with his moonshine.
Me
Let me see about getting you what I have. I’m going to get out of the business.
Clegg
Oh? Can I buy the formula?
Me
I’ll get back to you about what I have.
I texted my roommate, Big Tad, since he was around for break, about letting me know how much I had there. Yeah, I’d sell Clegg what I had at the house, give Grace what I had at the lab, and all my notes, then get out of the business.
My phone rang again, and my heart skipped a beat. It wasn’t Mom calling. It was one I’d been waiting for.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Hi there. This is Deidre from Briar University. I just wanted to give you a call to respond to all your inquiries, and make sure we can get everything settled before the new semester starts,” she replied in a thick, cheerful, Southern twang.
Hope bloomed inside me. Student Services was finally back at work. Thank goodness. There was only so much my professors and advisor could do without them.
“Thank you. What else do you still need?” I asked, taking another sip of coffee.
“Congrats on your mating. I see your bond status has been updated. Thank you for doing that. I can’t tell you how many people we have to remind. We can’t do anything for mated students if there’s no proof you’re mated,” she replied with a happy little chuckle.
“Great, so you can put that in my academic file?” I asked.
“Yes, we’ve got all that set up. You’ve got a requirement swap and a hybrid exemption pending?” she added.
“Yes, ma’am.” I’d been doing a lot of work with my advisor and mentor, trying to get everything figured out. Also, I’d filled out more PhD applications, adding a compelling essay about having a pack, and trying to support everyone’s dreams, while not letting mine fall by the wayside.
That essay had been entirely Verity’s idea.
“Everything should go through just fine. Do you need family and pack housing?” she asked. “Right now, there’s a waitlist, but I can see what I can do.”
“Not unless it’s free.” Was it?
She laughed. “Oh, Hun, I wish it was.”
“I’ll be living off campus. Oh, I need to update all my emergency contacts and everything, but I’ll just do that online.” I opened the portal while I was talking to her. I’ve been meaning to do it and I haven't.
“I’ll send you the link of the extra support services we offer for our mated students,” she added.
I logged into my student portal. Shit. My parking pass was due. So were lab fees. Well, Grace had sent me back-to-school money and those were back-to-school expenses.
The helpful lady went over a bunch of stuff. As she talked, I updated my emergency contact information and various permissions. I didn’t need my dad on there anymore.
We finished our conversation and when I went into my academic portal, I saw that I now had the buttons to request going hybrid and the swap.
Nice.
If all these things went through, and I was able to do my research here, I think I could get away with being on campus two days most weeks.
Which meant keeping my place in Research Circle. How would I afford two rents without working? Maybe I could get away with sleeping in the hidden lab? Or someplace else? I did know the best places to hide, given how many years I’d spent exploring there as a kid.
When I finished with her, I filled everything out and emailed my advisor and mentor updates.
My phone rang again. Not the prison. Still, my stomach sank. London was calling. Or more specifically, my omega dad. I’d been avoiding him, too.
“Hi, Dad, is everything okay?” I answered.
“Since when do I have to call you only because something’s wrong? I miss talking to you. I know it’s winter break, but I wouldn’t mind an update on things–like PhD applications or what you did over Christmas?” Worry tinged his voice.
“I went to Switzerland with my friends, to go skiing and to a music festival for free,” I replied.
“If we’d known you were in Europe we’d have tried to see you. You know, I had a really interesting conversation with your little brother Chance…”
Yep. I knew where this was going.
“I haven’t told anybody except for Mama, because Chance showed her the video. I don’t want a lecture. I already know I’m disappointing everybody, but honestly, it’s not a bad thing.” My voice became strained. I didn’t want to do this.
“Hey, Buddy, take a breath. I’m not mad. A little concerned. But not mad. Want to tell me what’s going on?” he asked. My omega dad was the most gentle of our parents. The big problem was that he never stood up for us against the alpha parents.
I gave him a very abbreviated version of the story.
He sucked in a breath. “Accidental bonding? Hale. Are they okay?”
Just the way he said my name made me feel like a kid being scolded.
“More confident about this than I am. They’re really amazing. We’re committed to giving the six months waiting period a try. I believe in us. They believe in us even more,” I replied, trying not to feel like a fuckup.
“I’m sure they’re great. But you have only one semester left. Then your PhD…”
“I know. But I’m working on things.” I told him about everything I’d been trying to do, along with my worries.
“Oh. That could work. Wow, I’m proud of the thought you put into this,” he said. “You might want to see if your department has any extra resources to help you get through that last semester, and definitely see if there’s anything left that you can apply for your PhD programs.”
“The nice student services lady did give me a link with a whole bunch of resources for mated students. We can do this. I’m just a little overwhelmed,” I replied.
Wait, did pack income–or mate income–count toward financial aid? Because I was not getting anything need-based if they counted. Shit. Would Verity know the answer?
“I can see that. Bonding someone is a lot. And two people? Wow. Starting a pack is huge. You’ve worked so hard. This changes everything,” he added. “I’d hate to see all your hard work be for nothing.”
“You don’t think I know that?” I snapped, my insecurities growing by the minute.
“Hey, Buddy, it’s okay. I’m just speaking from experience here.”
“I’m not going to fuck this up.” My grip tightened on my phone. “I’m only a fuckup because it’s an easier role to fill, since Creed’s the smart one, and Verity’s the perfect one.”
“No one said you’re a fuckup, Hale.” He sighed.