Chapter 27
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN
ALISA
“What else are you struggling with?” he asks.
Lightning lights up the room again and I shudder as I wait for the thunder to hit.
“You’re inside, it’s not going to affect you.”
“Storms are creepy,” I mutter. It reminds me too much of being alone on the streets, drenched from head to toe like a drowned rat. Dragging a blanket from the edge of the couch, I wrap myself in it and breathe in the scents of my alphas.
“I have a party to go to. I have no idea what to say to any of these people. There’s no common thread to draw from and I get tripped up when I’m asked how I met my alphas. The truth is not an option without getting the police or a mental health professional involved.”
“That’s an interesting way to state that.” There’s no judgement, simply an observation.
“I would like to be boring one day. I think that would be great.”
Dr. Mac Cárthaigh snorts as he sips his drink before setting it aside and pulling out a flask instead. Well then.
“How did you actually meet, and then we can work backward from there?”
“Somehow, I don’t think that’s going to cut it here,” I mumble.
“Try me.”
Getting comfortable, I shrug, “My pack found me bleeding out in their warehouse after I escaped another one who kidnapped me. This isn’t exactly polite conversation.”
My doctor takes a long swig of his flask before making a sound deep in his chest that’s reminiscent of “well, I asked for this, didn’t I?”
Yeah, buddy, you did.
“Have you thought about leaning into that and simply saying,’he saved my life. I don’t know where I’d be without him.’ Then leave it at that.”
I actually didn’t. “No. I haven’t. The first person who asked me was one of his good friends, so I kind of panicked at the time.”
“This may work better for strangers,” he muses. “What kind of party is this?”
“It’s…a party the team owner is putting on at his home. I need to wear a fancy dress and heels for it. Troy said it would be his teammates and their packs if they have one.”
“Ah. There are a couple of ways you can play this. The first is to pretend to be eye candy. Then, you won’t have to say a thing.
It would be a shame because you aren’t the stereotypical hockey player girlfriend.
You have a really unique perspective on life.
The second is to allow your alphas to introduce you and ask them to take the lead.
I don’t think any of them would have an issue with this.
We can build up to conversation starters and small talk from there.
“If anyone asks how you met Troy, go with the truth in one of the many shades it lies in. He saved your life and you're happy he’s in your life. The end. People will swoon because it’s a seemingly romantic cover story.”
“I’m overthinking this then?”
“Not at all. Small talk sucks. Let’s try some scenarios you may find while you’re there, okay?”
For the next half hour, we have a comfortable conversation with some role play. Talking to him isn’t scary, and I manage to distract myself enough from the storm until Silas gets home.
According to the doctor, it’s unusual to have a storm this bad in April. All I can do is remind myself that the plants like the rain.
“Alright, that’s time. How did I do? Am I going to end up in a deep hole for a long sleep or what?”
“Oh my god,” I snicker.
“Everything okay?” Silas asks, leaning into the room with a raised brow.
“Yes, it is. I missed you,” I tell him, smiling. “Did your host survive another day?”
“I knew it!” Dr. Mac Cárthaigh hisses.
“My therapist wants to know if he has job security or not.”
“That all depends on you,” Silas shrugs. “Seems like he did okay? You’re smiling.”
“I am—”
“Are you really going to do this while I’m right here?”
“You may as well know what she thinks of you,” Silas says dismissively, heading to the bar cart to make himself a drink. Damn, dinner must have been really awful.
“So what’s the verdict?” he asks.
“I’d be open to meeting with you again,” I admit. “I have problems asserting myself and how I feel. Those things weren’t typically in my best interest.”
“We never discussed your background but I think I may need at least the cliffnotes, Alisa.”
“I was sex trafficked from the ages of fourteen until recently.”
I wait for the world to end with my admission, and I can feel the wince of my eyes, only to find nothing happens. Dr. Mac Cárthaigh’s lips pop open for a second and his hand clenches around the flask as he nods.
“I see. Do you want to discuss any of this in your sessions?”
“I just want to be able to sleep and live normally,” I sigh. “It’s as if someone hit pause on my life and I’ve been existing in a flight or fight response all of these years. I freeze when an alpha growls at me, worried I did something wrong.”
“No one should ever growl at you unless it’s in your defense… or during sexual relations. We’ve been discussing boundaries, so here’s what I suggest. Snap your fingers in their face and remind them only dogs growl.”
Silas snorts as he sips his drink, and I grin in his direction.
“It’s effective, Alisa. I’ll give him that. We may have to keep him. What do you suggest for her brothers? They’ve accidentally alpha barked her before.”
“Fry their knots before they can get the words out,” my therapist grounds out. “Sorry, that’s not very professional, but that is my suggestion. No one should ever alpha bark you.”
“Also effective. This happened on the phone. I’m very susceptible to barks,” I explain. “It’s been trained into me to submit to them.”
Silas almost drops his drink, but I’m too focused on my therapist’s response to ask him if he’s alright.
“Let’s add undoing this to your treatment plan? It will entail me having to bark at you to get you to fight out of it but—”
“It’s technically for science?” I ask.
“Yes. I’d ask you to bark like a dog to flap your arms like a chicken. However, none of it would ever be considered dangerous. If you want to protect yourself from barks, learning how to fight against them may be the best way to do this.”
“Okay,” I rasp, nodding. “I’d like to do that. Too many people use their bark with the expectation that it’s their right as an alpha.”
“Fuck that. I want to know how this party goes. Can we meet in three days from now at six o’clock? I’ll be home by then.”
“Am I doing anything at that time?” I ask Silas. He’s gazing at me intently, his drink forgotten.
“No, you’re not. We can watch Troy’s away game once you’re done.”
I say my goodbyes to the therapist and hit end on the call.
“Are you okay?” I ask, tossing my phone to the side to give Silas my full attention.
“It’s just something you said,” he says softly.
“I say a lot,” I remind him.
“You said you’ve been trained to submit to alphas, and it just shook me.”
“We agreed on a system to give me a voice, even when we’re into things, Silas. If I wasn’t comfortable with something, you’d know. Even if I wasn’t able to tell you, the bond would be very loud about how I really feel. Whatever you heard, it wasn’t about you.”
Silas blinks slowly before taking a cleansing breath.
“I needed that. Damn. Thanks, baby.”
“Now come tell me all about the party,” I say. “I also think I may need some makeup for tomorrow. I want to look nice. I know I’m sleeping better, but it’s so hard to trust. I keep waiting for the monster in my mind to hijack my dreams.”
“Baby, the vision you’re giving me is terrifying,” he drawls, his fingers beginning to strip off his jacket, tie and shirt in that order. “We’ll shop for whatever you need. You’re perfect in every way.”
“Stripping already? I’m a classy girl, sir.” My hand touches my chest teasingly and he chuckles. It’s low, deep, and sexy as hell.
“I spilled on myself. I smell like whiskey.”
Tossing the clothes to the floor, he walks over and scoops me up to take my place on the couch. Now in his lap, I sigh happily as I lay my head on his chest.
“Why do you think you’re sleeping better?” he asks. “Maybe we can give Troy some of whatever it is.”
My poor alpha. I need to tell him about my therapist appointment when he gets home. I don’t know if Dr. Mac Cárthaigh’s take on therapy will help Troy, but it’s worth a shot. He also seems to have a healthy fear of Dr. Walsh.
It’s not perfect, but it’ll keep whatever we tell him private, though he seems to have his own flavor of integrity.
“I started sleeping better after we solidified the bond. You’re my own defender from bad dreams.” Tilting my head back to meet his shocked gaze, I add, “Hopefully this puts to rest any possible doubt that you’re incredible for me. You’re all very careful to give me the space to voice my concerns.”
A rumble grows in Silas’ chest, and he twists his body until he’s on top of me. His kisses shred every thought I might have into a million pieces, and I have a feeling shopping or talking will both have to wait.
EASTON
As soon as Alisa begins to descend the stairs in her sky high heels, I immediately want to stay home.
Her black dress drapes in a deep v-neck showing off the tops of her breasts, ghosts over her torso, before crisscrossing at her legs.
It allows her movements to flash more skin here and there before it disappears.
Swallowing around the saliva filling my mouth, I wonder if she’ll leave her shoes on for me when I sink into her heat. I want to feel them dig into my back as I drive my cock deep into her sweet cunt when we get home.
Troy nudges me as we watch her and whispers, “I almost want to stay home now.”
“She watched three different tutorials to do her makeup. We are not staying home,” Silas grunts beside me.
“Absolutely stunning,” Lyle says in appreciation, loudly enough to drown the rest of us out.
Look at him, practicing tact. It must be due to the election we’ve been busting our humps for. I hate having to watch my mouth, but I know this song and dance well. I’ll do it for our city though. Silas was right when he blew up at Cassidy a few weeks ago.
We sacrifice a lot for others. All we want is a slice of happiness too.