Chapter 13 Tessa
TESSA
I woke in a cold sweat, the memory of dream needles piercing my skin so vivid that I instinctively touched my neck, even though the pain there was minimal now.
I was disoriented for a moment, forgetting where I was, but the feel of Josie against my body, her gentle purr vibrating, brought me back to reality.
Though I had an entire twin bed at my disposal, I’d somehow contorted my body into the fetal position as if I was still sleeping in a box.
That habit couldn’t be cured by one night’s rest against a proper mattress.
I shifted slightly to stretch my legs out, the bunk bed groaning in protest, and stifled a yawn.
Every inch of me still ached like it had survived playing road chicken with an eighteen-wheeler, but my mind was less fogged-over.
You don’t realize you’re running on fumes until you stop driving.
Until the engine sputters to a halt. Given time to recover, your pain becomes piercingly obvious.
"I’m Lily. Are you new here?"
I jolted as a cheery, sunflower voice flooded over me. It was too early, and life was too shitty, for someone to sound like that. The innocence and brightness and hopefulness in her tone should be illegal in a place like this, where the lonely and lost came to roost.
“Did you hear me?” The voice pressed at me with perky persistence.
I closed my eyes. Maybe if I pretended to fall back asleep, she’d leave me alone.
"I can see your eyes moving under your eyelids.” There was a hint of amusement in her voice. “I’m the reigning champ of faking sleep, so you can’t fool me.”
I sighed and cracked one eye open. Blocking my view of the room beyond the bunk bed was a halo of frizzy ginger hair surrounding a round, freckled face. She’d attempted to tame her mane with a chipped claw clip gathering the top half. Unfortunately, her efforts had done little good.
“So, as I was saying. I’m Lily.” She bounced a little, bringing her hand up and pushing it toward me.
I shook it awkwardly, the safety rail of the upper bunk creating an obstacle.
After a few beats of silence, Lily rolled her eyes and grinned, showing off a cute gap between her front teeth.
“And this is the part when you say your name and we become fast friends.”
I couldn’t help myself; I laughed. And when I laughed, Josie woke up, growling in protest.
“Ohhhhh,” Lily’s nearly lavender eyes widened.
“Shut. The. Front. Door.” She hopped down from where she’d been perched on her mattress and proceeded to climb up the ladder to sit cross legged on the end of my mattress.
She was wearing a shorts and tank pajama set.
The top had a big cartoon sun splashed across the front.
I had to scurry out of her way, sitting up too fast and making my head spin.
Pushing Josie behind my body and out of view, I stiffened at the intrusion.
“Is that a cat? Please, tell me it’s a cat! I had one when I was, like, four, but we couldn’t keep her.” She leaned over, trying to see behind me.
“If I say it’s a cat, are you going to tell the sisters?” I arched an eyebrow. I’d learned not to trust anyone, but I had a feeling this young girl might get under my skin if I wasn’t careful.
She crossed her heart dramatically and then held three fingers in the air, then changed it to two, and then back to three. “Scout’s honor, I’ll never tell. Is it three fingers or two? I never remember.”
“Three,” I smiled at her warily. Considered the situation for a moment, and then gently nudged Josie back into view. Josie marched around me as if she was walking the runway, pounced onto my lap, and then proceeded to stare at Lily.
“She’s so pretty,” Lily squealed quietly, then flicked a glance over at the other bunk beds.
I followed her gaze, finding a small body motionless on the top bunk, and two occupants on the lower—one very small and the other adult sized.
“They sleep a lot,” she offered as she turned back to face me and Josie. “I think they’ve had it pretty rough.”
“Haven’t we all?” I shrugged.
“I mean, I guess.” She also shrugged, but it was this cutesy little pop of shoulders.
“I had it pretty okay in the system. My pack was… let’s say not the best. Into a lot of bad stuff.
It really wasn’t surprising when most of them ended up in jail, my bios included, and then me and my twin baby brothers were snapped up by social services.
But my parents loved me when they weren’t high on pheromone enhancers.
Always had enough to eat, clothes to wear.
Anyway, I aged out a year ago, but didn’t really do well with the whole independent living thing.
I’ve been here about a month. My brothers won’t age out for, like ten years, but they’re with a great pack now.
The pack’s new generation is all Omegas.
Getting two Alpha pups was a dream for them.
Pretty sure they’re heading towards adoption. ”
The girl spilled out the words in a stream of consciousness that ended with a sort of hitched gasp for air. I waited to see if she was done talking before I spoke.
“So, you’re what? Nineteen?” I was surprised she was about my age; I’d really pegged her for younger. Though, thinking back, the sister had said as much.
“Yep!” She cocked her head and narrowed her eyes. “But that’s enough about me. Your turn to spill.”
When I didn’t immediately offer up my life story, Lily scooted even closer.
She reached over to stroke Josie’s back.
My initial reaction was to push the girl away, but when I saw Josie tilting into her touch and doing her cute ‘smile’ thing that someone else might interpret as aggression, I hit pause.
If I was going to keep Josie a secret, I’d need help after all.
“My name’s Tessa,” I started, “Tessa Fortune.”
Her bright eyes peered at me curiously. “As in—”
I cut her off. “Yes, as in the Fortune Pack.”
“Why the hell are you here?” She blurted out, obviously stunned.
“It’s a long story,” I sighed.
“I’ve got nothing but time,” she answered, looking back down at Josie and continuing to absolutely spoil my cat with pats and strokes and between-the-ear scratches.
I was so sick and tired of distrusting anything that appeared good. Yesterday, I’d felt my fate shift. I knew, down to my marrow, that something wonderful was on the horizon. It had to be. So, maybe I just had to give myself over to hope.
For the first time since it all happened, I told my story.
Every part of it. The concert. The phone call that shattered my world.
I told Lily how I’d found Josie. I spilled my guts until they were so empty I thought they’d never fill again.
And the other Omega, smelling of spruce and cinnamon, listened to every word.
“Do you really promise to keep her a secret?” I hugged Josie to me, giving her a little squeeze before setting her back down on the mattress.
Lily mimed zipping her lips. "Consider me a vault. There was a Mrs. Gonzalez here my first week and I helped her keep a stray chihuahua under wraps until she moved out.”
At some point while I’d talked Lily’s ears off, the mother and two kids had woken up.
Though they each had taken turns glancing curiously our way, they’d kept to themselves, moving about the room readying for the day.
I was nearly finished when they’d quietly left the room.
I wondered how easy they would be to get on board the whole ‘keep the cat secret’ ship.
Lily glanced down at her watch.
“Oh, crap. We better go to breakfast, or they’ll only have dry toast and apple sauce left.
” She gave Josie one last pet and then vaulted over the safety rail to gracefully land on the floor below.
Somehow, despite her erratic movement, the bunk bed hadn’t creaked at all.
The second I started to crawl off though, it sounded like it was going to fall apart.
As I carefully navigated the ladder, Josie began expectantly padding toward me. “No, Josie. You have to stay.”
“I wouldn’t leave her here,” Lily warned. “They sometimes do room checks during meals.”
“Oh,” I stared at her stupidly. “She’s pretty good at being quiet, so I’ll just bring her in my bag, I guess. I probably need to take her for a walk too. She’s used to doing her business outside.”
“For a street cat, she definitely acts pampered.” Lily, dressed in a blue graphic shirt and sweatpants now, hopped back up on her mattress to gaze at Josie. “I mean, you can for sure tell with the crooked tail and her poor ear, but otherwise she’s a total diva, isn’t she?”
“I think all cats have a bit of diva in them,” I laughed.
After I’d gone to the bathroom and freshened up—as well as I could while still wearing the same outfit as yesterday, now wrinkled from sleep—I put Josie in the briefcase along with my hard-won compensation.
I’d also unloaded the gift bag, tucking the little tonics and meal bars into the outside zippered pockets.
At Lily’s instruction, I broke down the box the bars had been in, slid it back into the gift bag, and then chucked the whole thing into the trash, well-hidden at the bottom.
Apparently, though stealing was prohibited and could lead to expulsion, things often went missing in the shelter.
“Pervy Brett is in that room, so avoid it. He’s a Beta who thinks Omegas should give him a chance.
” A few feet later, Lily pointed to another room.
“Omega Doris is really ancient, doesn’t even get heats anymore, but she seriously has the best snacks and candy.
It’s not like old person candy either. It’s good stuff.
Chocolate. Toffee. She just started her job at a convenience store and gets to bring home the expired stuff.
” Our journey to the cafeteria continued that way, with words of warning or warmth.
She was being so kind that I wanted to repay the favor.