Chapter Eleven
Isabella
Seeing Millie again was everything. I’d missed her terribly. At first, I thought I was missing my life pre-Mark, missing a time when I saw the future as being this wonderful, amazing destination ahead instead of the hellscape it became. But it wasn’t that…
It took a long time for me to figure out that Millie had been my only real friend in life. I’d convinced myself the people I was surrounded by cared about me, for me. They never had. Nothing in my life had been real.
I had been groomed from the time I was young to be a perfect omega—a wife and mother. That was it. Nothing more. Just a commodity to help my father in whatever alliance he made for me.
The sad part was that I bought into it. I bought into it all without a second’s hesitation. Worse than that, I was excited about all of it, especially marrying Mark, despite all the red flags I’d seen and dismissed. “Nope, that’s just how alphas are,” I’d told myself every last time.
Except that isn’t how they all are. That’s how an abusive piece of shit is.
There were days I questioned if I knew who I was.
My role was predetermined for me, and, with that, so was every aspect of my life.
The people I could associate with, the activities I could participate in, the clothes I wore…
None of them had been my choices. At the time, I didn’t mind because they were the necessary steps I needed to take to get to the future I so desperately longed for.
Then I met Millie.
I went to college to get ready for my new life, and she went as a way of avoiding hers. Somehow, that made us perfect roommates. Not once did she belittle my choices. She supported me 100 percent. Best of all, I could be myself around her, or at least more than I had been with anybody else.
Maybe if I had been a little more open back then, I wouldn’t be in the position I am in now, fleeing into the arms of my friend, putting her and her family at risk so I could get away.
Staying with the men who rescued me at their place wasn’t an option.
Not for them, not for me. It would only lead to blood.
That fact didn’t make me feel any less guilty showing up here and accepting her warm embrace. She held me tight, reminding me what bad shape my body was still in, telling me how glad she was to see me and that she loved me.
Then she shooed away the alphas, hers and the ones who claimed they were mine, and dragged me into a bedroom.
I’d never seen an omega be so forceful with alphas, without a care in the world.
Sure, I’d seen an omega get out of line, but always with tension in the air and fear in their eyes. This was different.
At first, I thought the room belonged to somebody, probably a man. It had personality, but the air was stale, like it hadn’t been used in a while.
We sat on the bed criss-cross applesauce, facing each other, holding hands, and I was brought back, to back then.
“I don’t think I ever thanked you enough for the hair comb,” I said, patting my head where it had been.
“The guys said that’s how they connected you to me.”
I nodded. “It’s the only reason I went with them.”
“I was wondering about that. Do you want to fill in the gaps from your wedding to now? Because I’m thinking it might be good to let it out.”
She was right and, if there was anyone I could share it with, it was Millie. “Yeah, I do.”
I spent the next couple of hours telling her my story, sometimes through tears, others between sobs.
Not a flicker of judgment in her eyes. No questioning my decisions.
Just love, support, and understanding. When I was done, I let the crying take over as she hugged me, trying hard not to wince in pain and failing miserably.
She pulled back. “Please show me.” She didn’t say what I was supposed to be showing her, but we both knew.
I didn’t like revealing my bruises, my scars, or my weakness, but my Millie had just heard the story; she knew they were there. No reason to hold back. I slowly revealed the damage he had done two days earlier, and now, it was her turn to cry.
As messed up as it was, I was glad she cried. Affirming in a sick way, showing me it was okay that I could no longer hold it all in. Instead of hugging me, she grabbed a pillow, probably out of fear she’d hurt me. I put my hand on her knee and waited until she was ready to speak.
“Is it scary being around all these alphas?” she asked when we finally were semi-composed.
“I trust you, and if you trust them…”
“Yeah, my three bears would never—”
I held up my hand to stop her from finishing her sentence.
“There’s that. You called your guys bears and mates, and I overheard the alphas who helped me mentioning scents and bears and marks.
I was so busy worrying about getting away from Mark, I never clarified any of it or tried to process it.
” In hindsight, it was out of fear that they would reveal something worse, and I might end up fleeing back to the mansion. “Can you explain it all to me?”
She bit her bottom lip then looked to the door then back to me and finally gave a nod. “Please remember, I would never lie to you.”
“That sounds ominous.”
She shrugged. “My story is going to sound a little bit made up.”
She told me about mates and bonds and markings and about the bears, her mates and mine, and how they literally turned into furry beasts.
Except they weren’t mine.
Only, they were.
When she said it, it felt true. It was a whole lot to take in.
While I didn’t fully understand everything about shifters, and seeing the bears versus believing in their existence were going to be two very different experiences, it didn’t scare me the way it probably should have. If anything, it made me more curious.
“Hey, let’s go get you something to eat.”
“I could eat, but also, I need to figure out how to deal with shit with Mark. Because right now, I don’t even have my wallet, my ID, access to my bank account—nothing.”
“Can’t you just use my phone to get your banking done?”
I shook my head. “No. I wasn’t allowed to set up online banking.
” As I said it, I realized that should have been my first clue I was being controlled.
“As soon as Mark and I got married and my trust became mine, it was set up to be something I had to do in person.” Of course, in person meant having a chaperone.
I’d never touched it, partly in the hopes he’d forget it was there.
“Yeah…why don’t I have you talk to Tyrone? He knows a lot about human things from back when he was working for as a royal bodyguard.”
“Royalty? Like princes and princesses?”
“Yeah, it’s not as cool as it sounds. Maybe we’ll hold off on talking to him until you’ve rested.”
I knew she meant well, but sitting here, not moving forward, was only going to make my anxiety worse.
“No, I really want to talk to him tonight.”
“How about sandwiches? We’ll eat on the porch, and I’ll see if he can come out? Does that work for you?”
I nodded and then wondered if she was trying to push it off because she had other things she should be doing.
“Do you need to be momming right now? Am I taking you away from her?”
“My alphas don’t play game. We’re all parents. Trust me, somebody’s having a grand time playing, and by someone, I mean at least one of my mates. They can be the biggest kids of all, sometimes. It’s wonderful.”
It really sounded like it was.