Chapter Nine
Millie
It wasn’t until I was in the vehicle and we were driving away that it hit me what I’d just done. I’d spent my whole life being compliant enough to be safe, and today, I just went for it. My heart was beating a thousand miles a minute.
I didn’t get to leave with my belongings, even though there was a suitcase packed, a starter kit for my new life.
My father was pissed. He’d done everything he could to make sure that I was the omega who would get him the biggest price.
And then today, he decided to act like I mattered in some way by asking for a bride price like in days of old.
As if he had ever paid me any attention growing up, as if he hadn’t had others do his dirty work preparing me for my auction.
He couldn’t fool my mates. When the bride price came into play, they made it crystal clear they weren’t putting up with that. I wasn’t sure anyone ever told my father no before. It was glorious.
Now, here I was in their vehicle, looking like shit and doing what I could to not curl into a ball and sob. I was half naked, my body covered in bruises, and my hair... I caught a glimpse of it in the rearview mirror and it was the stuff of nightmares.
The alphas were mad, raging mad. I could feel their bears clawing to get out, but at no point was I scared they were going to hurt me.
Their anger wasn’t directed at me. They were mad at what I’d been through.
They were mad at my current state. They were mad at my father. They were mad at everything but me.
We didn’t talk for the first hour. I sat there with my eyes closed, not wanting to break down in front of them, and they gave me the respect and space to just be. But then they pulled into a little strip mall and the silence came to an end.
“Is this where we’re eating?”
They’d mentioned wanting me to eat, but also wanting to get away from the chaos.
“We’re gonna get you some clothes and let you get your hair done. Help you feel like yourself,” Cannon said.
I wasn’t sure how to respond, so all I did was give a little nod. In the past, if my hair had been anything close to this state, I’d have had to get it done for other people. But this wasn’t that. They were taking me to get my hair done for me.
“Can you get me something to wear first?”
“Yes,” Felix said. “Absolutely.”
He popped out of the car. I thought he was going to the store, but he just went to the back and grabbed a gym bag.
It had a hat, a shirt that smelled like Cannon, and some sweats.
I looked like I was wearing someone else’s clothes, or maybe I was on the run in some sort of suspense movie, but it would do.
“Don’t be nervous in here,” Tyrone said as we walked toward a salon. “They’re not gonna say anything. They’re good people.”
“I’ve never been to a salon before,” I confessed. “Not this kind, anyway.” But I knew how cruel people could be. And as great as the owners and workers might be, the customers? They could be the worst or the best. There was no telling.
“I called ahead. They’re closed down just for you,” Tyrone said.
“How can you just call ahead?” And when had he done it?
“We’re all gonna get to know each other better, soon. But, for now, I used to be a royal guard, and the owner of the salon worked for the royal family for a while before saving up enough to open this place.”
“That’s how you knew her,” Felix said. “I helped them out with some accounting stuff a few years back. I thought that’s why they were so amenable.”
Cannon chuckled. It looked like my alphas were well connected and not by using fear like my father did. They had people who watched their backs because they at one time did the same for them.
I went inside and was greeted by an older alpha female with bright-red hair that definitely came from a bottle. It was stunning and went perfectly with her personality. “Well, come on in, sweetie,” she said. “I’m Ray, and I heard that someone needs to be pampered.”
I’d been “pampered” before, in a salon where everything was made to look perfect. It was nothing like this. She treated my hair, cut it, and when she was done, I looked very different than I ever had and somehow, more myself.
“We’ll get you a facial to get you feeling good about yourself,” she offered.
The guys sat in the waiting room looking through magazines, pretending they weren’t paying attention, but their focus was split between me and the door. They were protecting me, and not because I was an asset. They were protecting me because they cared, and I wasn’t really sure how to handle that.
I held the hat as we left, feeling like an entirely new woman, one whose future was bright. I wouldn’t say I was ready to open up completely to these three, but they felt closer to home than anyone else ever had. Not even Isella, and she was the closest thing I had to a true friend.