Chapter 17

Chapter

Seventeen

"Girl, you have no idea how relieved I am to hear from you," Rita gasped over the phonethe momentshe picked up.

My phone was finally chargedand back up and running, though it was still slow.

Either way, it got the job done.

"I'm sorry," I said. "Things haven't exactly been steady the past week.I'mreallysorry I didn't get to call sooner with my phone dying andwell,everything else going on."

"You need to tell me what happened. I got back home, butyou weren't there. I didn't know what to do," she said.

"I'm sorry," I repeated.

"I thought about calling the police even though I doubted you'd want me to do that with everything," Ritawent on. "I was about to pick up the phone and do it anyway. Better Omega Services than dead,right?"

I guessed so. Wayto let Rita put it all into perspective.

"You're lucky that I ran into your new boss at the librarywhofilled me in on the details."

"Mr. Wolfern?"

"Yeah," said Rita. Her voice dippeddownlow as if she wasn't sure exactly how she was supposed to sound when she said hernextwords.

Happy? Angry? Relieved?

If Iwasher, it would probably be the last one. She had been holding onto my secret for as long as I had. It was a long time.

My body said so.

"Looks like the omega is out of the bag, huh?"

"Yeah." Thefullunderstanding of it all still made my heart hammerin my chest. The reality settled in. "It looks like it."

"I'm sorry about your job too."

"Thanks. It was a…" I searched for the right word to describe wha I was feeling. "Shock with everything else going on."

"There have been cuts all over campus recently. A few of the PhD stipendswere pulled," she said.

"You're kidding."

"I wish. LuckilyI'mstill here and in the gamealongwith a few others. It doesn't make sense since there is also this new guy here that's a fellow. He just started after the conference. We sort of met there actually."

"Sounds like you more than met."

"Details, details," she teased. "He's here at Prestford on somekind ofexchange situation? I have no idea. He seems nice enough."

"Cute?"

"We aren't talking about that." Rita chuckled.

"Details." I repeated her previous statement.

"To be shared at a later date."

So cute andsmartif Rita was interested.

"He was shopping around for fellowships or something? After hearing me ramble on about the campus and how I have amazing friends here in the librarylikemy favorite junior archive assistant– I'm talking about you," she said.

"I'm aware," I chuckled.

"Prestford won him over. He said he had to come and see the place and meet you if you're as fun as I sad you were."

"You were clearly exaggerating."

"I wasn't. Don't put yourself down like that," she said. "His name is Paul. He works in the engineering department . I don't knowandhonestly, I'm too grateful to still be in my program to care much even though he did…invite me out to dinner."

"You'll have a great time."

"We'll see. So, where are you anyway? Did you finally call up Omega Services? The librarian mentioned something about a pack...Oh my god. Did this happen because of that pretty boy's pack he mentioned?I swear if they did anything to you, I will hunt them down."

"Stop, Rita. It's fine. I'm fine," I said. Well, now I was anyway. "So,remember those suppressants that I managed to get?"

"From your old supplier, right?" Her voice dipped in case anyone was listening wherever she was.

"Yeah, I thought so anyway."

"Did something happen?"

I took a deep breath. "Turns outtheywere fakes."

"No."

"When I went out with Cal, well, let'sjustsay it didn't take long for my omega to seize the opportunity."

"Oh my god."

I'm glad someone was finally having a similar reaction as I did. Complete and utter horror. "Cal's alpha found me."

"Oh my god," Rita repeated.

"And took me back to their place."

"Did they take advantage of you?"

"No.Theywere, well,theywere just as confused as I was from what I heard. I was pretty out of it. They had a doctor look me over.Turnsout the suppressants I'd been taking for so long were causing more than just the side effects you'd been warning me about," I said. "Please don't tell me I told you so."

"I'll hold it back for now," my best friend promised.

"I appreciate it."

"So you are staying with them?"

"Yeah. For now. Just until I get things under control."

"They aren't like… forcing you or anything, are they?"

"No," I said quickly. "Theyaren't. They are actually…nice."

"Ella Jones is calling a pack of alphas nice?"

"Cal is here too."

"I already met the beta, he'sa marshmallow in disguise," Rita waved me off with her voice alone. "This is crazy."

"I know. Buttheysort ofare letting me figure things out before I go to Omega Services since all that has to happen now since I clearly can't go back on the pills that were slowly killing me."

"So you're not only an omega now, but an unclassifiedomegastaying in a house of alphas.Thisis a lot, Ella."

"I know."

"I can come and see you.I can take off my lecturesand cancelmy classes and be there within an hour," Rita insisted."You're close, right?"

"No, you don't have to do that."

"I will."

"It's okay. After the past few days, I could use the time alone," I mumbled as I continued to pace back and forth through the quiet townhouse.

"Are you sure?"

"Everyone mainly is out of the house as far as I can tell since I woke upsoI'm also justtaking a lookaround…"

"You're snooping."

"That makes it sound bad."

"Have you found anything good yet?" asked Rita. "Oh, I just had a feeling that Cal's pack wouldbe loadedinsomany ways. Please tell me the place is nice."

"It's in the historic district."

"Girl."

I don't respond as I continue down the hallway off the living room. SofarI hadn't found anything ofrealinterest in the house. The place was designed perfectly for them and decorated with all their eclectic tastes in mind. The colors werebright,yet muted.Elegant, yet still somehow cozy.

Pushing open the edge of one door was an office. The next was another bathroom. I traveled upstairsas Ilistened to Rita fill me in on her conference the past week and the drama that went down.

On the second floor, lined with dark blue wallpaper with swirling designs, there were clearly all the bedrooms. I didn't want to invade them, but I could tell whose spacewas basedon scent alone.

On the other side of my room wasa door that leaked with the scent of fresh vanilla and spring days.Cal. On the other side were cedar and orange citrus. Marko. Thentherewas another thatmade a shiver roll down my spine at the slightest hint of caramel and chai. Liam. At the back of the hallsmelledlike chocolate, clove, and almost a little floral.

That must've been Demetri, thoughI hadn't noticed his scent before, it perfectly seeped into everyone else's. He was the center of them all.

It was odd now that I could tell them all apart soeasily. So perfectly.

They all smelled amazing.

I blinked, lashes fluttering as I forced myself out of whatever scent haze I was slipping under. Clearing my throat, I turned and paused. I hadn't noticed there was another stairway here.

I mean,in the back of my mind, I knew there had to be a staircase to the third floor, but I never thought much of it.I guess I figuredthat itwas just a hidden space in the ceiling. It was an attic for old things that the pack grew out of or ghosts or dusty antiques.This stairway didn't look like something you'd pull out of the ceiling once or twice a year, however.

The stairway was dark but decorated so perfectly that it nearly blended in with the rest of the hallway.

Before I could stop myself, I leaned towards the wall, skimming my fingers against the wall as I followed the short stairway up.

Velvet. That was what created the designs in the wallpaper. Soft, silky velvet.

Rita continued to talk in my ear, though I wasn't paying as much attention to the conversation as I probably should've been.

How could I whenmy heart was hammering in my chest thishardlike I was the stupidest person ever in a cheesy horror movie?Of course, I couldn't imagine a horror movie house being this stunning.

Coming to a door, I reached for the knob, hesitating as if expecting someone to yank it open from the other side.Only,no one did. I twisted the knob and stepped inside, small lights coming on as my feet passed thethreshold,built into the corners.

I gasped.

"What is it? What did you find?" Rita hollered through the phone. "Are they hiding a body in the attic? A sex room? Cal did look like he could be a kinky fuck."

"It's nothing," I said beforeI could stopmyself from uttering the lie. I froze where I stood, stuttering out the words. "Just another room. I have to go."

"Don't you dare hang up now. I need to know!"

I mumbled another line abouthow I'd callher back before I hung up the phone.Because it was just another room for most people.But to me, it was something I never saw beforein my life.

At least not in person.

A nest.