“So that’s what this is about.”
I got to my feet, feeling my head spin again, which made me regret downing that drink, but not more than I regretted coming here. It’d hurt, physically hurt, to leave home, but I’d adjusted, found my place, and ended up feeling that being in the city was better. We had an elected government here that betas could be a part of, not the alpha fiefdoms of the small towns. Alphas never really seemed to care much about what was happening in the world as long as their little patches weren’t touched. It was also reassuring that our elected officials couldn’t be displaced for not finding the right mate.
“Riley…” Fen said as he rose.
“The Vanguards need to hold Bordertown, no matter what…” I muttered, then shook my head, making a beeline for the door.
“Riley,” he called after me. “Riley!”
That last shout stopped me in my tracks. Spider frowned and threw down his tea towel before vaulting over the bar and rushing to my side. He took one look at the way my body was quivering, fighting Fen’s command, and then scowled at the alpha.
“What the fuck, man? You don’t compel a girl! I don’t know what passes for foreplay in whatever bumfuck town you’re from, but this shit will get you arrested in the city.”
“Jesus, we’re fucking everything up.”
“Ya think?” Spider said.
I felt the point when my body softened and my autonomy returned, and when I whirled around, that famed red-haired temper was fully in effect.
“What. The. Fuck?!” I stabbed my finger into Fen’s chest to punctuate every single word. I felt some satisfaction as the great Fen stumbled back, eyes wide. “Don’t you ever do that to me again!” I paced back and forth, raking my hair back from my face before throwing my hands down. “I’m not yours anymore. Not to be walked to class, or picked up and placed on someone’s lap. Not to be cradled in someone’s arms, not fed or given drinks or all the other shit you guys used to do.”
I stopped moving then, staring at him, even as I knew I was making a horrendous scene, but I just couldn’t seem to stop, and that made me madder still.
“Your parents put me on a plane.”
“They shouldn’t’ve—”
“Yes, they should’ve.” I nodded hard for emphasis. “They did the right thing. I might’ve resented them at the time, but I’ve seen it, just how it works, or rather, doesn’t. You need an omega.”
“I need you, Riley!”
He was there, up in my space, not touching, but not letting me walk away or anything. Just like he always did. His hand hovered in the air, but it didn’t touch me. He didn’t dare, and that was progress.
“All I fucking want is you. Gimme drugs, try experimental therapies, do anything, Riles, anything that gets me you. I know they sent you away. I knew some of the reasons why, but it just doesn’t fucking matter. My wolf, he just wants you.” Fen shook his head then and backed off a little. “And if he can’t have you, then he doesn’t want anyone at all.”
I blinked then, shock, alcohol, and just good old-fashioned surprise making me stare openly.
“You OK, Riley?” Spider asked, much more quietly now.
That seemed to bring me back to earth. I turned to Spider, fishing out a few bills from my wallet and slapping them in his hand. “Thanks, Spider, and keep the change.”
“Bullshit,” he replied with a soft smile. “I’ll put your tab in credit. You OK? Neander-dude here’s not causing you any trouble?”
“Oh, he’s causing plenty,” I said with a wry grin. “I’m gonna head home, grab an Uber—”
“Lie back in your coffin, sated by the blood of your enemies?” he finished with a grin.
“We were having a moment there,” I said. “An actual moment when I didn’t want to drown you in a barrel…”
“Oh my god, you’re being sweet. Stop!” Then he gave me a straight-armed shove, but neither of us was the other’s enemy, so both of us swung our eyes back to Fen.
“Riley, we just need some time—” Fen started.
“So wine her, dine her, and sixty-nine her,” Spider instructed. “Actually, do a lot of that, because this girl is repressed.” He threw up his hands as we glared at him. “Looks like both of you are repressed,” he muttered as he ambled away.
As he left, he freed up the space next to me—space that Fen stepped into.
He pressed his forehead to mine like the last seven years were nothing. His fingers pushed into my hair, stroking through the strands like he couldn’t help himself, then kept going.