“Okay. It’s not really what I wanted to hear, but I guess I have to respect it. I’m not happy about it, though.”
“I know. I didn’t expect you would be.”
He nodded and tried to wrap his head around the whole thing. His Alpha side wanted to demand that she play the role she was meant to play in their hierarchy, but he pushed it down. She was right. It was an antiquated way of thinking and he would need to adjust if there was ever going to be any hope of keeping her by his side.
“Well, what do we do now?”
“Can you take me home? I need to finish cleaning up the mess and sort out getting the windows fixed.”
“Sure. You want to get dressed or are you going to wear my old gym clothes home?”
“I think I’ll go just like this. I like the way they smell like you.”
“Suit yourself then,” he told her.
She could tell he was struggling with what his Alpha told him to do and what he knew she wanted. She respected that, but perhaps he needed some time to adjust to the situation at hand. It was best that she give him a breather to decide if he really wanted to be with her on her terms rather than his. It wasn’t as if she wasn’t open to compromise, having a family while she was still trying to make something of herself was a huge sacrifice on her part, but she didn’t blame him for that. It had been her fault as much as his.
They had been too wound up in the moment, hadn’t taken precautions. It was a stupid chance to take. It was just her luck that she would get pregnant the first time she was with her true mate, but she supposed that is how it had been happening with their kind for years.
He drove her back to her apartment in silence, insisting on walking her up. They were both surprised to open the door and find that the floor had been cleaned and the glass replaced. There was a note on the counter from the landlord that the building had taken care of it and assuring her that additional security measures were in progress to keep their residents safe.
Thad seemed relieved by it and told her goodbye, kissing her softly on the lips before leaving. She felt it down into her toes, her body still responding to his in the aftermath of her season. It was the weird thing about their kind, once a true mate was found, they would go into this heat every month. It wasn’t a period, like human women experienced. In fact, that was ended by the time this began.
She picked up her phone and glanced at it. There were several missed calls from unknown numbers, likely the police prior to locating her or reporters looking for the details of what had happened here. How they would have gotten her number was beyond her, but she knew they had their ways. She flipped over to Alpha Meets Omega and opened the app, noting the many notifications in her inbox.
Switching to her account settings, she deleted her profile. She didn’t hold the app accountable for Aaron. He would have been a psycho wherever she had met him. However, she wouldn’t be dating strangers in her condition. A confirmation code popped up in her inbox and she entered that to finish it, taking note of all the other emails below it. They were mostly junk, but one caught her eye. It was from her mother.
I’m sorry it has taken me so long to write, but you father wouldn’t allow it. I should have defied him, but I am not as strong as you are. I just wanted you to know that I love and miss you. Your father is in the hospital. He’s not doing well. I understand if you don’t want to see him, but I think he regrets his actions and it might do you both some good. I won’t push you, but don’t wait if you want to see him.
Tears filled her eyes and she knew she had to go. There was no reason not to anyway. She didn’t have a job to hold her back and she could look for a new one just as well from home. It was only thirty minutes away, so ducking back into the city for an interview would be simple enough if she got one. She packed enough clothes for at least a week and headed for the bus station.CHAPTER TWENTY-FOURThad
“Where are you?” Thad asked.
Jaycee hadn’t answered her phone since he had taken her home. She had deleted her profile from Alpha Meets Omega, which made him happy on one level but concerned on another. He was about to call Barron and send him up to check on her until he finished the client meeting he had to attend when she finally returned his call.