Page 43 of The Omega Archives: Part One

“I’ll call you, Cal. Promise.”

I shut the door and made sure to bolt the three different locks behind me. I stepped out of a dream and now I was back in the dull, damp reality.

“Oh my god!” Rita squealed from where she was on the couch, papers spread around her laptop. “How did it go? You must tell me. I peeked out the window. He looked so cute!”

I dropped the tote I had been carrying ever since work on the floor. I shook my head.

I pressed the heels of my hands to my eyes, shaking my head over and over again.

“Oh no. Oh no no no,” said Rita. I could hear her rushing to stand up to make her way over to me. “It’s okay. What happened? I’m going to go and beat that asshole up right now if he’s still out there.”

“No. Don’t. It’s fine.”

I was not going to cry. I would not cry.

There was no point in crying This wasn’t supposed to mean anything today anyway, logically. It was supposed to be fun. It was supposed to be a change of pace and to let Rita be proud of me for stepping out of my comfort zone.

I wasn’t supposed to be so invested after a single date with a guy who was not the person I thought he was.

Not exactly anyway.

I thought he had roommates. Roommates. He did. A whole pack of them. A pack he was a part of.

“It isn’t fine,” said Rita. “What happened?”

I didn’t know much about him before tonight to begin with. But now I did. I knew that Cal was sweet and funny. I knew that he had a terrible mouth that likely got him into more trouble than he let on as a kid and now.

I knew that before I felt that bite mark on his side, I never wanted the night to end.

He said that we could just keep it this way. Me and him. That made no sense either though.

None of this was making any sense.

“Seriously, Ella, talk. You’re starting to scare me.”

“He has a pack,” I choked out.

Rita gasped. “You’re kidding.”

I shook my head. “No. He has a pack with bite marks and everything.”

“Oh, Ella.”

See?Even she knew it was bad. I moved away from her and started to pace.

“What happened?” she asked.

“We went out roller skating.”

“You roller skated?” My friend sounded the most shocked about this over everything else.

“I was awful, but yes. I ate nachos. It was great. He kissed me.”

“Wow.” She sounded more than shocked. “Look at you go."

“I know. That’s when I found out. I was touching him and...” I felt it. I could still feel the indents of whoever bit him, bonded him, under my fingertips.

It made me itch and shiver at the same time, imagining just how it must've felt for someone to sink their teeth into smooth skin.

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