Page 58 of Fight

“I may have ripped it out of my arm,” she says with a wince.

“It happens when you wake up without a clue of how you ended up here,” I remind her. “I don’t know much, but it looked like a hell of a fucked up night.”

I clean the torn skin, apply some medicated cream to it, and then wrap her wrists in gauze.

“It kind of was. It’s also the night that never ends,” she mutters. “Any chance you can help me out of here?”

“My brother is a paranoid ass who didn’t give me a key. He buzzed me into the house,” I explain. “If you’ve done any investigating of the complex, you know there’s no way out unless he allows it. Look, he’s not a bad man?—”

“Sure,” Cerenity says, a wild laugh releasing that is unamused as she pulls her wrists away. “He had a rape kit run on me without consent, handcuffed me to a bed, and is keeping me from the only person on this planet who cares about me. Tommy is a fine, upstanding citizen.”

“I never said anything about upstanding,” I tease her. Her chest is heaving, and I want to diffuse her growing hysteria. Knowing you can’t leave somewhere gives the worst feeling of claustrophobia for an omega.

“Tommy is making sure the alphas who hurt you won’t be able to again. Is it so terrible that he’s your scent match?”

“Yes,” she answers immediately, surprising me. “Any alpha would be terrible, but he and Jasper are the worst options. They’ll take away my choices, thinking they’re fucking God’s gift to omegas.”

Surging forward, Cerenity begins to pace, her fingers twitching with anxiety.

“Choices are important to you,” I murmur, simply because I want to keep her talking. I only fight for things when they’re truly important, and since there’s so few of those in my life, people think I’m a doormat.

I know Tommy doesn’t think of me like that, but I tend to cave whenever he needs me after years of not really speaking to him, since we didn’t grow up together. I still give him hell about it, however it doesn’t change the fact that my brother knows I’ll do whatever he asks.

It’s why I’m here now, after all. I’m not even upset about this, though, because Cerenity obviously needed help. Maybe even a friend.

“Aren’t they important to everyone?” Cerenity rasps, rolling her eyes as she paces, tugging her blue hair with her hands. “I don’t want something like a damn scent to dictate who I’m supposed to love. It’s why I’m on alpha pheromone blockers for fuck’s sake. I don’t need growly assholes getting all possessive and telling me what to do.”

“So the scent bond hasn’t snapped into place for you,” I say, still stating the obvious as I work through this. At her nod, I swallow hard. “Is that why you look like you’d run if you could? I don’t mean to pry, but who hurt you? It damn sure wasn’t my brother, or if it was, please tell me, so I can find you something to kill him with.”

Tommy is so protective, I truly don’t believe he’s responsible for this reaction from her. He’s never spoken about her before. I don’t think they know each other well, or he’d know she was his scent match earlier than just last night.

No, someone else did this.

“I… don’t like alphas,” Cerenity murmurs. “The power alphas have over omegas has never sat well with me.”

“That’s because there are alphas who use it to manipulate others,” I say. I did a study on alpha-omega communication and biology in nursing school, and found it fascinating. “Alphas are a safe place for omegas to land, and they’re supposed to nurture and protect them.”

“So not handcuff them to a bed and force them to have their babies,” she scoffs. My heart starts to pound as I look back at the bed I’m sitting on, but I have a feeling this isn’t the same scenario.

“No, that’s called rape,” I grunt. “Have you had something like that happen to you? We don’t know each other at all, though I did straddle your face.”

My words startle her enough to blink as she snickers. “Oh my God,” she laughs. “That’ll make a very interesting ‘how did you two meet’ story. Fuck, sounds like my life anyway. I haven’t had that happen, but my mother did, and that’s how I was conceived. She ran while she was pregnant with me and I don’t think we ever really stopped running.”

Forcing myself to take a breath, I start to see Cerenity in a different light. I would probably be a crying mess, but her back is straight as she paces in a jagged line, because of her concussion. This is what a strong omega looks like that is nearing the end of her rope.

Tommy thinks she’ll be happy to play Suzy Homemaker as his omega so he can get to know her, but fate is sending him a giant middle finger in response. Serves him fucking right.

“Why are you using alpha blockers?” I ask. “Is it so you’re less likely to be influenced by them?”

“I run a club in Minnesota. I started doing it to protect myself from being influenced, and then I did it because I never want to be scent matched,” Cerenity confesses. “It’s a lot of power to give someone over you, and it doesn’t kick in unless I can scent the other person. Until then, he’s just some guy.”

“That’s actually really smart,” I mutter with a small smile. “Small tweaks to be able to live your life. Isn’t it a little lonely though?”

“I have my best friend, Augustine, at least until he meets his scent match and leaves me,” she sighs. “If we’re talking about a safe place to land, he’s mine.”

The longing Cerenity has in her voice makes me sad for her. Her heart obviously is tangled up with someone else. This isn’t looking good for my brother. I don’t like to take sides, but Tommy is a big alpha and can figure his shit out alone.

“I’ll work on my brother,” I tell her, digging in my bag for clothes. “In the meantime, real clothes may help. They’re new, and straight from the store. I even bought you panties.”

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