“Please let me go,” I screamed.
“Shush, little Button,” said Brett. “You’re going to get used to me holding your hair while I fuck you from behind.”
“Wake up, Libby. Wake up.”
My eyes snapped open, my heart racing from the nightmare. I saw my mother sitting beside me, her hand on my shoulder. My pillow was drenched with tears, and I was sweating bullets.
I was so glad to be awake.
“Sorry,” I said, shivering as the remnants of the dream disappeared from my memory. But it would happen again. The memories were always buried deep within me, no matter how hard I tried to forget.
“It’s been a week, and you’re always crying in your sleep,” said Mom with sorrow in her eyes. “What happened to you, Libby? Will you ever tell me?”
“Fine,” I sighed, closing my eyes. I was always her strong daughter, and I always acted like I had everything under control. But this was too much even for me to bear.
“So what happened?”
“They…violated me at the camp,” I said. “Multiple alphas at a time.”
“What?!” she said, and I opened my eyes to see her crying. “My baby.”
“It’s okay now,” I said. Every bone in my body ached as I sat up. It always felt like I was perpetually tired all the time ever since coming back home. “I’m okay, Mom.”
“Not if you keep having nightmares like this every day,” she said, shaking her head. Her long hair had come loose of its bun in her worry.
“I guess,” I said, staring at my feet. Damn, I needed to cut my toenails. I’d literally been in bed for so long that I didn’t care how I looked.
“I’ll set up a therapy appointment for you,” my mom said, standing up. “The therapy clinic for omegas who went through trauma. I’ll have to ask your father what the name of the clinic is.”
“No, Mom,” I said, panicking. “I don’t need to go there. I’m not crazy.”
“Going to therapy doesn’t mean you’re crazy,” she said. “You suffered a lot of pain, and it should help you process.”
“Mom, no,” I said. “I don’t give a fuck. I’m not going.”
“Libby,” she said, sighing. “There’s no need to swear. Then will you at least get out of the house and accept the invite from Lacy?”
My cousin Lacy had invited me to go on a camping trip with her from the voicemails she left me. I ignored the voicemails and her calls because I couldn’t be bothered. I didn’t feel like talking to anyone, and I needed to rest.
“Fine, I’ll make an effort,” I said. “As long I don’t need to go into therapy.”
“Okay,” she said, finally letting go of the therapy idea. “But if you ever feel like you need it, I’ll set up an appointment right away.”
Later that morning,I sat down at the dining table in my pajamas, about to eat the plate of scrambled eggs my mom had prepared. She had been intent on spoiling me since I got back, and I wasn’t complaining. But when the smell hit my nose, I suddenly felt nauseous, and I ran to the garbage, puking out everything.
“Are you okay?” shouted my father, Dravin, who ran into the kitchen.
“What’s happening?” said my mother in her usual panicky voice as I wiped my mouth with the paper towel my dad handed me.
“I don’t know what just happened,” I said, feeling sick at the thought of the eggs.
“Oh no,” she said with dread in her tone.
“What, Mom?” I asked, my stomach sinking already at what she was going to tell me. “Actually, don’t tell me what you’re thinking.”
“You might be pregnant,” she said.
“I’m not,” I said adamantly.