“You didn’t get out of bed for a week, and now you’re sick,” she said, holding a hand to her mouth in horror.
“We’ll take care of you,” said Dravin. “And you’re going to be a grandmother, Jade.”
“Shut up,” my mom said, rolling her eyes at my dad. “This isn’t a joke. Our daughter is unmated, without a job, and she still hasn’t figured out her life.”
“Yes, you’re right, baby,” said Dravin. “But omegas have nothing to worry about. Their alphas take care of them."
“That was a long time ago,” my mom sighed. “Now it’s hard to find a good alpha these days.”
“I’m not pregnant, though,” I said, breathing hard as I paced around the living room despite my roiling stomach. I already felt like vomiting again, and panic settled inside me. If Iwaspregnant, what the hell was I going to do with my life?
“Please buy a test for her,” Mom said, and my dad immediately left the house, keys in hand.
“I need some space right now,” I said, walking to my room.
“Libby, please don’t be immature right now.”
“I just need time to think about stuff, that’s all,” I said.
There was no way in hell I was going to take the pregnancy test. I was still plagued by nightmares constantly, and I had come home to a voicemail from Howl’s Honor Hospital firing me from my receptionist job. Also, the fact that Sergio hated me weighed heavily on me. I couldn’t just easily forget about him.
Picking up a pen and my raggedy notebook full of half-written stories, I flipped through them and stopped upon one that I had particularly enjoyed writing. It was about an omega who had fallen in love with someone outside the island. I wanted to get lost in another person’s story right about now. It was thrilling to write about her journey, but I was too shaken to write, so I set the notebook down.
Maybe Ididneed to get out of the house and just go on the damn camping trip with Lacy and my friend Manny. Pulling out my backpack in my very cluttered room, I started throwing in things I’d need for the trip.
Hearing a knock at the door, I got up to unlock it.
“Here you go,” said my dad gruffly, handing the pink pregnancy box to me, standing there awkwardly. We’d never had a conversation about me mating alphas or about pregnancy.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Let me know when you take it!” screeched my mom from the living room.
“I’m not taking it,” I called back, and I heard her sigh of annoyance. Dumping it on my dresser, I resumed packing. I was ready to get out of here for a few days already, despite how much I missed being home because it was suffocating to me now.
I hadn’t realized how much I had actually changed, and I was way more impatient with things.
A couple of days later,I walked out of my room, ready to go on the trip with Lacy. I wore my sunglasses already with my backpack slung over my shoulder. Lacy was waiting outside in a van with her pack. I decided to wear something simple- jeans and a blue tank top.
“Did you take the test?” my mom asked as I headed out. She asked me that every day, but I still refused to take the damn test.
“Nope,” I said. “I’m not pregnant, Mom. I’ll see you when I get back.”
“Have fun,” she said, her face glowing with happiness at seeing me leave the house. She was so odd sometimes.
“I’ll try,” I said, giving her a hug.Who knew what would happen if I ever left the house again?It was a new kind of paranoia that I had to stop myself from developing. But the fear was still there that I could easily get kidnapped again.
I went outside and saw Lacy all excited with the van door open. The inside was crowded with camping supplies.
“Hey, cuzzo,” said Lacy, making room for me in the van as I flung my backpack on top of the pile. I sat in the middle seat with her while three of her alphas sat in the back row and two at the front. They all started out as her bodyguards, but they had all fallen in love with her during duty.
“How have you been?” I asked Lacy carefully as the van started moving. I hadn’t talked to her ever since I got home last week and had been avoiding her calls.
“I’m great,” she said. “I would’ve liked to know howyou’dbeen all week. I called you a million times, Liv.”
“I know,” I said, looking out the window. “I just needed time to process everything.”
“Yeah,” she sighed sadly. “I never felt at ease since I knew you were still trapped. Every day, I remember you there.”