Page 84 of Foxy Filthy Omega

I puked again, but this time, nothing came out.

That hole was full of decaying body parts and I’d been down there. They weretouchingme.

I tried to get away. I don’t know where I was planning to go exactly. Justaway. I needed to scrub my skin raw and go somewhere no one else could see me until I got my shit together, but I didn’t even know where I was.

Large, warm hands grabbed my arms and suddenly I was being shaken so hard I thought I was going to get brain damage from the way my head was rattling around.

Then Soren came into focus and I realized he was glaring down at me.

No, I couldn’t handle that right now. I couldn’t handle someone beingdisappointedin me. It would be better if he were disgusted, but disappointed?

I couldn’t hold it together anymore. Not when he was looking at me like that.

My shoulders hunched and I didn’t even try to fight him. I didn’t have the strength right now. All I could do was hide and the only way I could do that was dropping my eyes, showing him deference to insure my survival.

“Frankie…talk to me.” His voice was soft and gentle despite how rough his hands were. “I can’t help if I don’t understand.”

My eyes felt hot, like I might cry, but this was another alpha. I couldn’t do that no matter how badly I wanted to.

“I want to go home,” I managed. It was all I could say even though it was the last thing I know I should be saying right now.

We had to report what I found and go through the whole questioning process?—

“Okay. I’ll take you home.”

I looked up in shock, not understanding why he would say that when he knew what we were supposed to do. Probably even better than me if he really did have a photogenic memory.

His grip eased and I flinched when he reached up, wiping something off my cheek with his thumb.

The shock was stronger than the panic and I just stared at him like an idiot even when I felt the telltale heat trickling down my face.

“Let me take a look at you first, okay?” Soren set me down on the ground right in front of him, but he didn’t let me go. “I’m going to check your leg and then I’ll take you home.”

My chest started heaving and I grabbed the straps of his backpack, feeling the full extent of the panic the instant I realized someone was actually going to take care of me – someone who had the strength and skills to make sure they wouldn’t get the drop on me when I was weak or my back was turned.

I couldn’t breathe. All this air in my lungs and I couldn’tbreathe.

“Hey, I’m not going anywhere.” Soren didn’t look disgusted or disappointed. He didn’t even look scared or shocked. He was totally and completely calm.

Usually that pissed me off, but this time I found that psychotic calm reassuring and I pulled him closer when my entire body started shaking.

“Frankie…tell me what I can do to help.”

“The smell…” God, the smell. I turned my head away from him just in case I threw up again. “The smell isn’t even the worst part—it’s the sensation of their dead flesh on mine, just like last time. I—I know I’m supposed to deal with it on my own. I have to. And if I can’t…then I’ll never be good enough.”

I was starting to ramble, and I needed to stop, but the adrenaline and panic were scrambling my brain and all I could think about was how they’d held me down and broke my bones the moment I was alone. I’d turned my back for just a moment and they’d pounced, like animals.

“The smell feels like I’m being buried alive all over again and I can’t—Ican’t.”

Soren didn’t say a word. He just ripped off one of his scent blockers and yanked me into his arms. One large hand pressed against the back of my head, forcing my face into the crook of his neck.

I tried to fight against him, struggling pitifully against his strength, but the moment the scent of patchouli hit my nose, I stopped.

Just like last time, I found the scent of his pheromones relaxing. The cedarwood wasn’t as strong this time, but the sweet scent of geraniums mixed with his sharp patchouli, tempering it enough it didn’t hurt my nose.

I inhaled deeply, gripping the back of his shirt tight, like he might just take this tiny sliver of peace away from me at any given moment.

This was definitely not the way things were supposed to go. In the back of my head, I knew that, but I didn’t currently have the mental capacity to care let alone do anything about it.

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