Page 5 of Briggs
Dr. King gently lifted my face with a finger under my chin. “You look a bit pale, and your eyes have dark circles under them.”
I winced. That was not something you wanted your boss to say to you first thing in the morning. I nodded at him in response. “I’ll be fine. I just have a lot going on.” John wanted to move in with me, and the pressure was there. He wasn’t too pushy about it, but it was still there in the back of my mind. Was I ready? It didn’t matter if I was or not. I was letting my brother down.
“Do you want to talk about it? I might not be a psychologist, but I’m still a good listener. It goes with the profession.”
I shrugged. “I don’t want to burden you with my issues. I know you are aware of them anyway, but I’m sure you’d rather treat omegas that have their lives together and are happily pregnant with a mate.” Would I love that? Sure. But despite what others have told me, I don’t think a mate would want me at the moment. I was damaged, and although I could probably do okay with all the things that came with having a mate now, I had a brother and sister I needed to be responsible for.
“You discussing things with me is never going to be a burden, Todd. I understand that I’m not your psychologist, and I’m your boss, but I am a doctor, and I do worry about you.” Dr. King glanced at the wall again. “We have a little under thirty minutes before my first appointment is going to be here. Why don’t we sit and talk? You can offload all of your stress, and I might have some suggestions for ways to help,” Dr. King said.
It was tempting. I knew I would be able to get in to see Dr. Swift soon, but it couldn’t hurt to talk things out with Dr. King, could it?
“I can do that,” I said. Maybe Dr. King would have a different suggestion than Dr. Swift had. He gave me a smile before gesturing toward the small table. Once Dr. King had refilled his tea, he joined me.
“All right. Tell me what’s been bothering you most recently. Or, even, what is causing you the most issue. Is it one thing? Two? More?”
I sighed. “I think my biggest thing right now is my parents.” Dr. King raised his eyebrows. “Yeah, I know they’ve been dead for a while now. But I just know they’d be so disappointed with me because I’m not the one raising John and Tracy. And I haven’t gone out there and searched for Maggie.”
Dr. King’s brow furrowed. “I do feel you should also discuss this with Dr. Swift, but my opinion on that is that your parents, if they were good people, would not be disappointed with you. They would be understanding that you went through a terrible ordeal, and you were treated inhumanely for years. That isn’t something that one simply recovers from in just a few months’ time. Which is when John and Tracy were located, was it not?”
I nodded. “It was. But they’re my siblings. I should be the one taking care of them.”
“I am sure that Alpha Babak and his mate do not have any issues with watching after your brother and sister. Their children have long since grown and left the house. I assume, like most created ones, they have grandchildren and probably great-grandchildren at this point.”
“Yes, that’s my point exactly. They should be enjoying their time of not having to deal with kids. Instead, they’re stuck watching after mine.”
Dr. King smiled while shaking his head. “I, of course, do not know for certain, but I feel that if they did not wish to watch over your siblings, they wouldn’t. It is rare that one of the created ones does something they do not wish to.”
I shook my head. “I want to believe that, but I just…they’re my responsibility. And because I shift while sleeping and have to barricade myself in my room at night sometimes, I can’t be trusted around my siblings. What if I hurt one of them at night? What if, while I was sleep prowling, I lashed out and hurt Tracy? She can’t shift. She can’t defend herself against me.”
Dr. King seemed to think about that for a moment before he slowly nodded. “You’re right. She can’t. But that does not mean your parents would be upset or that you are letting anyone down. Alpha Babak and Alpha Mate Mina are taking care of your siblings because that’s what they want to do. They are happy to help. Have they asked when you’re going to take over?” I shook my head. “Then do not worry about that at the moment. Continue working with Dr. Swift about your shifting during the night. It’s a natural reaction to what you went through. Your cheetah was there to try and protect you, was he not?”
“Yes. And I did get away for several days once. But I kept running into a tall fence and couldn’t get out. No matter how much I ran, there was always a fence. And then they eventually found me. That was some of the worst consequences I’ve ever had.”
“You don’t have to worry about that any longer. You are safe here. The council will not accept any such treatment.”
I sighed. “Yes, but if I can’t figure out how to work a computer properly, I might lose my job. And if I do that, I’ll have to move. Then I won’t be safe. I don’t have a whole lot of money saved. I’m only nineteen.”
Dr. King’s brow furrowed again. There was a familiar chime that we both recognized. Someone was here.
“We’re going to discuss that later. Go into my office and call Dr. Swift and get something set up this week for you. I’ll go see who is out front.” Dr. King stood and was gone before I could respond in any way. I groaned. I’d be lucky if I had a job by the end of the day. I hadn’t meant to let it slip that I knew next to nothing about computers. Our pride didn’t allow such things, and even if they had, I’d spent three years trapped in a cage. I’d still struggled to do some of the math and forget more difficult subjects. When you didn’t finish what little schooling the pride allowed, you tended to struggle when you were no longer in it. That was me. Every day was a struggle.
I shook my head. There was no use in delaying the instructions that Dr. King had given me. I needed to go make my appointment and then see how the rest of the day went. I took one last look at the box from the bakery as I left the table. Long gone was my appetite, much like my job was probably about to be.
Chapter 3
Briggs
“You ever feel like you’re in the twilight zone?”
I widened my eyes at Raiden. “Yes. Or maybe we’re suddenly in Roswell?” I looked around the area. We were just outside of what was considered pride land, and it was…well, a ghost town. There was a town, but the locals weren’t friendly. That was, the ones that were around. It had been difficult to find anyone willing to talk to us. Those that we could, they were all much older.
“I have no idea what either of you are talking about,” Damien said. “But has it come to everyone else’s attention that there isn’t anyone under the age of thirty here?”
I nodded. I’d definitely noticed that. “Where are all of the children? The population of this town is close to thirty-five hundred, but I’ve seen at most five people when walking up and down the streets.”
“Damien,” Carrington said. “Stay with them. I’m going to pop back to the council and discuss this with Master Edison.” Damien nodded. “There is most certainly something going on here, and although this is a human town, the pride is less thanten minutes away. There are too many flags to not look into this.”
“Will do,” Damien said.
