Page 55 of Into the Fire: After
My body swayed with the gentle motion of the bus. I tuned out the white noise of people shuffling on and off, the hissing hydraulics of the brakes and accelerator, the squeak of the door. A phone blasting a video at top volume jumped on for a few stops then off. The sun coming through the windows weakened.
Seventeen minutes past the hour, one stop from Brooks’ clinic, the doors opened and a teenage girl rushed aboard, backpack slung over one shoulder and black hair hanging from a barelythere hair tie. She slumped into a seat just as the bus lurched into slow motion again.
Her face was young, but her eyes were aged. My heart ached for her. I’d seen her a few times before, always looking drained beyond functioning, but still doing it anyhow.
What did it say about me that I watched her from the corner of my eye, curious and caring, but hadn’t said a word to her? I felt so very unlike myself, staying quiet and keeping my distance instead of launching myself into her orbit to try and ease the burden she carried.
The bus slowed to a stop again, and I stood with a quiet sigh and made my way toward the door, stepping down and onto the sidewalk outside the Farendale Urgent Clinic, Brooks' new assignment since returning. Afternoon light slanted over the small building, and I squinted into the blinding orange as I stepped toward the front doors.
“Hey! Hey, wait!”
I turned, and the girl from the bus was jogging after me. She held out her hand. “You left this.”
My notebook.
My heart lurched as I took it from her and hugged it to my chest. “Oh my god, thanks so much! I’d have had a meltdown if I’d lost this.”
She gave a tight smile. “Yeah, I’ve seen you with it before. You’re pretty intense.”
“You have no idea.” I chuckled. “Well, thanks…”
“Caro,” she said.
“Thanks, Caro,” I said. “I’m Taryn.”
Her smile grew a little. “Nice to meet you, Taryn.” She glanced behind her, where the bus was patiently waiting; they were already behind, so what was another minute? “Well, I gotta go.”
Just as she turned to leave, an electric shock tickled through my system, subtle as an ant crawling down my arm. A feeling of connection took my breath away.
Caro was an omega.
Twenty-three
Lin
HowthehelldidCaine ever leave the apartment? If he felt all the time what I felt right now, he was the strongest person I knew for venturing outside at all.
Sitting at the sleek conference table, waiting for Gail Thorne to arrive, my skin felt shrunken over my skeleton. Too itchy, too tight. Impatience mounted, and every moment felt like I was a wolf in the dark wilderness, hackles raised, wary and ready for danger.
Restarting the alpha supplements had been a gradual process since returning home. I’d finally reached my previous dosage, but I still felt off. They didn’t fit me right anymore, like I’d put my shoes on the wrong feet.
I’d been hesitant to go back on them at all. Wainwright had the near-monopoly on alpha and omega meds. It felt wrong to take them after all we’d endured, but more than that, I simply didn’t trust the meds themselves anymore.
Caine, however, had insisted. He was a walking case file on the importance of being on the supplements. Engaging with literally anyone without the meds was an exercise in restraint and strength—literally sometimes, as I’d fought down my alpha.
So for the time being at least, I was on the meds.
A hand closed around my knee, and I snapped my head toward Caine. The chair I’d been swiveling from side to side stopped. “You’re making me motion sick,” he mumbled before giving a light squeeze and retreating.
I sighed, running my palm over my face as I tried to force my body to release the tension.
“Sorry.”
A slow, tentative wave of warmth flowed through the bond before Caine resumed his former stern expression.
He’d been doing that more since the Greysmoke cabin. Soothing touches and gentle comforts that, previously, were rare treats. Maybe through all the bullshit of the last few months, he’d healed some. Maybe he just sensed that, for the first time in a long time, I needed more from him.
The door opened, and a small team of pristine-suited lawyers strolled in.
