I don’t have to wait here. I have a choice.
Smiling, I move over to the couch in the moonlight.
This is right where I want to be.
KELLAN
Idon’t like the idea of leaving Brooke alone in that dark apartment. This part of the city looks kind of rough. It’s off the beaten path, and the nearest fast-food place is a sandwich shop a couple blocks closer to the city’s center. I take off my tie and stuff it into my pocket, and then I pick up my pace. Passing a drug store that seems to be open late, I make a mental note to stop in there on my way back to the apartment.
One thing I love about the city is the complete lack of greenery. My allergies are under control, even if the air pollution is appalling. It would probably make sense for me to move out here.
If this is where Brooke wants to be, it’s where I want to be.
Or if she decides we need to move out to a remote cabin the wilderness, where my allergies will go absolutely nuts, then that’s where I want to be.
I don’t care where we are, just that we’re together.
The sandwich shop looks clean and it’s busy, which I take as a good sign. They have similar sandwiches to the café I meet Lana at, so I order a couple that sound like the mighty meaty one that everyone loves there. I get a couple side salads and an assortment of chips and soda, too.
It takes a little longer than I expect, and I’m keen to get back to Brooke, but I remember to go into the drug store. Mostly because a couple of guys are exiting the store as I’m about to pass.
I grab a bunch of general overnight supplies—toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, deodorant. Then I pick up some stuff Brooke might need. A hairbrush, makeup wipes.
There’s a stand next to the sunscreen with palm tree print T-shirts, bikinis and sunglasses on it.
I pick up an oversized shirt for Brooke. The skirt of her dress is ruined, and it’s not the kind of thing most Betas wear. She’s going to need a real change of clothes, but this shirt should be okay for her to sleep in.
The main thing I came in here for is behind the counter.
I clear my throat as I put my haul down.
“I’ll need a double pack of suppressants, too.”
The pharmacist raises his eyebrow at me. “For you?”
He looks like one of those Betas who thinks he could be an Alpha.
Apparently, I look even less like an Omega than I do an Alpha.
“For my mate.”
He nods. “Oh, sure. If it’s your first time ordering them for him, then you’ll need to fill out a form …”
Damn it.I thought the whole point of suppressants was to help Omegas blend in with Betas. How does forcing them to fill out forms help with that? I can’t give this place her name. A fake name might not work or could become a red flag that gives Brooke’s father a lead to us. I can’t risk it.
“Forget it,” I tell him. “He can get them himself tomorrow.”
He nods and starts to ring up my other items.
“This shirt is so cute,” he says. “I have it in blue.”
“It’s a nice shirt,” I agree, glad I picked the green version over the pink.
This guy thinks my Omega is male, and I have the cash to put down to avoid linking my name to this area right after I left the academy with Brooke. No one’s going to know this is where we are, and it needs to stay that way, at least while Brooke is an unmarked, unclaimed Omega.
I’m not sure what her longer-term plans are. If she takes me as her Alpha, that’s going to change our current situation. Right now, she’s missing from Goldcrest, and their security team will be tasked with tracking her down. I left with her, so of course they’ll be looking for me, too.
If we’re mated, the academy will have no choice but to leave her alone. They approved me to visit, and she decided to take me as her mate. We’ve made things a little more awkward by running off together, but I doubt that’ll matter when they see the bigger picture. There might be paperwork involved to make it official, or whatever, but they’ll have no reason to punish either of us.