Page 61 of Impossible

“You can understand our hesitation to believe that,” one of the suits says, his voice dripping false kindness. “We’d much rather chat tonight.”

“Unfortunately, we’re in the middle of a conversation.” Hollis smiles, allowing an edge of dominance in his voice.

The second suit steps close to Hollis. Every eye in the room follows. He whispers in Hollis’s ear, but he’s looking at me, sinister. “You have a choice, easy or hard.” He lifts his suit and I see the cuffs hanging from his belt.

The way he sayshardimplies cuffs won’t be the only hard thing about it. Hollis growls.

Without the dialogue audible, the attention of the room turns back to the mixer, conversations picking up where they left off, though people still watch the conflict out of the corner of their eye. Indie’s fear sharpens her scent. Without thinking, I reach across the table and rest my hand over hers and Leon’s.

“Hey,” I murmur. “I’m gonna go with them. I’ll see you in class next week, ok? Don’t worry about me, everything’s fine.”

I don’t know why I feel the need to comfort her—she just met me, her fear is probably about the aggressive alphas, not on my behalf. But after I say the words, I sense her relief. She nods.

“You’ll be there?” her eyes are wide. “Promise?”

I swallow the sudden thickness in my throat. The thought of disappointing her is chilling. Just like that, bed isn’t an option.

“Promise,” I vow. “I’ll bring some Cummings. We can reclaim him from bad memories, ok?” I give her a wan smile. Then I turn to the suits, smoothing my shirt and nodding once, firmly. “Gents?”

“I’ll be joining you,” Hollis says. Not a question. For an instant I want him to stay, to comfort Indie, to leave me as he’s left me every day for the past six weeks, but his tone bears no questioning. I nod, and off we go, marching past the crowded tables and wide-eyed packs. I fight down my fear.

For Indie, for the first time in a long time, I believe I can be strong.

18

Intransigent

Indigo

“Whydoyouthinkpeople would dismiss you?”

I shrug. “I’m just an angsty teenager. Nothing I do really matters. Not yet.”

“Why do you think that?”

I shrug again. “Nothing’s real here. It’s just school. Relationships don’t last, grades mean nothing, our opinions can’t change anything and nothing we do will be remembered in five years’ time.”

“That’s a very nihilistic view of the world.”

I shrug yet again.

“It must be disconcerting to come to the Complex and see people forming permanent pack bonds when you think relationships don’t last.”

“Yeah,” I laugh. “I think it’s kind of stupid. I’m not going to bond. I’ll just do medical heats.”

“Why?”

“Anything I say to answer that will just be teenage dramatics.”

“Lay it on me anyway.”

I eye the therapist, silver-haired and eagle-eyed. Something thickens in my throat. “Because the only person I trust is myself, and sometimes I don’t even trust her.”

The therapy appointment from yesterday flashes through my mind as I watch Hollis and Joshua walk away. The hour was filled with nosy questions about my eating habits and body image and feelings about the Complex, but that one exchange had me prickling, feeling restless and angry and small. I feel the same way now, as Leon and Risk and I watch the doors close behind their packmates. Except, this is real. This matters.

I miss them, and I barely know them. I don’t even know if they like me. The way Hollis looked at me was an evaluation. The way Joshua stormed out right after meeting me, like I had angered him. But then the way he just comforted me…

The intensity of my emotions has me jittery and anxious. When all of Midas Pack was here, I felt calmer, somehow. Like I was in the eye of a hurricane, able to look at the chaos around me from within an oasis of perfect stillness.

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