by Leann Ryans
She was the picture of cool professionalism when she opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. Ms. Burrie gave her a smile and motioned for Sandra to follow her. Expecting to be led out of the front, she was a bit surprised when Ms. Burrie directed her into a small office just off the lobby.
“Just a few final things to cover. It will only take a moment.”
Sitting in the chair Ms. Burrie motioned her to, Sandra waited as Ms. Burrie crossed to the other side and took her own seat. Picking up a tablet resting before her, she tapped a few times before passing it to Sandra.
“Please read through that and sign at the bottom. It states that you are leaving here willingly and unharmed, and that nothing we should know about happened while in the room with the stud. The next page is a survey. If you would be willing to fill it out for us, we would appreciate it. It helps us get more information about the Alphas for future clients.”
Skimming through the form, Sandra did as she was asked before passing the tablet back. She answered what she could about her time with Austin, giving him great reviews, but the pang in her chest returned at having to think about their time together.
Ms. Burrie gave her a smile and stood, extending her hand. “Thank you for choosing The Haven and I hope we will see you again Ms. Weanton.”
Clearing her throat, Sandra stood and grasped the offered hand, giving a polite shake before leaving the office. Walking as briskly as she could to get away before anyone noticed the sheen in her eyes, she made her way from the building to the AutoCab waiting outside the doors. As she sat in the backseat and typed her address into the console, she gave one final look at the building she had just spent almost a week in. It had seemed like using an Alpha would be a relatively minor thing, but as she watched the building fade from view, she couldn’t help thinking that her life had been changed by this experience.
Only time would tell if it was for better or worse.
17. Austin
He was in hell. Pure and simple.
Ever since he returned to his room, Austin had been miserable. His chest ached, his bones ached, his teeth ached, his balls ached, and he had the temper to go with his misery. He couldn’t stand to be around the other Alphas. Going out into the common areas where he could smell them had him ready to fight, and even the ones that had been relatively friendly with him irritated him now.
Yet sitting in his room just made things worse. Austin couldn’t seem to focus, and every time he tried to distract himself from her, he failed.
Miserably.
Sandra ruled his thoughts. Her eyes, her body, the way she tasted, and the way her body sung for him when his cock was buried deep in her cunt. He had jacked off to the memories so many times his dick hurt, yet he still had a near constant hard-on from thinking about her.
Nothing helped.
He would catch himself being furious that she wasn’t there even though he knew it wasn’t logical. Never having considered leaving The Haven before, he caught himself itching to break out and go find her. It wouldn’t be that hard. Then he could punish her for leaving him.
Rubbing the center of his chest as he paced his room, the echoes of his growl reverberated around him. Ms. Burrie had kept her promise, and the day after he had left Sandra, he had been called in to choose what he would like in his new room. He hadn’t been able to move in right away since it had to be painted and such, but soon he was out of the white cell he had been in since arriving.
Even that didn’t make him feel any better. Still obsessed with thoughts of her, he had chosen a bluish-grey the color of Sandra’s eyes for the walls, and bedding to match the honey blonde of her hair. Now he couldn’t escape the blatant reminders of her without having to deal with the other Alphas. Deciding whether to stay in his room and not be bothered, or deal with the stench of other Alpha males, was a struggle he was slowly losing.
Austin stopped pacing, pressing his hands to the wall before closing his eyes and resting his forehead against it. He didn’t know what was wrong with him. Agitated constantly, it felt like there was a rope caught in his chest trying to pull its way through his ribcage. Forcing himself to take deep breaths and calm down, he was at his wits end.
Not caring that it was still open hours when he should be staying in his room, he figured this was the best time to go out since there was less risk of running into another Alpha. Fleeing his room as if he was being chased by something more tangible than the ghosts of his memories, Austin went straight to the Pen.
The Pen was an outdoor area in the center of the building. It was the only place where they could be outdoors since no one would be able to escape from it unless they climbed the walls and went across the roof. The Alphas could come out and get some sun and fresh air, and there was exercise equipment as well as a lounge area and a track following the walls for them to use.
Trying to get rid of some of the built-up frustration, Austin took off running around the track. Out here he couldn’t smell the other Alphas as much and he could shake his mind free for a brief period. He had thought that the way he felt would wear off after a day or two, when the hormones left his system, but after a week and a half, nothing had improved. If anything, he felt worse.
Austin knew his anger at the other Alphas was irrational, and the territorial feeling was pointless considering that he was basically a slave that had little to no choice in where he was, but he couldn’t stop it. The first time he had seen another Alpha besides the guard that had taken him to his room, he had almost flown into a rage. The male had been doing nothing more than walking down the hall, but Austin had barely prevented himself from taking him down. He had the strongest urge to attack the other Alpha and rip his throat out with his bare teeth.
That thought had been what jolted him back from the red haze that had descended over him. When he had gone to the clinic to have his teeth-guards removed, he had tried to casually mention how he was feeling, but the beta hadn’t seemed to know what he was talking about so Austin had shrugged the worry away thinking he was still coming out of his rut.
Pushing himself until his chest was heaving, he dropped onto the weight bench to catch his breath before beginning a series of grueling sets. By the time he heard others coming out into the pen he was dripping sweat and gasping for air. Attempting to slip out before he was noticed, he ran straight into Jake as he was coming out of the building.
Gritting his teeth to bite back a growl as the other Alpha snarled at him, he locked his eyes past Jake’s head and tried to move around him to head back to his room.
“Think you’re too good for the rest of us now Newbie? Just because you got a little bit of omega pussy. Did you forget we’ve all had some?”
Curling his lip back, Austin glared at the other Alpha before trying to shove past him. He knew his temper couldn’t handle a confrontation right now, and escaping was his best plan.
“Did you wear out your tongue when you couldn’t satisfy her with you dick? You’ve done nothing but grunt and growl since you got back, I’d think you would be in a better mood. Did she not take your knot like a good little whore?”
Jake had drawn the attention of the others in the Pen and they laughed along as he blocked Austin’s way, taunting him.
“I’m not in the mood for your shit. Get out of my way,” Austin growled at him as Jake blocked Austin again.
Throwing his hands up, the other Alpha finally moved aside. “Maybe next time she’ll choose me, and I can show her what a real Alpha cock feels like.”
Austin’s blood roared in his ears, matching the one that ripped from his chest as he swung at the other Alpha’s sneering face. Surprising him, the blow landed perfectly on the jaw, jerking Jake’s head to the side and almost knocking the Alpha off his feet. Launching himself while Jake was still reeling from the blow, Austin locked an arm around the other man’s throat, pulling backwards as the others in the Pen came running.
Two men jumped on Austin from the sides, grabbing at his arms. Snarling, Austin released the Alpha he w
as holding and attacked the new challengers. Lashing out, he dropped one of them before he was distracted by the sounds of yelling and running coming down the hall behind him. Taking a fist to the jaw himself, Austin’s head snapped to the side, though the adrenaline kept him from feeling anything. Catching the arm that was swinging at him a second time, he heard a crunch as he twisted it and jerk upwards, grinning at the scream forced from his opponent’s throat.
Lost in the bloodlust, he was about to go after Jake again when his world went white. Letting out an ear-shattering roar as his spine arched backwards and his muscles seized, darkness descended when the prongs of the taser were pulled away and his body collapsed to the ground.
18. Sandra
She was losing the client. She could feel it even as she swallowed the urge to growl at the portly old beta. Sandra had already had two calls about mistakes on her blueprints this morning, and now she had to deal with this man thinking he knew better than her about where to place the lighting in the restaurant he wanted her to design.
Usually she was unshakable no matter what she had to deal with, but for the past two weeks since returning to work she was struggling to maintain her composure. She had even snapped at Natashia for interrupting her the other morning to bring her a new contract. She had quickly apologized, and luckily Natashia knew she usually wasn’t like that and forgave her.
Quietly taking a deep breath and focusing on the matter at hand, she tried to explain again why the lights couldn’t go where he wanted them. Rubbing at the achy, hollow feeling in her chest, Sandra finally gave up as the man started his blathering again.
Placing her hands on the table, she stood and looked the man in the eye.
“Look, I have explained to you why it will not work. I am not going to do something that goes against safety standards simply because you think it will make the restaurant seem more upscale. Even if you can find a designer to make the plans the way you want them, the electricians are going to stop you once they see it. If you have anything else you want to go over on the design, schedule another appointment with my assistant or email me, otherwise, you’re free to go to someone else and have them redo the whole thing. I’m already late for my next meeting, so excuse me.”
She added on the last bit just to make it seem like she wasn’t storming out, but she was. Her focus was off, and her irritation was a constant thing she lived with now. Nothing seemed to help with the feeling of wrongness she had dealt with since leaving The Haven.
Unable to keep pushing the issue aside, she stopped at Natashia’s desk.
“Would you call my doctor and get me an appointment? The first thing she has that you can fit in my schedule please.”
Natashia looked up at her with a crease between her perfectly sculpted brows.
“Are you feeling okay Ma’am? You have seemed a bit… off this week.”
Letting out a sigh, Sandra shook her head and responded. “I don’t know what’s wrong. Maybe it’s hormones? Thyroid? I hope she can figure it out.”
Returning to her office, her mind slipped back to her time with Austin. Maybe being with an Alpha for the first time at her age had been a bad idea. Perhaps it had triggered something, and her body was struggling to handle it. Sandra wasn’t sure what was causing the issue, but it was affecting her job and she couldn’t let that happen.
Pushing aside the memories of Austin, she dove into her work, barely stopping even after everyone else had left the building. Natashia had popped her head in to let her know before she left that the doctor appointment was first thing in the morning, but that was hours ago.
Bleary eyed and starving, Sandra finally pulled herself away from the 3D model she was creating and headed up to her suite. Barely bothering to slow down, she snatched the carton of takeout off of her kitchen counter on the way to her bedroom. The only way she was able to get any rest was to work herself to sleep, but that didn’t leave her much energy for anything else, even eating.
Sitting on the edge of her bed with her eyes closed, she stuffed noodles in her mouth until she couldn’t sit upright anymore. Cracking an eye open to make sure the carton made it onto her nightstand and not the floor, she sat her half-eaten dinner down next to the other ones from previous nights before rolling into the middle of her bed. Adjusting herself until her body pillow was spooning her back, she pulled her favorite blanket to her nose. Taking in the scent of Austin’s spicy musk that still lingered in the fabric, a sad smile ghosted across her lips as her breathing evened out in the pattern of sleep.
Groggy, Sandra groaned as the alarm went off the next morning. It felt like she had only lay down to sleep a few minutes ago and shouldn’t be anywhere near time for her to get up yet. Remembering the doctor’s appointment, she threw the covers back and rolled to the side of the bed. Dragging herself to the shower, she shed her clothes from the night before and stepped under the spray. Shrieking as the cold water hit her and jolted her fully awake, she washed as quickly as possible and emerged a little more human. Unwilling to put in the effort she usually would on her appearance, she pulled her hair back into a bun and brushed a bit of mascara on before giving up. Nothing was going to hide the bags under her eyes at this point, and maybe they would help her doctor see that she really had a problem.
Sitting in a bland waiting room, Sandra stared at the walls around her and gritted her teeth at the cheery music playing over the speakers. Usually she occupied herself trying to think of ways she would have designed things differently, or improvements that could be made to the building, but she couldn’t muster the interest or energy for something that used to be her passion.
Sighing, she closed her eyes and had almost dozed off when she heard her name called. Following the brightly colored scrubs of the nurse, Sandra shortly found herself sitting on an exam table in another empty room. The good part about coming in first thing in the morning was that it was only a moment before the doctor entered the room as well.
After greeting her, the doctor said, “So tell me what’s been going on.”
Describing what she had been going through for the past two weeks, the doctor then asked, “Have you started or stopped taking any medications?”
“No.”
“When was your last heat?”
“Well, it ended about twelve days ago,” Sandra replied feeling a little sheepish.
She didn’t particularly want to tell her doctor that she had used an omega tending service, but she would if it seemed relevant. She knew that hiding things from the doctor could stop her from being able to figure out what the issue was.
“And is there any chance you could be pregnant?”
Feeling her heart stop, Sandra’s mouth hung open for a moment before responding, “No. No way! I mean, I was with an Alpha this time, but he was given an injection. He’s not supposed to be able to do that!”
Staring wide eyed at the doctor, the doctor stared back at Sandra for a moment before looking down at her tablet.
“I’m going to order some lab work to check a few things. Why don’t you stop by and get that done on your way out, and then I’ll call you with the results?”
19. Austin
Groaning, Austin uncurled and rolled to his back. Every muscle in his body felt like it had been stretched to the breaking point before snapping back into place. Tightly. Tingles still seemed to be passing through him in waves from the spot on his back where the taser had touched.
Methodically working through each muscle, Austin stretched and flexed until he felt like he wouldn’t snap in two if he turned his head too fast. Cracking open an eyelid, he squinted up at the bright light. He could see a white wall which let him know he wasn’t back in his room.
Replaying the last few minutes he remembered, he realized he must have passed out when he was hit with one of the taser rods by the guards he had heard running down the hall. They were one of the only things that could drop an Alpha almost instantly if set on high.
Running a hand over his face, he sat up an
d looked around. He was in a room not much bigger than the cot he was laying on. The walls and ceiling were all a solid white tile and the door was a sheet of glass like what was used in the cells, where he could be seen but wouldn’t know if anyone was on the other side or not unless they wanted him to.
Looking around, there was nothing else in the room but him. Standing up to stretch, he turned in a small circle before trying the door. He figured it would be locked, but he would have felt stupid if he hadn’t tried it and it wasn’t.
Sitting back down on the cot, the glass became transparent and he could see one of the guards standing behind a dark-haired woman dressed in a full business suit that reminded him of Sandra. Her hair was pulled back tightly from her face and her dark brows were drawn together as she glared down at him.
“My name is Patricia Haranne. I’m the owner of The Haven. You, Austin, have violated your contract and attacked other employees, causing injury to multiple studs. For this, your contract has been terminated and I have contacted Alpha Control to retrieve you.”
Austin jumped to his feet as she spoke, forcing her to look up at him. Opening his mouth to try and speak, she held up her hand to silence him.
“Nothing you can say will convince me to keep you here. Even without a prior strike, this would be grounds to send you away. Alpha Control has a report of what happened, and they will be the ones to deal with you and determine where you are placed.”
The woman disappeared from view as the door lost its translucency. Austin was left gaping, words he couldn’t say stuck in his throat. He wanted to say it wasn’t his fault, but he knew it had been. He could have walked away. He could have controlled himself better. But the thought of anyone else touching Sandra had sent him into a rage he didn’t anticipate and couldn’t stop.
Sitting back down on the cot, he buried his face in his hands, hoping that Alpha Control would be merciful.