by Leann Ryans
Poking her tongue out and giggling as she darted through the door, her mother’s laughter followed her.
She hadn’t realized how much Mindy had been doing for them until she was bombarded with not only being behind from coming in late, but also having to help her mother in the front. Even her father had stepped behind the counter to help customers during their busy morning hours.
The day passed in a blur, and by the time they closed for the day, Shailyn didn’t have the energy to stay after to prep for the next morning like she usually would.
Resolved to come in early to catch up, she followed her parents to the house where they all collapsed on the couch, none of them having the energy to make dinner.
“How about I go get something from the café down the road? That way none of us have to cook,” she offered.
Her mother gave her a tired smile and nodded.
“That sounds great.”
Heaving herself back to her feet, Shailyn headed out of the house toward the market. There were booths in the market that sold food, but there was only one restaurant in the town, and it was a tiny café. When she entered, there was only two people in the place, and it didn’t take her long to order a meal to take back home.
When she left the café with a bag full of food, it was almost a repeat of the day before as she plowed into a large male body. Barely holding onto the bag, the only thing that stopped her from falling to the sidewalk again was the door she landed against.
“Get out of my way, city trash,” a familiar voice growled at her.
Shailyn straightened her back and narrowed her eyes, glaring at Casir.
“What? Is your head too far up your ass to see where you’re going?”
She smirked as she watched his jaw drop before his face clouded with rage. Just as he made a threatening step towards her, another deep voice came from their left.
“Casir, a moment please.”
Shailyn turned her head and spotted Luke walking towards them. He shot her a quick glance but focused on Casir who was still glaring at her with his fists clenched. When he didn’t respond, Luke called out to him again.
“Casir.”
“Yeah. Fine,” he answered, turning to face Luke and moving enough that Shailyn could slip past him.
With a grateful smile, she took advantage of the opportunity Luke had given her, hurrying home. She decided not to mention this incident to her parents. They were already on edge about what had happened yesterday, and another problem so soon would have her father deciding to take things into his own hands.
The next few days passed in a blur of dreary routine. Shailyn missed having Mindy popping in to talk for a few minutes, and she wished she had time to go check on her. She mentioned something in passing to her mother, and the next thing she knew her mom came bustling into the kitchen with a basket full of things.
“What’s that?” Shailyn asked her.
“This is for Mindy and Nancy. I know she hasn’t been able to work as much the past couple days since she’s looking after Mindy, and I’m sure they would appreciate some fresh breads and stuff. I’m sure Mindy will appreciate your company too, so go,” she told her with a little shove towards the door. “Get cleaned up and go visit her.”
Ready to dart for the door, she stopped and gave her mom a hug, grateful for the break from work and being able to go see her friend. It didn’t take Shailyn long to rush into the house and change into something clean before heading back out again.
Knocking on Mindy’s door a short time later, she noticed the curtain twitch before it opened to reveal Nancy looking around the street behind her.
“Shailyn, it’s nice to see you,” she said ushering her in as she shot worried glances up and down their block.
“Is everything okay?” Shailyn asked.
After locking the door, Nancy turned to her and lowered her voice.
“Casir has been coming around a couple times a day looking for Mindy. I haven’t been answering, but he’s not giving up. I haven’t told her.”
Just as she finished, Mindy came down the stairs and greeted Shailyn.
“Hey! Mom sent me over with some goodies for you,” she told her friend with a smile, lifting the basket.
With a soft hug, Mindy pulled her into the dining room of her small home.
“Thank goodness! Mom can’t bake for crap, and I’m dying for someone to talk to,” Mindy said with a smile.
She still moved slow and seemed stiff, but otherwise, she looked okay.
“Are you feeling better?” Shailyn asked her.
“A little. The past few days were rough. It’s hard to sleep when anything touching your torso hurts. The bruising looks terrible, but I know it gets worse before it goes away,” she responded, attempting to shrug, but stopping with a wince.
Unloading the basket onto the table, Shailyn sat with Mindy as her mother began to put the stuff away. There was more than enough for the two women to get through the next week.
“Thank your mother for me,” Nancy told her before heading back to her table in the front room to work on the jewelry she made to sell at her booth in the market.
“Did you pick up the pills?” Mindy asked, drawing Shailyn’s attention.
“What? No, I completely forgot, has the delivery already come in?” she responded.
“Yeah, Mom saw them this morning when she had to run to the store.”
“I didn’t even think about it. I’ll stop by and pick them up on the way home. Then I’ll have an excuse to come back by in a couple days,” she said with a smile.
Mindy gave a little laugh.
“You don’t need an excuse, but I’ll be glad to have you come back. I love my mom, but I can only take so much of being cooped up with her before I want to pull my hair out.”
Chuckling with her, Shailyn said, “Oh, I understand.”
10.
Shailyn stayed and talked with Mindy for a while before it became obvious that her friend was growing uncomfortable. Making an excuse to leave so Mindy could take her medicine and rest, Shailyn said goodbye to her and her mother before heading to the store to pick up her package.
On the way, she spotted Casir heading in the direction she had come from but managed to avoid being noticed by him. The man seemed to be in a perpetual bad mood, and after their last two encounters, she was in no rush to draw his attention again. Shailyn worried about his constant trips to Mindy’s home though.
She entered the store and found Darla in the same spot as the last time. Greeting the older woman, she stopped at the counter.
“Hello, I’d like to pick up the package I ordered, please. From White Rose Pharmacy, for Shailyn.”
The woman glanced at her from behind her glasses before looking over the row of boxes she had on the counter behind her.
“I don’t have it,” she responded when she turned back to Shailyn, empty-handed.
“But… I placed the order five days ago. That should have been plenty of time,” Shailyn said, her heart rate picking up.
She didn’t have enough pills to wait for another delivery.
Darla shrugged her shoulders and sat back in her chair.
“They must not have had it ready in time. All I know is, I don’t have it.”
She gaped at the woman for a moment before pulling herself together and exiting the store. Shailyn pressed her back against the wall just outside the door, so lost in her circling thoughts that she didn’t notice Luke approaching her.
“They’re not there. I didn’t place the order,” he said as he drew closer to her.
She turned her head to focus on him and responded with a confused, “What?”
He looked down at her with a smirk and repeated,
“Your pills. Who do you think sends off the orders placed here? We don’t want those unnatural things affecting our community, so we decided not to place the order.”
Shailyn’s shock at his audacity morphed into rage. Her temporary stunned silence exploded.
“You what?” she yelled, launching herself into his space, shoving her hands against his chest.
Luke didn’t even rock, raising an eyebrow at her as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“My father feels that the pills are unnecessary, and they have already caused one incident. He doesn’t want any other omegas getting the idea to try them, so he didn’t send in the order. You don’t live in the city anymore, it’s time to stop hiding what you are.”
Shailyn was incapable of putting a full sentence together she was so angry. Her fists clenched, and her entire body shook with the effort not to lash out and get herself in trouble.
Control snapping when she saw the smug look on his face, Luke’s head rocked to the side before she even realized she had moved, the stinging in her palm confirming she had slapped him. A brief glow of satisfaction filled her as she took in the shock on his face.
“You have no right! It’s my choice! I only have five pills left,” she hissed at him.
Overcoming his shock, Shailyn watched as his eyes darkened and he let out a growl. He backed her against the same wall Casir had trapped Mindy against, her body reacting to the rumble coming from his chest and releasing slick as he pinned her in with his arms.
Drawing in a deep breath, Luke scented her body’s betrayal and licked his lips before responding.
“That’s good to know. I guess I’ll come see you in six days.”
He invaded her space as he ran his nose along her neck and drew in another deep breath before pushing off the wall and walking away. Shailyn was left trembling in front of the store. Her traitorous body released a whimper as cool air brushed away his warmth and the Alpha scent faded from the air around her.
Gritting her teeth, she turned and stomped back to the bakery, unsure what to do now. If she told her parents what had happened, they may decide that it wasn’t worth fighting over, but she had no plans to stop taking the suppressants until she was ready to. The only option left was to go to the city herself to get them, or she would run out, and Luke was going to come looking for her when she went into heat.
Growling to herself, she decided it was best not to tell her parents about it until after she had gotten more pills. They would ask too many questions, and Shailyn just didn’t want to get into it. Her father wouldn’t let her go alone if she told them, and she didn’t want her mother left alone at the bakery, even for the short amount of time the trip would take.
Deciding on her plan, she forced herself to relax as she entered the bakery.
“Back so soon?” her mom asked when she walked in.
“Yeah, Mindy needed to take more medicine and lay down. Her mom said thank you for the basket,” Shailyn said, passing by her to head into the kitchen.
Putting her apron back on, Shailyn began to get out the things she needed to prep for the morning. She planned to make extra for the next two days so she could leave early the following morning to head to the city without leaving the bakery short on anything. If everything worked out, she would be back by lunch, and then she would deal with the fit her parents would throw.
She knew it wasn’t the best idea to make the trip alone, but she couldn’t see any other way to do it besides closing the bakery for a day. Shailyn knew her parents would do it for her, but she didn’t want to put them in that position. If Mindy could still help it wouldn’t be so hard, but this was how they all made their living, and the town had already come to rely on them in the brief period they had been open.
Shailyn didn’t want to cause issues for any of their customers with an unplanned closing. She was an adult, and the whole reason she took the suppressants was to have more independence. She had always gone to get them herself in the city, now she would just have to drive a few hours instead of walking a few blocks.
11.
Shailyn usually woke up before her parents to go bake the morning’s goods, so nobody noticed anything unusual when she dressed and made her way to the kitchen. She left a note for her parents so they wouldn’t panic over her not being in the bakery, then made her way outside.
With a deep breath, she walked around the bakery to where the truck was parked. They kept it there since it was mainly only used to pick up supplies. Though Shailyn’s father had taught her to drive, she had never driven farther than a couple miles at any one time, and she was both excited and nervous about the trip.
Sliding into the front seat, she started up the old truck and backed it out of its spot, pulling out onto the empty morning streets. Shailyn remembered the trip to the town as being long and boring, with very little between the city and here, so she figured she wouldn’t have any issues until she got close to the city where traffic would begin.
Since she was leaving while it was still dark there wasn’t anyone else on the road, though she passed the guards stationed at the edge of town. There was only one road in or out, so someone guarded it all night, while others patrolled through the town as well. Shailyn was happy it wasn’t Luke watching the road since she wouldn’t have been surprised if he tried to make her stop.
Even growing up in the city, she had known about rogue Alphas that roamed around less populated areas. Men that were a bit too wild for normal society to accept. Some that were captured were so lost to their Alpha instincts that they forgot how to speak, and lived like animals, hunting food and women alike.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Shailyn focused on the drive ahead. Though she had worried that the boredom would be worse driving alone, she was so focused on the road that she didn’t have a chance to get bored.
When she reached about the halfway point of the drive, she decided to take a break to get something to eat from a gas station that she noticed coming up ahead. Shailyn was glad she had seen it because she had forgotten about needing gas, and when she looked down, she realized it was almost on the empty mark. If she remembered correctly, there wouldn’t be another place to stop until she made it to the outskirts of the city in about another hour.
Pulling up next to the pump, she looked around the station. It appeared to be old, and a layer of dust coated everything she saw, making the windows almost impossible to see through. Shailyn had seen her father pump gas enough times to know what to do, so she hopped out of the truck and headed inside to pay.
A bell jingled above her head as she pushed the door open and stepped into the dim interior. Shivering at the creepy vibe she got from the place, she looked for something to eat. With very few options, and most of them stale or outdated, Shailyn decided to grab some water and wait until she got to the city to eat.
As she walked up to the counter, she noticed the man standing there. Hip pressed to the counter across from her, she knew he was an Alpha by his size, and he appeared to be just as unfamiliar with washing as the station was.
Doing her best to keep a straight face as the scent of stale sweat and musk reached her, she sat the bottle of water on the counter. Continuing to leer at her, the Alpha didn’t move from his relaxed position.
Shailyn cleared her throat and said, “I need to get that and fill the tank on my truck.”
As he stood, the Alpha pulled up the waist of his pants before calling out, “Charlie, go fill the truck.”
With a look around, she noticed a door in the corner she hadn’t seen before just as another grungy Alpha came out of it. He walked past her with a grin that showed off missing teeth, and out the door to her truck. The Alpha behind the counter continued to watch her in silence as she rocked from foot to foot, growing more uncomfortable.
“So, you’re alone then?” he finally said, causing her to jump at the sudden sound of his voice.
“Umm, for now. I’m picking up a friend,” Shailyn responded, not liking the way he asked the question.
“She pretty like you?”
“He’s very handsome,” she stressed, trying to get the man to go back to being silent.
She received a grunt in response before he went back to his invasive questions. She was wondering what was takin
g so long to fill the truck, but she couldn’t see enough through the window to tell.
Foot tapping and arms crossed over her chest, she was sure the man knew she was getting impatient.
“You in a hurry?”
“Yes, I have a schedule to keep. I’m expected.”
“That’s too bad. I was hoping you would hang around for a bit.”
Finally seeing the second Alpha approaching the door, she breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to the counter.
“Sorry. How much do I owe you?”
The little bell over the door jingled again before she saw the one in front of her give a small nod over her shoulder.
“Sixteen gallons,” came from behind her, and the Alpha began typing on his register.
“That’ll be thirty-five dollars sweetheart.”
Shailyn grit her teeth and handed over the money, his dirty fingers brushing against hers far more than was necessary.
Grabbing her water, she turned and called, “Thanks,” over her shoulder as she headed out the door.
Shailyn jumped into her seat, checking that the tank was closed and the gauge showed it being full before she took off, heaving a sigh of relief at leaving the place behind her.
She had been back on the road for about fifteen minutes when she noticed the truck seemed to be driving different. Within another five, the truck pulled to the left and was shaking like it was about to fall apart. Pulling over on the side of the highway, Shailyn got out of the truck and saw the problem. Her front tire was flat, the rim sitting on the thin piece of rubber separating it from the ground.
Running her hands through her hair, she stood and stared at the tire. Her dad had told her about flats, and theoretically, she knew how to change one, but doing it was another issue.
12.
It took a few minutes for Shailyn to collect herself before she started moving. With a glance around the truck, she found the tire iron and jack under the back seat. She set the jack under what looked like a good spot and began to pump it into place.