Life at ho really sucks, but I find a little solace in the fact that, for once in my life, Jessa and Phoenix are on my side.
Kind of.
I am still a little worried that Jessa's just going to stab in my sleep, but I don't think she wants to deal with the wrath that will co with that kind of drastic asure. I'm pretty sure she's keeping it as an option, but I don't think she's going to do it anyti soon.
Thanks to Jessa's pointing out of the obvious, my stress level is sowhat reduced as I thank Clayton in my head for succumbing to his heat-driven passions. Until Alpha Renard is sure that I have no Aspen pup in my womb, he's not going to touch .
I can tell he has no true desire for . Every ti he looks at , it's with calculation. I don't think the man's capable of feeling true desire for soone like .
If our numbers were greater, I truly believe he would eradicate humans from the world instead of fighting with other packs.
It doesn't keep safe now with this ridiculous 'true oga' nonsense they've got in their heads, but at least I have the luck of Mother Nature on my side…
And Jessa's cell phone.
She's not thrilled about it, but sits on the couch while I wait in the kitchen, listening to the ringing as I call Lisa's phone.
They shouldn't be keeping tabs on her now that I'm back, right?
But even if they do—she's my only ticket out of here.
"Hello?" her suspicious voice finally answers, after I call her three tis in a row.
"Lise, it's ."
"Ava. Oh, my God. You're alive. You're okay. Wait, are you okay?"
A laugh bubbles in my throat even as tears fill my eyes. I love Lisa so damn much. How did I ever deserve a friend like her?
"There's a lot to fill you in on, but just wait and listen to the important stuff right now. I've been dragged back ho. They caught in Washington, where—oh, shit, you don't even know. I was with the Aspen pack… There's a lot to unpack there. We'll do that later. Anyway, so things happened and sohow they found out about it."
Wait. How did they find out?
I need to ask Phoenix.
Like, as soon as I hang up the phone.
"Ave?"
"Sorry. I got distracted. Um, anyway, they found and brought ho. Long story short, my alpha wants to make babies with because he thinks I have so special womb—"
"Oh, are you an oga?"
Pulling the phone away from my ear, I double check the number on the screen. It's definitely Lisa. "Um, how do you know about ogas?"
"I watch TV, Ave. I'm sure it's not accurate, but I kind of get it. Ogas are like, super fertile and shit, right?"
"Well—not exactly… Most of them are just called ogas because they were chosen to breed, not because they were ant to. But anyway, that's not the point."
Her voice crackles through the speakers with all the surety of soone who's never had to deal with the consequences of bad-mouthing an alpha. "So that old fart wants to fuck you? I'm not surprised. Everything I've heard about them is bad news bears, Ava. What do you need to do? I'll do anything.
Hell, fuck this place. Mom and Dad won't mind if I disappear for a few months. Let's disappear together. Where do I pick you up?"
Those tears that fill my eyes are falling now, dripping with embarrassing ease down my cheeks. "You can't do anything yet. They're still worried about . But they are going to want to make sure I'm not pregnant before doing anything."
"Pregnant? Ava, what the hell have you been doing, and with who? Is he nice? Does he take care of you?"
"He's—it's a long story. It's not what you think." Though my heart twists as I think of Clayton and how worried he must be. How long have I been here now? It feels like months, but hasn't it only been a few days? A week?
Everything's blurring together already. I guess that's what happens when you disassociate in front of a TV.
And Lucas…
It's been a long ti.
He must be worried. Or maybe he's moved on.
"Ave. Ave?"
"Sorry, I'm here."
"Look, I'm going to get my shit together to run off into the sunset with you. Don't even try to tell no. I miss you, and I'm not going to leave you here with your shitty family and your shitty pack. Why don't we try for New York?"
New York…
The idea makes smile.
But then I wonder how Selene would ever find there.
If she makes it here and I'm gone, how will she find ?
Though, she found in the Aspen Pack territory, so she must have a way to track . It'll be okay. She'll find .
I take a deep breath. "Okay. We're going to need money. Don't you know soone who makes fake IDs? We're going to need so of those, too."
"No problem. Do you want to go back to where you were, or do we want to lay low sowhere else?"
I think of Mrs. Elkins, and everyone in Cedarwood.
I want to go back more than I can explain.
"I can't. Not until I know it's safe. It'll be the first place they look." Because they think I'm mated to Clayton.
"Then I'll figure out sowhere for us to go. When are we going to et? Where?"
"I don't know yet. I have to find a way to get out of here. You'd never make it onto pack lands, so I have to sohow get away first."
"That's fine. I'll get cash. Ooh, maybe I can convince Dad to get a new car. Sothing they can't trace so easily."
Lisa's taking this seriously, but I can hear the excitent in her voice. To her, running from here is going to be an adventure. She doesn't understand…
She hasn't seen what I have.
She doesn't know what I know.
This is nothing like in the books or stories.
My brother brought a gun when he ca to bring ho.
My sister wants to kill .
These aren't normal things good, law-abiding humans deal with.
"We'll figure it out," I say again, trying to infuse confidence into my voice. "This is my sister's phone, so just save it in case I call from it again."
"Your sister? I thought she hates you."
"Well, we're temporarily united in a common goal," I say dryly, hyperaware of Jessa's presence in the other room. I'm sure she's listening to every word. "If I give any kids to our alpha, my brother's not going to be the alpha anymore."
"Oh, shit. Your brother is going to be alpha? Wait, then can't we just kill the old one and let him take over?"
I cover the mouth of the phone, as if that's sohow going to stop Jessa from hearing what's coming out of it. "Shh," I hiss. "You need to be careful saying things like that."
"I'm just saying, it's probably what they'd do on TV."
"TV isn't real life, Lise," I groan.
"Okay, okay. I know. But are you okay right now, Ava?"
"I'm fine. I'm better than I was. Everyone's just kind of ignoring . I'm always under guard." It's nice when Jessa's here, because they aren't outside. Jessa's stronger than any of the guards they've assigned to guard .
"Are you going to be able to do it? You know, get out of there?"
I look in the direction of the living room. All my hopes are pinned on Jessa and Phoenix. Even if they aren't doing it for , having them on my side, even temporarily, is my best bet by far.
"Yeah."
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