“I should have stayed at the wheel,” I say, the words scraping my throat raw. “If I’d?—”
“Don’t.” Emily doesn’t slow down or turn toward me. “You didn’t create that situation. The other Alphas did, by harassing an Omega theyknew was vulnerable. Derek did, by not protecting his girlfriend. And Mia did, by not using suppressants when she knew her Heat was coming.”
A couple walking toward us shifts to the other side of the sidewalk as they approach, the woman’s fingers tightening on her partner’s arm when she recognizes my face.
Once they pass, their whispers trail behind them, and I tuck my chin closer to my chest. “Word travels fast.”
“Small town.” Emily’s fingers flex at her sides. “By morning, you’ll either be a predator or a victim, depending on who’s telling the story.”
Her certainty should terrify me, but there’s comfort in her bluntness. She isn’t trying to spare my feelings or soften the blow.
She doesn’t hide behind lies the way my familial pack did when they told their friends I was leaving so their new Omega could settle in. Every interaction with her is direct, unfiltered, and real.
I sneak a peek at her profile, the strong line of her jaw and the silver hair that catches the streetlight. She saved me today. Came when I called, believed me when no one else would, and faced down a roomful of angry Alphas to get me out.
“You don’t have to walk me back,” I say, though my selfish heart hopes she’ll stay.
This is the most attention she’s given me since I arrived, and despite everything, I’m grateful for it.
Emily shrugs. “I’ll see you to your hotel room without trouble.”
More people stare as we pass storefronts. A group of teenagers huddles by a frozen yogurt shop, heads bent over phones, and one elbows another when he spots us. The boy’s face twists in disgust before he turns away.
Uneasiness coils in my gut. The reaction feels wildly out of proportion to a simple rumor. My shoulders hunch, instinctively shrinking under their judgment.
“Stand up straight,” Emily murmurs for my ears alone. “Don’t give them the satisfaction.”
I try to straighten my spine, to mimic the confidence in her stride, but the prescription bag crinkles in my grip as my fingers tighten around it with nerves.
“The Fairwind is up ahead.” I spot the hotel’s blue awning down the block. “You can head home if you want. I’ll be fine.”
She doesn’t reply as she continues walking beside me. People move aside for Emily without her asking. They don’t even know why they do itas they respond instinctively to the authority she carries in her bones, and I admire her all the more.
She’s gorgeous but doesn’t seem to realize the admiring stares she receives. Or if she does, she doesn’t acknowledge them.
We pass a restaurant with outdoor seating, and conversations pause as diners track our progress.
Emily scowls at them, and her hand finds my back, the same as it did down at the docks when we left the security office. Protective as she glares them into looking away. And just like at the docks, her touch sends a zing of awareness through me that has me leaning closer.
“I should get room service tonight,” I say, the idea forming as I speak. “Fewer people to deal with.”
Emily hums in agreement.
“I could order enough for two,” I add, my heart hammering. “As a thank you. For everything today.”
The words hang between us for three steps, four, five. Emily’s pace doesn’t falter.
“You don’t need to thank me,” she says at last. “I just did what was right.”
“You’re the only one who thinks that,” I counter. “No one else listened to me.”
We reach the corner where we need to cross,and Emily’s hand leaves me as she steps forward to hit the pedestrian button with her knuckle.
We wait side by side, not quite touching. The traffic light casts alternating red and green across her features, highlighting the exhaustion I hadn’t noticed before.
“I can order whatever you want,” I say, desperate to keep her close as long as possible. “The hotel has great burgers. Or there’s a Thai place that delivers.”
Emily turns to me, her expression unreadable in the shifting light, and I think she might say yes.