Page 18

Melanie

I squeezed my fingers sharply together in front of me as I entered the main door of the care home Mum lived in.

Greensprings was like any of the other facilities we’d moved Mum to. White walls, fake leather chairs, patients sitting around plastic tables mumbling to themselves and each other. It was just that this place was tinged with an unnerving shade of lime green that made everything bright and uncomfortable.

My heat finally ended after another two days of torture, and it had taken me three more days to recover. The only reason I knew I was out of post-heat was because I’d lost the urge to jump on the alpha postman when he parked below my flat at ten a.m. each morning.

But it was hell. I was so worn out I barely recognised myself. I had been in a six-day sex war, and I was still suffering the consequences. I nearly winced with each step because my pussy had been on the front lines and taken the worst hits.

Rosa finally visited Mum two days ago, after I told her I was ill. I didn’t explain to her what was wrong or why.

I did want to tell her I'd presented, to ask her if there was anything I could do to adjust to the sudden change. Reading articles and advice blogs on late-presenting designations wasn’t the same as asking a real omega. And maybe our relationship might change now that I could understand her a little more?

But I didn’t want her to see me right after I’d been on a three-day masturbation marathon.

I was still processing all that had happened. But most of all, trying to handle not being with the three men I couldn’t stop fantasising about.

I’d done everything I could to get rid of my scent. I got a next-day delivery on a triple pack of scent-blocking body wash and a three pack of spray, and spent an hour rubbing myself down before I came to Greensprings.

But my car still smelled like heat. I laid a blanket on the driver’s seat, but I didn’t know if it would make a difference. I just hoped there weren’t any alpha nurses once I got past reception and on to Mum’s room.

I aimed for the high desk I could only just look over, pretty sure that the lovely blonde sitting there was a beta.

“Hi,” I said, giving her a soft smile. My lips were cracked from days of crying and no water, and my skin and hair didn’t look any better. But if the receptionist noticed it, she didn’t say anything. She was the first person I’d spoken to face-to-face in days.

I thought I knew all the receptionists here by now, but I was glad she didn’t recognise me, and I didn’t have to make up some lie about how ill I was.

“Hi, how can I help you?”

“I’m Melanie Sanderson, here to see Catherine Sanderson. I’d like to sign in.”

And try not to freak out because I’d lost the only way I could support her. Which was why Rosa was next on my list of visits after Mum. Though she was going to gloat for years over the fact I needed to rely on her now that I didn’t have a job.

“Okay, perfect. Let me just pull up her file.”

I released a breath, so thankful that she was a beta. I didn’t know how I was supposed to act around other designations.

I couldn’t just be a beta, put on a fake customer service smile, and hope other designations wouldn’t notice me. Half the population was made up of betas, but it still meant there were a quarter of alphas and a quarter of omegas out there who might sense how weird I was.

“How has she been?” I asked. “I haven’t been able to visit at all week.”

There was a nurses’ station at the end of Mum’s corridor and it was easier to ask them for an update, but I was stalling.

“Oh! It says all good on her file here. No incidents registered.”

I gave a sigh of relief. Even though they took good care of her here, I still worried she got worse when we weren’t around.

Mum looked at me whenever I visited, reached out a hand, and she’d smile every now and again. But I didn’t know if she knew where she was, and even what date it was.

Next came the hard part, and the other reason I was glad the receptionist didn’t recognise me. My fingers were white from twisting them together, but I kept a straight face. I didn’t want to break down in front of a stranger.

I took a deep breath. “I was wondering if it was possible to discuss a change in the payments? I’m currently in between jobs and wanted to know if we could shift to a longer-term plan?”

My sister and I had agreed when Mum went into the home that we would pay half the fee each. At ￡3,000 a month, it was a lot to keep up on, and I always had to work extra hours to make sure I could afford it. But it was worth it when I knew Mum was getting proper care.

With her alphas, my sister could definitely cover more than half, though she always fought me when I brought up money.

There was more tapping on her keyboard before the receptionist looked up with a furrowed brow.

“I’m sorry, Ms Sanderson, it appears you’re currently on the longest payment plan. Actually, we’ve been sending letters about overdue payments.”

My heart dropped through my stomach, pain bursting in my fingers as my nails dug into my skin.

“E-Excuse me?” I stuttered. “What do you mean?”

“Well, it says here that you switched to the minimum payment plan last year.”

I blinked rapidly, trying to focus on anything apart from the white noise filling my ears.

“It’s noted here that there have been a number of phone calls requesting the overdue fee as well. It’s strange that they’ve not followed up with you. It says the main caregiver met with the finance department at the beginning of the year to arrange your new plan.”

The ground slipped out from under my feet as I gripped the edge of the counter.

“How…How much is that fee?”

I already knew exactly how much it would be. And I knew exactly why. Because Rosa had called me six months ago threatening to stop her payments for Mum if I didn’t start caring for Tommy two times a week. Her pack therapist had advised that she and her alphas should spend more time in her nest in the garage for a healthier relationship, and she couldn’t afford a babysitter for Tommy.

The receptionist awkwardly looked back at the screen as she continued.

“Well, at the moment you currently owe just over ￡9,000 without interest, though your next payment is due in five days, so it will obviously increase.”

I’d frozen, my whole body tipping forward against the tall reception desk to stop myself from collapsing right there.

After everything. After every single little thing that had piled up in the past week, I was so close to breaking I had to stop and take a deep breath.

“Ms Sanderson?”

“Yes, sorry. Did you say you’ve been sending letters?”

“And phone calls, yes. That’s what’s in the file here. Once a month.”

“Could you tell me the number and address?”

But she didn’t need to tell me. She didn’t need to say anything more.

I had accepted years ago that my sister was a selfish bitch. I hated calling her that; I only said it when she’d done something really despicable, like swipe Mum’s credit card after she’d had a stroke and used it to buy herself a weekend away in Majorca with her alphas. I’d never seen Rosa do anything that didn’t benefit her, but I didn’t think she would stoop so low.

Six months… Six months she had been avoiding payments while I took on twelve-hour shifts just so I could cover my half of the fee. Six-day weeks, sometimes eating the same cheap packet meal for an entire week just because I couldn’t afford anything else.

And she…

“Thank you so much for all your help,” I said through gritted teeth. “I’ll talk to my sister and get back to you about those payments.”

“Of course.” She gave me a sunny smile as I stepped away from the desk, praying I didn’t fall as I dragged myself along the corridor to Mum’s room.

I could usually control my anger towards Rosa. I knew what she was like. I expected her to behave in ways that hurt me or Mum. She stole money from me when we were teenagers, was constantly asking to ‘borrow’ money from Mum and other family members, and was in debt by her twenty-first birthday. So I should have known that she could do something like this, especially when she’d threatened me about the babysitting.

I just didn’t pay attention because she was crying and shouting like she normally did. But the care home must have assumed that Rosa and I had talked about it, and the payments were still coming in from my side, so we were keeping on top of them.

A shiver ran through my body. Even though rage fired more heat through me, I was shaking from the pure ridiculousness of what was being piled on me in such a short space of time. Heat, the alphas, losing my job, maybe losing care for Mum.

I growled as I forced myself to keep walking. I had no idea what I was supposed to say to Mum. I’d planned on telling her about presenting and the Risler pack. That was already big enough; she didn’t need to know about my job or the money. I didn’t want her to worry.

As I reached her door, I took another deep breath, pushing back the tears that were still threatening to take over. It was just another visit to Mum. It didn’t have to be anything more than a simple update about the week. Just a chat and a cup of tea and no breakdowns over the pile of shit that was my life.