Page 46 of In Bellamira's Chains

The sun peeked over the horizon, and I blinked at the rays. Time flew by, and although I was grateful, it meant a new day was beginning, and we were one step closer to having a household meltdown. The bundle in my arms was a ticking time bomb, but I refused to let go.

What ifs tried to infiltrate, but I brushed them off. There was no use worrying about something that hadn’t happened. I’d take it one step at a time, listening to Hazelle, helping her the best I could to recover from this.

“How’s she doing?” My Mistress pushed a food cart into the room. It had three smoothies, loaded avocado toast, and the biggest pile of crispy hashbrowns I had ever seen.

“Still asleep.” It was strange watching the way My Mistress moved now. There was an air of caution around her. Her voice too, it wasn’t quite the same, and I hadn’t heard her use her nickname for us since I woke up.

“Let’s get some food in her, then we can get her bathed and redressed. She can’t live in Perrin’s shirt forever.” There was a harsh edge to her voice, an insecurity peeking through.

I nudged Hazelle awake, and she rubbed her eyes before looking at me, her vision slowly coming into focus. If nothing else, Hazelle still felt safe with us and didn’t panic each time she awoke.

“It’s time to eat, Hazelle.”

“Is it morning already?” She looked out the open window and sleepily sneered at it. “Do I have to get up?”

My Mistress laughed, and Hazelle turned to her with a smile. “Yes, you do.”

“Okay, Mistress Belle, but do I have to get out of bed?” She hunkered down enough so only her arms and head were outside of the blankets.

“Not to eat, but for the shower and fresh clothes, yes. A sponge bath would only do so much.” We ate and watched a movie about a princess finding her happily ever after, despite her past and her status. With each new scene, the heaviness in the room lifted a little more, and by the end, when everything was perfect in its own way, I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing everything was going to be okay in the end. There was just a lot of work to be done between now and then.

Hazelle showered by herself, at her own insistence, and we did another fashion show to decide what we would all wear for the day, comfort being the theme this round.

I wore a simple T-shirt dress in a dark blue with a basic white collar, Hazelle had on her light blue one, black leggings, and a gray graphic tee she stole from My Mistress that I didn’t even know she had, and our Alpha had on fitted jean shorts and a dark green stretchy bodysuit with a scoop neck and frilly sleeves. This was the most casual I had seen her since she was younger than me, and I couldn’t lie. I loved it even though it was at odds with the vision I had of who she was now. But we all changed with time, had phases of our life where we were far different than the others.

Maybe it was time for a change. For all of us.

Chapter twenty-five

Hazelle

I was fine.

Or I thought I was.

A numbness overtook me, not dissimilar to how I used to feel with Oros and the men he let use me. It wasn’t the same, not really, but it was close. The difference was the future. The hope I had for it. There was none with Oros, not until the day he decided to sell me.

With Mistress Belle and Elera, it was vast. They still wanted me, broken or otherwise.

We walked around the property, taking in the sun and letting the grass and dirt ground us. I spent all night in a hole, hiding from everyone besides them, but that’s not what I needed. The sun caressed my skin, burning away the sensation of Bram, leaving behind only the parts I wanted. The shower washed away the bits I couldn’t see, and this took the rest away.

I had been through this before, and the numbness would subside eventually. I’d break out of my shell again with the help of Mistress Belle and Elera, or so I hoped. That was the dream. The goal I’d had.

“We won’t be going to parties for a long while.” Elera nodded, but I was in my own world, enjoying the sun on my face. “We won’t hide away, but the only people I would dare have around are our families, Perry, and Catalina and Layne. They have proven themselves once again.”

“So that means I can see Nyla more?” I kept my eyes closed and face to the sky as I asked.

“Yes, as long as Adira agrees to it, you can see her as often as you’d like.” My eyes blinked open as Mistress Belle’s hand cupped my cheek. “Hazelle?” Her eyes begged me to be okay, and part of me was, but I couldn’t fall back into meek and silent like I had before.

I had been loud, screaming for help when I had been forced to push it down for years. I saved myself when that was an impossibility with Oros. I wasn’t like other Omegas, broken down and subservient or bright and happy. I wanted to be me and seen.

I wanted them to see me, the Omega who was forged by abuse, even if this world didn’t view it that way. I was Mistress Belle’s, and my devotion to her would never waver. I’d be a good little Omega for her and for her alone, but I also knew how this world worked and was stuck on how to navigate it.

“Hazelle, look at me.” My eyes flew to hers, and Mistress Belle’s hazel eyes stared down at me. They were lost, and I didn’t know what they were searching for.

“Yes, Mistress Belle?”

“Where were you just now, my pet?” I breathed in and smiled, loving the sound of that. She hadn’t called me anything but Hazelle since last night, and I was worried she didn’t see me as hers anymore.