Page 21

CAMbrY

W hen we came down to the living room, Niro had piled up some boxes on the tile floor by the door. “Your things have arrived from the farm. I put them over there.”

We both looked where he pointed by the wall near the stairs. Two black sacks sat side by side. That was it. A single bag of belongings each. A whole life contained therein. It seemed too little. Like we were invisible and always had been.

I blinked away the blur of my emotion.

A strong hand touched my shoulder. “To fill in the gaps of things you might need, we’ve got some items here.”

Niro didn’t think we were invisible. Niro saw us. He’d seen Omegas as people even before knowing us. I’d told Angell Niro was chosen for first-timers because he could control his Burn. His control was because he identified Omegas as not objects but actual beings with minds and feelings.

Angell and I walked to the stack of boxes as Niro began to open them.

He pulled out clothing first. Two identical robes.

Two pairs of identical pajamas. Slippers.

Packages of socks and underwear. Jeans shorts.

T-shirts in bright colors. Pants in tan, brown, white and green.

Some had pockets all over them. They looked like what adventurous Alphas wore in the movies.

“I guessed on sizes. We can exchange whatever doesn’t fit,” he said.

He handed us both small boxes. Inside each was a shiny new phone. “We’ll get those set up later.”

Another box held some inflatable swimming rafts and balls. That looked like fun.

Another contained two wallets. Wallets? What did we need those for?

“You’ll have official I.D. cards as my bondmates. Anywhere you go, you are under my protection and those will prove it. No one can harm you. You can keep the cards in your wallets.”

“When would we ever leave here without you?” I asked.

Niro frowned. “You’re not prisoners. I know the world might be intimidating, but eventually you’ll want to explore it.”

Just like any baby bird fledging its nest.

I fingered the wallet for a long time. Real leather. Soft and supple. I never in my life thought I’d need or want a wallet. It was strangely satisfying, like a wallet somehow made me a more real person. The thought disturbed me.

We’d been prisoners. That wasn’t new to me. But the meaning of that never really hit me because it was all I ever knew. Now it both terrified and elated me that I was truly free.

I clasped the wallet to my chest, wanting to get closer to its reality. Angell was already moving onto the next thing.

Niro was staring at me. “Do you like it?”

“I—I love it.”

“I want you to know you have a real life out here in the world. That includes getting everything you need for that. You get to choose.”

In the past, I rarely got to choose. Warden Chirl had given me the consent form for the Mating Hall and told me I could chose to sign or not to sign.

But even then, I didn’t really feel I had the right to choose not to serve Alphas.

It was taught that was what Omegas were for. I was brought up that way.

It was all too overwhelming. I went to the couch with my wallet and sat down, holding it tightly in my hands.

Niro came and sat beside me. “It’s okay. We can move slowly into all of it.”

I took a deep breath and blurted out what had been inside me since yesterday. “If Angell hadn’t fallen, would you still have come?”

“I will tell you, and Thorne can vouch, that I was already talking to him and Kris about it before Angell fell. That’s why my car is at their place. I was having dinner with them. Getting bondmate advice.”

“You were?”

Niro smiled. “I was.”

Angell was tearing open another box. But from his stance, I could tell he was listening to us. Plus, he was so good at communicating through the bond, he probably didn’t even need to eavesdrop with his ears.

I was the one who needed practice.

“It’s only been two days,” Niro said, as if the bond was also no problem for him. “You’re allowed to take things slowly.”

“I—I thought you didn’t want me. That day.

It was okay because I was going right back to Angell.

But then Angell said he felt the bond, too, and I didn’t know what to think.

My mind was still full—of you. I couldn’t get you out of my thoughts and wondered if something was wrong with me.

And I was worried that Angell wouldn’t understand that I was still committed to him. ”

“I didn’t know, either,” Niro said. “It was a first for me. I wasn’t sure what to think or do. It’s a first for all of us. We’re exploring it as we go. It’s so new and tender. I cut it off because I was, frankly, terrified. It meant I’d lost my Burn control.”

“You? You were terrified?”

“Yep.” Niro sighed. “We all still have so much to learn about each other.”

Angell slapped one of the boxes. It got our attention, and we turned to stare at him.

He rapidly began to sign. “I’ve seen inside both your hearts.

I’ve known you, Cambry, for four years. Niro, I feel like I’ve known you forever in ways I don’t have words for.

I want to spend the rest of my life getting to know you both deeper. ”

I was speechless. At my side, Niro also remained silent.

“Come on,” he signed, his face scrunching up, the dark bruises crinkling. “It will be fun.”

“Agreed,” Niro and I spoke at the same time.

Niro took my hand in his, pulling it away from the wallet which I now clutched in one hand. He lifted it to his mouth and placed a soft kiss on the back. Tingles zigzagged throughout my body. I gazed up at him. “Agreed,” I repeated one more time.

His smile dazzled me. I felt it on the air, against my skin, and through our bond. Which was opening back up now and sizzling in the background.

“Come,” he said. “Let’s see what else was delivered.”

We rose from the couch and approached Angell, who sat on the floor grinning like a kid at Christmas with the packages all around him.