Page 19 of Accidentally Forever

A strangled cry tears from my throat, my body seizing up as a white-hot bolt of agony slams through my stomach, through my spine, through every single nerve in my body.

“Sofie?!” Violet’s voice cuts through the haze, frantic, breaking apart at the edges. Then she’s there, beside me again, her hands grabbing at my shoulders, her touch urgent, desperate, trying to lift me, trying to understand.

I open my mouth, try to say something, try to tell her that there’s no more goddamn time but I don’t need to. Because that’s when my scent thickens to this syrupy sweetness that makes me sick to my stomach. Her hands tighten around me as she lifts me against her chest, rushing toward the door.

We’re out of time.

Chapter thirteen

VIOLET

“Hold on, baby,” I murmur, pressing my lips to her damp temple, barely registering the way my voice shakes as I rush down the steps, bag in tow. “I got you.”

A tiny sound slips from her lips, almost like a whimper, barely conscious, barely clinging to reality. Her fingers twitch against my hoodie, like she’s trying to hold on, like she knows she’s slipping and doesn’t want to go under alone.

I adjust my hold on her, shifting her just enough to fumble the car door open and ease her into the backseat, tucking a blanket around her. A tiny sob leaves her lips, her body curling inward, her whole frame shaking as she whispers a desperate plea.Please.

It fucking shatters me as I slam the door, my hands shaking as I grip the wheel, shoving the car into drive and peeling out of the parking lot without a second thought, tires screeching against the pavement. The city blurs past in streaks of orange streetlights, dark roads stretching ahead, empty except for us. The only thing that exists is the sound of her whimpering in the backseat, the way she gasps for breath between quiet cries, the way her pain presses against every nerve in my body like it’s my own.

Her scent makes it nearly impossible to focus, clinging to the air, wrapping around me like a second skin, sinking into my lungs until I can’t tell where my own breathing ends and hers begins. It’s syrupy sweet, too potent, too strong, pressing against the inside of the car, curling against my skin like it knows what I can’t give her. My own desire rages, my pussy squeezing around nothing, needing to be filled.

Cracking the window gives me little relief. The rearview mirror keeps pulling my gaze, my stomach tightening every time I look. Sofie is wrecked. Tears stain her flushed cheeks, her body trembling violently beneath the blanket, her hands gripping the fabric. She’s curling in on herself, knees pressing together, her whole body fighting what’s already consuming her.

Every second that ticks by, every mile that passes, every breath she takes—it’s all spiraling. She makes a sound—high, desperate, something close to a whimper—and my pulse lurches.

“Vi.” Her voice is so fucking raw, so thick with misery, like she’s breaking in real-time, like she’s slipping through my fingers. “I need you—please, I—”

My hands tighten on the wheel, my knuckles turning white. “Baby, just hold on, okay? We’re almost there.”

That’s a lie. We’re at least twenty fucking minutes out and I don’t know if she has twenty minutes. I don’t know what happens when an Omega isn’t sated but the few medical books I’ve read say it could damage her health. She may never have children if I let this drag out. And that is one thing I can prevent.

She gasps, her back arching, her body twisting against the seat, her thighs pressing together as another wave crashes through her, stronger than the last. “Vi—please—”

My Omega—my best friend—is suffering and I can’t do a goddamn thing to help her. I can’t fucking touch her without making it worse. I force myself to blink, my vision blurring at the edges, my foot pressing harder against the gas pedal, the car roaring down the near-empty stretch of road.

Think. Think. Think.I can’t let her keep hurting like this. But I don’t know if we’re gonna fucking make it.

The sky crackles overheard, thunder in the distance as if laughing at my plight. Big fat raindrops pound on the windshield but they’re unable to drown out Sofie’s cries. There is one other option and while I might regret it, it’ll save Sofie.

I screech to a stop, just at the corner of an intersection and throw open the door to get to Sofie. She’s clawing for me and I eagerly crawl into the back seat to draw her into my lap. She immediately shoves her face into my neck, taking large gulps of my scent. But it’s only going to frustrate her.

I shove a hand into my pocket, fingers fumbling against the slick surface of my phone, my grip shaky as I scroll through my contacts to get to Lance.

My thumb hovers for half a second before I press down, before I force the call to go through, before I let go of the last shred of control I have left. It rings three times before his voice comes through the earpiece. "Violet?"

Lance’s voice is rough, groggy, like I just dragged him from sleep, but there’s something else beneath it. This is it. No going back. No undoing it. "I need your help. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t an emergency.” The words feel jagged, like glass against my tongue. “I don’t—fuck, I don’t have any options.”

“Where are you?”

The simple certainty in his tone nearly knocks the breath out of me. Like it’s that easy. Like it’s not even a question. Like there was never any doubt he’d come.

I blink hard, my vision swimming for a second as I stare through the windshield. The street lights flicker in the distance, casting long, fractured shadows against the rain-slick pavement. The road stretches empty ahead of me, unfamiliar in the way that every road feels unfamiliar when your world is crumbling around you.

“I—” My throat locks up. My grip tightens on the phone. “I don’t fucking know. There’s that bookstore across the street. The little shoddy one. Fuck, I’m sorry.”

There’s rustling on his end, the sound of movement. “Stay on the phone,” he commands. “Don’t hang up. Just keep talking to me.”

Sofie lets out a soft, keening sound, her body wracked with another wave of heat, her hands weakly tugging at me. I tighten my arms around her, press my lips to her temple, murmur something soft, something useless, because nothing I say will make this better.

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