Page 32 of Trust No Alpha
A million thoughts ran through Thorne’s mind. Kris was in trouble, anyone would see that. But why couldn’t he find help? He was adult. He had any number of resources, and no doubt unlimited finances. Perhaps he wanted to avoid a Vandergale scandal?
But it seemed like more than just that. Kris acted as though he was threatened. He’d said his father had attacked him. Not that they’d had a fight. But that he’d been attacked.
In the monolithic silences of the Vandergale mansion, within its stone walls and marble pillars, what had been happening? What in the world was Kris running from?
Chapter Twelve
Kris
I stared at the faint stripes of dusty cobwebs in the ceiling corner. The dawn light brightened the white curtains at the window.
Daytime. Decision time.
It hurt.
I had hardly slept at all, but at least I wasn’t freezing now.
Hawthorne—Thorne—didn’t look or act like a monster at all. In fact, he was quite handsome with his black hair cut just above his shoulders and his errant bangs never quite staying swept back. He had cool black eyes and angular cheekbones.
I knew from rumors and town talk that he was about fifty years old. And now that I’d met him, I was sure he was the man I’d seen from my bedroom window during the mornings going for a walk down the road.
Still, he was a stranger. He was an Alpha.
Father’s warning to me soon after my secret had been revealed came back to me.Trust no Alpha.
But I had been raised to be an Alpha. No one had ever told me Alphas were scary. How could it be that we were anything but smart and strong and important leaders? I was one. I had had no other ideas for myself. Ever.
I’d never thought about being scary to another person. I was just me. How I thought of Omegas was how I was taught to believe. They were made for us. They had a purpose, which was to be there for us during the Burn.
If, one day, the chemistry felt right and I did, in fact, fall in love with one, he’d be my mate. Forever. That was it. I never thought Omegas might feel afraid, or want anything else. And their rights? It didn’t occur to me they needed them since they had strong Alphas to care for them. Even the farms didn’t seem odd to me, but normal… until I was threatened with being sent to live on one.
How could I have been so naïve?
Now nothing made sense, and the world had turned into a dark unknown.
I rolled under the heavy covers of the bed and pulled my pack up from the floor. Ruffling through it, I found my tablet.
I paged through news, looking to see if there was any report about me or my family. Nothing came up in all my searches but of course it was probably too early. Maybe no one had yet discovered me gone.
I figured when they did miss me, Mathias would do nothing and say nothing. He wouldn’t want to act before confiding in Father. And Father was still in the hospital. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t paranoid that eventually word might get out that I was missing and a warrant placed on me for my arrest as a loose Omega.
I heard some thumping and creaking from the house, first over my head and then on the stairs. A few minutes later I heard kitchen sounds.
Thorne had said he was an early riser.
I showered, then picked through my wrinkled clothes to find something to wear. I settled on my trousers from yesterday and a pale yellow sweater
My hair hung in wet ropes about my shoulders, so I braided it into a single tail, then went toward the sounds coming from the kitchen.
Thorne looked up when he heard my step. “You’re up.”
My first instinct, primed and programmed to Alpha behaviors since I had learned to walk, was to again assess him. This stranger. This Alpha who could be a possible danger to me. I noted his posture, his size, his mannerisms. He was a couple inches taller then I, but older. I was pretty sure I could take him down in a fight if it came to it, but if he had more experience, or was trained in self-defense, maybe not.
But he did not look like he wanted to fight. Or attack. Or threaten me in any way. Instead, he casually scraped a pan of scrambled eggs onto two plates already heaped with bacon, then handed one to me.
“Your timing is perfect,” he said.
“Or yours,” I replied. I hoped he could not tell that my voice trembled.
