Page 40 of In Knots

I swallow. I can’t tell her about how the alpha threw me out of the car and left me in the middle of nowhere, because then she’ll want to know what happened next, how I found my way home. And if she knew the truth of last night … where I was, who I was with, what I was doing …

“He got angry with me and slammed his foot on the brake,” I persist. “That’s how I got this bruise.” I lift my fingers to the bruise, and she wafts hers through the air, laughing again.

“Like I said, they can be very passionate, very unpredictable, especially when their instincts are all churned up. Your father used to drive like a maniac when we were first dating, wanted to prove something to me. These men,” she says in a conspiratorial whisper, “they like to show off sometimes. Prove to us that they’re still the big bad alphas in charge. It does no harm to play along some.”

I dig my molars into the flesh of my cheek and sink into the pillows.

“A meeting’s come up for Daddy over in the South of France.”

“Oh?”

“I’m going to fly over with him, spend a few days in Nice. Would you like to come, darling?”

“Thank you, but not this time. Margo’s planned a spa day,” I lie.

“You’ll be ok on your own? Jonathan will be here to keep an eye on you–.”

“Then I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

She nods and flicks her perfectly manicured finger against the end of my nose.

“Now come on, darling, time to get dressed. We have the Amir’s lunch function. Wear the white dress. It will have everyone thinking of weddings.”

I twist the bedsheets in my hands. “Will Simon be there?”

“Oh no, I don’t think so, but his mother will be, and you want to make a good impression, don’t you?” Her eyes dart back to my forehead. “I’ll give Sadie a call and see if he can make an emergency visit to fix up your makeup.”

I’m emerging from the shower an hour later when my laptop starts to chirp, I scurry over and flip up the lid, flopping down onto the chair just as the image of my best friend comes into focus.

“Chloe!” I squeal in delight, and she gives me a little wave. Behind her palm trees sway in the breeze and bright blue waves crash onto the beach.

“Hey, lovely. How are you?”

I shrug a little and then grin at her, so pleased to finally speak with her. “Where are you?” I ask.

“Oh, some little island, I forget the name. We’re moored here for a couple of nights. Nathan has gone off scuba diving, but I didn’t fancy it, so I thought I’d give you a call. Sorry I haven’t been in touch, but you know we’ve been … busy.” She smiles at me.

“That’s OK,” I say. “I understand.” After last night, I understand completely.

“So, what’s been going on at home? Same old, same old, I bet.” I go to open my mouth, to begin to tell her everything, but she cuts across me. “I hear Simon Stanford’s been sniffing around.” I roll my eyes. “Oh, come on, Alexa, you know you’re going to have to pick someone eventually. You don’t want to end up a virgin all your life.”

“What?” Chloe’s the only one who knows that for sure. I guess a lot of other people may assume it, but she’s the only one I’ve ever trusted with the truth, and I thought she understood how I felt about alphas and sex and … she’d had her own dalliances but unlike some of the other girls, she’d never held that over my head, sneering at me like I didn’t fit into this super exclusive club.

“If you don’t want to die a virgin, you’re going to have to find a mate eventually, that’s all I’m saying.”

“Maybe I don’t want a mate.”

“Trust me, you do. Especially if you don’t want to keep spending your heats alone.”

“You don’t have to have a mate to find an alpha for a heat.”

She crinkles up her nose. “Oh God, Alexa, your parents would skin you alive if you ever spent a heat with some random. Besides, you know it’s dangerous, right? You heard about that girl above us at school.” Of course I have. Her story was wheeled out as some kind of warning at every opportunity. Chloe repeats the whole thing anyway. “She hooked up with some guy for a heat, some guy she’d been chatting to on the internet, and then he kidnapped her, threatened to bond her unless her parents paid up a considerable amount of money. Maybe ordinary girls can afford to hook up with randoms,” she waves her hand through the air, “but girls like us can’t take that risk.”

“Ordinary girls,” I repeat, nausea churning in my stomach. I don’t feel anything but ordinary. “Maybe they’re lucky.”

“Lucky?” Chloe scoffs.

“They’re free. Free to make their own choices.”

---