My alpha had come for me. 

Finally. 

She was different than I had imagined, yet exactly right, in some strange sense of the word. She was probably rich, wearing a suit like that, driving that sky-blue Tesla. Or maybe her husband was rich. Hell, they were probably both successful alphas. A pair like Matt and Lindsey would have been if their parents had gotten their way. She was definitely way older than me, but didn’t look as old as I had feared. And she smoked. Ew…

I don’t know what my parents had said to her. They didn’t want to discuss the matter, told me they would deal with this, that they’d help me. That I would be alright. That I’d find a nice guy in good time and he’d mark me and finish the job, and everything would be okay.

I didn’t believe them.

Not because my mind didn’t want to, but because my parents weren’t the only ones who had been doing internet searches on the subject. Besides, the way I felt when she was near was so overwhelming, I couldn’t ignore it.

It was completely different from my feelings for Matt. I was, and still am, completely in love with the bastard. Heart fluttering and immediately breaking every time I spotted him outside the house. But what I felt when Chris was near didn’t have anything to do with my heart, nor with any sense of logic. Every fibre of my being was screaming to be with her. 

I hated her for making me feel like this, even though it was my own stupidity that had made it happen. I hoped she was suffering like me, yet on some level I didn’t. Feelings are strange.

I was going back to school tomorrow, first time in five weeks. My summer break had only been filled with heartbreak, and now it was time to get back to business. My injuries had subsided, although the traces of the black eye were still visible if you looked hard enough.

I walked downstairs and decided to do some cleaning to get back in the mode where I’m not a passive crying whiny bitch, but a nineteen-year-old college student. I needed my mindset right if I was going to go back to school where I’d be seeing Matt.

Throwing some stuff in the paper trash I noticed a shiny card. It lay hidden beneath all kinds of other trash, but I noticed it anyway. Before touching it I already knew what it was. My alphas card. I picked it up and read it.

‘Christiana Fererra, LLM – Brenner & Jameson Business Attorneys’. It had an office address and a phone number on it.

I tuned the card over in my hand. Should I call her? No, I shouldn’t. But I really wanted to. I pocketed the card and went back to cleaning the house. My parents had done so much for me these past weeks, I was going to make sure they’d be coming home from Gina’s soccer game to a neat livingroom.

Trying to get up to speed with the classes that I’d been missing, I was scanning the notes Jerry sent over and suddenly noticed myself purring. I snapped out if it, and spotted the card in my hand. I had unconsciously been holding it to my cheek like an idiot. 

Okay, this was getting out of control, I’m calling her.

It rang three times and my courage was fleeting, so I had almost hung up when a businesslike voice answered. “Christiana Fererra speaking.”

I felt my stomach flip and forgot how my mouth worked. God, I’m such a loser.

“Hello?” I heard the voice of my alpha, it was sounding a little concerned now. Warmer.

“Um, hi.” I said.

“David?” My heart sped up at her mentioning my name. My traitorous body was being disgusting.

“Yeah” I answered.

“How are you?” Now she sounded really concerned, even a little insecure. And maybe a hint of something else. Regret?

“I’m okay.” I was not. Why the hell was I calling her, if I was only going to lie?

She sighed in relief. It gave me an erection. Damn, body! “Really? Wow, that’s great. That’s really good to hear. I was so worried.”

“You should be.” I said and meant it. I wasn’t alright, and it was her fault.

“Do you hate me?”

“Yes”, I answered immediately. At least that was true. Or was it? Fuck I don’t know anything anymore.

“I understand.” She said. “Can I do anything at all to help you? I mean… I don’t know. Do you need therapy? Or…”

“I’d like your Tesla.” I said. 

I didn’t know where I had summoned the balls to say something like that. It shut her up for a minute. Ha, I bested an alpha, my alpha. My filthy rich attorney alpha.

“You can have anything you want, as long as it helps. But let me ask you: will the car help?”

Of course, it wouldn’t help, but I just thought: this is my chance to get a really cool car. That’s why I had said it. Thinking about her words made me angry.

“Nothing will help, Chris! You took something from me that you can’t restore. I can FEEL the claim! You fucked me up for good! I’m damaged goods now, and it’s your fault! You should’ve stayed home with your nice alpha family, let me be claimed and raped by someone who at least actually wanted to be with me. Really, ANY of those guys from the campus would have been better than you, you bitch. So yeah, the least thing you can do is give me your fucking car!”

“OK. I understand,” she said, her voice cold. “I’ll fix the paperwork tomorrow and bring it over. Text me your full name and details for the registration. I’ll drop the papers and the key in your letterbox, so you won’t have to see me. Take care David.”

And with that she broke the connection.

I wasn’t happy. I had just gotten a flashy car and I wasn’t happy. I crashed onto my bed, buried my head in the pillow and cried for what seemed like an hour.

***

My first day back on campus went okay. I wore scent blockers and I had put my collar back on, since I didn’t want to talk about Chris. Besides, people were pitying me enough for the entire Matt and Adam scandal. Everyone looked at me like I was an abandoned puppy.

To be fair, I kind of was. 

No one asked about the scent blockers. I had never worn any before, but then again, everyone in the entire college had known I was Matt's. I even smelled like him most of the time, so no alpha in their right mind would have tried anything. That would be different now, so masking my scent maked sense to most people. Even if I was doing it for completely different reasons.

Matt was alone. Our friends had chosen my side in this, and were ignoring him for my sake. I didn’t know if that was what they had been doing for the past weeks, but they were certainly doing it now. It should’ve felt good, but yet it didn’t really.

When I came home, I saw the car on the driveway. Blue, sparkling, beautiful and above all: mine. I had totally forgotten about it, and part of my mind wouldn’t believe my alpha, don’t call her that, Mrs. Fererra would actually do it, but there it was. The keys and paperwork sat in our mailbox as promised.

I walked up to the car and clicked it open. It greeted me with a nice sound, and I got in. It smelled vaguely like my… Mrs. Fererra but the scent that was most protruding was the smell of a brand-new leather. This wasn’t her car, this was a new one.

It should’ve made me happy, but for some reason it pissed me off, and I immediately took out my phone to call her. The car recognised that I was calling and asked me to pair the phone with the Tesla’s Bluetooth. I smiled, then got my angry face back on because the phone was answered.

“Christiana Fererra speaking.”

“This is not YOUR car!”

“It’s the same one I’ve got… Aren’t you happy you got a brand new one that doesn’t smell like alpha?”

“NO!” what the hell was I saying?

“Mine is a company lease, I’m not at liberty to give that away, so I bought you a new one.”

“Yeah, cause you’re so rich!”

A sigh came from the other end of the line, it wasn’t relief, like the last one, but something else. It got me hard just the same.

“I’m not really that wealthy. If you’d ask me for another Tesla, I’d have to sell my house.”

A guilty feeling crept up my spine. I was a blackmailer now. A blackmailer with a really nice car though, and she deserved it for ruining my life.

“Well then you’d better be begging me not to ask you for anything else or your nice alpha family will be out on the streets.”

“Don’t…” it sounded threatening and made my skin crawl. Then the volume turned up and words hammered against my skull with a force that made me want to crawl back into my mother’s womb.

“Don’t you EVER assume things about me. You don’t know me, nor my husband, who is a beta by the way, and who I almost lost because of your stupid running into my shower oozing pheromones, while I was just trying my best to SAVE you! You should’ve taken your pills, you should’ve worn your collar! FUCK, you should have stayed home! Yes, I want to take responsibility for my actions, but you should too, you little shit!”

My mind went blank. She was right. I didn’t know her. And however much I could blame her for ruining me, I had myself to blame too. 

I shouldn’t have been there, without collar, without meds. I had been taking a huge gamble with bad odds and I had lost. And Chris, she had done the same. She could’ve left me there, but she put her entire life at risk trying to save me, and had lost too.

… and I made her get me a car out of spite. 

Shit, would her husband leave her for spending all their savings on a car for another man? I could still hear her breathing on the other side of the phone. She hadn’t disconnected yet, but she wasn’t saying anything either.

“You can take the car back…” I said meekly. 

“I’m sorry. I don’t want you to lose your husband over giving me this ridiculous gift. It’s probably already hard for him to stay with you after what you’ve done, and I just blackmailed you into making it worse.”

A sniff came from the other end of the line. Was she crying? I suddenly felt my own tears dripping from my chin. I had made a grown alpha cry and hurt myself doing it. 

I’m such a mess.

“Can I hug you? I really want to hug you.” I said. 

I can’t remember deciding to utter those words, but hearing me say them, I realised that, yes, having her hold me close was the only thing I wanted.