Page 8 of Gold Rush
She balks. “Your first heat should hit in two weeks. You don’t havetimeto wait, Miss Walden.”
“What about suppressants?” I grasp at straws, looking over at the doctor.
She shakes her head at me. “Since you are experiencing symptoms, they likely wouldn’t do anything. I’m sorry, Juniper.”
I close my eyes for a moment, feeling a wave of exhaustion hit me as I nod. “Okay.” Licking my lips, I look over at the coordinator. “Can I… Is there somewhere I can lay down for a while?”
Her expression softens a little. She nods, moving to the side as the other woman with her opens the door. “You can stay in my office, I have a couch in there.”
It’s better than nothing — which, coincidentally, is my only other option.
Someone postedabout my signing on social media.
It’s a call from Janet that wakes me from a fitful sleep on the office couch two and a half hours later, sunlight already streaming in through the transparent curtains, the sound of London’s morning traffic filling the space. She’sfrantic, but I answer her questions as best as I can. At some point, someonemust have brought my suitcase in — because the single carry-on is sitting against a wall, everything I have with me in a foreign country as I tell my agent that yes — my designation emerged late, I’m an omega, and no, I have no idea what thefuckI’m doing about it.
I’ve already texted my parents multiple times, but when I finally get off the phone with Janet, there’s only a single text from my mother that makes my nausea and headache return tenfold.
Mom
This is embarrassing, Juniper. Please stop texting me, you were born a beta, and you’re too old to be behaving like this for attention.
I don’t know why I expected anything else, but it still hurts.
A knock on the door startles me, and the same blonde beta from last night steps in. “Hey, I wasn’t sure if you were awake.” She shuts the door quickly, coming around to lean against the coordinator’s desk, chewing on her bottom lip. “I’m Laura, normally I do whatever Denise tells me to — but last night I…” She shakes her head, staring at me. “I’m sorry, I just couldn’t even fathom being in your place. Are you okay?”
It’s a loaded question, and it makes my throat tighten as I sit up and push my slightly greasy hair back. I regret not taking a shower yesterday before the signing, because now that I don’t have access to one, I keep thinking about how nice hot water would feel.
“Honestly?” I look over at her. She’s slightly rumpled and it makes me feel better about my own shitty appearance. “No?”
Laura nods. “Okay, what if I said that Denisejustleft, but I have some files of the alphas who might want to meet you.Would you want to look at them? I can get them right now and maybe you won’t have to spend another night in here.”
I glance around the office and then nod. “If they’re my only option, then yeah.”
She perks up and then slips back out. I hear her heels clicking quickly before she returns, a small stack of file folders in her hands. There can’t be more than thirty files, nowhere near what I expected, but still — they’reoptions.
Laura sits on the couch next to me and then hands me the top one, her voice soft. “I might have met some of them, I can tell you if they seemed nice?”
The kindness in her voice makes my eyes sting as I nod and open the first folder.
The sun is already startingto go down as we near the end of the pile, and it’s only taken this long because Laura stepped out and came back with more files.
There’s three stacks, one of potential alphas who are in town and willing to meet short notice, one stack of files I’ve not looked at yet, and the stack of strangers I don’t want to meet. I’ve tried not to be picky — since I can’t really afford to be. The information packets are full of things I would never have expected, from who employs the alpha, to a little scent card in a sealed packet that I can open and take a whiff of.
The swirling scents have given me a headache.Somany of them smell so strong. One alpha’s scent was bad enough I gagged and pushed the file into Laura’s hands just to get it away from my nose.
She’s been beside me most of the day, even when Denise came into the office with an armload of files and a quiet comment thatthesewere the only alphas or packs willing to meet with me. I don’t think a simple thank you will be enough to either of them, but I’ve tried to say the words multiple times today.
I caught a glimpse of myself in the bathroom mirror earlier and wanted to fling myself out a window. My hair is a greasy mess, the makeup from my signing all wiped off between getting to the center and sleeping on the couch, and the nice trousers and blouse I’d worn last night are beyond creased. I finally gave in and changed into clean leggings and a sweatshirt, even though I want a shower.
I close the file in my lap and shake my head, putting it in the stack of other rejected options.
Beside me, Laura hesitates with her hand on the next one, sucking in a little breath. “Why don’t we slip out?”
“What?” I look over at her, raising an eyebrow. “I thought I couldn’t leave.”
“Well” — she glances at the door — “security change should be happening soon, and we could use a side door and go to a cafe like… two blocks away.” Her words are rushed. “And I’m kind of worried if you don’t eat something other than the vending machine snacks, you’ll start to throw up again.” I survey the wreckage of chip bags and cans of soda, all plain because it’s the only thing I’ve been able to keep down today.
Looking back at Laura, I nod quickly. “Okay, cafe, let’s go.”
